TriNet

TriNet Payroll Services

TriNet Teams Up Payroll Services With Specialized HR Support

TriNet’s mission is to make things simple for clients so the company can place a greater focus on personnel development and growth. In addition to offering a comprehensive payroll, tax and benefits service, TriNet provides one-on-one HR expertise and guidance to assist its clients’ management in the decision-making process. It’s there to help you tackle recruiting, onboarding, compliance and industry-specific workforce issues as needed.

TriNet at a Glance

The company was started in 1988 and grew its client base to more than 16,000 companies by the end of the third quarter of 2018, which represents 318,000 employees being serviced. In 2012, TriNet was the largest independent professional employer organization in the U.S. and became a New York Stock Exchange public company in 2014. Fortune Magazine named the PEO one of the 100 Fastest-Growing Companies in 2017. That same year, the company processed $37 billion in payroll.

Although it’s one of the largest outsourcing providers now, TriNet began as a small business in the San Francisco Bay area. After starting at the ground level, the company retains a special insight into the needs of small and growing businesses.

Overview of TriNet Features

The basic services TriNet offers small and medium-sized businesses include the following:

  • Outsourced payroll administration
  • Group benefit options and administration
  • An online and real-time payroll and HR platform
  • Industry-specific HR expertise
  • Risk mitigation and compliance

The specialized and industry-specific services TriNet provides include the following fields:

  • Manufacturing
  • Financial services
  • Life sciences
  • Architecture and engineering
  • Marketing and advertising
  • Retail and wholesale
  • Non-profit and philanthropic

As a payroll provider, TriNet can do more than just streamline your compensation system. Its services are flexible enough to adapt quickly to changing needs as your company grows. Crossing state lines won’t present a problem; new satellite locations and branch offices will automatically update and incorporate localized and state tax deductions. All your employees will appreciate paperless pay stubs and the ability to view them online. Remote workers can download and print their W-2 forms with no need to wait for them to arrive by mail.

Your workforce can also keep track of their paid-time-off accumulations online and without contacting your HR department. The integrated online platform covers the full beginning-to-end employment cycle: hiring, onboarding, promotion and off-boarding. The TriNet mobile app makes it easy for employees to initiate changes on their own when updating direct deposit details, enrolling in benefit plans and requesting time off.

The company will do more than just calculate and withhold employees’ state, federal and local taxes; those withholdings can be submitted electronically for you. TriNet also manages your employees’ unemployment claims.

TriNet Pricing

The company does not publish its pricing and provides quotes in response to online and phone inquiries. The monthly cost per employee is variable and is based on the number of employees serviced, company location and industry. Recent price ranges posted by clients point to fees starting between $80 to $125 per employee, with the latter fee representing a workforce of 30 to 49 employees.

The Bottom Line

TriNet brings highly customized and field-specific outsourcing solutions to those industries it specializes in. The company also provides the benefit of risk mitigation in the areas of compliance and contingency planning. In the case of the latter, an employer can be assured of payroll going out to remote staff even if the company headquarters was temporarily knocked offline or shut down by a flood or hurricane.

Overall, small to mid-sized businesses can gain access to leveraged benefit options that might not be available to them otherwise. Because TriNet makes good use of the collective strength derived from thousands of business clients, they can deliver premium-level health and retirement-plan benefits to smaller companies. Even remote staff located in rural areas where healthcare plans are scarce can take advantage of the major benefit plans that TriNet makes available to clients’ employees.

The Society of Human Resources Management’s 2016 Job Satisfaction and Engagement survey noted that 60 percent of employees rated benefits as a very important factor in job satisfaction. For companies seeking to attract and retain good talent, TriNet’s benefits plans can be a worthwhile option.

Is TriNet a provider you can place your complete trust in? It appears that the company’s well-established track record and trade association accreditations (NAPEO and ESAC) verify the financial solvency and regulations compliance that make it a secure and reliable choice. For businesses and organizations seeking either a payroll-only provider or a fully integrated and wide-ranging administrative outsourcing solution, TriNet’s services are worth looking into.