What you need to answer
Only information a business owner normally knows. No documents, employee census, or insurance application is required for the first estimate.
You supply the business facts. The PEO cost estimator carries them through the cost and tax calculation.
- Projected business income
- The engine uses the income you expect this year when it computes the tax effect.
- Current healthcare cost
- Your current employer healthcare spend establishes the cost comparison.
- Entity type and filing method
- How the company is organized and how it files determine which tax treatment applies.
- State
- The calculation applies the enacted state tax rules that fit the information you provide.
- Employee setup and headcount
- Employee count and healthcare participation shape the premium and PEO administrative fee estimate.
What you get
A personalized estimate of the PEO healthcare premium and administrative fee, followed by what those costs do to your bottom line after federal and state tax.
The result separates the quoted cost from the tax effect so you can see where the number comes from without exposing proprietary rate logic.
The cost side
The medical premium is shown by plan and coverage tier. The PEO administrative fee is applied to the employee setup and includes payroll processing and HR compliance.
The tax side
The engine carries those costs through the tax position created by the business facts you entered. Projected income, entity type, filing method, and state can change the bottom line even when headcount and premiums match.
That second calculation is the reason this tool exists. It is the part nobody can do in their head on a phone call.
What is in the number
- The medical premium, by plan and coverage tier
- The PEO administrative fee, charged either as a flat amount per employee per month or as a percentage of total payroll
- Payroll processing and HR compliance, which sit inside that administrative fee
- Federal and state tax effect, which produces the net position
- Workers' compensation
- Dental, vision, and retirement
Why those are left out.
Workers' compensation depends on class codes, your experience modifier, claims history, and which carriers want your industry. Those swing widely, so this calculator holds comp out rather than guess at it. If you have a comp situation, you already know you do, and it belongs in a formal quote.
Dental, vision, and retirement are add on lines. They are available almost anywhere, and they do not move the healthcare and administrative math that this calculator is about.
So what you get here is a modeled PEO cost for the two things that drive the decision, with the tax effect applied.
How the calculation works
No mystery, and no magic.
It applies a rate.
This page runs on a general market rate set, typical of what small and midsize employers see. That makes it usable by anyone, immediately, without contacting a broker first.
It applies your business structure.
The calculation uses the entity and filing information you provide to select the applicable tax treatment. That is why an S corporation, another pass-through structure, and a C corporation should not be reduced to one national PEO savings percentage.
It applies your state.
The calculation applies enacted state law to the state you select. A useful PEO cost by state estimate must account for that difference instead of treating every business as if it files in the same place.
It applies current federal law.
The engine is maintained against enacted federal and state tax law. It does not model pending legislation. When enacted rules change, the maintained calculation changes with them.
It resolves to a bottom line.
Not a cost in isolation. What the cost does to your position once tax treatment is applied.
The underlying calculation is CPA audited.
Where the number gets sharper.
This page uses a general market rate. A broker running this same engine on their own website runs it on their own rate card, which is the rate they would actually quote you. Same calculation, their real numbers. If you are already talking to a broker, ask whether they run one.
How much does a PEO cost?
The honest answer is that a PEO cost has two components and one multiplier. A PEO cost per employee cannot be judged from the administrative fee alone.
The healthcare premium
Usually the largest line, and the reason most companies start looking. Group rates through a PEO are typically different from what a small employer can obtain on their own, and that difference is the entire opening argument for the model.
The administrative fee
Covers payroll processing, HR compliance, and the administrative machinery. It is charged either per employee per month or as a percentage of payroll, depending on the provider.
The multiplier is tax treatment.
This is what makes a face value comparison misleading in both directions. An administrative fee looks large next to payroll software. Settled all the way through, with the healthcare change and the tax effect applied, the picture often looks different. Which is exactly why a number without the tax math is not worth much.
The PEO pricing calculator above resolves all three into one bottom line estimate.
Is a PEO worth it for your business?
A PEO may be worth examining for a small or midsize business when the healthcare premium, administrative fee, payroll processing, HR compliance, and tax effect produce a better bottom line than the way the business operates today.
Sticker price cannot answer that question by itself. The same administrative fee can produce a different after-tax result for two businesses because income, entity structure, filing method, state, and employee setup are different.
Sometimes the result does not support the PEO structure.
That can happen when the modeled premium and administrative cost do not improve the bottom line enough to justify a closer review. The calculator can show that outcome. It does not force every set of inputs into savings.
Use the PEO savings calculator above and judge the result from your figures.
Why this is free
Two reasons, and both are commercial rather than charitable.
We build this engine for PEO and group health brokers, who run it on their own websites under their own brands with their own rate cards. This page is that engine, running in public, so anyone can see what it does.
And a cost question deserves an answer. Asking someone to hand over their contact details before telling them what something costs is the pattern this tool exists to replace.
If you want the extended report, you verify a mobile number and it is sent to you. That is the only thing on this page that asks anything of you, and you will have already seen your number before it does.
Questions
Do I have to sign up to use this?
No. Answer the questions and the number appears. Verification applies only to the extended report.
Is this a quote?
No. It is a calculated estimate based on a general market rate and your own inputs. A formal quote comes from a broker and adds workers' compensation, ancillary lines, and underwriting.
How accurate is it?
The tax calculation is CPA audited and applies enacted federal and state law. The cost side uses a general market rate rather than a specific carrier's rate. A broker running this engine on a broker rate card produces a sharper figure.
What is a PEO administrative fee?
The charge for payroll processing, HR compliance, and administration. It is billed either as a flat amount per employee per month or as a percentage of total payroll.
Why is workers' compensation not included?
Class codes, experience modifier, claims history, and carrier appetite all change workers' compensation cost. It belongs in a formal quote rather than a general estimate.
Does this work for any state?
The calculator applies state tax law as part of the calculation, so your state is one of the inputs.
Who sees my information?
PEO Tools processes your calculator answers to produce the estimate. No contact details are required for the initial number. If you request the extended report, you provide a mobile number to receive it. Read the privacy policy.