Category PEO Services

Mike and Starr Mackey

“The first time I even thought about W-2s this year was when our personal copies arrived in the mail” Destinations Unlimited Tours owner Mike Mackey tells us. “It’s a tremendous relief not to worry about that and other HR issues like payroll taxes and workers’ comp insurance. I’m so glad PEO Pros found us a good match for our PEO services.”

Mike and Starr Mackey, pictured here, are the owners of this combination travel agency and charter bus company.

“We like to work with tour groups. Schools, churches and other common interest groups can have us take them to the cruise ship, the big game, or even a safe tour of New York City. We take them to the best restaurants, best hotels, and all of the details are taken care of.”

“The PEO relationship has enabled us to provide proper insurance coverage to work with public schools, department of defense and other heavily regulated agencies. Workers’ Comp was always a black cloud that hung over our head before. Now it is somebody else’s problem.”

“We even have a ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ where the guests are only told how much money to bring, and when they will be back. I’m not going to spoil it by telling you where we are going this time, but we have gone to places like Mobile, AL and toured the Navy Museum, stopped in Panama City Beach for some sun and white sand, and even hit some breweries and wineries along the way. It’s one of our most popular tour packages.”

“Folks enjoy taking us to the cruise ship, because the vacation begins when they step on the bus, and doesn’t end until they get back home. No driving to Miami or Fort Lauderdale. No parking worries. No traffic. Leave the worries to us!”

Destinations Unlimited Tours has been a client of ours since 2008. They have recommended our service to some of their friends in the industry, the best testimonial a client can give!

“We recently had a worker who was out on sick leave” Starr Mackey tells us. “It was so nice to simply make a call to the PEO and find out what we needed to do. They are always only a call or email away.”

Debby Boote

“On a personal level, I like it because we have direct deposit and my money goes right to my bank account” says Debby Boote in Business Development. “And on a business level, I like it because if there is ever a problem or a question I can go to the PEO and they are always there to help out right away.”

Here is a video featuring Mike Mackey, Starr Mackey and Debby Boote from Destinations Unlimited Tours:

PEO Pros / PAY-surance HR has been selected for a local award.

January 7, 2011. MAITLAND, FL
An Orlando survey company, ST Marketing out of Maitland, has notified PAY-surance HR that they are the recipients for “Best Payroll Consultants in Central Florida.”

“PEO Pros / PAY-surance HR was chosen from a field of 23 Payroll Consultants in Central Florida as they excelled in all categories” a spokesperson for ST Marketing tells us. “They were chosen ahead of local branches of ADP, Paychex and Compupay, three national firms considered to be front runners in this competition.”

They shared with us some of the award research process:

“We had seven core values to examine, and we did this by contacting existing clients and ex-clients. It was particularly important that the ex-clients spoke about the seven core values. While we will list all of the values in our upcoming news release, you can be sure that professionalism, flexibility, pricing and on-time performance were considered.”

Award Ceremony has not been scheduled but it is most likely going to be in March 2011.

For more information please use the contact form below:

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“I hear people talking about their SUTA, what is it?”

“The state just raised my SUTA rate! What can I do?”

“What can I do about SUTA?”

“My Accountant just told me I should consider a PEO because of my SUTA rate increase.”

Have you wondered what this acronym stands for?

• SUTA = State Unemployment Tax Act. Similarly,
• FUTA = Federal Unemployment Tax Act.

It is a tax assessed on employers to fund unemployment benefits. It is often (wrongly) called “Unemployment Insurance” or “SUI.”

The term SUTA is often used to refer to the employer’s SUTA rate, that is, the percent of payroll that is assessed on that particular employer.

Most states start new businesses at an arbitrary base rate, and they stay at that rate until a significant amount of employment history is acquired.

In Florida, for example, a new business is assigned a SUTA rate of 2.7% of payroll for the first 30 to 33 months. After this, the rate may fluctuate up or down based on employer experience. The current maximum in Florida is 5.4%

In contrast, the FUTA rate is a constant 0.8% and does not change per employer.

Both rates have a maximum wage applicability. In Florida, the SUTA rate is only applied to the first $7,000 of each employee’s wages with that employer. (FUTA also only applies to the first $7,000.)

Why is this Important When Considering a PEO?

When an employer turns his employees over to a PEO (formerly known as an Employee Leasing Company) they now fall under the SUTA rate of the PEO.

Obviously, in some cases, this can be beneficial to an employer who has had an unusually bad experience with unemployment. It can also be of great assistance to have a Professional Employer Organization to direct the employee hiring and terminations in a way that limits exposure to unemployment claims.

In any case, transferring the responsibility of the Unemployment Claims from the client company to the PEO makes unemployment claims “somebody else’s problem.”

Would it comes as a surprise that small to medium business owners are dealing more with unemployment issues these days? Wouldn’t it be great to hand those problems off to someone else?

With the services of a PEO, where the PEO becomes the “employer of record”, it is no longer the client’s responsibility to deal with unemployment issues (such as claims and UE taxes.) That all becomes “Somebody Else’s Problem” (the PEO’s) and the client can continue to build their business.

Allan Jackson, owner of Southeastern Data, explains (in the video below) how a PEO got rid of his unemployment problems in the video below. Southeastern Data is entering their third year as a client of a PEO (placed by PEO Pros.)

Are you a start up PEO that can’t find a master policy?
Don’t panic.

We can help!

PEO Pros has a special department that handles start up PEOs, Staffing and Payroll companies.

In particular we help with Workers’ Comp, General Liability, EPLI and in some cases Health Insurance.

We have experience with start up companies, so much that the carriers have come to rely on us to help the transition from start up to going concern.

Have you heard these or something similar?

• “We don’t do start ups”
• “We require a minimum book of business”
• “Come back and see us when you have 3 or more years experience”

Sound familiar? Don’t despair. We can help.

Use the form below to get in touch with us.

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This article was published in “The PEO Insider” in January 2010. Reproduced here by permission. If you click on the images they may just give you a clearer view.

The PEO Insider was doing a special issue on brokers and called on me. I was flattered of course! I know we do some brokering but there are many larger “broker houses” than ours. Stephanie Oetjen, the feature editor, told me that I was considered to be a “high visibility broker, with a significant internet presence.”

Well who could resist that kind of schmoozing. After several edits and sessions with Stephanie this was the finished product.

Page 1 of The PEO Insider article January 2010

Page 2 of The PEO Insider article January 2010

Southeastern Data is one of the most unique businesses in Central Florida. From their website:

“Since 1996 Southeastern Data has provided recycling & remarketing of of all types of computers & electronic equipment. We offer pickup service across the nation and to a number of locations outside of the country.

Southeastern Data is an expert at recycling all forms of electronics and equipment. We also offer wholesale pricing of refurbished and new-old-stock items at our warehouse location in Oviedo, Florida. Our warehouse is open to the public Monday-Friday, 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. with other hours available by appointment.”

Allan Jackson, owner and CEO tells us “I wish I’d known about PEOs when I got started. I could have avoided a lot of headaches in our first year of business associated with managing payroll and taxes, but the real benefit early on would have come from expert help with basic HR issues such as unemployment and workers comp insurance. The time and money that I used to spend on that is now completely focused on the business. It’s been a huge upgrade! I also can’t say enough about PEO Pros in helping me find the best PEO solution for our needs at every step in my company’s evolution. My best advice for moving to a PEO relationship would be to make PEO Pros your first call.”

We are also clients of Southeastern Data. We have purchased all of our office computers and other tech items from their high quality collection of previously owned equipment.

This article is an outline of a talk that our CEO gives to various groups. Please contact us if you are interested in such a talk

Myth # 7: “I don’t need to be on my payroll – I can take distributions.”
Our CPAs have always advised us that even though Subchapter S corps and LLCs allow “distributions” to owners, the IRS expects you to run a payroll and use those distributions for special or unusual circumstances. A failure to run a payroll regularly can “raise a flag” on your return, which may make you subject to an audit.

Myth # 6: “If I have Workers’ Comp insurance claims don’t affect me.”
While it is true that in most cases the full burden of the claim falls upon the insurance company, it is important to remember that an “experience modifier” follows your corporation or business entity throughout its lifetime. Excessive claims can raise this modifier, which will correspondingly raise your workers’ comp premium.

Myth # 5: “A payroll service will relieve me of the worry of paying payroll taxes.”
Some payroll services, especially PEOs, who legally become the employer of record, can certainly mitigate the liability associated with payroll taxes. With a standard payroll service however, it is your FEIN that goes on the return and hence you will be audited if there is a problem. It is true that a reputable payroll service will “stand by your side” at the audit but you will still have some, if not all, of the responsibility. In a PEO situation the lion’s share of the liability rests with the PEO since it is their FEIN that is on the return.

Myth # 4: “Unemployment Claims do not cost me time or money.”
This gets monitored much the same way workers’ comp claims do. The state will keep a record of your claim history and can adjust your rate up or down on an annual basis. Certainly managing your employees properly and terminating them according to correct procedures will reduce your unemployment rate exposure.

Myth # 3: “We have our posters up so we are in compliance.”
Oh really? How old are those posters? Have you checked with all the state, federal and local authorities? Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone do that for you?

Myth # 2: “I’m exempt from Workers’ Comp because I don’t have enough employees.”
This is a great misunderstanding. NO ONE is exempt from Workers’ Comp in the United States of America. If an employee is injured on the job it falls under the Workers’ Compensation Act and the employer is responsible for all medical, legal, and administrative expenses involved with the claim, as well as paying lost wages from time out of work, typically two-thirds of the normal wage.

In most states, you may apply for an Insurance Exemption, which allows you to be self-insured. This depends on the number of employees. In Florida it is 3 or fewer employees besides the owners, or 1 employee in the construction field. You may be “exempt” from having an insurance policy but you still are subject to workers’ comp.

Myth # 1: “I don’t have employees, all my people are 1099 contractors.”
There is no doubt that many people in a contracting situation legally and are truly 1099 contractors. However, this is one of the most widely abused categories in the employment arena today. The 1099 is meant for those people that are truly independent, NOT just a way to avoid paying taxes.

Myth # .5: “I can do it without professional help.”
Good luck with that 🙂

We hope you will view us as a resource. You probably don’t need our services now, but you want the firetruck to know how to get to your house! Some of you might have even “smelled some smoke” while we were talking …

PEO Payroll Services with PAY-surance HR / PEO Pros

One of the most common “employer headache” complaint heard is handling the complicated and changing world of employee payroll and tax compliance associated with having employees.

Jeff Bosworth

“I decided to have PEO Pros find a PEO for me because doing Payroll was so laborious.” says Jeff Bosworth, Orlando area business owner and HR consultant. “It was a constant problem. I’m a firm believer that you pay people for professionalism.”

Handling payroll and ensuring employee tax compliance is a major benefit of working with a PEO. In addition to ensuring compliance with all taxing agents in the local, state and federal governments, annual tasks such as issuing W-2s are handled professionally. It’s important to remember that a PEO uses their own FEIN and it becomes their responsibility to comply. This is a favorable transfer of liability for business owners.

In addition to representing PEOs, PAY-surance HR also functions as brokes for Administrative Service Organizations (ASOs), more commonly known as Payroll Companies.

Payroll Services are available in three ways:

* From a PEO as a PEO client
* From a “payroll company” as an ASO client
* As a service from a PEO using the ASO model

In all of these cases, PEO Pros has the staff and expertise to find you a feasible solution.

Our staff has taken on the incredible task of sorting through the 2900+ pages of the new health care bill – HR 3590.

It is still very early but we believe there may be some advantages to small business owners, those with less than 100 employees.

If you are interested in hearing how this may benefit your small business, please contact us.