FrankCrum is a family-owned PEO based in Clearwater, Florida, founded in 1981 and now third-generation owned. It supports more than 90,000 worksite employees across 4,800-plus client businesses and is a founding member of NAPEO. What makes it unusual is structural: FrankCrum owns its workers' compensation carrier, Frank Winston Crum Insurance, so comp is underwritten in house rather than brokered out. Payroll, HR support, workers' compensation, compliance and EPLI come bundled into one rate, and premium is pay-as-you-go, with no large down payment and fewer audit surprises.
That is why FrankCrum shows up so often in construction, skilled trades, franchises and light industrial work. It is also why companies eventually look around. The renewal moved faster than payroll did. A CFO or a lender asked for IRS CPEO certification or ESAC accreditation, and FrankCrum carries neither. The business expanded past Florida and the Southeast, where the footprint is thinner even after growth into California, Texas, Arizona and Georgia. The workforce shifted from field crews to office staff, which changes what the comp advantage is worth. Or the technology, functional rather than best-in-class, stopped being enough.
None of those are automatic reasons to leave. What follows is an even-handed look at the providers most often shortlisted against FrankCrum. We are an independent brokerage with 36 PEOs on our panel, paid by the PEO a client selects, so this costs you nothing.
Quick comparison at a glance
| Provider | Best fit for | Pricing posture | Service model | Strength | Watch-out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FrankCrum | Trades, Southeast SMBs, 10-150 | Bundled fee, quoted per client | Family-owned, service-led | Owns its comp carrier; pay-as-you-go | No CPEO or ESAC; Southeast-weighted |
| SouthEast Personnel Leasing | High-hazard trades, transportation, marine | Percentage of payroll, class driven | Comp and claims led, in house | Writes classes most PEOs decline | Thin benefits; basic technology |
| CoAdvantage | Southeast and multi-state SMBs, 10-250 | PEPM | Regional service teams | Comp pooling plus CPEO and ESAC | PrimePay merger integrating |
| DecisionHR | Florida and Southeast, 10-250 | Quote-only PEPM or percent | Regional, relationship-based | IRS-certified; stable renewals | No ESAC; recapitalized in 2025 |
| Engage PEO | Compliance-heavy mid-market, 25-500 | Quote-only PEPM | Attorney-backed advisory | Employment-law attorneys; 50 states | No mobile app; light fit under 15 |
| ADP TotalSource | Multi-state mid-market, 50-250 | Percent of payroll or PEPM | Pooled service pods | Benefits buying power, compliance | Fees grow with payroll; rigid terms |
SouthEast Personnel Leasing (SPLI)
SPLI is the closest structural peer FrankCrum has. Founded in 1986, it sits under Jamestown Holdings Corporation, which also owns Lion Insurance Company and Packard Claims Administration: the same arrangement FrankCrum built, with an affiliated carrier, in-house claims and pay-as-you-go premium.
Where it beats FrankCrum is appetite. SPLI writes construction, transportation, marine, sanitation, forestry and staffing risk that much of the market, including some comp-friendly PEOs, declines or prices punitively, with nearly four decades of history and a large Florida book behind it.
Where it loses is everything that is not comp. The benefits menu is thinner, built around comp, payroll and risk rather than a medical plan, and the technology lags the national platforms. Like FrankCrum, SPLI is on neither the IRS CPEO list nor the ESAC directory, so this move does not solve a credential problem. It fits an employer whose crews are the business and whose HR needs are modest. See our SPLI comparison page.
CoAdvantage
CoAdvantage keeps the comp advantage in play while adding the credentials FrankCrum lacks. Founded in 1997 and supporting roughly 110,000 worksite employees, it concentrates in Florida and the Southeast much as FrankCrum does, and it is both IRS CPEO-certified and ESAC accredited.
It wins on three things. The credentials close the gap that pushes many FrankCrum clients to shop. Pricing is more legible: PEPM, typically 120 to 180 dollars per employee per month, is easier to model than a bundled fee built around risk class. And CoAdQuantum, now paired with the PrimePay HCM stack after the June 2025 merger, is a step up on technology.
FrankCrum still wins on the comp structure itself. Pooling is not ownership: CoAdvantage negotiates and pools, FrankCrum underwrites, and for a contractor with a difficult loss history that is hard to replicate. FrankCrum also has fewer moving parts, since the PrimePay integration is early and roadmap and rep coverage are unsettled through 2026, so ask about service-team continuity. More on our CoAdvantage comparison page.
DecisionHR
DecisionHR is the quietest name here and frequently the right one. Based in St. Petersburg and under the same brand since 1996, it supports more than 30,000 worksite employees across 42 states and carries three certified entities on the IRS CPEO list, all effective 1/1/2017.
It beats FrankCrum on certification and on benefits stability. The CPEO status is verifiable, which settles the credential screen, and the company competes openly on medical renewals, publicly claiming eight consecutive years of single-digit renewals for most enrolled groups. Comp is placed through an A rated carrier.
FrankCrum still wins on comp economics for heavy risk classes, because DecisionHR places comp with a carrier rather than owning one, and a hard risk gets priced as a hard risk. DecisionHR is also not ESAC accredited, and client-facing technology is not a differentiator, so this is not the move if the platform is your complaint. The Coalesce Capital recapitalization and back-to-back acquisitions make service continuity a fair question, and renewal caps belong in writing.
Engage PEO
Engage PEO is a different kind of alternative. Founded in 2011, operating in all 50 states, CPEO certified and ESAC accredited, it staffs licensed employment-law attorneys and pairs them with every client, which is rare in this tier.
Against FrankCrum it wins on compliance depth and geography. An employer drifting past the Southeast does not inherit a thin bench in a new state, and the attorney model delivers what an HR support tier does not: judgment on a termination, a classification question or an accommodation request.
Where FrankCrum still wins is the trades. Engage's core is professional services, healthcare, manufacturing, nonprofits and finance in the 25 to 500 band, and it has no affiliated carrier, so a contractor with a difficult experience modifier will usually price better at FrankCrum. Engage is a weaker fit below about 15 employees, there is no mobile app, and quote-only pricing makes comparison shopping harder. See our Engage PEO comparison page.
ADP TotalSource
ADP TotalSource is the national step up, the right conversation for FrankCrum clients whose growth has outrun a regional provider. It is the largest PEO in the country by worksite employees, CPEO certified and ESAC accredited, with benefits buying power a regional PEO cannot match.
It wins on benefits and multi-state execution. Access to Fortune 500-quality plan design is a step up from a bundled regional stack, and multi-state payroll and tax management is what ADP has done longest.
FrankCrum still wins on cost structure, risk appetite and service texture. TotalSource commonly prices as a percentage of payroll, typically 2 to 4 percent, so the fee grows with every raise. Service runs through pooled pods, contract terms tend to be rigid, and implementation can be slow. For a trades employer, it is not underwriting the risk the way a carrier-owning PEO does. More in our ADP TotalSource review.
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Other PEOs worth considering
BBSI (Barrett Business Services)
Publicly traded on NASDAQ, ESAC accredited and SOC 1 certified, BBSI runs a branch model with a stated four-specialist team per client. Its comp capability is deep, including self-insurance in several states and a captive insurer, which supports higher-hazard classes much as FrankCrum does. Two caveats: BBSI is not on the IRS CPEO list, and the book is concentrated in California and the West.
G&A Partners
Privately held, CPEO certified and ESAC accredited, with roughly 130,000 worksite employees and a Sun Belt presence extended into the Northeast by the January 2026 Ethan Allen HR acquisition. G&A competes on personalized service teams rather than call center support and prices PEPM in the 130 to 200 dollar range. Third-party review scores are mixed, so ask for current references.
Comparing regional CPEOs against the national brands? See how the panel stacks up.
When you should NOT switch from FrankCrum
Leaving is right only when the math is clearly better elsewhere and the disruption is justified. Several situations argue for staying.
You are mid-contract. FrankCrum's agreements are typically annual, and breaking one early usually means notice obligations, fee acceleration, or both. Read the CSA termination section before you take a sales call.
You are mid-plan-year. A mid-year switch means a W-2 split for every employee, two sets of tax filings, a 401(k) blackout during plan transfer, and benefits re-enrollment mid-calendar. SUTA matters too: a mid-year move can restart state unemployment wage bases depending on the state and the certification status of both PEOs. If renewal is months out, wait for it.
Your workers' compensation is the hard part of the deal. Where carriers are scarce, the in-house carrier and pay-as-you-go premium do more work than the admin fee suggests. A cheaper rate that comes with a comp deposit and an audit true-up is not cheaper.
You are hiring hard or integrating an acquisition. Lock the workforce first.
Your service team is the reason your HR works. Trading a responsive team for a pooled call center to save a few dollars per head is a false economy.
Alternatives to FrankCrum without co-employment
A growing share of the people searching for FrankCrum alternatives are not looking for another PEO. They want out of co-employment itself: the PEO as employer of record on the W-2, the bundled benefits, the shared workers' compensation policy. There are three real options.
ASO (administrative services only). The same payroll, HR and compliance administration, but you stay the employer of record and buy benefits and comp in your own name. You keep your plans, carriers and experience modifier, and you give up the pooled pricing that is usually the largest line in a PEO's favor. For a FrankCrum client this is the option that most often backfires, because comp written by an affiliated carrier has to be re-placed at your own mod.
Payroll software plus a benefits broker. Gusto, or another payroll platform, with a separate broker placing medical, dental and comp. Cheapest in software cost, most work for you, and benefits priced on your own group: fine for a healthy census, painful for a small or older one. Right for a company with an in-house HR person, wrong for a contractor whose comp is the reason the PEO exists.
Employer of record for the out-of-state minority. If co-employment exists only because of a few employees in states where you have no entity, an EOR for those people plus normal payroll for everyone else can replace the PEO, though it gets expensive per head quickly.
How to decide: put the PEO renewal, an ASO quote and a payroll-plus-broker quote on one page at total annual cost including benefits and comp, not admin fees. If the gap is 10 percent or more, pooled pricing is doing real work and the better move is a different PEO, not no PEO.
What to compare line-by-line
Most comparisons fall apart because companies compare the headline rate and skip the rest. It is one of a dozen variables that set total cost and risk.
- Admin fee structure. PEPM versus percentage of payroll. Percentage fees grow with raises and bonuses; PEPM does not.
- Pooled medical plan versus carve-out. Carve-outs preserve plan design but lose the PEO's pricing leverage.
- Workers' comp master policy versus your own. Ask whether the carrier is affiliated or brokered, and what happens to open claims at exit.
- Pay-as-you-go versus deposit. Premium billed per payroll, or a deposit and a year-end true-up. Often the deciding line.
- CPEO status. IRS recognition and federal tax certainty. Non-CPEOs can operate cleanly, but mid-year wage-base treatment differs.
- ESAC accreditation. Independent financial assurance and bonding. Some CFOs screen on it; many buyers never ask.
- Technology stack. Self-service, manager workflows, reporting, integration with accounting and time systems. Demo it with real data.
- Dedicated service versus ticketing. A named HR contact, or a pooled center with a case number. Both work, at different prices.
- Exit terms. Notice period, termination fees, transition cooperation language, data return, COBRA handoff.
- Renewal cap language. Any contractual cap on year-over-year increases, on admin fee, medical and comp separately.
- SUTA spread. The PEO's state unemployment rates versus your own. Sometimes cheaper, sometimes a subsidy of other clients.
Want a comparison built around your actual census, not a sales deck? Request a current-PEO audit.
How to do the comparison without burning months
The standard process takes 60 to 90 days, runs five sales cycles in parallel, and ends with a spreadsheet nobody trusts. Start instead by getting clear on what you need versus what FrankCrum delivers today. Not every alternative is a real alternative: ADP TotalSource is not a serious conversation for a 25-person roofing company, and SPLI is not the answer for a multi-state professional services firm. An honest fit assessment kills three of the five quotes before you waste time.
Then pull the data the alternatives need: full census with comp, state and class code; benefits enrollment and renewal history; comp loss runs and current experience modifier; 401(k) details; and your FrankCrum invoice with the full fee breakdown, not the summary line. Then compare like for like: same plan tier, same contribution strategy, same comp structure.
Skip the five-vendor sales gauntlet. Start with a 10-minute questionnaire and we will build the side-by-side for you.
What switching actually takes: the implementation timeline
The disruption is easy to underestimate, so plan for it. For most small and mid-sized businesses, implementation runs about four to eight weeks from a signed agreement to the first PEO-processed paycheck; employers with more locations and carriers take longer. A signed Client Services Agreement opens a benefits enrollment window of roughly two to four weeks, then payroll cutover, then the first paycheck.
The work divides cleanly, and it is worth confirming that division in writing. The incoming PEO does the heavy lifting: state registrations, tax setup, benefits enrollment communications. You provide the employee data, the carrier elections and the cutover decisions. Leaving a comp-led PEO adds one item: a written plan for open workers' compensation claims after the transition date.
Timing decides how smooth it feels. A switch aligned to the plan year is the clean case. A mid-year switch adds complexity mainly because of W-2 reporting: every employee ends up with one W-2 from the outgoing PEO through the switch date and a second from the incoming PEO for the rest of the year. Doable, sometimes necessary, but a reason to plan the date. More in our guide to switching PEOs.
FAQ
Is FrankCrum better than SouthEast Personnel Leasing?
Neither is universally better. Both write workers' compensation through an affiliated carrier, both offer pay-as-you-go premium, and neither is IRS CPEO-certified or ESAC accredited. FrankCrum is the broader HR company, bundling HR support, compliance and EPLI into one rate. SouthEast Personnel Leasing is narrower and more comp-led: thinner benefits, but real appetite for classes most PEOs decline.
Does it matter that FrankCrum is not a CPEO?
It depends on who is asking. FrankCrum is neither IRS CPEO-certified nor ESAC accredited, and that is a screening requirement for some CFOs and lenders. CPEO status gives federal certainty on employment tax liability and cleaner wage-base treatment at a mid-year transition; ESAC is an independent financial assurance program. Plenty of well-run PEOs operate without either. If your finance function treats them as a gate, CoAdvantage, DecisionHR, Engage PEO and ADP TotalSource all carry CPEO status.
Can I keep pay-as-you-go workers' compensation if I leave FrankCrum?
Often yes, but not automatically, and it is the line item to pin down before you sign anywhere. Pay-as-you-go means premium is calculated on actual payroll each cycle rather than on an estimate with a deposit up front and a true-up at audit. Some PEOs offer it; others quote a deposit. Ask in writing how premium is billed, what deposit or collateral is required, and how the year-end audit works.
What does it cost to leave FrankCrum?
It depends on where you are in the agreement. FrankCrum's agreements are typically annual, so at renewal with proper notice the cost is mostly operational: implementation, internal HR time, employee communication and benefits gap planning. Exiting mid-term means whatever notice, fee acceleration or termination language sits in your CSA. Read that section before you shop, and confirm how open workers' compensation claims are handled after the exit date.
Will my benefits get worse if I leave FrankCrum?
Not necessarily, and for some employers they get better. FrankCrum bundles a working benefits stack into its core package, but benefits are not what the company is built around; workers' compensation is. ADP TotalSource, CoAdvantage and Engage PEO can widen plan choice, and DecisionHR competes on renewal stability. The caution runs the other way: the comp economics are what you risk losing. Price benefits, comp and admin as one number.
How long does it take to switch to a new PEO?
For most small and mid-sized businesses, implementation runs about four to eight weeks from a signed agreement to the first PEO-processed paycheck; mid-market employers with more locations and carriers take longer. The path is a signed Client Services Agreement, then a benefits enrollment window of roughly two to four weeks, then payroll cutover, then the first PEO-processed paycheck. The incoming PEO handles state registrations, tax setup, and benefits enrollment communications; you provide the employee data, the carrier elections, and the cutover decisions. Mid-year switches add complexity, mainly because of W-2 reporting, so the cleanest transitions are timed to the plan year.
What hidden costs should I watch for in a PEO agreement?
The ones that most often get missed are one-time implementation or setup fees, payroll-related charges (off-cycle runs, manual checks, amended filings, custom reports), minimum monthly fees, termination fees and early-exit penalties, year-end processing fees, HR project fees, state registration fees, and benefits administration charges. In a comp-driven deal, add workers' compensation deposits, collateral requirements and audit true-ups. Renewal increases are the biggest one: attractive first-year pricing can climb at renewal, so ask in writing how renewals are handled. Request a full fee schedule and a sample invoice before signing.
The practical takeaway
FrankCrum is a good PEO, and for a Southeast employer in the trades, the in-house carrier and pay-as-you-go comp are advantages most of the market cannot copy. The mistake is shopping reactively and picking the cheapest admin fee. Price the whole arrangement, comp and benefits included, against what your workforce looks like now rather than when you signed. If the credential gap is the problem, the certified alternatives close it. If the comp is the problem, SouthEast Personnel Leasing may be the only one that solves it the same way. If the math says stay, negotiate the renewal with real quotes in hand.
If you would rather have the comparison done for you: tell us about your company and an advisor comes back with the two or three PEOs worth quoting, at no cost to you.