Helpside is a family-owned PEO founded in 1990 and headquartered in Lindon, Utah. It operated as A Plus Benefits until it rebranded in December 2017, and it merged with High Road PEO in October 2025. It serves small businesses across the Intermountain West from offices in Lindon, Phoenix, Meridian, Overland Park and St. Louis, and says it works with more than 800 clients. The model is deliberately local: named service teams rather than a national call center, the company's stated differentiator. Pricing is quoted per client as PEPM or a percentage of payroll, and the benefits shelf runs to six master medical options, four PPO and two HDHP, plus dental, vision and a 401(k).
Companies start shopping alternatives for a handful of reasons. The renewal moved faster than payroll did. Finance asked whether the PEO is an IRS Certified PEO or ESAC accredited and the answer was no on both counts. The business grew past the Intermountain West, or headcount drifted outside the 20 to 150 band where the fit is cleanest. Or a new CFO arrived with a diligence checklist.
None of those is automatically a reason to leave. What follows is an even-handed look at the providers most often used to replace Helpside and what a switch costs.
Quick comparison at a glance
| Provider | Best fit for | Pricing posture | Service model | Strength | Watch-out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helpside | Utah, Idaho, Arizona and Wyoming small businesses, 20 to 150 employees | Quote-only, PEPM or percentage of payroll | Local named teams | Intermountain West roots, family ownership | No CPEO, no ESAC |
| Stratus HR | Utah and Mountain West SMBs, mixed blue and white collar | PEPM, quoted per client | Dedicated HR consultant | Utah employment-law depth, 99% published retention | No CPEO or ESAC; smaller medical pool |
| Avitus Group | Rocky Mountain owners with no back office | Quote-only, monthly or per project | Bundled service teams | Accounting, recruiting and IT on one agreement | Publishes no scale figures; PEO is one line of several |
| Nextep | Buyers who need CPEO and ESAC at regional scale | PEPM, quoted per client | Named team, local offices | CPEO since 2017, ESAC since 2004 | Footprint sits outside the Intermountain West |
| Paychex PEO | Multi-state employers and existing Paychex payroll clients | PEPM or percentage of payroll | Pooled service center | Multi-state payroll and tax compliance | Add-on fees; service consistency varies |
Stratus HR
Stratus HR is the closest like-for-like alternative, and the two meet constantly in Utah. Founded in 1999 and rebranded in 2016, it is founder-owned and built on the same premise: a named HR consultant instead of a ticket queue.
Where it wins is reach and evidence. Stratus HR is licensed to serve clients in all 50 states from its Utah base, so a company with employees scattered elsewhere does not have to choose between local service and coverage. It publishes a 99% client retention rate, unusually high for the segment, and it writes mixed blue-collar and white-collar books that startup-focused PEOs decline.
Where it loses is the same place Helpside does. Stratus HR is not on the IRS CPEO list and is not ESAC accredited, so this move does not close the credential gap, and it is smaller than the nationals, which means thinner master medical leverage. Test the benefits plan by plan rather than assuming a sideways move is neutral. It fits Utah and Mountain West employers of roughly 10 to 250 employees. See the Stratus HR profile.
Avitus Group
Avitus Group is a different shape of alternative. Founded in Billings, Montana in 1996 and independently held since, it sells co-employment alongside accounting, tax preparation, recruiting and managed IT. For an owner with no back office, the pitch is one contract instead of four vendors.
Where it wins is breadth and flexibility. Services can be bought a la carte or bundled, so a company can start with payroll and add co-employment later, or keep the PEO and hand over bookkeeping it has been doing badly in-house. Its Rocky Mountain market knowledge is genuine.
Where it loses is focus and disclosure. Breadth across accounting, IT and marketing means the PEO line is one priority among several, and buyers who want a PEO-only relationship will find Helpside's concentration on the HR stack more reassuring. Avitus publishes very little about its own scale: no staff count, no client count, no worksite employee total, where Helpside at least puts an 800-plus client figure out there. Like Helpside it is neither CPEO certified nor ESAC accredited. Ask for hard numbers on worksite employees and master medical participation before signing. More in the Avitus Group profile.
Nextep
Nextep is the one to look at first if the credential question started this. Founded in 1997, founder-led and independent, it is listed on the IRS Certified PEO register under Nextep, Inc. and its Nextep Business Solutions entities, effective January 2017, and it has been ESAC accredited continuously since 2004, one of the longer unbroken records in the industry.
Where it wins is exactly there. CPEO status means the federal sole-liability shift for employment taxes and cleaner wage base treatment at a mid-year transition. ESAC means bonded financial assurance behind client obligations, the question a lender or an acquirer's diligence team tends to ask. Neither is on Helpside's sheet. Nextep also keeps roughly 20 U.S. offices across about 15 states as of 2026.
Where it loses is geography and scale. Coverage is concentrated in the Southwest, Midwest and Southeast, so a Utah or Idaho employer is buying credentials and service quality rather than a team down the road. Its worksite employee base is smaller than the national top ten, which limits master medical leverage. It fits 10 to 200 employee companies, including nonprofits, where CPEO or ESAC is on the requirements list. Start with the Nextep profile.
Paychex PEO
Paychex PEO is the national option here, and the right comparison when the driver is multi-state complexity rather than service. Paychex was founded in 1971, the PEO sits inside a public company with more than 16,000 employees, and the legacy Oasis brand now runs under Paychex HR. It is CPEO certified and ESAC accredited.
Where it wins is infrastructure: strong tax compliance and multi-state payroll, a nationwide footprint, integrated time and benefits, and real experience with seasonal workforces. If headcount has spread into states where Helpside has no office, that is the gap Paychex is built to close. If you already run Paychex payroll, migration friction drops, and carrying both credentials ends the CPEO conversation.
Where it loses is everything Helpside built its brand on. Service is a pooled center rather than a named local team, and consistency after the Oasis integration is variable. The platform is less modern than the software-first vendors, add-on fees accumulate, and deep HR consulting is not what this PEO is for. Typical cost runs roughly $140 to $220 per employee per month. It fits 5 to 500 employee companies across several states that weight compliance over relationship depth. See the Paychex PEO profile.
Not sure which of these fits your headcount and state? Get a free side-by-side of the PEOs that fit your company →
Other PEOs worth considering
BBSI (Barrett Business Services)
Publicly traded and ESAC accredited, with 138,218 average worksite employees in 2025 and a branch model that puts four specialists on a client. Its workers compensation capability is deep, including a captive insurer covering Arizona and Utah, which matters for construction and other higher-hazard books. It is not on the IRS CPEO list. See the BBSI profile.
G&A Partners
Privately held, CPEO certified and ESAC accredited, with roughly 130,000 worksite employees after the January 2026 Ethan Allen HR acquisition. It competes on personalized service teams with strength in Texas and the Sun Belt, a reasonable quote for an Arizona-weighted book. Third-party review scores are mixed, with complaints around departmental hand-offs, so ask for current references. More at the G&A Partners profile.
When you should NOT switch from Helpside
Leaving is worth it only when the math is clearly better elsewhere and the disruption is justified. Several situations argue for staying.
You are mid-contract. Helpside works on annual agreements, and notice and exit terms live in the Client Services Agreement. Breaking a term early usually means liquidated damages, accelerated fees, or both.
You are mid-plan-year. A mid-year switch means a W-2 split, two sets of tax filings, a 401(k) blackout during plan transfer, and benefits re-enrollment mid-calendar. Employees notice, finance notices, HR loses weeks. Plan the switch for renewal.
Your SUTA position is favorable. State unemployment rates travel differently depending on the structure you leave and the one you join, and a move can reset a rate you spent years earning.
You are hiring hard or integrating an acquisition. Lock the workforce first.
Your benefits are working. Six plan options across four PPO and two HDHP designs is a real shelf at this size. If the renewal came in flat and employees like the plans, an alternative has to be meaningfully cheaper.
The local team is why your HR works. If a named Helpside team is the difference between functional HR and chaos, you are buying that team, not a PEO. Swapping it for a pooled desk is a false economy.
Alternatives to Helpside without co-employment
A growing share of people searching for Helpside alternatives do not want another PEO. They want out of co-employment itself: the PEO as employer of record on the W-2, the master medical program, the shared workers compensation policy. Three options exist, and they trade money for control in different places.
ASO (administrative services only). The same payroll, HR and compliance administration, but you stay the employer of record and buy benefits and workers compensation in your own name. You keep your plans and carriers and give up the pooled pricing that is usually the largest line in a PEO's favor. For groups under 50 employees in expensive small-group markets, ASO often costs more in total even though the admin fee is lower.
Payroll software plus a benefits broker. Gusto or a comparable platform, with a broker placing medical, dental and workers compensation. 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.
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. It gets expensive per head, so it works only when that group is small.
How to decide: put the Helpside renewal, an ASO quote and a payroll-plus-broker quote on one page, total annual cost including benefits and workers compensation, not admin fees. If the non-PEO total is within a few percent, the control is usually worth it. If the gap is 10% or more, the pooled pricing is doing real work and the answer is a different PEO, not no PEO.
What to compare line-by-line
Most comparisons fall apart because companies compare the headline PEPM and skip the rest. Here is what belongs on the spreadsheet.
- Admin fee structure. Percentage-of-payroll fees grow with raises and bonuses; PEPM does not. Helpside quotes either way, so confirm which you are on.
- Master medical versus carve-out. Carve-outs preserve plan design and lose pricing leverage.
- Workers compensation master policy versus your own. A master policy bundles you into the PEO's experience modifier and rates; your own preserves your mod at more admin cost.
- CPEO status. IRS recognition and federal employment tax certainty; wage base treatment at a mid-year transition differs without it.
- ESAC accreditation. Independent financial assurance behind client obligations.
- Technology stack. Self-service, manager workflows, reporting, integration with accounting and time systems.
- Dedicated service versus ticketing. A named team or a case number. Both work, and they do not cost the same.
- Exit terms. Notice period, termination fees, transition cooperation, data return, COBRA handoff.
- Renewal cap language. A contractual cap on year-over-year increases, which most PEOs do not offer.
- EPLI bundling. Limits, deductible, and whether it is included or sold separately.
- SUTA spread. The PEO's state unemployment rates versus your own. Sometimes the PEO is cheaper, sometimes you subsidize other clients.
Want to know what your current arrangement really costs before you shop? 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 Helpside delivers today. Paychex PEO is the wrong conversation if you chose Helpside for a local team you can meet, and Nextep's credentials are beside the point if nobody in finance has asked about them.
Then pull the data the alternatives need: a census with compensation, state and class code; benefits enrollment and renewal history; workers compensation loss runs and your experience modifier; 401(k) details; and your Helpside invoice with the full fee breakdown. Then compare like with like: same plan tier, same contribution strategy, same workers compensation structure. If one quote anchors on a richer plan, the math is rigged before you start. We do this across a 36-PEO panel, we are paid by the PEO you choose, and it costs you nothing.
Skip the five-vendor sales gauntlet. Start with a 10-minute questionnaire and we will build the side-by-side around your census and your states.
What switching actually takes: the implementation timeline
The disruption is easy to underestimate, so plan for it. 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. The sequence is predictable: a signed Client Services Agreement opens a benefits enrollment window of two to four weeks, then payroll cutover, then the first paycheck.
The work divides cleanly, and it is worth confirming that division in writing before you sign. The incoming PEO does the heavy lifting: state registrations, tax setup, enrollment communications. You provide the employee data, the carrier elections and the cutover decisions. A switch aligned to the plan year is the clean case; a mid-year switch adds complexity mainly because of W-2 reporting, since every employee ends up with two W-2s.
One Helpside-specific note. Because Helpside is not a Certified PEO, a mid-year move changes how federal wage bases are treated at the transition, which can raise employer-side FICA and FUTA costs on higher-paid employees for the rest of the year. It is a modeling exercise rather than a deal-breaker, but it belongs in the comparison before you pick a date. Our guide to switching PEOs has the full sequence.
FAQ
Is Stratus HR better than Helpside?
Neither is universally better. They are close Utah peers: both independent, both built on named service teams, and neither is IRS CPEO certified or ESAC accredited. Helpside has the wider office footprint and says it serves more than 800 client companies; Stratus HR is licensed in all 50 states from a single Utah base and publishes a 99% client retention rate. On benefits, quote both and compare the plan grids.
Does it matter that Helpside is not a CPEO?
It depends on who is asking. CPEO is the IRS certification that shifts federal employment tax liability to the PEO and removes the wage base restart on a mid-year join. Most owner-operated small businesses never raise it; auditors, lenders and acquirers sometimes do, and then the answer has to be yes. Helpside carries neither credential. Among the alternatives here, Nextep and Paychex PEO carry both.
Can I switch PEOs mid-year?
Yes, but it is expensive in disruption even when the dollar costs are reasonable. It means a W-2 split for every employee, two sets of tax filings, a 401(k) blackout during plan transfer, mid-year benefits re-enrollment, and a COBRA administration handoff. Most companies that do it mid-year had to. If you can wait for your renewal date, wait.
Will my benefits get worse if I leave Helpside?
Not necessarily, but you have to design for it. Helpside runs a master medical program with six plan options, four PPO and two HDHP, plus dental, vision and a 401(k), a respectable shelf for a regional PEO. A national pool can widen plan choice and move the renewal math either way; another regional PEO of similar size is usually lateral. Compare plan grids and renewal history, not brochures.
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; 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 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 most often missed are one-time implementation or setup fees, payroll-related charges (off-cycle runs, manual checks, amended filings, custom reports), minimum monthly fees, termination and early-exit penalties, year-end processing fees, HR project fees, state registration fees, and benefits administration charges. Renewal increases are the biggest one: attractive first-year pricing can climb at renewal, so ask in writing how renewals are handled. The defense is simple: request a full fee schedule and a sample invoice before signing, and ask the provider to identify every charge that could apply to you.
The practical takeaway
Helpside is a credible regional PEO for small employers in Utah, Idaho, Arizona and Wyoming who want people they can meet, and for many of them the right answer after shopping is to stay. The reasons to look elsewhere are specific: a credential requirement Helpside does not meet, a footprint that has outgrown the Intermountain West, or a renewal nobody can explain. Price the alternatives against what you actually consume, compare at renewal with your data in order, and read the contract before the sales cycle sets the pace. For the full market rather than the names you know, see our PEO rankings.
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.