What is an Administrative Services Organization (ASO)?

Flex HR offers HR and payroll outsourcing, regardless of the payroll platform or benefits brokers that your company uses. Flex HR is an administration services organization, an ASO management services. Investing in human resources protects the most valuable asset of a business: your people. It’s crucial to ensure your HR is in good hands.

When you use Flex HR as your back office HR support, rest assured that your HR is being watched over properly. We monitor on a daily basis for compliance as well as best practices. Within human resources outsourcing, there are professional employer organizations (PEOs) and administrative services organizations (ASOs).

A PEO will be the joint employer and will lease employees to the employer. In addition, a PEO will determine the brokers and payroll platform for the company. This works in the beginning but can be frustrating for employers as the company grows and they want more control over fees.

Flex HR is considered an ASO, which provides more flexibility in overall company decision making and no hidden fees. Relying on an ASO management services firm allows your business to achieve the benefits of HR outsourcing without giving up the flexibility. This allows your company to establish itself as the full owner of their business, not the PEO.

CEO of Flex HR, Jenny Morehead, describes an Administrative Services Organization, and how Flex HR can support your HR needs.

What are ASO Management Services?

An ASO management services business delivers leaders significant flexibility and cost savings. Flex HR is known as one of the top ASOs in the United States. Flex HR provides companies with more choices for HR services. Additionally, Flex HR supplies human resources support and administration designed to meet your dynamic needs. Our widespread offerings include expert strategic consulting and planning, HR back office administration, regulatory compliance, state payroll tax consulting, organizational developmentbenefit solutionsmergersrecruitingtrainingpayroll, and payroll module enhancement.

ASO HR Administrative Services Organization
ASO Administrative Services Organization Cost Savings

Streamlining HR for your Business

Managing your business processes is a complex task. Few organizations have the resources to handle these issues on their own. Trust Flex HR as your ASO so you can focus on your core business responsibilities. Flex HR’s help will free up your time, resources, and establish needed confidentiality around salaries and any employee concerns. Meanwhile, your company maintains the employer of record and chooses the HR functions you wish to retain or outsource. Our mission and passion are to strengthen and streamline your organization’s HR functions with results-oriented service and innovative solutions. Through our extensive HR knowledge and proficiency, we minimize risk. We use customized and proven approaches so that each business may successfully evolve.

Does my company need an ASO?

Certainly, the answer is most small and medium sized companies could benefit from retaining an ASO management services firm. More businesses are turning to Human Resources Outsourcing (HRO) companies to manage their HR functions. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) surveyed clients and results indicate that by engaging an HRO firm, companies save money, can focus more on strategy and improve their compliance with federal and state regulations. With an ASO like Flex HR, your business receives a complementary extension of human resources including strategic HR planning. In addition, an ASO will provide better benefits coverage for employees, more transparent pricing, minimized compliance risk, and inclusive HR administration. Your business is unique and your HR needs are too.

What is the difference between an Administrative Service Organization (ASO) and a Professional Employer Organization (PEO)?

Professional Employer Organizations (PEO) are “co-employment” arrangements, thus when you decide to work with a PEO you simply enter into a co-employment agreement. In some cases, you hire a company’s employees to work for your business by leasing them back, often referred to as employee leasing. In other terms, the PEO becomes the employer of record (EOR) for tax purposes, running payroll under the PEO’s tax ID numbers. Flex HR is not a PEO because we believe that you the employer should remain the employer of record for your firm. Flex HR professionals typically take over when a PEO is not supporting that company to its maximum means.

PEOs only provide a general range of insurance benefit plans that are an all-purpose fit, dividing up the elements to all their customers equally. Due to the shared employer risk, client organizations lose control over HR policies and benefits and aren’t able to establish their own health care employee history over time, which can be damaging down the road.

An ASO management services firm provides a more flexible solution for companies. The company is the employer of record for the employees, but can get the needed fractional support from an HR manager, payroll manager, HR director, recruitment expert, compensation analysis expert, and state payroll tax consultant. Flex HR pulls together a team to service the client using a customized approach.

Flex HR is co-located in Atlanta, GA and Chicago, IL. Flex HR serves clients throughout the U.S. with employees located throughout the country. In addition, Flex HR has supported employees in U.S. subsidiaries of companies based in Europe and Asia.

What are the benefits of an ASO management services firm?

  • Flexibility of choice for broker and payroll platform for your company
  • State payroll tax support
  • Customized HR training such as workplace violence prevention, artificial intelligence procedures, plus diversity, equity and inclusion
  • Support from knowledgeable HR professionals for specific functions like compensation analysis, recruitment, and payroll module enhancement
  • Customized HR and payroll solutions and administration for your company
  • Payroll migration available for your payroll platform of choice
  • Compliance knowledge for the ever-changing laws across each state
  • HR best practices that can be executed at your company
  • Confidentiality within your organization for salary information