.webp)
Payroll and Benefits for Colorado Businesses
Senior help choosing a benefits broker, setting up payroll, running open enrollment, and building a 401(k), for first-timers and teams that outgrew their first setup.
.png.webp)
What our payroll and benefits service is
Benefits and payroll administration is handing the selection, setup, enrollment, and ongoing running of your benefits to an outside HR consultant: health, dental and vision, life and disability, 401(k), and the compliance around them. We help Colorado businesses in construction, restaurants, healthcare, SaaS, and professional services, with neutral advice on brokers, payroll platforms, and retirement providers, since we take no commissions.
Who this fits
Small and mid-sized businesses that need payroll and benefits run right.
Professional Services & SaaS
You hire knowledge workers, and your benefits package is part of whether they take the offer.
Restaurants & Hospitality
You run multiple units with tipped and hourly staff, and benefits for them are their own puzzle.
Growing Teams
You're around 50 to 100 people and have outgrown the payroll or benefits setup you started with.
First Benefits Hires
You're adding your first real benefits package, usually around 10 to 25 people, and want to get it right.
What's included in a payroll and benefits engagement
Everything included in a full payroll and benefits engagement, from scope to handoff.
Benefits Broker Selection
Neutral help choosing a group health broker: compare 3 to 5 options, run a real RFP, and pick on fit instead of whoever called first.
Plan Design Strategy
We set the plan tiers, contribution split, employer share, HSA vs PPO, and dental and vision, built to your budget and your team.
Open Enrollment Management
End-to-end open enrollment: the communication plan, the portal, employee sessions, and the paperwork. The first one usually runs 4 to 6 weeks.
Provider Selection and Setup
Neutral help picking a payroll platform (Gusto, Rippling, ADP, Paychex, and others) for your size and states, with setup included.
401(k) Plan Setup
Plan design, recordkeeper and TPA selection, match strategy, vesting, and the compliance paperwork. Setup usually runs 8 to 12 weeks.
Compliance Documentation
ACA reporting (1095-C), summary plan descriptions, COBRA coordination, FAMLI and payroll integration, HFWA tracking, and ERISA filings.
Benefits Communication
Plain-language summaries, enrollment materials, and live employee sessions. Most enrollment frustration is bad communication, not bad benefits.
Ongoing Administration
Monthly oversight: enrollment changes, billing reconciliation, carrier escalations, terminations, and the COBRA notices that follow.
How a payroll and benefits engagement works
A structured process from discovery through ongoing partnership, adjusted to your scope.
Discovery
A short call on your current benefits, budget, team, and states, and an honest read on what's actually broken.
Tailored solutions
Your consultant runs what you scoped, from a broker RFP to plan design to 401(k) setup, working with your vendors.
Ongoing support
Most clients keep us monthly through the first full year, then shift to lighter quarterly oversight.
How we structure pricing
We price by the actual scope, never a percentage of premium or a broker commission. A retainer, a one-time project like a broker RFP or open enrollment, or a payroll setup are each quoted after the discovery call. We earn nothing from brokers or carriers, so the advice stays neutral.
Payroll and Benefits FAQs
Curious about something? We're here with answers! If you haven't found what you need on our website, give us a shout!
Both, depending on what fits. Some engagements include a payroll platform RFP and switch. Others keep your existing provider and just add senior oversight. The discovery call clarifies which is right.
Yes. Construction payroll has unique requirements: prevailing wage on public projects, certified payroll reporting, multi-state work crossing state lines, per diem versus wages, and overtime under COMPS Order #40.
Most small businesses budget 25 to 35 percent of payroll for total benefits cost (health, dental, vision, life, disability, retirement match, payroll taxes, FAMLI, etc.). Of that, health insurance is typically the largest single line.
Employers with 10 or more Colorado employees pay 0.45 percent of wages into FAMLI (the employer share, which is half of the total 0.9 percent program premium). Employers with fewer than 10 employees are not required to contribute the employer share but must still remit the employee portion.
401(k) setup involves choosing a recordkeeper (Guideline, Human Interest, Vestwell, Fidelity, others), a third-party administrator (TPA), plan design (employer match, vesting schedule, eligibility rules), and the compliance documentation. Setup typically runs 8 to 12 weeks.
Benefits administration outsourcing is when an external consultant handles the day-to-day administration of your benefits program: enrollment changes, billing reconciliation, COBRA notices, carrier escalations, ACA reporting, and open enrollment management.
A group health insurance broker shops the market on your behalf, presents plan options from multiple carriers, helps you design the contribution structure, and handles enrollment and renewal each year. Brokers are paid by carriers, not by you directly. Most companies above 10 employees benefit from a broker.
