Is People Processes a PEO like ADP TotalSource?

No. ADP TotalSource becomes your co-employer. We don't: your company stays the only employer, with your own tax ID, benefit plans and carriers. We're your outsourced HR department, and we do the HR work itself.

How much does ADP TotalSource cost?

ADP doesn't publish PEO prices. One 2023 client contract charged 1.81% to 6.42% of gross pay depending on job class, with workers' comp included, plus state unemployment, a $2,930 setup fee and $30 per new hire. ADP's annual report works out to about $197 per employee per month on average.

Is People Processes cheaper than ADP TotalSource?

For a 30-person company, Foundation comes to about $167 per employee per month. For ADP TotalSource, the fees plus the HR work your team would still do come to about $251. The full math is on this page.

Can we leave ADP TotalSource in the middle of the year?

Under the 2023 contract we reviewed, either side can end it at any time with 30 days' written notice. Your benefits are the harder part: plan the switch so your own plans start when ADP's coverage ends.

What happens to our benefits if we leave ADP TotalSource?

If your employees are on ADP TotalSource's health plans, you'll need your own plans when you leave. Timing matters: switching at a plan renewal avoids resetting deductibles mid-year. Send us your agreement and invoices and we'll plan the move and quote your own plans.

People Processes vs ADP TotalSource

An ADP TotalSource alternative that does the HR work.

ADP TotalSource is a PEO: it becomes your co-employer and gives your team its platform. We're your own HR department instead, and you stay the only employer.

Send us your PEO invoices or book a 30-minute call

The short answer

ADP TotalSource is a professional employer organization (PEO). It becomes your employees' co-employer, puts them on its benefit plans and prices its service as a percentage of payroll. People Processes is an outsourced HR department, not a PEO: your company stays the only employer, keeps its own benefit plans, and our team does the day-to-day HR work. Our prices are published and based on headcount, and Foundation and Complete are month to month.

Side by side

ADP TotalSource vs People Processes

From ADP TotalSource's own published pages and filings, checked October 27, 2026.

ADP TotalSource compared with People Processes
	ADP TotalSource	People Processes
Who's the employer	Co-employment: ADP TotalSource becomes your employees' co-employer and can report state unemployment tax under its own account.	Your company stays the only employer, under your own tax ID and your own unemployment tax accounts.
Pricing	Not published. One 2023 client contract charged a percentage of each employee's gross pay by job class (1.81% to 6.42%, workers' comp included), state unemployment billed separately, a $2,930 setup fee and $30 per new hire. Across all clients, ADP's annual report works out to about $197 per employee per month after its own workers' comp and unemployment costs.	Published: Foundation from $1,650/month and Complete from $3,500/month for the first 10 employees, then a set price per employee up to 50. Based on headcount, never a percentage of payroll.
Benefits	ADP's plans. ADP reports health benefits as zero-margin pass-throughs, but the same client contract lets it keep the employer payroll-tax savings on employees' pre-tax premiums.	Your own plans and carriers. We're a licensed benefits agency (since 2009), shop your renewal every year, and are paid by the carrier, not by you.
Contract	A one-year term that renews each year. Either side can end it at any time with 30 days' written notice.	Month to month. Either side can end it with 30 days' written notice.
Who does the HR work	As with most PEOs, your team enters hires and changes and approves time in ADP's platform; ADP processes payroll and files taxes as co-employer.	We do it: a named HR business partner, onboarding calls with every new hire, one-on-one open enrollment, a Monday Brief on everything open and same-day written answers.
When you leave	Coverage ends on the termination date, with health running to the end of that month if paid. You then need your own plans, which can mean mid-year.	Nothing changes for your employees' benefits, because the plans are already yours.

What you're really paying

The fee is only part of the cost.

A PEO's fee doesn't include the HR work your team still does in its system. Here's ADP TotalSource plus that work, against Foundation and Complete, for a 30-person company.

Foundation against a PEO

Foundation runs payroll, benefits, onboarding, offboarding, leave and filings. On a PEO, someone on your team still does that work in the PEO's system.

Foundation against a PEO plus the HR work it leaves with you, for a company of 30 employees
30 employees, one state	People Processes Foundation	ADP TotalSource + the work it leaves you
Service fees a year	$57,000	$70,900
Per-event fees a year (new hires, separations)	$3,000	$200
HR work your team still does, a year	—	$19,200
Total a year	$60,000	$90,400
Per employee per month	$167	$251
One-time setup (year 1 only)	$9,500	$2,900

Complete against a PEO

Complete adds pay studies, performance reviews, surveys, culture and communications, benefits explainers and videos, and manager training. On a PEO, that's manager-level work you'd staff or skip.

Complete against a PEO plus the HR work it leaves with you, for a company of 30 employees
30 employees, one state	People Processes Complete	ADP TotalSource + the work it leaves you
Service fees a year	$113,800	$70,900
Per-event fees a year (new hires, separations)	$3,000	$200
HR work your team still does, a year	—	$75,000
Manager training you'd buy separately	—	$6,000
Total a year	$116,800	$152,100
Per employee per month	$324	$423
One-time setup (year 1 only)	$19,000	$2,900

How we worked this out (October 2026)

ADP TotalSource's fee is ADP's average PEO revenue per worksite employee in fiscal 2026, after its own workers' comp and unemployment costs (about $197 a month). Setup and per-hire fees are from one 2023 client contract. Averages blend every client size; smaller clients may pay more.
Our prices are list prices for 30 employees. Per-event fees assume 25% of headcount hired and 25% leaving each year.
The HR work your team still does is our estimate: 390 hours a year (about 7.5 a week) for Foundation-level work, valued at the median HR specialist's pay; and another 576 hours for what Complete adds, valued at the median HR manager's pay. Pay includes benefits and payroll taxes (BLS OEWS May 2025 and ECEC June 2026).
Not included on either side: health premiums and workers' comp. On a PEO they're bundled into the PEO's own rates, and there's no reliable public figure for any markup, so we assume none.
Both sides include their software. Foundation includes payroll, time and attendance, onboarding and benefits administration; Complete adds applicant tracking, performance management, training and surveys.

Your numbers will differ. Send us your PEO invoices and we'll do the real math for your company.

Who does the work

Who actually does the HR work?

Done for you
Partly: you still do some of it
You do it, or nobody does

Who does the HR work: comprehensive software, a PEO, an in-house team, an HR consultant, or People Processes
Who does it?	Comprehensive software	PEO	In-house team	HR consultant	People ProcessesFoundation & Complete
Calls and onboards a new employee	No: You, through the software	No: You, through their portal	Yes: Your HR hire	No: You	Yes: We do
Enters new hires, updates employee records and processes terminations	No: You, in the software	No: You, in their portal	Yes: Your HR hire	No: You	Yes: We do
Reviews timesheets and processes payroll	Partly: You enter it; the software pays and files taxes	Partly: You review hours and enter pay; they send payments and taxes	Yes: Your HR hire or bookkeeper	No: You	Yes: We do
Follows up on missing documents	Partly: Automated reminders, then you	No: You	Yes: Your HR hire	No: You	Yes: We do
Joins termination meetings	No: You	Partly: You (a shared HR line can advise)	Yes: Your HR hire	Partly: You, with their advice	Yes: We join by video when it's risky or you ask
Meets employees at open enrollment and explains benefits	No: Nobody; employees read it in the app	Partly: A webinar or a benefits portal	Partly: Your HR hire, if they know benefits	No: Rarely	Yes: We do, one-on-one
Counsels managers on compliance and problem employees	No: Help articles	Partly: A shared HR line, when you call	Yes: Your HR hire	Yes: Yes, by the hour	Yes: Your named HR business partner
Runs benefits administration and required filings	Partly: Tools only	Yes: Yes, as the co-employer	Partly: If you hire those skills	No: No	Yes: Yes; you stay the only employer
Sets up, designs and maintains your HR tools	Partly: You, with a setup guide	Partly: Their system, as it comes	Partly: Your HR hire, if they can	Partly: Recommends	Yes: We build and maintain them
Builds systems across all seven pillars	No: No	No: No	Partly: Depends on one or two people	Partly: Recommends	Yes: Builds and runs them
Manager training	No: No	Partly: Online courses	No: Rarely	Partly: Occasional workshops	Yes: PPCL, included with Complete
Coverage when someone is out or leaves	No: None	Partly: A shared HR line	No: A gap until you rehire	No: None	Yes: A team, always covered
Proof it's working	Partly: Reports	No: None	No: Up to you	No: Up to you	Yes: Gold Standard audit, included
Typical cost	Per-employee software fees	A per-employee fee or a percentage of payroll	About $100K–$200K a year for one HR hire, with benefits and taxes, before software	Hourly or a retainer	From $1,650 a month

Typical service models; individual providers vary.

When ADP TotalSource is the better choice

You have fewer than 10 employees and want large-group health plans you couldn't buy on your own.
You'd rather not own your benefit plans or your payroll tax accounts.
Someone on your team has the time and the skill to do the day-to-day HR work in the PEO's system.
You already run payroll on ADP and want to stay with one very large vendor.

If that's you, stay. If you send us your invoices and it's the better deal, we'll tell you.

Founder-led, not platform-led

The founder reads your plan.

Rhamy Alejeal founded People Processes in 2009 and wrote the method we run on. He still reviews the work himself.

He reviews every Gold Standard audit and every client's HR Strategic Plan, every year.
He wrote People Processes, a #1 Amazon bestseller in Human Resources and one of INC.com's Top Ten Leadership Books of 2018.
He sits on the Memphis Branch board of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, advising on workforce trends and what employers pay, and previously served on the Fed's Industry Council on Healthcare.
He teaches the manager training program live.

About Rhamy and the team

Switching

Leaving a PEO, step by step.

Step 1
Send us your agreement and invoices
Your PEO agreement and the last three invoices. We'll show you what you're paying for each piece, and what it would cost to run on your own.
Step 2
We plan the move around your benefits
As a licensed benefits agency, we quote your own plans and time the switch so coverage doesn't lapse. Moving at a plan renewal avoids resetting deductibles mid-year.
Step 3
We set you up under your own tax ID
Payroll, time and attendance, onboarding and benefits administration move to systems in your company's name. Then you give your PEO notice.

Send us your renewal or your PEO's invoices.

Upload them in any format. We'll break down what you're paying and send you a free benefits quote. Free, and kept confidential.

Upload your documents

“Superior customer service just comes natural to them!”

Chad Davis · VP of Operations, Vectair Systems

FAQ

ADP TotalSource questions.

Comparing other providers?

Is People Processes a PEO like ADP TotalSource?: No. ADP TotalSource becomes your co-employer. We don't: your company stays the only employer, with your own tax ID, benefit plans and carriers. We're your outsourced HR department, and we do the HR work itself.
How much does ADP TotalSource cost?: ADP doesn't publish PEO prices. One 2023 client contract charged 1.81% to 6.42% of gross pay depending on job class, with workers' comp included, plus state unemployment, a $2,930 setup fee and $30 per new hire. ADP's annual report works out to about $197 per employee per month on average.
Is People Processes cheaper than ADP TotalSource?: For a 30-person company, Foundation comes to about $167 per employee per month. For ADP TotalSource, the fees plus the HR work your team would still do come to about $251. The full math is on this page.
Can we leave ADP TotalSource in the middle of the year?: Under the 2023 contract we reviewed, either side can end it at any time with 30 days' written notice. Your benefits are the harder part: plan the switch so your own plans start when ADP's coverage ends.
What happens to our benefits if we leave ADP TotalSource?: If your employees are on ADP TotalSource's health plans, you'll need your own plans when you leave. Timing matters: switching at a plan renewal avoids resetting deductibles mid-year. Send us your agreement and invoices and we'll plan the move and quote your own plans.

Sources (checked October 27, 2026)

Provider names are trademarks of their owners. This page compares publicly available information; individual contracts vary. Spot something out of date? Email service@peopleprocesses.com.