Item: TriNet
Rating: 10
Author: Cindy Ievers

Support Rating

My current HR/payroll rep at Trinet is awesome and very responsive. Actually, most of them have been. Also, if you can't reach your rep when you call, you can get someone else to help you with a click of a button. Sometimes with HR matters, you need some information fast! So, I give high points to my current and prior reps!
The technology platform has really improved over the years. It used to cause me much frustration (why I can't just give a "10"), although I don't have any current issues with the system (except I'm getting used to the new platform).

Usability

TriNet is simply payroll/HR/benefits for dummies. They make it VERY easy!

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are a small incubator. Currently we only have 10 people, but we've used TriNet on startups from 0 to 50+ people. We don't have anyone dedicated to being our HR person, so we rely on TriNet for payroll, benefits and HR aspects of running a small company.

Pros and Cons

The payroll page makes running payroll a snap. You can assign others to have more limited access (eg. reporting hours only, and not being able to see salary information). They set up a payroll calendar and send reminders to help you keep on track.
Benefits are also very very easy. Our company has great flexibility in how much we cover, and in what way (eg. pay a $ amount or a percentage), and I feel that the benefits packages offered have a wide enough range to suit most people. When it is time for employees to select their benefits, TriNet has a page where I can see who has not yet completed open enrollment, so tracking it is easy as well.
Hiring and firing can be a real headache, but TriNet makes it simple.
Running reports or creating specific reports to get information the way you want it is also a huge benefit, and the reports can be grabbed in a variety of forms such as HTML, PDF or Excel.

I would love the reports section to allow me to select a subset of my "favorite" payroll reports and be able to get all of them with one click. Currently I do need to go into each report, ask for the pdf version, then save. The conversion from html to pdf takes about 15-30 seconds, so it gets a little annoying when you have half a dozen reports you want.
I am still getting used to the newest website setup, so I still like the old one better, although the new setup is growing on me!

Return on Investment

We are a small company. TriNet allows us to have a competitive benefits package, which allows us to hire and retain great employees.
TriNet makes running day-to-day hr/payroll tasks easy, so I get the payroll done and the HR information I need quickly and hassle-free.

Alternatives Considered

ADP TotalSource, Paychex Flex and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions

TriNet covers the whole HR scope. Others handle just payroll.

Likelihood to Recommend

Over the course of the 13 years I've been working with TriNet, I think I've had a dozen payroll/HR representatives. I am sure everyone finds it annoying to switch reps, but so many of my reps have moved up in the company, and they all knew what they knew, and what they needed to research, and were always responsive.

I think TriNet shines as the payroll/HR/benefits solution for small to medium sized companies. Particularly if you are an incubator, and in the habit of starting companies often!

TriNet = HR, payroll, benefits all-in-one solution

Overall Satisfaction with TriNet