HR Companies & HR Consultants in Mission, KS

Lever1 is a professional employer organization (PEO) rooted in the Kansas City market. Its main office is in Overland Park, Kansas, and it has a second location in downtown St. Louis. The firm mainly serves small and midsize employers that want to offload the administrative work of having staff while keeping full authority over how their companies are run.

That work includes payroll, insurance, compliance and workers' compensation. Lever1 has recently joined Helpside, a PEO with more than three decades in the industry. The combined organization keeps Lever1's local leadership and team in place and adds a larger technology, payroll and benefits platform behind them.

How Lever1 works with clients

Lever1 does not push a single fixed package. Clients choose the HR offerings they want individually, and Lever1 builds a program around those selections. Each account is assigned a dedicated support team that managers can contact as issues come up and that provides coaching on people matters.

Every month, the firm also sends guidance on a rotating set of HR topics so that compliance is handled before problems appear rather than after. Topics include employee handbooks, performance evaluations, job descriptions, training, diversity and hiring practices. Under its PEO arrangement, Lever1 also shares liability with clients for routine payroll administration.

Core services

• Full-service payroll, including multi-state processing, garnishments, job costing, commissions, bonuses, expense reimbursements and direct deposit or pay cards
• Payroll tax filing, new hire reporting and W-2 consultation
• Online onboarding and employee self-service
• HR consulting, handbook and job description development, and FLSA and OSHA compliance support
• Employee benefits administration
• Recruiting, screening and background checks
• Accounting and bookkeeping

Payroll runs on web-based software that produces custom reports and connects with timesheets and the general ledger. Through an online portal, employees complete hiring forms, enroll in benefits and retrieve pay stubs and tax forms. Timekeeping apps for web and mobile can be configured for location-based clock-in boundaries, PTO balances and commission tracking. An in-house CPA practice handles payroll transitions, tax notices and disputes, and year-end W-2 and 1099 reporting.

On the benefits side, Lever1 uses its PEO status to give clients access to large-group medical, dental and vision coverage that a small company could rarely obtain alone. It also relieves employers of reconciling insurance invoices. Clients can tailor the design of its 401(k) offering, which includes a range of fund options.

Supplemental coverage such as disability, critical illness and family protection is available, often without cost to the employer, alongside an A-rated workers' compensation program. For hiring, the recruiting team posts openings on job boards, searches its own candidate database and phones passive prospects.

It can also sort resumes, run phone screens and interviews, and handle personality testing, capability testing and salary analysis. Its accounting staff covers receivables, payables, bank reconciliations and month-end financial statements.

Leadership and credentials

The company is led by owner and CEO Erica Brune. President Chad Braymer brings more than 26 years in professional services. Director of Employee Benefits Cheryl Daily is a licensed insurance producer with over two decades of experience, and Vice President of Operations Lynn Jackson oversees compliance and client engagement.

Lever1 describes itself as a fully accredited PEO and notes that it has earned industry awards and national accreditations. Buyers comparing providers may find its mix of PEO services, CPA-backed payroll tax work, recruiting and bookkeeping under one roof a distinguishing feature.