The New Year is just weeks away. And January 1 is the ideal time to begin a relationship with a PEO. Fortunately, a few weeks are all it takes to become a client of Genesis Consolidated Services.

Why start on January 1? Some of the reasons are obvious. For starters, a PEO handles all of the payroll functions for your company and issues the employees' W-2 forms. By starting at the beginning of the year, employees will receive just one W-2 in December. For many employees, the fewer papers they have to deal with at tax time, the happier they will be.

There are also tax advantages to the employer; those firms that start a PEO relationship in January are poised to reap the biggest benefits. Here at Genesis, we have a number of new clients that decided months ago to sign on with us, yet are waiting until Jan. 1 to begin formally using our services.

There's another important reason to start on January 1 – especially in this current economic downturn. Virtually all of our clients are able to offer their employees more robust Fortune 500-style benefits once they sign on with Genesis. By launching on January 1, your employees will feel as if they have just gotten a nice holiday gift. And that added value may be particularly important this year, when companies are likely to be cutting back. A recent survey by Hewitt Associates found that many employers will give out smaller-than-expected pay raises and bonuses in 2009.

We can't help your firm give employee raises. But we can help you surprise employees with such add-ons as enhanced health insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, flexible spending programs and 401(k) retirement plans.