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You bought a franchise to run a business, not to run payroll. So when a PEO offers to fold wages, HR, benefits, and workers’ comp into one tidy service, it’s easy to say yes. The catch shows up later, when your team wants to change something and finds out the process isn’t really theirs anymore. That’s the real question in Netchex vs. Infiniti HR.
Infiniti HR is a Maryland-based Professional Employer Organization founded in 2008. It calls itself “The PEO for Franchises®” and it’s an IRS-Certified PEO. Netchex is payroll and HR software your own team runs. Sign with Infiniti HR and your workforce enters a co-employment relationship. Run Netchex and you stay the only employer your people have.
Last updated: September 2026. Netchex data sourced from G2. Infiniti HR details come from Infiniti HR’s own site, its press releases, and StaffMarket client reviews, checked September 2026.
The Short Version
Infiniti HR bundles payroll and tax filing, HR management, workers’ comp and EPLI under its own master policies, and a benefits package into one PEO service. Its FAQ sums up how the relationship starts: the employer “allocates the annual aggregate cost of labor to INFINITI HR for a service.” Your labor cost runs through its model. Your employees become its co-employees. Your admins work inside its process.
Netchex covers the same core ground and hands none of it over. You stay the sole employer, keep your own benefits plans, and keep the broker you already trust. When you need help, a US-based, FPC-certified support team answers 90% of calls in under a minute. Customers rate that service 4.8/5, and G2 reviewers give it an 8.9/10 for Quality of Support.
Company Overview
| Netchex | Infiniti HR | |
| Business model | Payroll and HR software, you remain the sole employer | Professional Employer Organization (co-employment), with an ASO option |
| Headquarters | Louisiana | Columbia, Maryland, with a franchise division in Scottsdale, Arizona |
| Founded | 2003 | 2008 |
| Ownership | Privately held | Privately held, led by its co-founders |
| Benefits | Your own plans, your own broker, administered in Netchex | Infiniti HR’s group plans, standardized for all co-employed staff |
| Independent client rating | 4.5/5 on G2 | 3.88/5 on StaffMarket, from 8 client ratings |
Netchex vs. Infiniti HR: Whose Crew Is It?
Infiniti HR is unusually direct about what it’s selling. Its franchise page asks owners, “What strategic advantage does serving as the liable source of wages provide?” In a PEO, that source moves. The PEO becomes an employer of record for payroll taxes and benefits, and your wages report under the PEO’s tax ID. Your shift leads and line cooks are now co-employed by a company in Maryland.
Benefits follow the same logic. Infiniti HR’s FAQ says it plainly: “As a co-employer, INFINITI HR provides all employees standardized competitive benefits.” That’s the plan your general managers and hourly staff get, set by the PEO. And if you ever leave, it all has to come back: benefits, tax accounts, workers’ comp coverage, and payroll history.
Credit where it’s due. Infiniti HR is an IRS-Certified PEO, which brings federal employment tax protections an ordinary PEO can’t offer. It’s a Premium Supplier to the International Franchise Association and a qualified vendor for Choice Hotels. Those are real credentials. None of them change who sits between you and your team.
Netchex never steps into that relationship. No shared tax ID, no co-employer, no standardized plan chosen for you. Your people work for you, and the benefits they enroll in are plans you picked with your own broker.
| Structure | Netchex | Infiniti HR |
| Who employs your people | You, as the sole employer | You and Infiniti HR, as co-employers |
| Tax ID your wages report under | Your own EIN | The PEO’s |
| Whose benefits plan it is | Yours, with your broker | Infiniti HR’s, standardized across its co-employed staff |
| IRS-Certified PEO protections | Not applicable, no co-employment | ✅ CPEO |
Who Runs Payroll at Your Locations
A PEO doesn’t just store your payroll. It operates it. Infiniti HR’s FAQ describes the handoff: after conversion, “we assume the non-revenue generating employer obligations on behalf of the employer.” Processing, filing, enrollment, and compliance run inside its service model, on PrismHR, the platform its client portal is built on.
That sounds like relief until you open a new unit. Need a pay code for a second concept, a different approval chain for a store manager, or a labor report split the way your franchisor wants it? In co-employment, your admin submits the request and waits. The work gets done on the PEO’s timeline, not yours.
Infiniti HR does include POS and time clock integration in its core service, and restaurant operators will care about that. Netchex takes a different route. Payroll, time and attendance, benefits administration, recruiting, onboarding, and performance live in one system your team configures. With OneScreen Payroll, most teams run payroll in about 15 minutes, and they don’t need anyone’s permission to change their own setup.
I love the integrated platform. With our old payroll company you would have to make the same change in several different areas of the software. With Netchex, it only takes once. This system is so user-friendly, it makes training a breeze. And the customer service is second to none!
Source: Chris Hayes, Payroll Specialist, Netchex customer
What It Costs as You Add Units
Infiniti HR doesn’t publish its fees. Every client gets a quote. But its own materials tell you what the quote is built on. The FAQ starts with your “annual aggregate cost of labor,” and the franchise page pitches turning wages into “a single line item in your general ledger.”
A single line item is tidy. It’s also a number that grows with you. PEO fees are typically priced per employee or as a percentage of payroll, so every new location, every seasonal crew, and every raise pushes it up. And that fee sits on top of what you’d pay anyway: wages, employer taxes, benefit premiums, and workers’ comp.
Some Infiniti HR clients have said so. In StaffMarket-verified reviews, one client wrote “Services are very pricey,” and another complained of “inherent fees.” Those reviews are older, but independent PEO directories still flag the same thing today. Several.com lists “lack of transparency” among its cons, and PEOcosts notes that costs vary and aren’t always transparent.
With Netchex, you’re paying for software and service, not a cut of your employer relationship. There’s no co-employment fee layered over your benefits, because the benefits already belong to you.
Service and Support
Infiniti HR assigns each client a conversion manager, an HR Director, and a recruiter, and its franchise program leans on that personal touch. Independent client data is thin, though. On StaffMarket it holds a 3.88/5 from 8 client ratings, and the critical reviews mention inaccurate payroll and poor communication.
Netchex’s service numbers are public. Every customer has a dedicated Account Manager. The US-based, FPC-certified team answers 90% of calls in under a minute, with first-call resolution. Customers rate the experience 4.8/5, and G2 reviewers score it 8.9/10 for Quality of Support.
Netchex has the best support of any service provider I’ve ever worked with. There aren’t any hoops to jump through with Netchex support.
Source: Mary Lang, Accounting and Financial Control Director, Atlanta Air Charter, Inc.
| Service factor | Netchex | Infiniti HR |
| Independent client rating | 4.5/5 on G2, 8.9/10 G2 Quality of Support | 3.88/5 on StaffMarket (8 client ratings) |
| Who you work with | Dedicated Account Manager for every customer | Conversion manager, HR Director, and recruiter |
| Where payroll runs | Netchex, configured by your own team | PrismHR, operated under Infiniti HR’s PEO service |
Ownership and Stability
Infiniti HR has a steady story. Co-founders Scott Smrkovski and Mark Schwaiger still run it. It moved into a new Columbia, Maryland headquarters in January 2025, named a new COO in April 2026, and ranked #33 on the Washington Business Journal’s 2026 list of the region’s largest private companies. It has made the Inc. 5000 ten times.
So the question isn’t whether Infiniti HR will be around next year. It’s whether you want a co-employer in the middle of every hire you make across every unit you open.
Switching Considerations
Leaving a PEO is a project, and it’s better to plan it than to avoid it. Your workforce moves back under your own EIN. Benefits get set up in your company’s name through your broker. You’ll place your own workers’ comp policy, and payroll history has to travel with you.
Netchex runs that as a managed project. Implementation is free, project-managed, includes your data import, and takes about six weeks. Customers rate the experience at 96% implementation satisfaction. Netchex also works directly with your benefits broker and CPA, so the move doesn’t land on one overworked admin.
Who Each One Is Actually Built For
Choose Infiniti HR if: you’re a newer franchisee who wants one outside provider to take on payroll, HR, workers’ comp, and benefits, you value its IRS-Certified PEO status and franchise-association ties, and you’re comfortable sharing employer status with a PEO.
Choose Netchex if: you want your own team running payroll and HR across every location, you want your crew to stay your employees, and you’d rather your costs didn’t climb each time you open a door. Netchex is built for hourly, multi-location businesses with lean HR teams, which describes most franchise operators.
Comparing more than two options? Our guide to the 5 best Infiniti HR alternatives for franchise operators puts PEOs and direct software side by side. For the wider view, read 5 Best PEO Alternatives for Growing Businesses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Infiniti HR is a PEO, so your employees enter a co-employment relationship with it and wages report under the PEO’s tax ID. Netchex is payroll and HR software your team runs. You stay the sole employer, keep your own EIN, and keep your own benefits plans and broker.
No. Infiniti HR quotes each client individually, and its FAQ says the process starts with your annual aggregate cost of labor. PEO fees are usually priced per employee or as a percentage of payroll, so they rise as you add units, crew, and raises, on top of wages, taxes, premiums, and workers’ comp.
It can be. Infiniti HR is an IRS-Certified PEO and a Premium Supplier to the International Franchise Association, with a dedicated franchise division. The tradeoff is co-employment: your crew is co-employed, benefits are standardized across its co-employed staff, and your admins work inside its service model instead of their own.
Netchex provides free, project-managed implementation in about six weeks, including your data import. The team helps move your workforce back under your own EIN and works directly with your benefits broker and CPA, so rebuilding benefits and payroll history across your locations doesn’t fall on one admin.
Your Units. Your People. Your Payroll.
See how Netchex runs payroll, HR, benefits, and time tracking across every location without a co-employer in the middle.
This guide reflects publicly available product information and independent reviewer data as of September 2026. Feature availability may vary by plan. Contact each provider for current details.
Disclaimer: Any product roadmap or future plans provided herein are for informational purposes only. They do not represent a commitment to deliver any material, code, feature, or functionality. Plans may change without notification. The development, release and timing of any features or functionality described remain at the sole discretion of Netchex, its affiliates, and partners. Netchex does not give legal, tax, or accounting advice. You are responsible for ensuring your use of Netchex product meets your individual business and compliance requirements.
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