Checkmate

What Checkmate does

Checkmate is a privately held, locally owned payroll and human resource administration firm founded in 1992 and headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina. The company serves small businesses in the Charleston metro area, providing bundled services that include payroll processing, federal and state tax deposits and filings (FICA, federal and state withholding, FUTA, SUTA), E-Verify compliance, workers compensation insurance arrangement and claims management, employee benefits administration (major medical, dental, life, disability, vision, retirement), personnel records maintenance, and advisory support across OSHA, ADA, EEOC, DOL, Immigration, ERISA, COBRA, FMLA, and Title VII compliance requirements.

The core technology stack consists of custom proprietary software that classifies each employee by job description to calculate and collect workers compensation premiums per payroll cycle, eliminating upfront deposits and year-end audit true-ups, and NG Connect, a web-based, mobile-friendly employee self-service portal for viewing paychecks and completing HR forms. Checkmate has established multi-carrier workers compensation insurance relationships to negotiate group rates for clients. The firm markets its 30-plus years of South Carolina-specific regulatory expertise and documented SC Department of Labor audit outcomes as key differentiators.

The business model is a subscription-based, all-inclusive monthly fee that bundles payroll, tax, compliance, and HR services with no separate charges for direct deposit, garnishments, audit reports, or delivery. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Distribution is entirely direct-to-SMB through a single Charleston office, a website with a service quote form, and relationship-driven local outreach. There is no evidence of multi-state operations, franchising, technology partnerships, institutional investment, or M&A activity.

Name

Checkmate

Legal name

Checkmate

Website

https://checkmatehr.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Checkmate is a privately held, locally owned payroll and human resource administration firm founded in 1992 in Charleston, South Carolina, serving small businesses with bundled payroll processing, E-Verify, workers compensation, and HR compliance services under an all-inclusive monthly fee.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payroll and Human Resources Administration Services

NAICS

Payroll Services (541214), Professional Employer Organizations (561330)

SIC

Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Full-Service Payroll Processing (BPACAIAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Payroll Tax Filing, Compliance & Regulatory Reporting (BPAAAHAB), Workers’ Compensation for Small Business & Pay-As-You-Go Programs (FSAJAEAG)

Keywords

• Payroll processing services
• Human resources administration
• Workers compensation management
• E-Verify compliance services
• Employee benefits administration

Headquarters

HQ city

Charleston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. HR Administration and Payroll Services: Full-service HR administration fees charged to small business clients. Services are bundled into a standard fee that includes payroll processing, tax deposits, E-Verify compliance, workers comp management, and compliance assistance. Clients pay through a consolidated invoicing system.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Checkmate delivers full-service payroll processing and human resources administration for small businesses in the Charleston, SC area. The bundled offering includes payroll check writing and direct deposit, federal and state tax deposits and filings, E-Verify compliance, workers compensation insurance arrangement and premium collection via custom classification software, employee benefits management, personnel records, and regulatory compliance assistance — all delivered under a single monthly fee via direct local sales and the NG Connect online portal.

Product overview

Checkmate is a single unified payroll processing and HR administration service rather than a modular platform. The core offering centers on NG Connect, an online self-service portal for payroll and HR functions, combined with comprehensive managed services including payroll processing, E-Verify compliance, workers compensation insurance management, employee benefits administration, compliance assistance, and personnel records management. All services are delivered as an integrated package with pricing bundled into a single standard fee, rather than sold as separate modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• NG Connect Online payroll and human resource management portal allowing employees to view paychecks, complete forms online, and enter timesheet data. Features a mobile-friendly design for employee self-service.
• Payroll Processing Services Full-service payroll processing including check printing on Checkmate's account with pre-signed delivery, direct deposit, tax deposits (FICA, Federal Withholding, State Withholding, FUTA, SUTA), federal and state quarterly and annual report filing, garnishments and child support processing, and year-end W-2 generation for small businesses.
• E-Verify Service Federal employment eligibility verification service that submits new hires to the E-Verify system administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security within the required three business day timeframe, and supports employer compliance with Form I-9 and audit requirements.
• Workers Compensation Insurance Management Workers compensation insurance arrangement service leveraging Checkmate's relationships with multiple insurance carriers to negotiate rates. Custom employee classification software assigns each employee to a job description for premium calculation, with premiums collected each payroll cycle so clients do not face large upfront deposits or end-of-policy true-up bills.
• Compliance Assistance Advisory services covering OSHA, ADA, EEOC, DOL, Immigration, ERISA, COBRA, Family Leave, and Title VII compliance requirements, provided to small business clients to keep them aligned with federal and state employment regulations.
• Employee Benefits Management Management of employee benefits including Major Medical, Dental, Life, Disability, Vision Care, and Retirement Plans, as well as 401K, IRA, and pretax cafeteria plans, with Checkmate leveraging its volume to negotiate better rates and terms.
• Personnel Records Management Maintenance of personnel records with 7-year retention, employment verification, new hire reporting within 10 days as required by law, and provision of employee hiring packages including Forms W-2, I-9, and Employee Handbooks.
• Unemployment and Workers Comp Claims Management Complete unemployment and workers compensation claim form completion and management services for client employees.
• Safety and Drug Free Workplace Programs Safety Program and Drug Free Workplace Administration services to help clients maintain regulatory compliance and workplace safety standards.

Named customers7 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Insurance Carriers (Workers Compensation)coreOthersCheckmate has established relationships with several insurance carriers to provide workers compensation coverage to clients. This allows them to negotiate better rates and terms for small business clients. The partnerships enable Checkmate to structure workers comp coverage without requiring clients to make large upfront down payments.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Gusto: Cloud-based payroll, benefits, and HR platform purpose-built for small businesses. Directly competes with Checkmate for SMB payroll customers, though operating nationally with a fully self-serve SaaS model rather than a local high-touch service approach.
• SurePayroll: Paychex-owned online payroll service focused exclusively on small businesses with 1-100 employees. Closely mirrors Checkmate's small-business-only focus with bundled payroll, tax filing, and HR features.
• Justworks: PEO offering payroll, benefits, compliance, and workers comp to small and mid-sized businesses through a modern SaaS platform. Comparable in service scope to Checkmate's bundled offering but positioned as a tech-forward PEO rather than a local-services firm.
• Patriot Software: Affordable online payroll and accounting software specifically designed for American small businesses. Competes directly for the same SMB payroll customer with a low-cost self-serve model rather than Checkmate's high-touch local approach.
• TriNet: PEO providing full-service HR, payroll, benefits administration, and workers comp to small and mid-sized businesses. Highly comparable bundle of services to Checkmate with significant overlap in target customer profile and value proposition.
• Insperity: Professional Employer Organization providing co-employment HR, payroll, benefits, and workers compensation services to SMBs. Highly comparable to Checkmate's bundled service model with strong overlap in workers comp and benefits administration.

Broad incumbents

• Paylocity: Cloud-based payroll and HCM provider serving mid-market and growing small businesses. Overlaps with Checkmate on payroll processing and HR compliance while offering a more comprehensive technology platform with mobile apps and analytics.
• Paychex: One of the largest payroll and HR solutions providers in the US, serving hundreds of thousands of small and mid-sized businesses. Overlaps with Checkmate's core payroll and HR services but at vastly greater scale and with broader geographic reach.
• ADP: Global payroll and HR services giant with RUN Powered by ADP targeting the small business segment. Competes with Checkmate across payroll, tax filing, workers comp, and HR compliance, offering significantly more product breadth and brand recognition.

Emerging players

• Rippling: Unified workforce management platform combining payroll, HR, IT, and finance for small to mid-sized businesses. Represents the modern, integration-heavy competitive direction that contrasts with Checkmate's traditional local-services model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/checkmatehr

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Checkmate