ESAC

What ESAC does

ESAC (Employer Services Assurance Corporation) is a non-profit accreditation organization founded in 1995 and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. It accredits Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) — firms that co-employ workers for small and mid-sized businesses — against financial, operational, and ethical standards, and operates a Client Assurance Program backed by a $15 million surety bond that compensates PEO clients in the event of an accredited PEO failure. Approximately 73% of all U.S. PEO industry wages are paid through ESAC-accredited PEOs, and across 30 years of operation no ESAC-accredited PEO has defaulted.

The organization operates an electronic filing platform branded eMac that is accepted by 26 of 39 state agencies that regulate PEOs, allowing accredited PEOs to satisfy state licensing requirements; an eFile service covers non-eMac jurisdictions. Alpha Surety, an affiliate of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., serves as ESAC's surety broker for the Client Assurance Program.

ESAC employs roughly 71 staff and runs on a tiered annual fee schedule tied to each accredited PEO's gross wages, with fees scaling from $7,500 at the lowest tier to above $72,000 at the highest. As a non-profit, ESAC is not venture-backed and reinvests any surplus into operations and program enhancements.

Name

ESAC

Legal name

Employer Services Assurance Corporation

Website

https://esac.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

ESAC is a non-profit founded in 1995 that accredits U.S. Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) against financial and operational standards and backs accreditation with a $15 million surety Client Assurance Program. Its eMac platform is accepted by 26 of 39 state PEO regulators.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Little Rock, AR

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Accreditation Fees: Annual accreditation fees based on a tiered fee schedule tied to a PEO's annual gross wages. Fees range from $7,500 + $185 per million over $10M for smallest PEOs (0-$50M wages) to $72,000 + $2 per million over $5B for the largest PEOs ($5B+ wages).
2. Surety Bond Fees: Individual surety bonds purchased annually from ESAC's surety broker at 1% of the bond amount. Bond amount is calculated as 5% of PEO's total federal and state employment tax liability for the preceding calendar year, ranging from $250,000 to $1 million. Additionally, ESAC purchases a $15 million aggregate surety bond annually for all accredited PEOs.
3. Application Fees: $5,000 non-refundable application fee (credited toward first-year accreditation/bond fees upon approval) required to initiate the formal accreditation application process.
4. Regulatory Cost Savings Services: Provides regulatory bond and licensing services that generate savings for PEOs. ESAC provides required regulatory bonds at 0.5% for state regulatory bonds and 0.25% for IRS certification bonds versus market rates of 2%. Over 50% of accredited PEOs save more than 70% of their accreditation fees through these services.
5. ESAC Edge Newsletter: Free voluntary subscription to ESAC's e-newsletter. Email address used solely to send newsletter issues.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ESAC is a nonprofit organization that provides accreditation and financial assurance services to Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs). Its core offerings include the PEO Accreditation Program, which independently verifies PEO financial stability, ethical business conduct, and regulatory compliance against industry standards, and the Client Assurance Program, which provides over $15 million in surety bond coverage to protect clients and worksite employees against PEO default. Supporting services include the eMac and eFile state licensing tools, regulatory surety bond procurement, and the Standards & Procedures Manual.

Product overview

ESAC operates as an accreditation and financial assurance organization for the PEO industry, offering a unified platform centered on its PEO Accreditation Program and Client Assurance Program. The accreditation service verifies PEO compliance with financial, ethical, and operational standards, while the Client Assurance Program provides $15 million in aggregate surety bond coverage. Supporting these core offerings are regulatory compliance tools including the eMac service (accepted by 26 state agencies), the eFile form wizard service for remaining states, and a Regulatory Surety Bond Service. The Standards & Procedures Manual serves as the foundational documentation defining all accreditation requirements and procedures.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• eMac: State licensing service accepted by 26 of 39 state agencies that regulate PEOs, allowing authorized agencies to access secure data already submitted as part of the accreditation process.
• eFile
• Client Assurance Program
• ESAC Edge

Products and services

• PEO Accreditation Program ESAC's core accreditation service that independently verifies PEO financial stability, ethical business conduct, and regulatory compliance against industry standards via quarterly verification of federal and state employment taxes, health and workers' compensation premiums, and retirement plan contributions.
• Client Assurance Program Financial assurance program providing over $15 million in aggregate surety bond coverage to protect clients, worksite employees, insurers, and taxing authorities in the event of PEO default.
• eMac State Licensing Service Electronic multi-state accreditation compliance service accepted by 26 state regulatory agencies, allowing PEOs to authorize ESAC to provide secure access to accreditation data for licensing requirements.
• eFile State Licensing Service Online filing assistance for states not yet accepting eMac, featuring form wizards that pre-fill data from accreditation applications into state-specific PEO licensing forms.
• Regulatory Surety Bond Service Surety bond procurement service enabling accredited PEOs to obtain required regulatory bonds at reduced rates (0.5% for state bonds, 0.25% for IRS certification bonds) through ESAC's surety program manager Alpha Surety.
• Standards & Procedures Manual Comprehensive documentation establishing the ethical, financial, and operational standards that PEOs must meet for accreditation, including program procedures and exhibits.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 73% of PEO industry wages paid through accredited PEOs
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• 26 State Regulatory AgenciescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerESAC has established partnerships with 26 of 39 state agencies that regulate PEOs through its eMac service. These agencies accept ESAC accreditation data to satisfy their licensing requirements. States include Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida (limited), Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana (limited), Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island (limited), Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont (limited), West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Many of these agencies exempt accredited PEOs from bonding requirements and/or provide reduced licensing fees.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• NACM (National Association of Credit Management): Trade association accrediting business credit professionals and providing standardized financial reliability assessments — closely comparable to ESAC's role verifying PEO financial reliability and operational standards for buyers and counterparties.
• National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA): Accreditation and oversight body for the CPA profession that licenses and accredits professionals and firms against standards. Operates a near-identical accreditation-plus-state-integration model to ESAC, but for CPAs instead of PEOs.
• National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO): The principal PEO industry trade association serving the same customer base (PEOs) with advocacy, education, and member services. Most directly comparable organization operating in the PEO ecosystem alongside ESAC.

Broad incumbents

• BBB (Better Business Bureau): Long-established trust and accreditation organization verifying business reliability through standards and public-facing verification tools — directly analogous to ESAC's accreditation-plus-public-directory model, but across a much broader business population.
• The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA): Industry trade association for the surety and fidelity bond industry. Comparable as a member/standards organization underwriting surety bond integrity — closely related to ESAC's Client Assurance Program and its role as gatekeeper for PEO bond standards.
• AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants): Professional membership organization that sets standards and administers peer-review accreditation for CPA firms. Comparable to ESAC as a standards-setting, fee-funded professional membership body that accredits firms against financial and ethical criteria.
• URAC: Independent healthcare accreditation organization performing standards-based accreditation, compliance verification, and public directory services. Closest functional analog to ESAC's accreditation model, though operating in a different vertical.
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO): Global standards-setting and accreditation body whose quality/management system certifications (e.g., ISO 9001) operate as the closest analog to ESAC's accreditation function, just at a broader, cross-industry scope.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/esac

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

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 ESAC