The Platform
Purpose-built for the PEO operating model
Stratum is not a generic HRIS with a co-employment module bolted on. Every workflow — from payroll calculation to leave compliance to case management — was designed around how PEOs actually operate.
Architecture
15 FastAPI microservices behind one API gateway, plus Next.js frontends. Each module independently deployable. Need payroll and HR but not CRM? Deploy only what you need.
Deployment
Fully on-premises. Schema-per-tenant PostgreSQL isolation. Your clients' data stays in your environment — no shared tenancy, no vendor exposure risk.
Ownership
Perpetual license. Not white-labeling someone else's hosted product — licensing the system outright and taking it home.
The only PEO platform with a native operational CRM.
Most PEO platforms require a separate licensed product for case management — PrismHR acquired ClientSpace specifically to fill this gap. Stratum ships a full operational CRM as a first-class part of the platform: case taxonomy across HR, benefits, payroll, and compliance; SLA tracking with stop-clock; escalation rules; AI-assisted triage and response drafting; Twilio CTI call logging; and a separate Sales CRM with a one-click bridge to turn a won deal into a provisioned tenant.
- ✓Case management across HR, benefits, payroll, and compliance — unified, not siloed
- ✓SLA tracking with stop-clock, escalation rules engine, and @mention threading
- ✓AI case classification, sentiment analysis, and response drafting built in
- ✓Twilio CTI integration for inbound call logging directly to case records
- ✓Sales pipeline CRM with census-driven cost-stack quoting and one-click promotion to live tenant on close
- ✓Duplicate-case detection and merging across client accounts
AI woven through the platform, not bolted on top.
AI in Stratum isn't a chatbot added to a legacy product — it's embedded throughout: LLM-powered I-9 document extraction that reads and validates identity documents, automated PTO policy compliance checking against state statutory minimums, case triage and response drafting in the CRM, and an employee AI assistant — on the web portal and the employee mobile app — that answers pay, PTO, and benefits questions grounded in your own knowledge base, and can take real actions (like submitting a PTO request) behind an explicit propose-and-confirm step. And because AI access should work in both directions, Stratum ships an MCP server: point Claude or any AI client at your deployment with a read-only, tenant-scoped token and ask questions in plain language.
- ✓I-9 document extraction via Claude vision — reads and validates identity documents automatically
- ✓PTO policy compliance validator — checks plan configurations against state law at save time
- ✓CRM case classification, sentiment analysis, and AI-assisted response drafting
- ✓Employee AI assistant (web + mobile) — grounded answers, plus confirmed actions like PTO requests
- ✓MCP server — connect Claude or any AI client to your live data with read-only, revocable, tenant-scoped tokens
- ✓Shared prompt caching across all AI features for cost and latency control
All 50 states. Computed to the cent. Owned end-to-end.
A fully in-house tax engine — no third-party payroll core, no tax-engine licensing to pass on to clients. Federal, state, and local withholding across all 50 states plus D.C., with multi-state worker allocation, reciprocity certificate capture, and a documented connector → flat-file → built-in-table chain for local/municipal tax resolution. NACHA ACH export, GL export to QuickBooks/Xero/generic, garnishments, reconciliation, and delta/preflight views. Every jurisdiction update ships with automated to-the-cent regression proof.
- ✓In-house tax engine across all 50 states + D.C. — no third-party licensing
- ✓Local/city tax support including PA locals, NYC, OH RITA, and documented resolution chain
- ✓Multi-state worker allocation and reciprocity certificate capture
- ✓NACHA ACH export, garnishments, and preflight/delta views
- ✓GL export to QuickBooks Online, Xero, and generic formats
- ✓Automated to-the-cent regression suite — every bracket, every state, provably correct
Co-employment workers' comp, wired straight into payroll.
WC is half the reason clients join a PEO — so it's a first-class module, not an afterthought. Class-code assignment by employee and state, carrier policy tracking, and premium calculated from actual wages on every payroll run — true pass-through, not an estimate that surprises the client at annual audit. Claims are tracked from first report of injury through closure, audit-prep worksheets assemble the payroll detail a carrier auditor asks for, and when payroll changes retroactively, the affected exposure is automatically flagged for re-review.
- ✓Class-code assignment by employee and work state, with carrier rate management
- ✓Premium computed from actual wages every payroll run — true pass-through billing
- ✓Experience-mod tracking and YTD premium reporting per client
- ✓Claims management from first report of injury through closure
- ✓Carrier policy tracking and premium audit-prep worksheets
- ✓Retroactive payroll changes automatically re-checked against WC exposure
Catches misconfigured leave plans before they become findings.
Most PEOs rely on manual specialist review to catch leave plan misconfigurations. Stratum validates every client-configured plan — accrual method, carryover rules, payout rules, eligibility by employment type, state, and tenure — against state statutory minimums at the moment it's saved. CA's unlimited-PTO trap is detected automatically. FMLA, paid family leave, parental, and military leave are routed to a legal-review queue — the system knows what it can decide and what a human must.
- ✓Plan-setup validation against state sick-leave statutory minimums at save time
- ✓CA unlimited-PTO trap detection built in
- ✓FMLA / paid family / parental / military leave auto-routed to legal review queue
- ✓Employee request & balance UI with manager approval workflows
- ✓Audit trail for every plan configuration change with before/after diffs
- ✓Catches compliance exposure before an auditor or terminated employee does
Structured workflows from first offer to final separation.
Guided 6-step employee and 8-step client onboarding checklists with LLM-assisted I-9 document extraction, E-Verify, state-specific compliance documents, and benefits enrollment. Offboarding is equally structured — 7-step employee and 9-step client workflows covering separation notices across 21 states, COBRA notices, equipment return, and final pay compliance. A migration import wizard with adapters for 7 legacy systems (ADP, Paychex, Gusto, Workday, Rippling, QuickBooks, BambooHR) means getting here doesn't require starting from scratch.
- ✓6-step employee / 8-step client onboarding checklists, configurable by state and employment type
- ✓LLM-assisted I-9 extraction and E-Verify integration
- ✓7-step employee / 9-step client offboarding with state-specific separation notice generation
- ✓Separation notices across 21 states, COBRA notices, and final pay compliance
- ✓Rehire workflow with previous employment record reconciliation
- ✓Migration adapters for ADP, Paychex, Gusto, Workday, Rippling, QuickBooks, and BambooHR
Full lifecycle benefits — enrollment through COBRA — without middleware.
Complete benefits administration: plan catalog, carrier management, open enrollment, qualifying life event auto-open on life-event case resolution, EDI 834 generation for direct carrier transmission, and COBRA automation covering all three required notice windows (election notices, deadline tracking). An AI benefits chatbot handles employee self-service questions. No third-party middleware required.
- ✓Open enrollment and qualifying life event workflows
- ✓QLE auto-open triggered on life-event case resolution in the CRM
- ✓Direct EDI 834 carrier transmission — no third-party middleware
- ✓COBRA automation: election notices and deadline tracking for all three required windows
- ✓AI benefits chatbot for employee self-service
- ✓Dependent verification and documentation management
Built-in compliance suite across the full regulatory calendar.
EEO-1 reporting, WARN Act checks, state new-hire reporting, ACA/COBRA tracking, and a custom report builder with 18 objects (including CRM and CSAT data), 30 join paths, and a PII-excluded registry for safe data export. Tax-table admin UI with annual update templates. Append-only audit logging across every data modification in the system.
- ✓EEO-1, WARN Act, and state new-hire reporting built in
- ✓ACA 1094/1095 and W-2/W-3 generation
- ✓Custom report builder: 18 objects, 30 join paths, PII-excluded registry
- ✓Tax-table admin UI with annual update templates
- ✓Append-only audit log for every data modification — immutable, queryable
- ✓Scheduled report delivery and client self-service access to their own data
Built for a PEO's compliance program, not a vendor's badge wall.
Schema-per-tenant PostgreSQL isolation means each client's data is structurally separated, not just filtered at query time. AES-256/Fernet encryption for PII at rest, bcrypt password hashing, JWT with immediate session invalidation, mandatory MFA for privileged roles, SAML 2.0 SSO, and append-only audit logging. SOC 2 CC6-aligned controls, with a formal certification engagement planned. Because the platform is self-hosted, your compliance team can audit the code itself — not a sealed service you have to take on faith.
- ✓Schema-per-tenant PostgreSQL isolation — structural separation, not just query filtering
- ✓AES-256/Fernet encryption for PII at rest, bcrypt for passwords
- ✓JWT with immediate session invalidation and mandatory MFA for privileged roles
- ✓SAML 2.0 SSO for enterprise identity provider integration
- ✓Append-only audit logging across all data modifications
- ✓SOC 2 CC6-aligned controls — formal certification engagement planned
Proven, Not Promised
Don't take our word for any of this
Every claim on this page is backed by a test program that ships with the platform. Because Stratum is self-hosted, you don't have to trust the vendor's badge wall — you can run the entire program yourself, on your own hardware, any time.
Public DOL employment records swept through the tax engine — every state, every jurisdiction, no cherry-picking.
Every bracket in every state pinned by exact-value regression tests. A tax-table update that breaks a computation cannot ship.
Row-level-security backstop tested continuously: a query that skips tenant scoping returns zero rows, not another client’s data.
Full disaster-recovery restore rehearsed against a populated database — a measured RTO, not a marketing number.
The strongest proof: a shadow trial
Run Stratum in parallel with your current provider and penny-diff every tax on every paycheck against what they calculated. You keep the comparison report either way.
Integrations
Connects to the systems you already run
8 native connectors out of the box, SAML 2.0 SSO, and migration adapters for 7 legacy payroll and HR systems — so switching to Stratum doesn't mean starting from a blank slate.
Because the platform is licensed and self-hosted, deep integration with your existing proprietary systems is possible at the source level — not limited to whatever APIs a vendor chose to expose.
Want to see it running?
We'll walk you through a live environment. No slides. Just the product.
Request a Demo