Fractional HR for Founders Building Their First HR Function

Same Page HR helps companies build (and manage!) HR from scratch.

Same Page HR gives founders of 10–100 person companies a dedicated, US-based HR professional for 20–60 hours a month, so they can stop running HR themselves. Most clients pay about $2,000 a month, on month-to-month terms.

Who is Same Page’s fractional HR model built for?

Same Page HR’s fractional HR model is ideal for growing companies where someone is wearing the HR hat who never intended to. Often a founder, CEO, or head of operations/finance is left “running HR.”

This happens because a full-time HR hire is not yet justified. Even if the budget allowed for a hire, there’s still the need for both strategy and leadership and tactical execution, and that’s often hard to find in one person.
Same Page’s fractional HR model allows that company to bring on a dedicated HR People Partner at 5-20 hours per week to build and run the HR function.
Their hours can scale up or down as the needs of the company change, which eliminates the risk and financial investment of a full-time hire.
And they are supported by Same Page’s team and process, offering strategic-level planning and in-the-weeds, employee-facing work.

What are the core problems Same Page HR can solve?

Growing companies without an HR function generally treat HR reactively, creating processes and policies when an issue arises. This often leads to a patchwork of Google Docs or messages that are hard to enforce and maintain.

And when HR is a small accountability on someone’s list (a founder or COO, for instance), tasks like onboarding, registering state tax IDs, or even running payroll can feel clunky and even scary, and can take much longer than needed.

A Same Page People Partner is employee-facing and can create and implement processes and HRIS systems, lead employee relations issues, onboard and offboard employees and contractors, manage the benefits process, process payroll, and so much more. You can read specifics on our services page here.

A People Partner can also manage relationships with benefits brokers, payroll systems, or other external partners, vastly freeing up a founder or other leader’s schedule. They can streamline manual or inconsistent processes, often bringing them online and getting more from the tech you already have in place. And they can share tools, best practices, and even recommended vendors, thanks to the shared experience of Same Page’s team.

How does Same Page HR’s fractional HR model work?

We pair you with a Same Page HR Generalist we call a People Partner, who is supported by Same Page’s team and resources. This allows you to receive both in-the-weeds work and strategic experience and oversight.

We would work with you to choose a bucket of direct People Partner hours each month—generally 20, 40, or 60.
Hours can be used for a variety of tasks. For instance, one month may involve open enrollment + running biweekly payroll + handling a contentious employee issue. Another month may involve a rush of seasonal hiring that requires significant onboarding work. Our terms are flexible, and hours can scale as needed.
The People Partner is resourced by a Client Success Manager who is also a seasoned HR professional. This leads to an extra set of eyes and even hands, in case the People Partner is ever sick or on vacation.
We use your tech, systems, and brokers, but can recommend and even implement others if you need a change.
Our team members are US-based with an average of 10 years HR experience. We have simple, monthly pricing and can get started in as little as a week.

Case study: How Matchstic built HR from scratch

35-employee branding agency Matchstic was Same Page’s very first client in 2021 and has been with us without interruption since at the 40-hour-per-month mark.

When they came to Same Page, HR was being cobbled together by the company’s founders and the head of operations. We created a handbook, managed payroll and benefits, improved the performance review process, completed full HRIS migration to Bamboo, resolved historic payroll tax issues, and maintained state compliance. Employees were often shocked to learn their People Partner was a contractor and often remarked at how seamlessly they represented the company’s culture!

“Same Page HR has been a godsend for our company. We were never large enough to have our own in house HR function but when we found them and realized we could have a fractional HR person, it sounded great but you never know how it’s actually gonna go. Safe to say they have continued to exceed expectations and after 4 years I stopped waiting for the other shoe to drop. Can’t recommend them enough.”

— Craig Johnson, Matchstic co-founder

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Frequently Asked Questions

Fractional HR means getting an experienced HR professional for 5-20 hours a week instead of hiring one full-time. You get expert HR support sized to your company, at a fraction of the cost of a full-time HR manager.
We pair you with a dedicated People Partner, a US-based HR Generalist who becomes your employees' go-to HR contact. Your People Partner works 20, 40, or 60 hours per month depending on your needs, with support from Same Page's broader team and resources.
We cover ten core HR responsibilities: hiring support, onboarding, payroll administration, benefits administration, employee engagement, performance reviews, policy creation and storage, employee relations, compliance monitoring, and the exit process.
Our clients typically fall into two categories: The first have under 100 employees (some as small as 10 employees) and no HR department of their own. Someone who never wanted to run HR, usually the founder or head of operations or finance, finds themselves wearing the HR hat.
The second category is businesses with an HR department-of-one who needs HR admin support but does not want to hire another full-time person. These companies generally fall in the 100-500 employee range.
Yes. Our team works remotely, and we currently serve about 70 clients in numerous states across the US, from California to Georgia to New York.
Yes. Many of our clients have employees in more than one state. We help you stay compliant with each state's requirements for things like registration, required notices, leave laws, and final paychecks.
Many of our clients pay just $2000/month for Same Page HR. Plans can scale as needed.
We do not require a long-term contract. Terms are month-to-month with a 30-day notice, and you can adjust your hours easily if you need to scale up or down.
We aim to match a client with a People Partner within a day or two and can usually get kicked off within a week.
You and your employees will work with your dedicated People Partner, who will get to know your team, your culture, and your history. You will also be supported by a Client Success Manager who has an extensive background in HR.
Our People Partners are US-based HR Generalists who average 10 years of experience. Many hold SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, or PHR certifications as well, although we’ve found applicable experience to be the most valuable.
A PEO co-employs your staff, which means your employees go onto the PEO's payroll and benefit plans.
With Same Page, you keep your own payroll, benefits, and employer identity, and we manage the HR work for you.
In some cases, we work with a PEO that is already in place, providing dedicated and integrated human support. We also often help companies transition off a PEO.
Our clients have told us they like that they are getting a team when they use Same Page; they get the simplicity of a single-point-of-contact (their People Partner) while also getting the additional experience of our team. Further, you don’t need to worry about benefits, payroll tax, PTO, or development for a People Partner.
A full-time HR manager makes sense once your HR workload fills a full-time role, often around 100+ employees. Before then, fractional HR gives you experienced support for less than the cost of a salary and benefits.
Yes. We work within the systems you already use, including Gusto, Rippling, ADP, BambooHR, etc. If you don't have an HRIS yet, we can help you choose and set one up.
An HR audit reviews your policies, documents, and practices to find compliance gaps and risks. It's a smart first step if you've never had dedicated HR support, are growing quickly, or are hiring in new states.
Yes. Employee relations and the exit process are part of our core services. We help you document issues, have hard conversations, and handle terminations fairly and compliantly.
Common signs include nearing 50 employees, hiring in a new state, spending too much leadership time on people issues, growing rapidly, or facing an employee complaint you're not sure how to handle.
Yes. We regularly work alongside benefits brokers, CPAs, and employment attorneys. Our People Partners handle day-to-day benefits administration while your broker manages plan strategy.
We're HR professionals, not attorneys. When an issue needs legal counsel, we'll tell you and will coordinate with your employment attorney. If you don’t have an employment attorney, we can help connect you to one.
We have a long and rigorous interview process consisting of multiple challenges, ensuring team members demonstrate our core values: take initiative, surprise & delight, follow-through, and bring contagious calm.
Each People Partner is supported by a Client Success Manager who was also a former HR Director, so you get the benefit of our collective experience. And that’s a lot of experience—on average, a team member has spent 10+ years in HR.
But don’t just take it from us. Hear what our clients have to say!

“We had a great experience with Same Page. All the guidance took into account our company's culture, so it felt like a natural extension of our team.”

— Katie King, Director of Strategy, Wier / Stewart
“Same Page has been the perfect HR resource. Our People Person is experienced, personable, and fits into our culture and systems seamlessly.”

— Jay Holden, VP, Operations, Matchstic
“The Same Page team is knowledgeable, helpful, and fantastic to work with. They’ve been instrumental as we’ve grown from a team of 10 to over 40.”

— Susannah Darrow, Founding Partner, Purpose Possible
"Same Page creates a nimble, effective HR offering that many growing, small-to-medium sized businesses need. They are passionate and easy to work with."

— Aaron Jaeger, President, Credo CFOs & CPAs
“Employees understand the glue our People Person is in our company. She has helped get issues off of my back and to a better outcome.”

— Cashmere Nicole, Founder, Beauty Bakerie