As the co-owner of Warwick-based ExactPay Payroll Services LLC, Craig Force knows his payroll and human resources technology business is up against some stiff competition.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 5,556 payroll services companies in the country in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available.
“It’s definitely a saturated market,” Force said. “I’ve always had the view of trying to create some blue ocean in a red ocean.”
Force founded ExactPay in 2023 after his former long-term employer, Complete Payroll Solutions, sold its 12,000-client book of business to a national provider. The acquisition left New England with what he felt was a massive gap in the local payroll industry.
“It really left a huge void in the marketplace for small- to medium-sized businesses to work with a boutique firm that was going to deliver really good customer service but have strong technology as well,” Force said.
Setting out to create the 2.0 version of Complete Payroll, Force zeroed in a clientele looking for high-touch customer service and local roots.
Today, ExactPay has just under 500 customers, from one-person companies to teams of several hundred workers.
The company offers payroll services such as personally cutting and delivering checks and tax filing support; benefit administration; Medicare planning for owners and employees; and HR technology support for the likes of onboarding and labor law compliance.
“Payroll nowadays is way more than just payroll,” Force said.
For his part, Force has a particular sweet spot for businesses dealing with complex internal systems and startups.
“I love helping founders understand what their total liabilities are for hiring their first employee, how to scale,” he said.
In 2025, there were 116,149 small businesses in Rhode Island alone, employing 51.1% of the state’s workforce, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy.
With no shortage of potential clientele, ExactPay heavily leans into its customer service to distinguish itself in the crowded payroll marketplace. Because in the end, most of them offer similar, if not the same, products, Force said.
“Our hero position in the marketplace is really the culture that we’ve created within the company and having that dedicated customer support,” he said.
Every ExactPay employee working directly with clients has at least five years of payroll industry experience in addition to their training in company systems and compliance requirements.
Each client has a dedicated specialist located in Rhode Island, and the company does not outsource support outside of New England – a major differentiator between ExactPay and national providers, Force said.
“A lot of clients, to be honest with you, that we transition, it’s not that their technology is broken,” Force said. “They were poorly implemented right from the beginning.”
Force added, “When you’re starting to elevate these companies, you feel like you’re involved in their success.”
OWNERS: Craig Force and Zachary Browning
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Payroll and human resources technology
LOCATION: 200 Metro Center Blvd., Suite 6, Warwick
YEAR FOUNDED: 2023
EMPLOYEES: Eight
ANNUAL REVENUE: $1.2 million