Barrett Business Services Inc. (NASD: BBSI) announced it received a favorable outcome from the independent investigation it launched in November 2015. The Vancouver, Wash.-based provider of staffing and PEO services separately said it expects to report fourth-quarter net revenue rose 11%.

Law firm Stoll Berne conducted the investigation to determine whether an illegal act had occurred with respect to Barrett’s workers’ compensation expense reserve for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 — and possibly for other periods. Stoll Berne’s three-month investigation did not find that an illegal act had occurred.

Barrett’s auditor, Moss Adams LLP, in November warned the company that its unaudited interim consolidated financial statements as of June 30, 2014, and for the periods then ended, could no longer be relied upon. Barrett’s audit committee then engaged Stoll Berne as independent legal counsel to conduct an independent investigation regarding Barrett’s workers’ compensation reserve for the quarter ended June 30, 2014.

“The board of directors appreciates the thoroughness of Stoll Berne's investigation,” said Chairman Anthony Meeker. “We believe the process has served to strengthen our operations, bringing clarity and improvement to a difficult and complex process. We remain confident in BBSI’s management team and in the company's continued ability to prosper and deliver value to shareholders.”

Management is in the process of analyzing whether matters related to this event will require a restatement of the company’s financial statements for the quarters ended June 30 and Sept. 30, 2014.

Barrett reported it intends to file its Form 10-Q report for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2015 with the Securities and Exchange Commission as soon as practicable after this matter is resolved and Moss Adams has had an opportunity to finalize its review of the company’s unaudited interim consolidated financial statements to be included in that report.

Separately, Barrett reported it expects fourth-quarter 2015 net revenue to rise 11% year over year to approximately $194 million. Net revenues in 2015 are expected to be approximately $743 million, up 17% compared to 2014, according to preliminary results.

“We expect a solid finish to 2015, driven by approximately 18% gross revenue growth from our PEO business in the fourth quarter,” said President and CEO Michael Elich. “We added approximately 162 net new clients and estimate same-store sales growth to be approximately 13%. We also continued to see softness in our staffing business which tempered our results overall.”

BBSI also reported it recently entered into discussions with its long-standing third-party claims administrator, CorVel Enterprise Comp Inc., to reach an agreement where Barrett would provide a fixed payment to be paid in increments during 2016 to satisfy the company’s future obligation for medical cost containment services with respect to all workers’ compensation claims on or before Dec. 31, 2015. For calendar year 2016 and onward, the companies are negotiating a separate fixed fee payment structure covering all claims incurred during each respective year.

“We believe this new arrangement will be another important component in our effort to further improve the predictability of our workers' compensation cost structure,” said Elich. “Our organization has made great progress in this regard over the past two years, and we believe we are entering 2016 on a solid foundation. Based upon current trends, we are reiterating our rolling 12-month outlook of 18% gross revenue growth.”

BBSI is also currently evaluating a possible change in the accounting treatment for past medical cost containment fees paid to CorVel.