Likelihood to Recommend There has been much end user improvement on this site over the 3 years that I have been using it. I really appreciate the focus and attention ADP has place on making this a user friendly site so that their customers can better navigate their payroll tax issues. I look forward to the additional features that will be added in another three years time. I really am able to be quite efficient within my role because of the ease of use of this site.
Read full review In working with Ascentis in payroll, the program makes my job so much easier. I am new to this position and the learning process has been so much easier with this product than those in the past. I appreciate the patience I am given when I call in for assistance as well.
Read full review Pros It helps us identify our employees who entered their account information incorrectly and get the payment reissued to them as quickly as possible. It helps us quickly and securely issue payment to employees who terminate. We efficiently get our garnishments processed to remain compliant. Read full review Easy to use software. I have had several new HR employees comment on how easy the system is to learn! Problem Solving- Ascentis is always problem solving! When we were in the process of selecting a new payroll company, we needed unemployment claims management assistance for our locations, something Ascentis did not currently offer. The sales rep went out of his way to find a unemployment claims management company that would work with Ascentis and us. That company has helped us keep an 80% win rate for our claims! User conference- Engage is an awesome way to learn more about the products Ascentis has available as well and meet up with the staff you work with every day! Read full review Cons ADP should have their SC employees better trained to give consistent answers about how to handle certain tax issues relating to the states. I seem to get a different answer multiple times. It's difficult to distinguish between which cases/letters goes through ADP Workforce Now Service Connect and which cases go through SmartCompliance. I have been told differently on many occasions and will find a case in both places. While many of the agency notices of tax rate changes, etc. are a very quick process and ADP "resolves" the case, I find other notices get lost in the shuffle when it doesn't fit exactly into the rate change bucket or the past due bill that says "Just Pay It". Some letters aren't that straightforward. Read full review Updating the system so it is one platform and not two. Create changes to the benefit enrollment process and upgrade the system so hire dates do not need to be changed to trigger benefits for status changes. Focus updates on HR Admin, mobile application, ATS and transitioning to one platform. Larger areas of focus have been on the payroll portion of the system with a few updates to other areas. When something is broken, quicker turn time on fixing the issue. System needs updates to support AAP reporting. Read full review Likelihood to Renew There is no other option on the table for us at the moment to go with a different vendor. We also have had very little issues processing with ADP that would make us want to look for a new vendor.
Read full review This rating would be a 10 if it were not for some issues we have been having recently with the benefit carrier connections. The carrier connections are critical for us so how these issues are resolved will be key in our renewal decision.
Read full review Usability For the most part, one can get in and learn how to navigate the system by just clicking on one of the suject areas. If you have a good clientrepresentative, they will inform you of new features/functionality and give you a quick demo. This is helpful for one to go back in and navigate to learn how it works and usefulness.
Read full review I'd give it a 7.5. If the modules were easier to access and not so buried (or placed in left field to find), I would give it a higher rating. As I said, as the potential to be great if ACCESS to other modules was easier.
Read full review Reliability and Availability We have never experienced unavailability with ADP. They communicate promptly when there is a holiday or if the system is down for maintenance. The maintenance schedule is during times when it is least used
Read full review They normally give you notice when an update will affect the use of the system. Otherwise, when we have an error , we send a message to the support team. Sometimes someone will get right back with you and sometimes it takes a while.
Read full review Performance If ADP is having issues, they communicate the problem within the solution once you log in. They also communicate that the issue will be fixed promptly. Reports run efficiently and in a reasonable amount of time. Also, the reports allow for various reporting types to be produced like a PDF or a Microsoft Excel file.
Read full review Yes, this pages do load pretty good but there are times when things are slow and I believe that's because they are sometimes trying to do updates.
Read full review Support Rating As mentioned in the last comment, everyone and everything has been great. However sometimes you get one person that I feel can bring a score down and the current dedicated tax representative I have I do not feel is very supportive.
Read full review Support is attentive and quick to answer the call and get the answer for you. If they for any reason cannot answer right then, they are back to you within a day and always seem to have a sense of urgency. You truly get the impression that they are aiming to make you happy.
Read full review In-Person Training I haven't participated in in-person training yet.
Read full review First, to clarify our "in-person" training was done mainly through Web-X meetings and conference calls. It was the closest thing we got to as far as an "in-person" training for this software. However, for the large majority of it, this type of training worked out well. We were able to share our screens and the trainer was able to share his/her screen. We could follow along with what we were doing in our database in real time and see how different functions worked and how manipulating our information could produce different results. It was also nice in that it provided for real-time results if something hadn't been coded correctly or we were having issues as to why something wasn't working the way we thought it should be. However, it did have some downsides in that we often had to rely on a conference phone and that made it difficult to hear people on both sides. Also, sometimes the trainers had internet difficulties when working from home and that caused issues with the WebX meetings.
Read full review Online Training They have annual training for Smart Compliance, which is very helpful. We learn the most up to laws for various subject matters, like garnishments, payroll law, child support, state unemployment laws by states. We also earn credit toward certifications. The training is user friendly, and highly recommended. It can be done live or listened to at your own convenience.
Read full review Ascentis HR has a number of online training videos to watch on a number of different topics. I gave it a lower rating because there is not much interactivity with the videos and it seems to cater to really only one or two learning styles. Plus, one has to be pretty motivated to go to a separate area to access the videos and then pull up a specific one to watch it and then learn. From my experience, people know that they are there, many just don't take the time and effort to go find them and actually watch them - especially since the username and password are different from their normal username and password.
Read full review Implementation Rating Currently all electronic copies of our returns have to be downloaded one at a time. There should be a way to download all returns for a quarter in a zip file or single download.
Read full review It was very easy to implement, but the customization pieces should really be fleshed out in order to determine the full need of an organization at the time of implementation. I believe if a little more time was spent on the requirements, the recruiting module would not have to be customized again at a cost at a later date.
Read full review Alternatives Considered ADP SmartCompliance was easily integrated with WFN and all of our employee data was in one place. We saw this as an advantage instead of having to log into multiple platforms, everything was quickly accessible to respond to a VOE or claim.
Read full review Ascentis has far better customer service and the implementation experience was also better. The ability to do a lot of customization is also easier with Ascentis as it's smaller organization. The payroll has positive and negatives compared to ADP but the accuracy is the same in both. Ascentis just started their community site which doesn't have a lot of traffic but hopefully can become more like ADP's community site, which was extremely helpful to me as an administrator.
Read full review Scalability ADP has the ability to scale across departments. This was found to be true when we rolled out the wage payment solution. ADP users are able to view their pay stubs on their phones and/or computers. This wage payment portal offers W2 storage and paystub storage for access at any time by an employee.
Read full review Large acquisition would be very complicated, seems more appropriate for companies under 100
Read full review Return on Investment The customer service phone service for the ADP Wisely service is very bad. No understanding or a language barrier is a very difficult service to deal with. Also working with them to correct a situation was impossible. It is basically non existent. Read full review HR DPT. is much more effective, as we can assess any employee information no matter where we are, etc. This helps to provide information immediately when requested! Employees have access to Ascentis, and therefore to their timecard, open enrollment, etc., from anywhere at any time! Time, PTO requests, employee goals, and evaluations can be approved from anywhere at any time! Recruiting can be accessed any where at any time, and this helps with hiring, internal communication, etc. Read full review ScreenShots Ascentis (discontinued) Screenshots