ADP SmartCompliance vs. Paychex

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ADP SmartCompliance
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
ADP SmartCompliance is a tax and regulatory compliance platform for midsize or larger companies using an ERP or non-ADP platform for HR and HRMS services.N/A
Paychex
Score 6.9 out of 10
N/A
Paychex Flex, of Paychex' Online Payroll Services, is a cloud-based human resource management and payroll platform. Paychex offers core and specialized services, and scales to meet the needs of small businesses, SMBs, and large enterprises.N/A
Pricing
ADP SmartCompliancePaychex
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Paychex Flex Pro
Custom Pricing
per month/+$4 per employee
HR Pro
Custom Pricing
HR PEO
Custom Pricing
Paychex Flex Select
Custom Pricing
Paychex Flex Enterprise
Custom Pricing
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ADP SmartCompliancePaychex
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredRequired
Additional DetailsPricing varies based upon modules deployed and features enabled.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ADP SmartCompliancePaychex
Considered Both Products
ADP SmartCompliance
Chose ADP SmartCompliance
ADP SmartCompliance is much more robust and provides a wealth of resources.
Paychex
Chose Paychex
Both ADP and Paychex are very good at informing businesses of the latest changes regarding payroll. Not sure which one is better, but very much get the most out of each. Both are informative and always looking at additional topics in a world that is constantly changing. …
Features
ADP SmartCompliancePaychex
Type of tax
Comparison of Type of tax features of Product A and Product B
ADP SmartCompliance
7.3
24 Ratings
6% below category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
Sales and Use Taxes6.816 Ratings00 Ratings
Cross-border Taxes7.415 Ratings00 Ratings
VAT / GST Taxes7.74 Ratings00 Ratings
Energy and Fuel Taxes7.44 Ratings00 Ratings
Tax Reporting & Compliance
Comparison of Tax Reporting & Compliance features of Product A and Product B
ADP SmartCompliance
7.4
82 Ratings
6% below category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
Geolocation for Tax Assessment6.627 Ratings00 Ratings
3rd-Party Software Integrations6.650 Ratings00 Ratings
Tax Data Reporting7.879 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance Administration Management8.069 Ratings00 Ratings
Tax Exemption Processing8.435 Ratings00 Ratings
Tax Document Management7.471 Ratings00 Ratings
Complex Tax Scenario Management6.852 Ratings00 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP SmartCompliance
-
Ratings
Paychex
6.7
272 Ratings
19% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings7.8219 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings8.1242 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings7.8177 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings7.8172 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings7.5158 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings6.8146 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP SmartCompliance
-
Ratings
Paychex
7.7
313 Ratings
5% below category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings8.0295 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings7.1153 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings6.9174 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings8.3294 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings8.0209 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings7.7118 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP SmartCompliance
-
Ratings
Paychex
7.3
159 Ratings
11% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings7.3113 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings7.5151 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings7.0119 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
ADP SmartCompliance
-
Ratings
Paychex
7.8
270 Ratings
5% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings7.8248 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings7.9260 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings7.7121 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings7.9184 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP SmartCompliance
-
Ratings
Paychex
5.0
43 Ratings
47% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings5.043 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
ADP SmartCompliance
-
Ratings
Paychex
5.9
177 Ratings
24% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings6.3147 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings6.3165 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings5.191 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
ADP SmartCompliance
-
Ratings
Paychex
6.4
173 Ratings
22% below category average
New hire portal00 Ratings6.7165 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings6.1109 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
ADP SmartCompliance
-
Ratings
Paychex
5.2
70 Ratings
40% below category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings5.536 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings5.334 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings4.728 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings5.235 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings4.834 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings4.839 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings5.964 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ADP SmartCompliancePaychex
Small Businesses
TaxJar
TaxJar
Score 8.0 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Lappa
Lappa
Score 9.0 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Vertex
Vertex
Score 8.5 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ADP SmartCompliancePaychex
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(165 ratings)
6.2
(321 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.1
(39 ratings)
1.2
(44 ratings)
Usability
7.2
(45 ratings)
6.7
(264 ratings)
Availability
7.1
(16 ratings)
5.6
(12 ratings)
Performance
6.9
(16 ratings)
7.1
(12 ratings)
Support Rating
6.6
(44 ratings)
6.2
(264 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.7
(6 ratings)
4.5
(1 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(11 ratings)
8.3
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
5.4
(31 ratings)
5.4
(13 ratings)
Configurability
7.6
(14 ratings)
5.0
(9 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.6
(12 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.0
(15 ratings)
6.0
(12 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.7
(12 ratings)
2.2
(33 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.5
(10 ratings)
3.2
(34 ratings)
User Testimonials
ADP SmartCompliancePaychex
Likelihood to Recommend
ADP
ADP SmartCompliance reduces a great deal of the strain on our department by easily remaining compliant. Particularly with several state and federal demands, payroll compliance can quickly become a struggle; ADP helps us keep all requests and court paperwork in one place. I appreciate how it automates reporting, garnishments, and tax returns to free us from constant concern over missing deadlines or making calculation mistakes. Knowing that things are being correctly handled gives peace of mind, saves time, and lowers double work. With everything being tracked and recorded, it helps reduce back-and-forth while handling notices.
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Paychex Inc.
Paychex is great option for smaller employers as the site offers perk benefits to employees at no cost to the employer. I don't see anything like this being offered at competitors such as ADP RUN/Total Source, Bamboo, Trinet, Justworks or Gusto. Also, the initial set up is relatively easy and the dedicated support for set up is great along with our regular dedicated payroll support.
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Pros
ADP
  • Allows you to submit for tax jurisdiction setup
  • Has a dashboard to indicate if any tax filings for the quarter are at risk and what the problem might be
  • Has a great layout of all your payroll processing invoices
  • Allows you to download copies of the tax filings ADP does on your behalf
  • Allows you to submit tax notices directly within the site
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
  • It provides a well account of Retirement Plan Account Information.
  • Alerts are sent to email when there is new information to access.
  • Employee access both online and thru app.
  • Paperless options.
  • Easy and quick access to paystubs and tax forms.
  • Easy employee retirement management.
Read full review
Cons
ADP
  • Local Tax Help - Mainly PA employees. I wish there was an easier way to see that we have the employees setup correctly.
  • Tickets not in emails - What I mean is that they have a ticket system so that you can talk to your account manager, but there is no easy way to then pull up those tickets like you would if it were in emails. Sometimes we want to see how we handled something before and it gets tricky.
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Paychex Inc.
  • I understand logging you out is a security function, but I'd prefer it not to log you out so soon.
  • The training we received for the team's meeting was subpar, in my opinion. Probably better geared for people with little to no computer experience. Very slow pace; we could have easily received all of this from some tutorials in a few minutes.
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Likelihood to Renew
ADP
ADP displays value continuously by automating compliance processes, reducing risk, and saving time. It ensures that tax filings are accurate, efficient notice management, and seamless integration with payroll systems, which minimizes penalties and manual work. The platforms reliability and strong support make it essential for maintaining compliance within our company and department
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Paychex Inc.
Overall I like the features that Paychex Flex offers. I am sure that there are other features that I am unaware of, so I am excited to see if there is more that Flex is capable of to make my job easier. The basic features are really user friendly and easy to access. If there ever is an issue customer service is great
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Usability
ADP
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.
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Paychex Inc.
Employee usability is very good and user-friendly. For the most part, the employer usability is good, but for complicated rules and policies, it requires technical assistance, which in our case, was clunky and slow in implementation. Once is place, everything works as it should
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Reliability and Availability
ADP
Availability is good, with only one or two instances of not being able to access the system at all which were quickly fixed. Some features do not work correctly from time to time, such as the "Help" function or the "Sync" function.
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Paychex Inc.
We have not experienced any difficulties with unplanned outages. Notifications are always made for outages, and they do not effect normal business operations.
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Performance
ADP
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.
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Paychex Inc.
Unless there is lag time within the internet, the Paychex Flex website loads exceptional fast, pages load quickly and reports that I need to print or download load quickly. If I need to create a specialized report, once I complete it I receive an e-mail telling me my report is ready to be downloaded. Changing between web pages is fast as well.
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Support Rating
ADP
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.
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Paychex Inc.
Chat has been helpful but the person I chat with isn't always able to help me with my questions. Phone support is ok, depending on your payroll specialist. We have a great one currently, but the few before that were never available and did not return calls.
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In-Person Training
ADP
Exceptional Training Services Received during and after our Build . The teams of ADP Professionals assisted on a daily basis with tight deadlines and testing, each day , each Qtr. and annual processes including setting up local and State agencies for the 50 State we are reporting since our Workday go live 4/1/23. The process was seamless.
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Paychex Inc.
We did online training only
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Online Training
ADP
Online training give us more flexible on timing. We always have a pack schedule and not able to attend training in person. Online training with recording is a good source for us especially we can review it again and again. The down side is we are unable ask question in person
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Paychex Inc.
It was easy to understand and follow along. I do like the informational videos that we can utilize before we opt to call in for customer service support. It has made a difference since sometimes that resolves the issue I may have had and saved myself a phone call to Paychex support.
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Implementation Rating
ADP
I wasn't too hands on with integration portion of this product so I can't completely give an honest answer to that. I have been told that the training improves alot for each individual as they go through the process and it improves success. These individuals are able to do alot more than me in regards to implementation.
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Paychex Inc.
Implementation was very smooth. The most cumbersome task was entering the current employees into the system during initial set up, but Paychex staff handled most of that and verified against prior system reports as well as internal reports provided to ensure 100% accuracy.
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Alternatives Considered
ADP
We reviewed MasterTax and Ceridian before selecting ADP's Employment Tax four years ago. ADP SmartCompliance was selected because it was thought that this solution would save us time and resources. We have since revisited MasterTax and have looked at Asure as well. These companies offer more control and require more manual intervention before returns are filed and payments made as a tradeoff.
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Paychex Inc.
We still use QB Desktop Pro to maintain a Check Register / Overall Balance for the company, but once having tried QB Payroll Online for about 3 months prior to finding Paychex Flex I can tell you that there's just no comparison. QB online is VERY EXPENSIVE and not so user-friendly. I hated every minute of those 6 payrolls we ran through QB online.
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Scalability
ADP
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.
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Paychex Inc.
I generally do payroll at the office, however I have had to go remote due to internet issues and also had to take payroll on vacation with me. Very easy to log in wherever you are and manage your TAA and payroll
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Return on Investment
ADP
  • we were able to outsource our garnishments, so that the bulk task it handled by someone else.
  • we have been able to process tickets quicker for missing deposits can we can see if the payment was sent back from the bank.
  • we are able to fund our final pay payments more efficiently and quicker
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Paychex Inc.
  • With Paychex Flex we have been able to improve our compliance with required documentation for new/rehires
  • Moving everyone to direct deposit and mobile clock in/out eliminated lines at punching stations and paycheck pickup stations
  • Lost checks is a thing of the past
Read full review
ScreenShots

ADP SmartCompliance Screenshots

Screenshot of

Paychex Screenshots

Screenshot of Paychex Payroll DashboardScreenshot of Employee Background ChecksScreenshot of Paychex HR DashboardScreenshot of Paychex Flex Perks