ADP Workforce Now vs. Ascentis (discontinued) vs. Dayforce

The ease in which you can process payroll and year end (T4s). Ability to maintain payroll - enter upcoming changes (e.g. pay raises for a certain date) ahead of time. While we don't use it in my current company, in past ones the time & attendance integration with timesheets is fabulous. Our company uses a 3rd party scheduling & timesheet platform which also integrates with one click but is a little more work to maintain time off balances within ADP Workforce Now. We use the 3rd party platform (Evolia) for scheduling and timesheets as the management here wanted the ability to see salaried employees on site, have a chat feature, and some self-management on the employee side with the ability to swap shifts.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

I think Dayforce is a great option for a large and/or Global organization. I do not think it would be the best fit for a very small company or business. It really shines for enterprise organizations with multi-locations. While a small business could use it, I would say it has too many bells and whistles that might feel overwhelming to a smaller organization.

Incentivized

• HRIS that is personalized for the employee and addresses DE&I needs.
• Payroll, of course! The system addresses all needs, such as deductions, additional pay, premium OT, and shift differentials.
• Onboarding is an excellent way to stay in compliance and have all documents completed.
• Tax and Banking and resolution to any issues.

Incentivized

• 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!

Incentivized

• Payroll - it shows everything in real time and it runs quickly.
• People - Having all employee details from the offer letter to W2 information in the same spot.
• Dayforce Wallet: The on-demand feature is fully integrated with Timesheets and Payroll. What shows in one will be in the other.

• Customized pre-process payroll reports (Limited on pre-process payroll reports)
• Labor Allocation (Allocations make payroll reporting very hard to review and find any errors )
• Recruiting (ATS is very basic)
• Geofencing (should be able to change shape rather than a circle)
• Pay Classes (should be able to change at Practitioner level rather than reach out to support)
• Cookies and Cache have to be cleared on a regular basis
• Only able to see employee documents/acknowledgements one at a time in the employee file
• Timecards can only be managed/viewed by 1 person
• Timeoff emails do not have a link
• Cost per payroll - not just monthly fee so cost with off cycle payrolls
• Separate I9 step not needed - during onboarding - 2nd Everify step
• ADP Workforce Now does not pull in allowances for Houly employees into payroll ONLY Salaried employees

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• There have been a few instances of users being locked out of Ceridian due to recent upgrades. Not ideal when an employee wants to see their paystub and is suddenly have login issues.
• Not the best for when an employee is transferred to another country as their employee number is locked to their SIN or SSN. And, we are required to create a new user record with a new employee number for the new country.

Incentivized

Due to the lack of support from the sales and service center we are looking at other options outside of ADP. Again it is a good system, it just lacks the support it deserves from the company employees. It is just unimaginable that you will need to reach out to a service provider several times for the same issue and not get it resolved.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

We are highly invested in Ceridian's Dayforce product. It give us the flexibility and scaling that our growing company needs. Its potential reaches beyond the basic HR functions to the decision making that our Management Team needs. Ceridian is always innovating the employee and employee experiences to offer cutting edge options.

Incentivized

I would give it a 10 however I do not like when ADP does facelifts in Workforce Now which does not add any value other than having to relearn navigation. I am also not a big fan of being forced to refer to the Bridge. We have Google which gives the same results. If I understood the answer I would not contact our Account Rep.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

I think it's very usable for the employee. I don't think it is as easy for the HR/PR admins - especially if there is an issue. There are so many setup screens that need to be looked at to try to figure out why payroll isn't calculating properly, hours aren't feeding over correctly, or benefits are not calculating properly. For the most part, they can't do their own troubleshooting. The same is true for the managers. Our managers find it cumbersome to go into make any schedule changes after the schedules have been generated.

Incentivized

ADP outages are very rare

Incentivized

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.

Dayforce's high availability ensures that our HR processes are supported around the clock, which is critical for a global organization like ours. The platform is cloud-based, offering reliable access from any location at any time, allowing our employees, managers, and HR teams to stay connected regardless of time zones or geographic locations. This level of availability ensures that payroll processing, employee self-service, and real-time data access continue uninterrupted, even during peak periods or unforeseen disruptions. The system’s robust infrastructure minimizes downtime, which is vital for operations that span multiple regions. Additionally, having a centralized platform that’s always available helps keep our teams aligned, ensures compliance, and facilitates timely decision-making across all our locations.

Incentivized

Overall, I think the functionality of the program works pretty well. Sometimes, certain browsers do not work well for the policy function of ADP, but that is the only issue thus far

Incentivized

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.

We haven't noticed any slow-down due to the integration of Dayforce WFM with our Ceridian HPL products (HRIS and Payroll). The new HTML view of the timesheets don't load as quickly as the old Silverlight view - however, we have gotten used to the change.

Kelly La Rosa and Brian McLaughlin have been exceptional partners over the last few years and a tremendous source of support in my role. They are consistently solution‑oriented, highly responsive, and proactive in identifying opportunities to improve our processes. Both regularly brought forward thoughtful recommendations, including suggestions for new ADP products that aligned well with our evolving needs. Their expertise, reliability, and genuine commitment to client success have made a meaningful impact on my work and on our overall experience with ADP.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

Most of the time the support is great; it's not always super efficient but I always get the help I need. Occasionally it takes a lot longer than we had hoped or get conflicting responses. We had one ticket recently where we were told we would have to pay the service team to support us on the project and then another person called the next day with the solution to our query and was able to find a solution easily. Generally, though, the response is great and they either walk me though how to do something via a Zoom Meeting or they email step-by-step instructions on how to do it and say if I have questions we can set up a meeting to discuss further.

Incentivized

In-person training was pretty good - I think this significantly depends on the trainer. Our trainer was really good and showed what ADP can do - but I know that all trainers are not the same - and this truly makes such as difference. Overall, our training went pretty well.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

Because the training we reviewed at Insights has changed how we use the system everyday. This is a key factor in our training.

At the time training was not as expansive as it is now. If it could go wrong it did for me so the process was difficult and lengthy. I needed to have more in person walkthroughs of things to ensure the transition was done correctly. Not sure what else I can say, we were part of the initial move to Workforce Now when it was introduced.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

The courses are very interactive and informative. There are classes for every topic, which allows you to make the most of the system. There are also some "go at your own pace" course which is a great option for a busy schedule.

Incentivized

Either assign more than one specialist to the implementation process, or assign less clients to the implementation specialist. The process requires attention to detail and the ability to test and re-test as well as verify the information. It also requires a lot of back and forth between the client ant the implementation specialist, so they need to be readily available during the whole implementation process.

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.

Incentivized

Have a strong internal team. Communicate with your implementation team - they are there to make it work for you. Take the time to really think about how you want the system to work for you - in some cases, you may need to rethink your own business practices to see if you are working harder when the system could do it for you

Incentivized

I also used UltiPro (way back -- it didn't even appear in dropdown). Recommend ADP Workforce Now above all others. Paycor and Paycom were both very clunky. I even helped implement Paycom and could never get it to work how the business needed it to.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

I can't speak much to how it would be if we had all of these features separately since I started with Dayforce all being integrated and have no other experience, but having it all in one place has made the completion of all of these HR tasks seamless. We can direct all of our energies into the same system, and it makes it easier to field employee inquiries and to troubleshoot when we need to

Incentivized

We have several departments that utilize the reporting, utilize the timecards and the system. We also have self service that is nice for all of our employees. This system allows us to designate what each group can see, and what employees can change, or who can clock in and out offsite

Incentivized

Large acquisition would be very complicated, seems more appropriate for companies under 100

Incentivized

Overall, we are extremely happy with the Dayforce WFM module. Our biggest pain point is concerning the twice annual software upgrades - which is the only reason I haven't rated them as a '10'. Because every customer is configured differently, the upgrades can sometimes have adverse effects on our current configured policies/rules. And although they roll-out the upgraded version in a test environment several weeks before go-live, not all testing is accurate in that environment. Some issues do not present themselves until you are working with live punches.

• ADP WorkforceNow has provided a positive ROI for our company. It has saved me countless hours in the time I used to spend preparing reports, managing benefits, and annual enrollment, recruitment tracking, and much more.
• The integration with Payscale has allowed our company to take every position in our organization and benchmark it to industries and job titles. This has allowed us to be more competitive on recruitment and retention.
• We have used the new DE&I dashboard to provide valuable information on the landscape of our workforce, as well as areas of our organization that may not be as diverse.

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• Performance Reviews/Comp used to be handled via paper and tracking/reporting was a nightmare - having all of that in the system is so much more efficient and provides huge ROI
• Our organization used to have big problems with hiring managers going rogue and hiring positions that aren't approved by Finance - we built an approval workflow in the system that triggers before any req is approved which has completely solved this problem
• Dayforce Wallet has been a huge perk for our employees - it's heavily used and our crew love it

Incentivized