ADP Workforce Now vs. QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ADP Workforce Now
Score 8.0 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
ADP Workforce Now is a cloud-based HR platform for mid-sized businesses. It features customizable modules of various HR services that businesses can tailor to their specific needs, as well as regulatory monitoring and alerts to help businesses remain compliant.N/A
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is a widely-used accounting package designed for small to mid-sized businesses. It is the top of the QuickBooks line. Pricing starts at $3,000 for five users, and goes up depending on the number of additional users. They also offer an Advanced Inventory module for $999 / year.
$1,261
per year
Pricing
ADP Workforce NowQuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Editions & Modules
Essential
Contact sales team
Enhanced
Contact sales team
Complete
Contact sales team
HR Pro
Contact sales team
Payroll Essentials
Contact sales team
HR Plus
Contact sales team
Hiring Advantage
Contact sales team
Performance Plus
Contact sales team
Gold
1,261
per year
Platinum
1,522
per year
Gold with Remote Access
1,785.60
per year
Platinum with Remote Access
2,083.20
per year
Diamond
3,060.34
per year
Diamond with Remote Access
3,600.36
per year
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ADP Workforce NowQuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredOptional
Additional DetailsPlease contact ADP for a product demo and ask about a hands-on "test drive" of Workforce Now.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ADP Workforce NowQuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Considered Both Products
ADP Workforce Now
Chose ADP Workforce Now
None of the others do as much except Kronos which seemed very complicated just like Workforce Now.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Workforce provides more resources for us as an employer.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now was a huge step up. Our employees and managers have a lot more visibility.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Each system had its ups and downs.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
There is no comparison. Preview was an older system designed for DOS based systems.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
All 4 were very similar in functionality. We were able to get ADP for the lowest price of the 4 (with the most features included)
Chose ADP Workforce Now
I selected ADP over Paychex with the hope that customer support would be more responsive to my needs. I was wrong.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
[From my experience] sends error messages that no one [has been able to] help me interpret.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP's ROI and strong track record has always kept us in their camp despite other vendors attempting to pull us away.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP provides greater support for our payroll due to the volume of different unions, pay scales, and work rules that we deal with. Also, it appeared to offer better functionality for the Affordable Care Act reporting.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Paychex Flex is a great system, but the price they charge isn't worth a few more bells and whistles.
QuickBooks is extremely basic for payroll and not ideal for a company like ours that has so many moving parts.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP is by far better for payroll. Quickbooks has a lot of other features but for what we need it for, it is the best fit for us as a company.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now is much more user-friendly than QuickBooks and it allows further customization with time off requests and payroll. Overall, from a users standpoint, ADP Workforce Now is much easier to navigate and it offers many other options that QuickBooks does not (or did …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Quickbooks was expensive and very limited with customization and the performance was slow.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP includes comprehensive services like paying taxes on your behalf that makes it easier to use. HR module allows all employee-related records in one place. ACA and Benefits allow us to better understand current legislation and demands and stay in compliance. Overall, ADP …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
All-in-one solution for employee time tracking & time off. Real-time reporting. Hassle-free to use
Chose ADP Workforce Now
The Archdiocese chose it, so it wasn't my decision. I do like the way it integrates with payroll, which Bamboo didn't.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP is much more robust and they will work with you to help reduce payroll tax liabilities. With QB you are generally on your own.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Clients chose ADP workforce NOW and required specialist for implementation and ADP provided referal
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP does the full processing which is why we switched to them. They are good at what they do so it made sense to let the experts do the processing and reporting.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Our company used ADP PC for Windows before and we were transferred to ADP Workforce Now by the payroll company; we didn't choose it. In some aspects we liked more the ADP PC program, it was easier to implement changes and introduce payroll data. But we like the real time …
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Chose QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
we moved to ADP for payroll, we moved FROM SIMMS because it wasn't integrated & didn't provide global view
Chose QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
I briefly used Cerner at another employer and have recently had some exposure to CPSI - I think QuickBooks is much more user friendly than either of them.
Chose QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
We are so happy with the functionality and use of QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise that we have not evaluated any application for change.
Chose QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
QuickBooks Enterprise is a great alternative for Oracle. It provides the same level of security and functionality for a fraction of the price.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
ADP Workforce NowQuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.7
1022 Ratings
2% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
-
Ratings
Employee demographic data8.1903 Ratings00 Ratings
Employment history8.2939 Ratings00 Ratings
Job profiles and administration8.0890 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.5917 Ratings00 Ratings
Organizational charting6.7643 Ratings00 Ratings
Organization and location management7.5704 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.6648 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
8.0
1034 Ratings
0% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
7.9
108 Ratings
6% above category average
Pay calculation8.7995 Ratings8.7104 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors7.5389 Ratings00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment7.9294 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.9798 Ratings7.861 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.7983 Ratings8.090 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.9769 Ratings7.782 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.7468 Ratings7.583 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.7
844 Ratings
5% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
-
Ratings
Approval workflow8.0766 Ratings00 Ratings
Balance details7.6800 Ratings00 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment7.6648 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
8.0
1014 Ratings
1% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
-
Ratings
View and generate pay and benefit information8.3977 Ratings00 Ratings
Update personal information8.6968 Ratings00 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.2782 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee recognition7.0366 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history7.732 Ratings00 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
12 Ratings
25% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
-
Ratings
Tracking of all physical assets6.012 Ratings00 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.1
944 Ratings
7% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
-
Ratings
Report builder7.4927 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.6923 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data6.4550 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.2
116 Ratings
11% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
-
Ratings
New hire portal7.6112 Ratings00 Ratings
Manager tracking tools6.892 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.8
311 Ratings
4% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
-
Ratings
Corporate goal setting7.9240 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.9291 Ratings00 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility7.5238 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance tracking7.9284 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.3
402 Ratings
8% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
-
Ratings
Performance plans7.3361 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans7.2309 Ratings00 Ratings
Review status tracking7.5366 Ratings00 Ratings
Review reminders7.3378 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.2313 Ratings00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
7 Ratings
27% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
-
Ratings
Create succession plans/pools5.86 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate ranking5.86 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate search6.37 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate development6.26 Ratings00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.8
421 Ratings
13% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
-
Ratings
Job Requisition Management7.6366 Ratings00 Ratings
Company Website Posting8.1358 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to Social Media7.1287 Ratings00 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting7.3321 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention2.38 Ratings00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking7.1362 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts8.3383 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
7.5
74 Ratings
6% above category average
API for custom integration00 Ratings7.857 Ratings
Plug-ins00 Ratings7.168 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
8.3
156 Ratings
4% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings8.3118 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.2154 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
8.3
173 Ratings
9% above category average
Dashboards00 Ratings8.4148 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings8.6171 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings8.1166 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
8.1
177 Ratings
9% above category average
Accounts payable00 Ratings8.8170 Ratings
Accounts receivable00 Ratings8.9169 Ratings
Cash management00 Ratings8.4155 Ratings
Bank reconciliation00 Ratings9.0168 Ratings
Expense management00 Ratings8.3155 Ratings
Time tracking00 Ratings6.577 Ratings
Fixed asset management00 Ratings8.1115 Ratings
Multi-currency support00 Ratings7.757 Ratings
Multi-division support00 Ratings8.093 Ratings
Regulations compliance00 Ratings8.265 Ratings
Electronic tax filing00 Ratings8.187 Ratings
Self-service portal00 Ratings6.667 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings6.432 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings8.161 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings8.175 Ratings
Localizations00 Ratings8.145 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings8.9126 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings8.586 Ratings
Configurable Accounting00 Ratings8.383 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings8.150 Ratings
Standardized Processes00 Ratings8.794 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
7.6
104 Ratings
8% above category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings8.1100 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings7.353 Ratings
Location management00 Ratings8.366 Ratings
Manufacturing module00 Ratings6.850 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
8.3
129 Ratings
12% above category average
Pricing00 Ratings8.695 Ratings
Order entry00 Ratings8.6101 Ratings
Credit card processing00 Ratings7.790 Ratings
Cost of goods sold00 Ratings8.3114 Ratings
Order Orchestration00 Ratings8.255 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings8.352 Ratings
Order exception Resolution00 Ratings8.739 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ADP Workforce NowQuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Small Businesses
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
QuickBooks Self-Employed
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 8.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ADP Workforce NowQuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(1089 ratings)
8.5
(188 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.3
(82 ratings)
9.8
(17 ratings)
Usability
6.2
(78 ratings)
9.2
(11 ratings)
Availability
7.3
(14 ratings)
10.0
(4 ratings)
Performance
6.4
(13 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
7.1
(463 ratings)
6.0
(5 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.1
(9 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
5.8
(17 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
5.8
(34 ratings)
9.0
(8 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(10 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.1
(8 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.5
(751 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
5.2
(8 ratings)
9.0
(3 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
6.1
(8 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
ADP Workforce NowQuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Likelihood to Recommend
ADP
If you are looking to automate processes and have the system handle administrative, boring tasks this is the system for you. They are continuing to evolve and are coming out with improvements constantly. Have a suggestion on an improvement they will listen and consider implementing.
Read full review
Intuit
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is very flexible. When you have made a mistake, most mistakes are fixed easily. This is wonderful if you know what you are doing. If you don't know what you are doing QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise gives the user, the ability to do many things incorrectly. If you are not an accountant, you don't know you are doing it incorrectly. That can be a problem.
Read full review
Pros
ADP
  • 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.
Read full review
Intuit
  • Detailed organization of financial information
  • Several security measures and double check systems to ensure incorrect entries aren't made. This prevents accidental errors and protects the company from fraud.
  • Ease of overall use
  • Reporting can be as detailed or as general as you prefer. Each report allows you to look at the overall picture or access specific details of each aspect of the company financials.
Read full review
Cons
ADP
  • I would like it if better communication was sent out about new product updates. Sometimes, I go into a screen and things are different and I have to relearn it on the fly.
  • Editing the mobile app - I would like it if what is shown on the desktop version was automatically on the app. WAY more of my employees use the app, but I put the most important information on the desktop version because it is easier to update.
Read full review
Intuit
  • I would like to see more ways to customize reports and have that process be more user friendly.
  • I would like to see the process of creating year end giving statements be made more user friendly. Since I only do it once a year, I have to figure the process out every year.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
ADP
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.
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Intuit
We've been using QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions from when the business started, 11 years ago. I don't see us changing programs any time soon as it is working pretty well for us now. It would be extremely time consuming to start from scratch with a new accounting or inventory management program.
Read full review
Usability
ADP
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.
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Intuit
QuickBooks provides all staff immediate access to the data in whatever form each person wants it. The balancing on entries prevents incorrect data entry on payables/receivables. Reports are easy to customize and save for future use. The records are easy to audit.
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Reliability and Availability
ADP
ADP outages are very rare
Read full review
Intuit
They have always been available to meet our needs when we need it. We have had zero complaints with getting the assistance we need.
Read full review
Performance
ADP
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
Read full review
Intuit
QB is a good and reliable system. We probably should have explore the other modules rather that jump in to the conclusion that we needed a new ERP.
Read full review
Support Rating
ADP
I have contacted support multiple times and have always been happy with the results. ADP's support staff is always helpful and makes easy work of solving problems. I love my Payroll Account Manager, as well as my Enhanced Time Account Manager.
Read full review
Intuit
Very rare do I call the Quickbooks Enterprise Solutions support staff and I get a customer service associate quickly. On average, my wait time is near an hour, and at times even longer. After spending the first three minutes discussing my problem, they then begin to poke and prod around, sometimes the questions continue. But 80% of the time, the problem is over their head and they have to escalate the issue. The only problem is this escalation arrives usually after spending forty-five minutes poking and proding around but learning nothing. In short, my experience is rarely all that well, let alone great
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In-Person Training
ADP
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.
Read full review
Intuit
It is a very easy system to learn, so with the help it was even easier. QB is a good solid system, but it lacks some of the complexity other systems have. with QB you need to get additional modules to get the same functionality that other systems offer standard
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Online Training
ADP
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.
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Intuit
easy to learn system, specially with some kind of support. Just like with any other system, things get lot easier if you have guidance to lead you in your search for answers. having said that, QB is very easy to use and very easy to teach. you wont spend much time memorizing where to click.
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Implementation Rating
ADP
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.
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Intuit
If you're loading QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions onto a computer that you're going to directly log into, you should be able to do it yourself. If you are going to connect to a server through a network or remote connection, you should probably have a professional IT person set it up for you.
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Alternatives Considered
ADP
Although this SAS takes longer to perform the everyday functions related to payroll and HR data input, the difference in this software and our previous software is like night and day. We were on a very old server platform and had too many issues with continuous need for backup.
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Intuit
We have selected this product as it is affordoable in terms of pricing and features too. Our clients is geeting lots of benefits by using this product. By using QuickBooks desktop client also manage the information realted to financials and also get the clear picture for the future by using the accounting information from this product.
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Scalability
ADP
It handles very well with very sensitive data of a company especially of employees. Even provides HR services regarding recruitment services like recruitment, providing notification, even handles increment cycle of employee, any awards achieved by employees. All of this services are handled by them in very efficient way.
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Intuit
It has worked for our small company in every way. We have very little issues with the software and when we have had problems, Intuit has stepped up and resolved in promptly.
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Return on Investment
ADP
  • 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.
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Intuit
  • Good value for the price. The initial setup was quick and easy.
  • When properly set up and processes are followed it's decent at managing inventory which is something we had problems with. Have to have a dedicated employee to builds.
  • Rolling up costs in multi-level BOM's is a project each time we have to review costs, it's very time consuming to manually update all assemblies.
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ScreenShots

ADP Workforce Now Screenshots

Screenshot of ADP Workforce Now: a simple and complete human capital management solutionScreenshot of Benchmarking by ADP DataCloud: an application with an extensive data set ... available to ADP Workforce Now clientsScreenshot of ADP Workforce Now clients can equip their employees with the ADP Mobile self-service app