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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    APS

    Score6 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    APS is a national workforce management and cloud-based HR solution provider. The platform includes core HR, payroll, time and attendance (including manager and employee self-service), compliance tools, and onboarding.N/A

    PlanAdvisor

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AZywave in Milwaukee offers PlanAdvisor, a healthcare plan design toolkit and employee decision support tool so policyholders can better understand their costs and control their health care spending.N/A
    Pricing
    APSPlanAdvisor
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    APSPlanAdvisor
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsThe Payroll solution is offered as a standalone service, but additional solutions must be used in conjunction with the Payroll solution.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    APSPlanAdvisor
    Considered Both Products
    APS
    No answer on this topic
    Zywave
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    86%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    86%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    86%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    83%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    80%
    Implementation went as expected
    4 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    APSPlanAdvisor
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of APS and Zywave PlanAdvisor
    Feature
    APS
    9.1
    34 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Zywave PlanAdvisor
    -
    Ratings
    Pay calculation10.033 Ratings00 Ratings
    Support for external payroll vendors8.013 Ratings00 Ratings
    Off-cycle/On-Demand payment10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration8.023 Ratings00 Ratings
    Direct deposit files10.033 Ratings00 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management9.025 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reimbursement management8.913 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    APSPlanAdvisor
    Small Businesses
    Patriot Payroll
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Ease
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Netchex
    Score9 out of 10
    Employee Navigator
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    ADP Streamline Payroll
    Score6.6 out of 10
    ADP Mobile Solutions
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    APSPlanAdvisor
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.8
    (37 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.7
    (6 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.8
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.7
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    APSPlanAdvisor
    Likelihood to Recommend
    APS
    APS Payroll is an easy to use payroll system, and integrates well with some things such as the APS Hire feature, which handles onboarding, and the eSelfServe timeclock feature. It exports well to Quickbooks, but is only ok with NetSuite. (It works but is a completely manual process and takes a lot of setup.) Our tax registration and filing has been fine and we're always apprised of any tax discrepancies such as small Unemployment overages/underages when filed compared to what was withheld.
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    Zywave
    We utilize only one of the four components available because the other three are either too time consuming for what you get or just don't deliver what we need. The renewal estimator is the real star here and worth the cost of the tool (even if you don't use the other components, although we hope Zywave PlanAdvisor puts some money/time here to further develop them). It accurately projects renewals which help employers budget as they prepare for renewal. It is invaluable in our marketing and carrier negotiations because it is a an underwriting tool with the science and language that will speak to an underwriter... it's not a best guess, but accurate and respectable analytics.
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    Pros
    APS
    • It's fast and intuitive. Our previous contractors were ADP and Paychex and neither were intuitive. Our payroll runs have less errors now than with previous vendors. Payroll prep time is down from 5 hours with ADP to 2 hours with APS for the HR Manager.
    • The limiters are great. I'm always afraid of that error that no one caught. Let's assume that you add a $200 limiter to overtime. Any time that a staff member is about to receive more than $200 in overtime for that pay period, a red flag goes up for the HR manager to double check.
    • We have 3 programs in public schools that block certain ports. APS has a 2nd feature using GPS so that staff can only check in for their shift while they are in the designated GPS range. Great for someone who has to report to a remote location. Just add the GPS coordinates and they can't check until they get to the project.
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    Zywave
    • Renewal projection - forecasting renewal rates is accurate and has been very beneficial to our clients and business.
    • Single period report is decent, but not as user friendly as we'd like it to be. It really only works with certain carriers.
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    Cons
    APS
    • Reporting - We have six different business units and the reporting is separate for all three. Most reporting I do requires information from all business units so am running six reports and then copying and pasting to get the report I need.
    • Multi-state taxes - We have a number of employees who live in New York and work in New Jersey. APS OnLine is designed to accommodate one state withholding so ability to have "worked in" state and "lived in" state taxes withheld went away. This was a shortfall.
    • The Carrier connection setup took much longer than expected. After a year, we are still having some issues with some items transferring over to the GL.
    • The CA overtime calculation does not calculate after 8 hours per day, only on the 40 per week so we override each week.
    • Reporting - when running Benefit reports, it recognizes employees who formerly carried the plan but may have dropped it. To get around this, we have to delete off the employee's record so the history is not readily available.
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    Zywave
    • Single Period Report: We hoped it would be like a "DMW lite" but it is only usable with a few carriers, and it's clunky/time consuming to use. We stopped using it.
    • Plan Modeler: It's a good idea, but we don't use it much. It needs more development and modeling options.
    • Plan Selector: It's a good idea, but it's too time consuming to add the info. If we could import it easily, we'd use it much more.
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    Likelihood to Renew
    APS
    I have been using the system for over a year now and feel more comfortable with the functionality of it. I have just recently implemented the benefit administration portion.
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    Zywave
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    APS
    The APS Payroll software is very easy to use, and it is easy to train new employees on it. The APS Payroll support team is very helpful and response time is quick. It is easy to enter/change employee information, adjust salaries and benefits, etc. New features have also been added that makes it even better, such as being able to set up your own income/deduction items.
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    Zywave
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    APS
    I haven't had any outages
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    Zywave
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    APS
    Very quick
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    Zywave
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    APS
    I had to learn APS on my own, and the support team held my hand. They are still there when I have an occasional question. Anytime I need support, I can call my rep or send an email and help is on the way, without failure. The support team is awesome
    Incentivized
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    Zywave
    No answers on this topic
    In-Person Training
    APS
    Even if it wasn't in-person on location, we felt like we had our trainer in the room with us.
    Incentivized
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    Zywave
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    APS
    We had great webinars.
    Incentivized
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    Zywave
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    APS
    It would have been helpful to understand the phases of the implementation up front so I could have prepared differently for enrollments, billing, and transfer of information to payroll. At the end of the day, I'm happy with the selection and the system and anticipate I will like it better as we go along. We have done a number of other system implementations in the past few years, and this has been pretty painless, however, I've had a few surprises.
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    Zywave
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    APS
    We had used ADP for years and had always struggled with their customer service. With over 20 locations (20+ W2s, quarterly filings, etc) we had a lot of questions. We would have to call and sit on hold for long periods of time to talk to someone who couldn't always answer our questions. Then we would get different answers from different people or have to re-explain our issue. It was a major time suck for my employees and they dreaded having to call all of the time. For us - the final straws for us to switch providers were: +Numerous year end filings with incorrect names and addresses (they couldn't keep our 20+ locations separate even though our paperwork was completed correctly) +Incorrect SUI rates for several locations that resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in overpayments which was a lot of money for small hotels. We had sent in numerous requests for them to fix this but it never happened +Lack of care - even though we were having all of these issues, nobody would work with us to get them all resolved and make sure to remedy the situation. We had to seek out a manager to get them resolved but even after this, we still had more issues. Overall - DON'T stick with ADP or even think about switching to them. They might be able to slash prices but their poor customer service and lack of care will cost you in the end. It's not worth it. APS does everything ADP had the capability of but we don't have the errors or headaches we did before. I am really looking forward to this year end!
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    Zywave
    No answers on this topic
    Scalability
    APS
    I've never had a problem with the system nor in finding the right information.
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    Zywave
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    APS
    • We were able to transition quickly and continue to successfully hire and onboard new hires for several Clubs that opened within weeks of moving to APS.
    • We do struggle a bit with the ease of reporting simply because our locations are all under separate EIN and that can make it difficult to easily combine data queried under custom reports, so the volume of reporting that I might wish to be able to push through weekly in order to help address 'real time' trends is not always available.
    • The lack of effective dating for position and wage changes does mean that HR and available APS data is not 'real time' accurate and that HR does need to return to the system to update changes well after-the-fact, which is not ideal.
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    Zywave
    • The renewal estimator has helped us win new business!
    • The renewal estimator has successfully helped us with marketing and carrier negotiations, i.e., it holds weight with underwriters and is hard to argue against.
    • The renewal estimator has helped us prepare our clients for their upcoming renewal by forecasting cost changes well in advance so that there are no major shocks or surprises.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    APS Screenshots

    Screenshot of workforce planningScreenshot of expense management