Ascentis (discontinued) vs. syncHR

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Ascentis (discontinued)
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Ascentis HR uses web-based management programs to help automate complex HR processes. Ascentis’ other services included customizable payroll, time and attendance and recruiting modules. Ascentis was acquired by UKG in March of 2022, and will be discontinued.N/A
syncHR
Score 6.0 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
SyncHR headquartered in Oakland, California offers their eponymous platform for HR management, benefits and payroll.N/A
Pricing
Ascentis (discontinued)syncHR
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
syncHR v5.9
Varies
Per User per Month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Ascentis (discontinued)syncHR
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional DetailsSyncHR charges a one-time implementation fee plus a PEPM fee. All charges are based on employer size and complexity.
More Pricing Information
Features
Ascentis (discontinued)syncHR
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
7.1
150 Ratings
10% below category average
syncHR
9.4
1 Ratings
18% above category average
Employee demographic data6.7137 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Employment history7.3140 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Job profiles and administration6.9128 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.6.7126 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Organizational charting5.290 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Organization and location management8.0109 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)8.8102 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
7.8
125 Ratings
3% below category average
syncHR
9.4
1 Ratings
16% above category average
Pay calculation7.1115 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors6.162 Ratings00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment8.328 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration6.7108 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.2100 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.692 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Reimbursement management8.851 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
7.8
105 Ratings
3% below category average
syncHR
9.0
1 Ratings
11% above category average
Approval workflow8.099 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Balance details7.099 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment8.484 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
7.0
153 Ratings
15% below category average
syncHR
9.2
1 Ratings
13% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information7.8138 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Update personal information8.6151 Ratings10.01 Ratings
View company policy documentation5.4110 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Employee recognition6.061 Ratings8.01 Ratings
View job history7.3108 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
5.8
33 Ratings
29% below category average
syncHR
10.0
1 Ratings
25% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets5.833 Ratings10.01 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
6.4
147 Ratings
17% below category average
syncHR
10.0
1 Ratings
27% above category average
Report builder7.0144 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.5142 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data4.673 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
5.1
98 Ratings
44% below category average
syncHR
10.0
1 Ratings
22% above category average
New hire portal5.398 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Manager tracking tools4.976 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
7.2
57 Ratings
12% below category average
syncHR
9.0
1 Ratings
10% above category average
Corporate goal setting6.743 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.653 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility7.138 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Performance tracking7.250 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
6.0
63 Ratings
28% below category average
syncHR
8.4
1 Ratings
6% above category average
Performance plans5.659 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Performance improvement plans5.650 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Review status tracking5.857 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Review reminders6.555 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Multiple review frequency6.650 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
5.9
27 Ratings
29% below category average
syncHR
-
Ratings
Create succession plans/pools6.421 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate ranking6.421 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate search5.027 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate development5.823 Ratings00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
5.5
89 Ratings
34% below category average
syncHR
8.9
1 Ratings
14% above category average
Job Requisition Management5.585 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Company Website Posting5.279 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Publish to Social Media5.759 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting5.871 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention5.657 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Applicant Tracking5.783 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts5.369 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Ascentis (discontinued)syncHR
Small Businesses
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Ascentis (discontinued)syncHR
Likelihood to Recommend
7.2
(164 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
6.3
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.6
(44 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
6.7
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.1
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.2
(150 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.3
(4 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.3
(5 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
3.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
6.7
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.6
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.6
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Ascentis (discontinued)syncHR
Likelihood to Recommend
Discontinued Products
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.
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SyncHR
syncHR is designed for mid to large size companies, typically 200-2000 employees. Any organization that has a strong reporting need and/or a complicated payroll process could benefit from the unique features built into the platform
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Pros
Discontinued Products
  • 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
SyncHR
  • Automated retroactive change processing and mid-period rate changes – completely automated with no manual intervention needed - If you ever need to give someone a merit increase and make it retroactive or if an employee is entitled to enroll in health benefits on their first day employment but has 30 days to enroll, syncHR will automatically handles these retro changes.
  • A single application designed from the ground up that gives equal weight to HR, payroll, and benefit functions - syncHR is designed as a true unified solution with no back-end mainframes or separate front-ends vs backends. Everything is processed real-time in the cloud which has eliminated all discrepancies.
  • Customer Service - syncHR provides a designated account manager as your single point of contact. Since the The StaffWell Group is a 24/7 business, I needed a company that was available when I needed them. syncHR delivered with 24/7 emergency support.
  • Event-driven employee self service - Other systems we have used rely on employees to make the correct choices as to what is required when completing an employee initiated transaction. With syncHR, the system always directs the employee to the next step reducing both errors and calls to our support staff. I believe this is also the reason why we had a 40% increase in the adoption of ESS.
  • Dynamic Security & Workflows - syncHR has no static pages which allows security and workflows to be updated automatically whenever a change is made. This has virtually eliminated the time and effort required from HR to manually update workflows to the correct personnel.
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Cons
Discontinued Products
  • 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
SyncHR
  • Learning Management System- syncHR currently does not offer an LMS system. They only track and report training dates, licenses and certifications.
  • Although syncHR is a global solution it is somewhat limited to tracking employee headcount, HR documents, paperless on boarding and benefit information. There is no international payroll option like the one they provide for domestic employees. Although the system can handle multiple languages and currencies, I would like to see a global payroll option.
  • Succession Planning - syncHR provides little functionality for succession planning. The system can track budgets vs actuals, goals and ratings but does not offer a true succession planning module
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Likelihood to Renew
Discontinued Products
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.
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SyncHR
No answers on this topic
Usability
Discontinued Products
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.
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SyncHR
Overall the system is very easy to navigate but more importantly my employees find it so easy to use. The percentage of employees who now use ESS went up by 40%
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Reliability and Availability
Discontinued Products
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.
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SyncHR
No answers on this topic
Performance
Discontinued Products
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.
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SyncHR
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Discontinued Products
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.
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SyncHR
Whenever we need support our designated account manager is there to provide answers for us. If she doesn't have or know the answer, additional support is provided via a service matter expert in that field. Support hours are 24/7
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In-Person Training
Discontinued Products
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.
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SyncHR
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Discontinued Products
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.
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SyncHR
Training was very well done and thorough
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Implementation Rating
Discontinued Products
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.
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SyncHR
During the first few weeks of implementation it is important to have all key members participate in meetings. Finance, HR, Payroll and Benefits should be involved from the early stages to ensure that the solution is designed to meet your specific requirements. Since syncHR personalizes their solution for each company a few wrong steps early on regarding the design we wanted caused us to spend extra time later. The more info you provide syncHR upfront the better they can take all of your rules and needs into account from day one. In our case, finance did not get involved right away and therefore some of the items that we needed for our GL needed to be re-done. SyncHR was very accommodating though as they spent extra time with us to update some of the allocations so that finance got what they needed
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Alternatives Considered
Discontinued Products
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.
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SyncHR
As I mentioned I have used UltiPro, ADP, Ceridian as well as several others and none of them seem to offer half of the functionality and service that syncHR provides. Although we had some problems from time to time, I hold companies in high regard by how they resolve these problems. It's a comfort knowing that my HCM provider truly cares about me and my business so if for no other reason than this, I feel syncHR is far and away the best system I have used. The system works as advertised which is all I could ask for
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Scalability
Discontinued Products
Large acquisition would be very complicated, seems more appropriate for companies under 100
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SyncHR
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Discontinued Products
  • 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.
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SyncHR
  • Due to complexity of our payroll, it would typically take us almost 3 full days to verify hours and perform retro changes before actually running payroll. With so many retroactive changes and manual calculations it was a time consuming and error prone process. With syncHR, the accuracy of payroll has increased tremendously and the amount of time we now spend preparing to process payroll decreased to less than 4 hours per week. All approved time seamlessly moves from the T&A module into payroll and all retro transactions are automatically processed.
  • When I initially selected syncHR I was a little hesitant because I never heard of them before and was concerned about their viability as a company and customer service. Several years later I'm happy to say that syncHR has provided better support than any of the better know competitors ever did.
  • Although no system is ever perfect, overall syncHR has exceeded most of my expectations. The sales and implementation process was wonderful, the salesperson was responsive and did not oversell what the system could do.
  • Training & Implementation - syncHR spent a considerable amount of time learning my business rules in order to build the system to meet my requirements. Training was provided on all aspects of the system until my team felt comfortable enough to handle things on their own. I never felt as though we had a set number of hours of training or that our questions, no matter how redundant or simple were a bother to them.
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ScreenShots

Ascentis (discontinued) Screenshots

Screenshot of Access all of your details including, paychecks, personal file, timeclock, etc via our mobile app.Screenshot of Punch-in and punch-out on the go.Screenshot of Centralized location for everything related to a user or admin.Screenshot of Every employee has access to their personal information in one location.Screenshot of Pre-built reporting along with Ad Hoc reporting gives you the ability to understand your business as a whole.Screenshot of Benefit enrollment made easy for your employees.

syncHR Screenshots

Screenshot of Org ChartScreenshot of ESS PortalScreenshot of Ad-Hoc Report WriterScreenshot of Time & Attendance