Ascentis vs Paycom | TrustRadius

What users are saying about

Score 7.7 out of 10

Based on 320 reviews and ratings

Score 7.4 out of 10

Based on 260 reviews and ratings

Feature Rating Comparison

Ascentis

Paycom

Employee demographic data

Employment history

Job profiles and administration

Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.

Organizational charting

Organization and location management

Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)

Ascentis

Paycom

Pay calculation

Support for external payroll vendors

Off-cycle/On-Demand payment

Benefit plan administration

Direct deposit files

Salary revision and increment management

Reimbursement management

Ascentis

Paycom

Approval workflow

Balance details

Annual carry-forward and encashment

Ascentis

Paycom

View and generate pay and benefit information

Update personal information

View company policy documentation

Employee recognition

View job history

Ascentis

Paycom

Tracking of all physical assets

Ascentis

Paycom

Report builder

Pre-built reports

Ability to combine HR data with external data

Ascentis

Paycom

New hire portal

Manager tracking tools

Ascentis

Paycom

Corporate goal setting

Individual goal setting

Line-of sight-visibility

Performance tracking

Ascentis

Paycom

Performance plans

Performance improvement plans

Review status tracking

Review reminders

Multiple review frequency

Ascentis

Paycom

Create succession plans/pools

Candidate ranking

Candidate search

Candidate development

Ascentis

Paycom

Job Requisition Management

Company Website Posting

Publish to Social Media

Job Search Site Posting

Duplicate Candidate Prevention

Applicant Tracking

Notifications and Alerts

Pros

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!

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Verified User

Director in Human Resources

Hospital & Health Care Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Paycom's Pay data grid and payroll processing features streamline the payroll process.
Timekeeping is very versatile. We are in California and have a lot of timekeeping laws that must be managed. With Paycom, we have the ability to use various clocking types(web, hardware, etc.) They keep us in compliance with the meal period penalty issues as well.
File feeding employee information to our benefits carriers has been a huge help and timesaver.

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Verified User

Director in Other

Religious Institutions Company, 201-500 employees

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Cons

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.

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Verified User

Director in Human Resources

Civil Engineering Company, 501-1000 employees

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Our company code is 0UF14 with the first digit being a zero. I had to reset many of employees' access due to this. Seems silly but when we were all new to the system I spent a lot of time dealing with this.
The COVID issues and our specialist working from home did not always give me the fastest answers to any questions that came up. They would have to create a ticket for research if they did not have the answer themselves.
This is a pricey system, but you do get what you pay for.

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Payroll and Benefits Admin

Conner Prairie MuseumMuseums & Institutions, 201-500 employees

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Likelihood to Renew

Ascentis 6.3

Based on 13 answers

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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Kelly C. Neill, SPHR

Human Resources Manager

San Juan Construction, Inc.Construction, 201-500 employees

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Paycom 9.0

Based on 7 answers

The initial experience with Paycom was so bad that we decided we won't be renewing anything with them and will be terminating our business relationship mid year. Issues with the implementation, the support we receive from the implementation team and the production team has been just awful and it just doesn't meet our expectations nor what we were pitched during the sales meetings.

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Samuel Rodriguez

Payroll Specialist

Air Cargo CarriersAirlines/Aviation, 201-500 employees

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Usability

Ascentis 7.5

Based on 45 answers

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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Verified User

Director in Human Resources

Building Materials Company, 51-200 employees

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Paycom 8.3

Based on 14 answers

The system is very user friendly. Once you navigate where your information is stored under the forms you are golden. While the training amplified my capabilities and knowledge, I could have jumped into the system without and training and managed just fine. This probably one of my favorite parts about Paycom!

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Verified User

Manager in Human Resources

Mechanical Or Industrial Engineering Company, 51-200 employees

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Reliability and Availability

Ascentis 6.3

Based on 5 answers

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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Verified User

Employee in Human Resources

Government Administration Company, 51-200 employees

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Paycom 9.1

Based on 1 answer

They are very dependable and I have never experience any outages

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Elizabeth Garvin

HR & Accounting Manager

Certified Languages InternationalTelecommunications, 51-200 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

Performance

Ascentis 6.7

Based on 4 answers

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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Verified User

Employee in Human Resources

Government Administration Company, 51-200 employees

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Paycom 8.2

Based on 1 answer

It is a solid product and was out first payroll software that we have used

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Elizabeth Garvin

HR & Accounting Manager

Certified Languages InternationalTelecommunications, 51-200 employees

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Support Rating

Ascentis 8.0

Based on 157 answers

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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Verified User

Strategist in Marketing

Oil & Energy Company, 201-500 employees

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Paycom 7.4

Based on 46 answers

I was asked by the client and very willing to assist. Paycom and its people have been wonderful as a vendor to us. We are very thankful to have the ability to use their system. Paycom will be our payroll vendor now and into the distant future as we do not see any way another vendor could replace them.

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President

M-CO Wiring LLCTelecommunications, 11-50 employees

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In-Person Training

Ascentis 8.0

Based on 1 answer

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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Jennifer Steffens

IT & Marketing Coordinator

Howry Residential ServicesMental Health Care, 201-500 employees

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Paycom 6.4

Based on 1 answer

They were a sales person and not really a good trainer.

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Elizabeth Garvin

HR & Accounting Manager

Certified Languages InternationalTelecommunications, 51-200 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

Online Training

Ascentis 8.0

Based on 4 answers

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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Jennifer Steffens

IT & Marketing Coordinator

Howry Residential ServicesMental Health Care, 201-500 employees

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Paycom 7.3

Based on 1 answer

All the online training modules were short and straight to the point. Every module teach you how to use the system. If there is one thing they know how to do is training. We did implementation during the pandemic so all had to be done online or via zoom meetings.

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Samuel Rodriguez

Payroll Specialist

Air Cargo CarriersAirlines/Aviation, 201-500 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

Implementation Rating

Ascentis 8.0

Based on 6 answers

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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Human Resources Manager

MultiLingual Solutions, Inc.Government Administration, 201-500 employees

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Paycom 6.2

Based on 5 answers

Not at all satisfied it was a nightmare we spent over 8 months with the implementation team having issues after issues all related to the Puerto Rico regulations (half my employees are in Puerto Rico) and at the end we were moved over from the implementation team to the production team without all the issues being resolved

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Samuel Rodriguez

Payroll Specialist

Air Cargo CarriersAirlines/Aviation, 201-500 employees

View all 5 answers on this topic

Alternatives Considered

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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Verified User

Manager in Human Resources

Logistics & Supply Chain Company, 201-500 employees

View all 164 answers on this topic

I had the best experience with Paycom particularly due to the ease of use but I would be [happier] if we get more [customization] based on the level in the organization so that unnecessary or not frequently use data is kept separate from the useful one which we need on daily basis.

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Field Researcher

AgNext TechnologiesFinancial Services, 51-200 employees

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Scalability

Ascentis 6.0

Based on 4 answers

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

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Christina Miyamoto, PHR®

Human Resources Manager

N/AEntertainment, 51-200 employees

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Paycom 5.5

Based on 1 answer

They are not able to meet our current needs

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Elizabeth Garvin

HR & Accounting Manager

Certified Languages InternationalTelecommunications, 51-200 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

Return on Investment

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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Verified User

Employee in Human Resources

Mechanical Or Industrial Engineering Company, 201-500 employees

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Management of complex payroll procedures reduces the cognitive load and back-forth required
The initial downtown in setting up the system, coupled with the lack of a free trial meant that it was an initial tough sell
Ease of time tracking and resource management for part-time research assistants reduced admin overhead and extra work

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Verified User

Engineer in Research & Development

Education Management Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Screenshots

See All (7) Ascentis Screenshots

See All (3) Paycom Screenshots

Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Rating Summary

Ascentis

Paycom

Ascentis

Paycom

Ascentis

Paycom

Ascentis

Paycom

Ascentis

Paycom

Ascentis

Paycom

Ascentis

Paycom

Ascentis

Paycom

Ascentis

Paycom

Ascentis

Paycom

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