Ceridian Powerpay vs HRdirect Smart Apps

Likelihood to Recommend

In all honestly I don’t know a situation where Ceridian Powerpay would not be appropriate to use. I have used it at a company with 12 employees, and at a company with 100 employees. The system works great regardless of company size and the benefits significantly outweigh any (if any) negatives.

I only have experience with the system in the hospitality industry but it covered all our needs and more that I can only imagine that would apply to other industries as well.

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Verified User

Manager in Corporate

Restaurants Company, 11-50 employees

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UPDATE 3/20/2020: I initially gave HRDirect a "0" recommendation due to all the issues we had with the PTO Module. However, since purchasing the Harassment Training Module ($90), this product is the best value for the money and puts us in compliance with mandated requirements. It is easy to use and well-presented.At this point in time, with the issues and frustration level of all our employees, managers, and payroll department, it would be difficult for me to recommend this app as suitable in any scenario. However, should HRdirect fix the issues and get the app to perform as it was originally designed, it would be a great product for a small to medium company that has limited resources yet wants a good product for the money.In our experience, the new hire portal did not appear to be functioning properly; our new hires were not able to access the blank documents. They could see them but not open them (PDFs).

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Margaret Wood

HR & Accounting Administrator

Poly Pharmaceuticals IncPharmaceuticals, 11-50 employees

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Feature Rating Comparison

Ceridian Powerpay

HRdirect Smart Apps

Pay calculation

Off-cycle/On-Demand payment

Benefit plan administration

Direct deposit files

Salary revision and increment management

Reimbursement management

Ceridian Powerpay

HRdirect Smart Apps

Employee demographic data

Job profiles and administration

Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)

Ceridian Powerpay

HRdirect Smart Apps

Approval workflow

Ceridian Powerpay

HRdirect Smart Apps

View and generate pay and benefit information

Update personal information

View company policy documentation

Ceridian Powerpay

HRdirect Smart Apps

Report builder

Pre-built reports

Ceridian Powerpay

HRdirect Smart Apps

New hire portal

Manager tracking tools

Pros

Ceridian Powerpay simplifies the payroll process, very little manual work involved during each payroll run.
Ceridian Powerpay is mostly an intuitive interface with easy to understand workflows to allow for multiple users to be able to use the system if required.

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Matt LeMaire, B.A., M.A.

VP, People & Operations

Peel Mutual InsuranceInsurance, 11-50 employees

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Initially, you were able to see all activity and drill down for details.
It was easy-access for all our employees in the 7 states we operate in.
It provided tracking for the managers.
Payroll had access to all PTO requests.

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Margaret Wood

HR & Accounting Administrator

Poly Pharmaceuticals IncPharmaceuticals, 11-50 employees

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Cons

Would be great if you could search for specific ROEs in the system rather than having to go into each individual pay period package to locate - especially when there may be 10+ ROEs.

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Verified User

Manager in Corporate

Restaurants Company, 11-50 employees

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HRdirect performed an upgrade in 2019 and that's where things went awry.
You could no longer drill down through the calendar to see the details - i.e. Doctor's appointment, illness, childcare issues, vacation, etc.
Previous year PTO requests were not archived and you now had to scroll through hundreds of PTO requests to see the most current.
Previous PTO requests were listed oldest to most current, resulting in much frustration trying to locate specific ones.
The print option was not longer functional.
The online help request form was no longer accessible.

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Margaret Wood

HR & Accounting Administrator

Poly Pharmaceuticals IncPharmaceuticals, 11-50 employees

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Likelihood to Renew

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

HRdirect Smart Apps 1.0

Based on 1 answer

As previously described, there are too many unresolved issues.

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Margaret Wood

HR & Accounting Administrator

Poly Pharmaceuticals IncPharmaceuticals, 11-50 employees

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Support Rating

Ceridian Powerpay 8.0

Based on 2 answers

Generally, Ceridian Powerpay support is strong, with the edge given to the telephone staff, which is prompt and always helpful. When I have had to reach out via telephone, I am greeted quickly and provided with a quick resolution to my issue. The email support leaves a bit to be desired, though, as my experience with change requests result in long waits for confirmation and completion, with some instances not even being given a resolution to an issue without requiring additional follow-up. I shouldn’t have to stay on top of the support in addition to providing the details needed, and it should just get done.

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Matt LeMaire, B.A., M.A.

VP, People & Operations

Peel Mutual InsuranceInsurance, 11-50 employees

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HRdirect Smart Apps 1.0

Based on 2 answers

Due to the fact that we were patient for more than 6 months with no resolution in sight, we decided to end our relationship with HRdirect for PTO tracking.3/20/2020: We have purchased the Harassment Training Module. Excellent product with great value for the money.

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Margaret Wood

HR & Accounting Administrator

Poly Pharmaceuticals IncPharmaceuticals, 11-50 employees

View all 2 answers on this topic

Alternatives Considered

Have not used any other payroll software in my experience.

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Verified User

Manager in Corporate

Restaurants Company, 11-50 employees

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No answers on this topic

Return on Investment

Positive: Ceridian Powerpay is cost-effective for our organization as we do not require a more robust solution—it fits our needs well without breaking the bank.
Positive: Ceridian Powerpay is mostly intuitive, easy to use, and as a result, easy to train team members in. This allows for additional coverage for the payroll system should the key user not be available or require assistance.

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Matt LeMaire, B.A., M.A.

VP, People & Operations

Peel Mutual InsuranceInsurance, 11-50 employees

View all 2 answers on this topic

Initially, HRdirect was proving to be an excellent tool, and we were getting a quick turnaround on small issues. However, the upgrade messed things up on our accessibility, with no resolution in sight.
Harassment training module is excellent.

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Margaret Wood

HR & Accounting Administrator

Poly Pharmaceuticals IncPharmaceuticals, 11-50 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

Yes

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Rating Summary

Ceridian Powerpay

HRdirect Smart Apps

Ceridian Powerpay

HRdirect Smart Apps

Ceridian Powerpay

HRdirect Smart Apps

Likelihood to Recommend