Ceridian Powerpay vs. Paychex Flex

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Ceridian Powerpay
Score 4.1 out of 10
N/A
Ceridian's Powerpay allows small businesses to pay and manage employees quickly, accurately, and from anywhere. Ceridian boasts 40,000 Canadian small businesses using Powerpay.N/A
Paychex Flex
Score 7.1 out of 10
N/A
Paychex Flex, of Paychex' Online Payroll Services, is a cloud-based human resource management and payroll platform. Paychex offers core and specialized services, and scales to meet the needs of small businesses, SMBs, and large enterprises.
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Pricing
Ceridian PowerpayPaychex Flex
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Paychex Go
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Paychex Flex Service
Contact sales team
Paychex Flex Enterprise
Contact sales team
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Ceridian PowerpayPaychex Flex
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Ceridian PowerpayPaychex Flex
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Ceridian PowerpayPaychex Flex
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Ceridian Powerpay
2.1
3 Ratings
119% below category average
Paychex Flex
8.6
271 Ratings
6% above category average
Pay calculation2.43 Ratings9.3254 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors2.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment2.42 Ratings8.7130 Ratings
Benefit plan administration1.02 Ratings7.8144 Ratings
Direct deposit files2.43 Ratings9.4255 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management2.43 Ratings8.8182 Ratings
Reimbursement management2.43 Ratings7.699 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Ceridian Powerpay
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
6.9
231 Ratings
14% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings8.5187 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings8.1206 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings7.1144 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings7.9144 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings8.4128 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings7.6125 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Ceridian Powerpay
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
7.5
136 Ratings
8% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings6.999 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings7.8128 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings7.8101 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Ceridian Powerpay
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
8.7
233 Ratings
6% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings8.7212 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings9.1223 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings7.9106 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings8.8158 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Ceridian Powerpay
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
8.7
37 Ratings
9% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings8.737 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Ceridian Powerpay
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
7.1
157 Ratings
7% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings6.8129 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings7.7147 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings6.879 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Ceridian Powerpay
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
8.4
151 Ratings
5% above category average
New hire portal00 Ratings8.4144 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings8.494 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Ceridian Powerpay
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
7.8
55 Ratings
1% above category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings9.129 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings7.327 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings7.321 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings7.127 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings7.125 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings7.229 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings9.350 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Ceridian PowerpayPaychex Flex
Small Businesses
OnPay
OnPay
Score 9.4 out of 10
OnPay
OnPay
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.4 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 8.0 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 8.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Ceridian PowerpayPaychex Flex
Likelihood to Recommend
1.6
(3 ratings)
8.1
(281 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
8.6
(39 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.3
(223 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.4
(9 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.4
(9 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(2 ratings)
8.4
(248 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
6.0
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(12 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
7.7
(11 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(5 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.3
(9 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(32 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.2
(33 ratings)
User Testimonials
Ceridian PowerpayPaychex Flex
Likelihood to Recommend
Ceridian
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.
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
Paychex is ideal for all-size companies, in my opinion. The platform is very user-friendly, account managers are very knowledgeable, and the company as a whole has great customer service. Anyone who has been debating on using payroll software would be pleasantly surprised at how easy of a transition it is to use one. We have over 200 employees, and it was a seamless change for us. Highly satisfied!
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Pros
Ceridian
  • 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.
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
  • I like I can enter payroll and if I need to leave the program, I can resume at a later time and my information is saved.
  • I like the analytics & reports features.
  • I like how all my employees have easy access to their portal.
Read full review
Cons
Ceridian
  • Customer Support is Horrible
  • They over bill you for everything and ignore cancellation requests
  • They don't listen to what you need or want, they slip in cancellation clauses and charge you for inactive employees throughout the year.
  • They leave one person in charge of your account and should that person go on leave you are stuck waiting until that person gets back (including personal leaves that lasted 2 months)
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
  • Reporting writing is difficult to figure out
  • Employee turnover inside Paychex was a problem, until we were assigned to Neil Williams - since that time it has settled down
  • Pressure to convert personal connection with payroll advisor to using automated service
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Likelihood to Renew
Ceridian
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
Overall I like the features that Paychex Flex offers. I am sure that there are other features that I am unaware of, so I am excited to see if there is more that Flex is capable of to make my job easier. The basic features are really user friendly and easy to access. If there ever is an issue customer service is great
Read full review
Usability
Ceridian
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
There are too many clicks to hire/rehire an employee. However, I have seen progress to a more streamlined integration between all of the modules to be combined. I await further improvements, both functionally and visually, to make the entire payroll process easier. As of now, there is much room for improvement just as we have seen with other providers we have reviewed.
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Reliability and Availability
Ceridian
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
We have not experienced any difficulties with unplanned outages. Notifications are always made for outages, and they do not effect normal business operations.
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Performance
Ceridian
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
Unless there is lag time within the internet, the Paychex Flex website loads exceptional fast, pages load quickly and reports that I need to print or download load quickly. If I need to create a specialized report, once I complete it I receive an e-mail telling me my report is ready to be downloaded. Changing between web pages is fast as well.
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Support Rating
Ceridian
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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Paychex, Inc.
Communication is very strong with Paychex. We did have one specialist that we were not satisfied with. Reached out to management to request a new specialist and was granted a new specialist. Specialist are friendly and patient to get us through our questions. Like to have web/zoom meetings to get training. Like follow up response to make sure everything was resolved to our satisfaction
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In-Person Training
Ceridian
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
We did online training only
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Online Training
Ceridian
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
It was easy to understand and follow along. I do like the informational videos that we can utilize before we opt to call in for customer service support. It has made a difference since sometimes that resolves the issue I may have had and saved myself a phone call to Paychex support.
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Implementation Rating
Ceridian
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
Implementation was very smooth. The most cumbersome task was entering the current employees into the system during initial set up, but Paychex staff handled most of that and verified against prior system reports as well as internal reports provided to ensure 100% accuracy.
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Alternatives Considered
Ceridian
Have not used any other payroll software in my experience.
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
We still use QB Desktop Pro to maintain a Check Register / Overall Balance for the company, but once having tried QB Payroll Online for about 3 months prior to finding Paychex Flex I can tell you that there's just no comparison. QB online is VERY EXPENSIVE and not so user-friendly. I hated every minute of those 6 payrolls we ran through QB online.
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Scalability
Ceridian
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
Employees can log in at home and get up to date information on their FSA balance and any medical bill reimbursements they may have uploaded. At renewal time they have the ability to make changes to their FSA or for new employees star the enrollment.
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Return on Investment
Ceridian
  • The return on investment has been substantial for our company. Having a payroll system that calculates everything for you, processes important documents, and only takes minimal time and effort allows us to focus more time on running the business and generating revenue.
  • Instead of having a user spend half a day (or potentially a full day) processing payroll, it only takes a couple hours (obviously depending on how many employees need to be processed).
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Paychex, Inc.
  • I do not believe we have saved anything additionally. The time we've had to spend to get things to hopefully work is sad. This is the reason we've had to turn off all extra "products" of Paychex Flex. Time and Attendance is horrible. Benefits management is horrible. The user experience is horrible.
  • One thing I do not understand is why are updates for states, cities, counties, school districts, etc. not automatically updated? Should we not get a big red flag if we have an employee living/working, being paid in CA, but they aren't set up for CA sick time? If it is required to be on the paycheck stub to show the balance of the sick time, why would we not be notified that we are out of compliance?
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ScreenShots

Paychex Flex Screenshots

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