Ascentis
Core HR Software
Software Profile & Review Summary
Ascentis provides small and medium sized businesses with a platform for core HR, benefits, payroll, talent management, recruiting and time and attendance software. The software is offered in a SaaS deployment model. Ascentis HR (originally HROffice) was founded in 1994 in Bellevue, Wash. Ascentis Payroll (originally EBS Online) was founded in 1980 in San Mateo, Calif. The two companies and products were merged as one organization in 2007 to create a fully integrated HCM platform. Ascentis is VC funded with the last round of $7 million raised in 2014. The company has taken a first step into the talent management arena by acquiring Starfield TMS, a talent management vendor, in July of 2014.
| Company Status: | Private |
|---|---|
| 2014 Revenue: | Not disclosed |
| Revenue Growth 2013-14: | Not disclosed |
| Customers: | 1,200+ |
| Employees: | 137 (from LinkedIn) |
Ascentis Customer Distribution
Source: (12) User reviews of Ascentis on TrustRadius
Aggregate User Ratings of Ascentis on TrustRadius
| Rating Attribute | Ascentis | # of Reviewers Contributing to Rating Average | Core HR Category Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Likelihood to recommend | 7.4 | 9 | 7.82 |
| Likelihood to renew | 6.5 | 4 | 7.19 |
| Product usability | N/A | N/A | 8.54 |
| Product availability | N/A | N/A | 9.00 |
| Product performance | N/A | N/A | 8.30 |
| Support | 9.0 | 1 | 8.88 |
| In-person training | N/A | N/A | 7.80 |
| Online training | N/A | N/A | 7.50 |
| Implementation satisfaction | 9.0 | 1 | 7.28 |
Summary of Ascentis Reviews
| Ascentis Pros | Ascentis Cons |
|---|---|
| Benefits Administration Excellent administration of employee benefits offering seamless communication with external benefits companies. |
Time Module Not flexible enough regarding shift rules/differentials and sometimes slow. |
| Reporting Very robust with hundreds of canned reports and very easy to use to create ad hoc reports. |
Integration with other systems Interface to outside payroll systems and other systems is cumbersome. |
| Customer Service Customer service is admirable with quick and knowledgeable service. |
Corporate structure The company is somewhat siloed between HR, Payroll, Recruiting and Time Keeping, with no single support point of contact. |
| Payroll engine Payroll engine is very effective and reliable. |
Organization mapping One reviewer complains that there is no ability to link positions to departments or divisions. Each employee must be mapped individually. |
| Self-service capabilities Self-service features for employees are very user friendly and customizable. |
Ascentis Response to Reviewer Feedback
Ascentis as a company is not “siloed,” but our support services are segmented to focus support on different products so that our clients receive the most thorough and in-depth solution to their situation as possible. Instead of expecting a software support person to be somewhat knowledgeable in all products, we choose to train product-centric support reps to be deeply knowledgeable and focused in their dedicated solution. We have found that clients benefit more from this approach, then trying to train all reps to support all things in all products, as there is much complexity in each discipline. What this means is that our payroll support team has many certified payroll experts that have at least 10 years of deep payroll experience, which includes best practices and compliance requirements. This degree of knowledge and experience is mirrored in support for our other product lines. This does mean that clients with multiple products may talk to more than one support rep, depending on what their questions or needs are at the time. That said, all clients call in to the same support phone number, and are then routed appropriately.
The inability to link positions to departments or divisions has been fixed in a soon-to-be released new version of the software.