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Ascentis (discontinued)

Ascentis (discontinued)

Overview

What is Ascentis (discontinued)?

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.

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Recent Reviews

The Good and the Bad!

7 out of 10
September 23, 2021
Incentivized
We use Ascentis HR for our "system of record", ESS, open enrollment, etc. We are just starting to learn and use Performance Management, …
Continue reading

Technical System View

7 out of 10
February 07, 2021
Incentivized
[Ascentis] allowed us to transition from paper processes to electronic and streamline our work. It provided a platform for employees to …
Continue reading
Read all reviews

Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 48 features
  • Update personal information (151)
    8.6
    86%
  • Pre-built reports (142)
    7.5
    75%
  • Employment history (140)
    7.3
    73%
  • Report builder (144)
    7.0
    70%
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Pricing

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N/A
Unavailable

What is Ascentis (discontinued)?

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.

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Would you like us to let the vendor know that you want pricing?

Alternatives Pricing

What is Rippling?

Rippling gives businesses one place to run HR, IT, and Finance. It brings together all of the workforce systems that are normally scattered across a company, like payroll, expenses, benefits, and computers. This enables users to manage and automate every part of the employee lifecycle in a single…

What is SAP SuccessFactors?

SAP SuccessFactors is a suite of HR/HCM products covering these capability areas: core HR and payroll, recruiting and onboarding, learning and development, performance and compensation management, workforce analytics and planning, and employee experience management.

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Features

Human Resource Management

Organizing, tracking and providing instant access to critical employee data, job profiles, transfers, promotions, and benefits information.

7.1
Avg 7.8

Payroll Management

Provides for pay calculation and benefit plan administration, in addition to managing direct deposit, salary revisions and payroll tracking.

7.8
Avg 8.0

Leave and Attendance Management

Streamlines communication between HR and employees and facilitates efficient management of employee leave including requisitions, approvals, balance calculation, and annual carry-forward.

7.8
Avg 8.1

Employee Self Service

Employee portal allowing employees to view and update their personal information.

7
Avg 8.1

Asset Management

Maintaining a record of assets such as laptops, pagers, cell phones, etc. issued to employees. Record typically includes asset type, number, serial number and date of issuance.

5.8
Avg 7.7

HR Reporting

Pre-built and custom reports, and integration with external data.

6.4
Avg 7.6

Onboarding

Employee onboarding is the process of orienting new hires to the social and performance aspects of their jobs so that they are able to function in their new roles as quickly as possible.

5.1
Avg 8.0

Performance and Goals

Goal alignment is the practice of ensuring that all employees have clearly defined goals in support of the overall corporate strategy.

7.2
Avg 8.1

Performance Management

Performance management is the process of ensuring employees meet pre-determined objectives and goals through regular check-ins and appraisals.

6
Avg 7.9

Succession Planning

Succession planning is the identification and development of internal employees with the potential to fill key business leadership positions in the company.

5.9
Avg 7.9

Recruiting / ATS

Recruiting or Applicant Tracking Software is software used to manage the recruitment process electronically by handling job postings, applicant status, resume management, etc.

5.5
Avg 7.7
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Product Details

What is Ascentis (discontinued)?

Ascentis was an a-la carte full suite workforce management (WFM) technology platform and human capital solutions. Ascentis WFM provided time and attendance solutions that provided clients with scheduling, compliance, complex calculations, and time collection options. The HCM suite, included a fully a-la carte solution.

Ascentis was acquired by UKG in March of 2022. The service will be discontinued.

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.Screenshot of Manage your employees schedule, PTO, accruals through our best of breed timekeeping system.

Ascentis (discontinued) Competitors

Ascentis (discontinued) Technical Details

Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

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.

UKG Pro, Paylocity, and Paycom are common alternatives for Ascentis (discontinued).

Reviewers rate Direct deposit files highest, with a score of 9.2.

The most common users of Ascentis (discontinued) are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(323)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 164)
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September 23, 2021

The Good and the Bad!

Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Ascentis HR for our "system of record", ESS, open enrollment, etc. We are just starting to learn and use Performance Management, and eventually will be using it for Recruiting/Onboarding. But right now, we use it for NEW HIRE to TERMINATION. It's been great for Open Enrollment. We do, however, struggle a little with the connection between HR and Payroll. We are hoping for some enhancements that will help these two systems "flow" a little smoother with each other. Singularly, they seem to be pretty good. Working together needs a little more help - although MOST of it is decent.
  • Ascentis HR allows you to attach anything to the EE's records, so you can be quite paperless.
  • Benefits Open Enrollment went pretty smoothly! Much better than the manual way we'd been handling things.
  • Setting up users (ex: managers, supervisors, etc) is pretty decent, but we are still learning how to work with all of that to have things work correctly.
  • Ascentis HR needs to flow over to Ascentis Payroll with a little more fluidity. Most are OK, but it does need to work on certain issues better. Some could be an administrative error as we are all still "learning" things.
  • I believe Ascentis HR should not have to "use" Ascentis Support as much for certain things: Alert setups (why can't we set these up ourselves without sending notices to Support to set up), any remote desktop set up or password reset has to go thru Ascentis Support - why can "administrators" on our "user" end set it up?
  • There is no "flow over" of things like bonuses, car allowance, phone allowances, etc from HR to payroll. There should be. HR training needs to be handled a little smoother.
  • There is still so much to learn on the HR side after more than a year of having it. And, that's not including the separate "modules" that companies can utilize. That's just the basic stuff.
  • Somewhat of a "choppy" learning experience.
  • Report tool can be enhanced/modified to work better!!! Whether a custom report or a canned report, sometimes the selection criteria that one has chosen DOES NOT work the way it should (this is very noticeable when reporting on certain benefits that one has selected, yet ALL benefits (STD, LTD, Med, etc) still come out on the report, and then one has to sort and remove them THEMSELVES from the reports. Also, on the HR reporting, you have to create a TXT report first, and then make it into an EXCEL (or whatever type of report you want), you can't just create the EXCEL report first. The REPORTING feature DEFINITELY needs some enhancements/modifications to work MUCH better in many ways!!!
If a company does not have any type of "system", Ascentis can be a great tool. I think the ESS part of it will be terrific once we utilize it more effectively - the "administrative" side needs a little more work. If just using Ascentis HR without Payroll, can probably work mostly terrific. When working with Payroll, many enhancements need to be thought about between them!
Philip West | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We used Ascentis across the entire office workforce as our Intranet solution and we’re trying to incorporate it into payroll. We also use a sentence for large portion of our management reporting as well as other reporting features. Additionally we had business processes to pull data from our data storage in the cloud, which was then sent to us to be incorporated into our servers that are located on site
  • Making an extremely wide variety of reports available
  • Clearly and concisely relaying what their product can do for the company
  • Different tools were laid out in an intuitive manner on the interface
  • They have not been very responsive when we have had problems in fact sometimes it takes several weeks to get back to them
  • They promised us the moon and then we’re not able to deliver and everything they promised we had a specific need for some of the data which they said would be available and then they said it wasn’t available when we need it
If you need a HR solution and a small to medium size company that does not require any kind of customized reporting then this would be an ideal product. If you require custom reports which nearly all companies require, and you like a responsive client then Ascentis is probably not for you
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We currently use the cloud based version of Ascentis HR. Up until a year ago we were using a copy that was locally hosted. We use the application to keep track of employee PTO, sick days, personal information, AHCA type requirements and maintaining documentation of employee education. It is used across our whole organization as it houses all of our employees records and we use the Web Based Self Service piece to allow employees to request time off, view their available time off as well as a type of intranet for organization announcements. Beyond the typical record side the most important problem this software has addresses for us was allowing employees to have 24/7 access to their time off and requesting time off.
  • Ascentis HR Offices Self Service piece is done very nicely and most employees find the interface intuitive and easy to use.
  • The product is backed by a passionate group employees, many of which have been with Ascentis for decades, making the support and communication with them seem quite fulfilling and and always personal and to the point of an issue.
  • The back end piece of Ascentis HR is as easy to use as the employee facing side. Our HR team has no issue entering information or getting reports out of the system. Ascentis made this softeware to make the lives easier of HR people and in my opinion it succeeds at that.
  • Ascentis offers many hooks into different insurance/benefit companies online systems making publishing benefits a fairly easy process.
  • While this is technically a cloud based system it is actually running on RDS hosts so accessing and using the back end piece is much more cumbersome that having it installed locally or using a web based version of the same.
  • I think their costs are a bit high compared to some other online offerings. Large companies would probably find using Ascentis to not be an economical choice.
  • While their Self Service piece works well for an employee and is made to be simple for HR Staff it does not offer much functionality or changeability for someone in IT that might want troubleshoot or add some "off the beaten path" information to the portal. It is basically a CMS made for non IT folks.
Ascentis HR is most suited for companies sized between 25 and 200 users. It comes with enough base offerings to keep most employees, in those type of companies, happy. The lack of changeability to the online portal makes me question whether it is good for larger companies more accustomed to changing stuff on the fly. In addition, since it is 100% online based now it would not make sense for any company dealing with outposts offices that have little or no internet capability.
iain Stephen | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Ascentis HR is used by the entire organization. We use it to allow employees to request time off and to track HR for all staff. Our paramedics, unfortunately, do NOT use the time off features as the scheduling system in use for them is outside of Ascentis, but all other staff use self-service.
  • Employee Self Service is excellent
  • Notes, attachments to employee records are easy to use
  • Management self service is also well thought out, although we would like to see managers included in their own team calendar views.
  • We looked at the scheduling system available from Ascentis - in depth - it was almost what we needed for our paramedics, but not quite (NovaTime) - it would be great to move in that direction in the future.
  • A way to connect leave calendars to MS Outlook would be a wonderful tool.
  • The need to use remote desktop to get to Employee Manager and Setup Manager is cumbersome - people forget their passwords frequently - it would be nice to see Ascentis move toward web-based functionality for the entire thing.
Ascentis is well suited for salaried, full-time staff on a regular schedule. The web-based employee self-service is very strong.

We do not find the payroll function to be well suited to our needs - and as mentioned previously, the NovaTime scheduling system could not be customized to work for us without spending upwards of $20K US.
Larry Michelove | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Ascentis/Nova time for time and attendance across our company. We also use it for PTO accruals and requests. We also use it for FMLA and expense reimbursements.
  • Tracking time and attendance
  • Setting accruals with limits
  • Tracking accrual approvals
  • Mobile app could be more user friendly
  • Accrual visibility for employees could be better
It is great for time and attendance and easy for users. Accrual visibility for employees is not optimal. It is hard for them to see what is available NOW.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We are using Ascentis across our entire company as we have locations in several states. We are using the Time, Payroll, Recruiting and HR software. We feel we are all able to keep all locations on the same page, moving the same direction and at the same pace instead of everyone doing their own process at their own time.
  • Ascentis welcomes feedback and challenges. If we have a need to better our company and feel we can do this process in Ascentis, they are willing to help us find a way so we can keep everything in one central location.
  • The support is extremely helpful, and you get to talk to an actual person every time.
  • Constant information of updates and how to use the new features are wonderful. You do not have to go searching for answers when there is a new option or feature.
  • Though we have found very few things not customizable, there are a few items in Recruiting that we could use the ability to customize in the application process.
  • The app needs to be able to see widgets from the company page so we can ensure our employees are up to date on everything going on, even if on their phone.
  • Emergency contacts needs to be able to be seen on the app by supervisors and others designated to see this information.
I find that all the pros outweigh any cons, especially since there is always a willingness to try to make something work. We also find that it is user friendly in an industry with people that are not as computer savvy as others. And the software is always growing so we are able to stay up to date.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Ascentis for HR and Payroll. We utilize the Employee Self-Service Portal throughout the organization. This helps all forms be completed in the same way for everyone and follows the same flow to ensure updates are made and there is a trail of supporting documentation.
  • Streamline HR changes.
  • 2 step approval process between HR and Payroll for those changes.
  • Support for those items you need assistance with and a payroll specialist that can walk you through those items step by step.
  • When submitting changes, an effective date is entered. It would be great, even if approved, those changes do not affect anything until the actual entered effective date.
  • Sometimes the 2 step process of reaching a payroll specialist when you call in seems a little overboard. I understand that payroll specialists are probably very busy, but using the person that answers the phone as just a middle man is sometimes very inconvenient.
  • I am looking forward to when the Instawriter process updates and you are able to create forms and such. Simplifying the reporting process and making it more user-friendly would be great.
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.
February 11, 2021

Medium Product

Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Whole organization [uses Ascentis] for timekeeping purposes
  • The help section is good in some areas
  • Communication between CSM and clients
  • More detailed and streamlined ways to get support
  • Updates that actually work instead of cause new issues
We only use the timekeeping portion [of Ascentis] which is not bad but not great
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We currently use Ascentis for several parts of the employee services area. We use it for hiring, training, timekeeper services, payroll, and many other parts of the HRIS suite. We switched to Ascentis to help us save valuable time with problems in our old system. The ability to call and get someone to help within minutes was a lifesaver. Our company is small so we all have multiple duties that require our time and sitting on hold wasn't one of them.
  • Customer service.
  • Continuous product improvements
  • Knowledgeable staff—product specific
  • Implementation thoroughness
Ascentis has been a wonderful payroll provider and an even better timekeeper solution. Our company needed help to better manage where our time was being spent specific to a product sold and Ascentis listened and implemented a solution in a timely manner and our leaders couldn't have asked for anything better.
Dawn Erin | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Ascent HR, Payroll, and Novatime to offer HR and payroll consulting services to our clients. I personally use Novatime and Payroll every day and HR most days. Our whole company uses the entire suite of products. Using these 3 products together makes it so easy to keep our clients' businesses running smoothly and in compliance with state/federal laws.
  • I love the report generator in Novatime.
  • the way you can add as many journals to a payroll is especially helpful.
  • I like being able to generate a new temp password for an EE in HR.
  • I wish the system would automatically prorate mid-period pay changes for hourly EEs the same way it does for Salary EEs.
  • I'm trying to learn the Instawriter for custom reports and wish it was less complicated.
  • It would be helpful if there was a popup that told managers approving timesheets when an ee has close to or more than 24 hours for one day because they have forgotten to put PM instead of AM or vice versa.
Ascentis is great for processing payroll and timekeeping. I also love the community site and the customer service when I call them is top-notch. Chris Warner is badass! Getting a hold of the tax specialist is somewhat harder and takes a while to get a response.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Ascentis is being used as the human resource, payroll, benefits, and timekeeping platform across the entire organization. It has simplified and streamlined processes among every department, creating a more user-friendly and information sharing/availability dynamic that has been applauded by all.
  • Self service portal-allowing for one stop information sharing.
  • Benefit enrollment platform and vendor file feeds.
  • I was bothered by the fees charged to setup a new carrier connection.
  • I wish the ESS portal was APP friendly.
Tech support is awesome. I tend to get resolutions fairly quickly, which makes issues seem minor.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Ascentis/Nova Time is used throughout our whole organization for our timekeeping and attendance needs in all seven locations, coast to coast. We also use the point system within Nova Time.
  • Captures unclaimed punches.
  • Give us the ability to see the history of leave used.
  • Very user friendly
  • Can generate automatic warnings in regards to attendance or tardies.
  • Be able to change the name label if needed.
  • Be able to see the accrual history on one page instead of the need to keep scrolling.
I believe this is one of the most user-friendly timekeeping software I have used.
February 07, 2021

Technical System View

Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
[Ascentis] allowed us to transition from paper processes to electronic and streamline our work. It provided a platform for employees to use to update all their information.
  • Provides a single platform where employees can enroll in benefits, update personal information, complete online training and performance reviews.
  • Provides leadership a platform to process employment related items, review all team data in one location and receive leadership training.
  • 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.
Ascentis has most of the platforms we need; however, it operates as two systems and not one which require two sets of security updates. I would recommend it for a smaller company transitioning from a paper product to automation. I would not recommend it for a company who is a super user.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Ascentis in the HR department as well for our employees (as a timekeeping system).
  • Ascentis helps out when I don't understand something with the system and need help figuring it out.
  • They are good at responding back.
  • I like the Ascentis community. It has a lot of useful information for its users.
  • I think the time responding back could be a lot quicker than it has been.
I like Ascentis. Once you get used to using it, it is fairly easy.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
[It's] Used by Human Resources and Payroll. Utilize HR, Payroll, ESS, and ATS. Limited MSS at this time. It provides us with payroll processing, maintenance of associate data and changes as well as our annual benefits enrollment.
  • User intuitive
  • Able to modify fields and create screens fairly easy
  • System does not maintain some historical information that would be helpful - i.e. prior supervisor/manager. It makes it difficult when computing turnover especially when employees move throughout the organization.
  • Handling service for East Coast clients is poor in this day and age. If they are to provide a product nationwide they should have better support in the call centers.
  • The benefits module is a challenge.
  • Training could be improved for new users. A lot of it seems to be trial and error and having to reach out to their call center for help. Better upfront user training could reduce the number of calls.
  • We were sold a completely integrated system yet the payroll and hr still reside on different platforms.
It was a cost-effective package for a growing company.
Carrie Mennis, SHRM SCP | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Ascentis is used for recruiting, applicant tracking, onboarding, HRIS, timekeeping, payroll, talent management, and learning management. It is used by every employee in the organization. Ascentis addresses the business problem of HR as a service, flow to minimize errors, compliance, and accuracy in payroll.
  • Product flow, robust system--linked to all-in-one HR network
  • Customer service availability is good, although slow at the beginning of the year
  • Reporting improvements with online-based option recently
  • Recruiting--poor applicant experience ratings
  • Reporting option too robust--needs simplification in HRIS
  • Support often needs to forward my questions to a specialist--consider directing more easily to a specialist so I don't have to wait (option for "do you need a specialist?")
I am a part of an HR peer group in my region. I have "shown off" the Ascentis system a couple of times and most of my peers are jealous at the robust options in Ascentis--the minimization of duplicate entries in particular. This system has saved our company from having to add a full-time staff member because it works so well.

Ascentis was very difficult for me to use at first. I came from a similar sized company of 118 people, which used Bamboo HR for HRIS and recruiting and outsourced timekeeping and payroll to other, less robust platforms. The company had just purchased Ascentis a few months earlier and the owner/decision maker for the purchase had left before the system was fully established. This caused me a large amount of pain and it took a while for me to be sold on the product. I was convinced for months that we had over-bought for our company needs. Once I was able to fully integrate all the pieces of the system, I was overjoyed with it. Perhaps when you have a client going through this type of turnover issue in HR, it might be good to have a team member specifically assigned to contact them weekly. I appreciate the online forum and training options, but because of the background of the role and how many people I was expected to hire at the time, I really had to learn by making mistakes on the fly. It was a struggle getting started for me.
December 30, 2020

Great value for money

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Ascentis is being used by the whole organization for time and attendance, the HR administrator for HR and hiring, and by myself as the payroll administrator for processing payroll, etc.
  • Responses to queries are very quick and efficient.
  • The process of transitioning to Ascentis was very smooth.
  • Everyone I have dealt with is very friendly and willing to help.
  • We did have some issues with delivery with FedEx and Ascentis was unable to assist
  • Crossover from one department to another (HR & Payroll) sometimes can be challenging.
  • There are so many reports to choose from in the time and attendance system (Novatime) and it is sometimes hard to know which is the correct one to use.
If you have a medium or large company I would recommend Ascentis for being worth the money spent. If you have a smaller company it may not be worth it.
December 30, 2020

The dedicated user

Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Organization-wide—timesheets, PTO, HR, and payroll.
  • The customer service is exceptional; I rely heavily on their expertise.
  • The automated/roll-over features are easy to setup.
  • The way the systems talk to each other is helpful and easy.
  • The tax portion could be a little more smooth. I find that I have to do more work than I would expect to have to do with no explanation/understanding of what to do.
  • I would prefer more reminders of upcoming dates and deadlines.
  • There seem to be issues within payroll when trying to end/change certain benefits and I feel the need to double-check everything with payroll and that adds considerable time to the process.
Ascentis is great if you have a dedicated, system administrator on-site. You can't really be a casual user with all the back end things required for seemingly small changes/adjustments.
December 29, 2020

Ascentis--Adequate

Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Ascentis as our HRIS across all our global locations. We use payroll, benefits, HR, recruiting, timekeeper, and the LMS. We do not currently use performance management.
  • The platform is fairly straightforward for users
  • The platform is pretty comprehensive in its functionality
  • The dashboards are convenient for managers and admins
  • Their platform seems to integrate multiple sub-packages (e.g., NovaTime), which can be confusing and frustrating for admins, requiring multiple passwords and log-ins to access things like payroll and the back-end administration
  • There are gaps between the actual functionality versus what we were told the system was capable of doing when we purchased it
It appears to be an adequate system for those with basic needs
December 23, 2020

My Ascentis Review

Christina Miyamoto, PHR® | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Ascentis is used throughout our entire organization, as our timekeeping, LMS, and HRIS system.
  • Electronic EE filing system
  • Functionality
  • Support is always self directed to Ascentis Community
  • Constant outages and no accountability across the board
  • Not able to keep up with CA compliance in terms of meal-break penalties and final pay requirements.
  • Ad Hoc Reporting feature is extremely antiquated
  • Payroll consulting, should add this
Ascentis is well suited if you are located in a state where labor laws are relaxed and lean towards favoring the employer. Ascentis struggles in accountability, infrastructure (support tickets are disseminated into secondary and third tickets), 2/10 chance in getting a live person on the phone when you call support.
December 18, 2020

Employee Friend HRIS!

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Our whole organization uses Ascentis for our HRIS, payroll, recruiting and LMS. This has helped streamline many of our internal processes as well as allow employees to have access to their timesheet, PTO, etc. when not in the office.
  • Ascentis is continuously making updates. They listen to the customer's needs and react accordingly.
  • The response time when needing customer support is very timely.
  • I sometimes struggle to locate help through their Communities. I'm fairly new, so it could be the way I'm entering my searches.
Employee self service and it's functionality were a big factor in our decision to go with Ascentis. The Performance Management module doesn't mesh well with our current needs.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Ascentis is our full HRIS system and we use all modules for comprehensive employee management.
  • Customer Service
  • Intuitive
  • Broad Suite of Products
  • Too many steps to get to what you need to get to (Home/My Self/Settings/My Team...) you need a roadmap to figure out where you need to go to get what you need (particularly within ESS)
  • The app needs some polishing, but seems to be getting better. I'd like to be able to pick and choose what is on my home page (for example TIME OFF is listed and I don't want it there, I want employees to go and see their PTO balance using the menu, so it confuses employees when TIME OFF shows on the home page)
  • Password resets and really difficult when you can't sign in to the app.
Ascentis has the ability to be an HRIS leader, but they have to figure out how to incorporate their modules much more seamlessly. Timekeeper is here, learning is here, supervisors need to click here to access their team... it's crazy.

Also, PLEASE improve the process to post company documents on the home page of ESS.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
It is currently being used across the organization for time keeping purposes.
  • Ease of use
  • Cost
I think it provides some great features and ease of use, but harder to implement with other government software. It's a great product though and wish we could implement more of the features, but that depends largely on our yearly budget.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Ascentis as our HRIS, Payroll and Timekeeping systems across the whole organization. We manage 20 locations in total. We do our business a little differently. Most of the locations are one EIN but operate completely autonomous from one another - using their own payroll database, timekeeping database and HR database, running their own payroll each pay period. Ascentis is able to handle that efficiently and effectively for us.
  • 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!
  • Web access- while web access is great for companies that have one parent location and many sub-locations, or for my HR staff that only has access to one location, but for me, as a manager of all locations, using the web just isn't useful. I have to log in to each location separately, which I can use the old java version to access them all at once. I can't wait for the web version to be used with one logon!
  • HR system- multiple locations. I have to run reports one location at a time when I need them. The ability to pull a report or even copy a report into all HR databases would be helpful. Currently, I have to create the report in all databases when I need it.
  • Support- the past year or so I've noticed longer than normal hold times to get ahold of support. It's frustrating because when I'm able to make a call to support in the afternoon hours of pacific time, I'm on hold for 20-30 minutes sometimes. There needs to be more support reps on for calls until 5pm pacific time.
I love how small, yet big, Ascentis is. It's not an ADP where I'm just a number. I'm able to do a lot to our system when needed and don't need to wait on support to make the change. On the other hand, when I need help, there's a human on the other end of the phone that can help me with whatever I need help with.
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use both Payroll and Human Resources (incl. self-service).
  • Payroll process with direct deposit, taxes, EE withholding
  • Self service website, though it's not perfect
  • Customer service is usually very helpful and resourceful
  • Web based HR is still missing a LOT of functions. No point in going there yet.
  • The communication between HR and Payroll systems is bad. Hoping for a resolution of problems once HR is fully online.
  • Payroll works well on desktop. But the online system is not very useful yet.
Payroll is working well. HR on the desktop is very un-user-friendly. The transition to web-based is very promising, but taking way too long. Vacation accruals and processing through email chains is nice, but the employee review process is clunky and not intuitive. The idea is great, but the managers hate to go find it, so they don't bother except at year-end.
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