The Good and the Bad!
We use Ascentis HR for our "system of record", ESS, open enrollment, etc. We are just starting to learn and use Performance Management, …
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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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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ADP Workforce Now is a cloud-based HR platform for mid-sized businesses. It features customizable modules of various HR services that businesses can tailor to their specific needs, as well as regulatory monitoring and alerts to help businesses remain compliant.
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…
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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 was acquired by UKG in March of 2022. The service will be discontinued.
Ascentis (discontinued) Screenshots
Ascentis (discontinued) Technical Details
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
|---|---|
| Mobile Application | No |
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.
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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(323)Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-25 of 142)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
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
September 02, 2021
Ascentis HR is where you want to be with your firms HR offering if you want a local company that cares about what they are selling.
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.
August 30, 2021
Ascentis HR - It just works!
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.
May 14, 2021
One and a half years in.
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
May 07, 2021
User friendly software in a hard times industry
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.
February 21, 2021
New User w/ Honest Feedback
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.
February 07, 2021
HRIS and Payroll System Excellence
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
February 07, 2021
Ascentis is great and could be even greater with a few tweaks
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.
February 07, 2021
Short, Sweet and Simple, Sincere Review
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.
February 07, 2021
Technical System View
[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.
February 05, 2021
Ascentis--once you get past the learning curve, it's great
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.
January 22, 2021
Ascentis - Cost Effective HRIS for Smaller Firms
[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.
January 11, 2021
Ascentis works for mid-sized manufacturing HR needs
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?")
December 30, 2020
The dedicated user
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.
December 23, 2020
My Ascentis Review
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
December 18, 2020
Employee Friend HRIS!
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.
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.
December 04, 2020
A product that helps manage time efficiently
It is currently being used across the organization for time keeping purposes.
- Ease of use
- Cost
December 02, 2020
Ascentis has helped us help ourselves!
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.
December 02, 2020
Some good, some not-so-good.
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.
December 01, 2020
Ascentis = BEST HRIS System Around!
We use Ascentis across our company as our HRIS. We (in HR) are completely paperless, and were able to do so because of the Ascentis system! We were the first "group" in our organization to complete this task, and the ease of scanning and saving documents in Ascentis took time but wasn't difficult. We now have employees scan and save documents in the system as well. We use TimeKeeper and Recruiting, and now complete our Open Enrollment in the system too.
- Ascentis is VERY user friendly! I conduct all New Hire orientations, and make sure our new employees are familiar and comfortable with the system. Rarely do I get a call back with questions.
- The Ascentis Support Team is always very prompt and helpful when we have questions. We usually get a response and get our problem or questions resolved within the day.
- We LOVE the homepage and widget function. We communicate all important info. on the homepage, and have included countdown widgets, links, etc. The homepage is a very easy set-up, and allows employees to utilize in place of a newsletter, etc.
- The new reporting system is amazing and very easy to use! Makes running quick analysis reports a breeze!
- It would be great if on the new platform, you could look up employees by hire date, as we used to use that function all the time on the old desktop.
- Some of our new hires have had issues uploading an employee photo during the onboarding process - maybe a bit of user error, but it does seem to puzzle them - maybe a way (I'm not sure if there is one) to make this easier?
December 01, 2020
User-Friendly Product with Great Support
We use Ascentis across the entire organization for HR, Payroll, Timekeeping, and ACA
- Support
- User-Friendly
- Reporting
- Tax Department
December 01, 2020
Not a fan
Ascentis is used to process payroll, for employee recruitment, and benefits management throughout our entire organization
- The dashboards are easy to interpret
- Creating Ad Hoc Reports is difficult and not intuitive
- Recruitment has too much back and forth as you process a new hire
- Moving between Timekeeper and Payroll is awkward
- Information in ESS is difficult to find and not located in a logical place
December 01, 2020
Ascentis #1
We are currently using Ascentis for HR, Payroll and Timekeeper. Yes, it's being used across our organization. It helps with keeping up with employees time, attendance and tips. It is user friendly for the employees to keep up with address, phone, exemptions and filing status changes without having to email HR in order to do this.
- Notifies employees on submitting their timesheets
- Error if an employees forget to clock in or out
- Downloading Timesheets into Payroll is super fast
- Time Management with Ascentis is great
- It would be nice if termed employees can still see paychecks and W2s
- Quarterly filings are done automatically
- Payroll in the web to flow easier
December 01, 2020
Ascentis Review
We use Ascentis across the whole organization for Payroll, Novatime timeclock, and employee self service for benefits, paystubs, and information. Currently working on getting performance, succession, FMLA and 360 ready for employee use.
- Customer Services is always available and willing to help with any issues.
- Any payroll problems are resolved quickly
- Report Creation is not very user friendly, its hard to find reports you need as standard so need to create which requires some training. Reports are not easily created.
- Does not easily flow from one employee to the next always need to exit from employee currently working on and search for next one. It would be easier to have an arrow to skip to next employee