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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, …
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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

View all pricing
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

(1-5 of 5)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
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.
Human Resource Management (7)
45.71428571428571%
4.6
Employee demographic data
90%
9.0
Employment history
80%
8.0
Job profiles and administration
N/A
N/A
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.
70%
7.0
Organizational charting
80%
8.0
Organization and location management
N/A
N/A
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)
N/A
N/A
Payroll Management (7)
22.857142857142854%
2.3
Pay calculation
80%
8.0
Support for external payroll vendors
N/A
N/A
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment
N/A
N/A
Benefit plan administration
80%
8.0
Direct deposit files
N/A
N/A
Salary revision and increment management
N/A
N/A
Reimbursement management
N/A
N/A
Leave and Attendance Management (3)
26.666666666666664%
2.7
Approval workflow
80%
8.0
Balance details
N/A
N/A
Annual carry-forward and encashment
N/A
N/A
Employee Self Service (5)
36%
3.6
View and generate pay and benefit information
N/A
N/A
Update personal information
90%
9.0
View job history
90%
9.0
View company policy documentation
N/A
N/A
Employee recognition
N/A
N/A
Asset Management (1)
70%
7.0
Tracking of all physical assets
70%
7.0
HR Reporting (3)
60%
6.0
Report builder
90%
9.0
Pre-built reports
90%
9.0
Ability to combine HR data with external data
N/A
N/A
Integration with other HR capabilities
N/A
N/A
Performance Management (5)
N/A
N/A
Performance plans
N/A
N/A
Performance improvement plans
N/A
N/A
Review status tracking
N/A
N/A
Review reminders
N/A
N/A
Multiple review frequency
N/A
N/A
Succession Planning (4)
N/A
N/A
Create succession plans/pools
N/A
N/A
Candidate ranking
N/A
N/A
Candidate search
N/A
N/A
Candidate development
N/A
N/A
Onboarding (2)
70%
7.0
New hire portal
60%
6.0
Manager tracking tools
80%
8.0
Performance and Goals (4)
N/A
N/A
Corporate goal setting
N/A
N/A
Individual goal setting
N/A
N/A
Line-of sight-visibility
N/A
N/A
Performance tracking
N/A
N/A
Recruiting / ATS (7)
N/A
N/A
Job Requisition Management
N/A
N/A
Company Website Posting
N/A
N/A
Publish to Social Media
N/A
N/A
Job Search Site Posting
N/A
N/A
Duplicate Candidate Prevention
N/A
N/A
Applicant Tracking
N/A
N/A
Notifications and Alerts
N/A
N/A
  • I think the employees like this system. It is fairly easy to use.
NA
The timing in responding back.
Ascentis
I am still learning even though it has been two years. However, with all the updates and so many different programs, there is so much to learn. I do like being able to build reports in the system.
63
The employees use the system to clock in and out.
We contact Ascentis support if we have any problems.
  • Reports
  • Time system
  • HR administration
  • Payroll
  • Taxes
  • Creating reports the way we would like them created
  • New graph chart
  • Being about to access information without logging into the admin side
  • To create reviews for managers and employees
I like the ease of using this software. If the response time was a little quicker, I would definitely give them a 10.
Yes
Tracksmart
  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
No, this was in process when I was hired.
  • Implemented in-house
Change management was a major issue with the implementation
My boss handled everything. I was handed down information about everything from her.
  • Timekeeping system not working properly
  • Errors when logging in
The support team was helpful making sure my boss knew or understood so that she could in turn teach me.
  • Online training
The support team did good passing training information along so that we could understand what we were doing. Also, the community was also a good place to go to to learn new things.
There are somethings that I have had to learn on my own, which was not a problem. For example: the report, I had how to make myself comfortable creating them how I needed to create them to meet whatever need I needed at time.
Just right
Not Sure
No
They always provided exceptional support to my boss.
  • Logging in and out
  • Accessing employees' information
  • In the beginning, creating the reports
Yes, but I don't use it
I am slowly getting use to this system and it is fairly easy to use.
They normally give you notice when an update will affect the use of the system. Otherwise, when we have an error , we send a message to the support team. Sometimes someone will get right back with you and sometimes it takes a while.
Yes, this pages do load pretty good but there are times when things are slow and I believe that's because they are sometimes trying to do updates.
I did not personally work with the vendor during the sales process but my boss informed me about how happy she was with the salesperson and how helpful and smooth the transaction went.
After the deal was closed, they still kept in contact to make sure that things were going the way they should.
NA
NA
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Ascentis across the entire organization. We have the Human Resource, payroll, time and attendance and performance modules.
  • Customer Service
  • Updating according to changes in regulation
  • HR Module easy to use
  • NOVA time
  • Time Keeper Hard to Use
  • Time Keeper terrible FMLA Module
  • Time Keeper confusing configuration
  • Would like to have a dedicated customer service support person, instead of a call center
HR module is fine. The information flows from HR to payroll to time and attendance but does not reverse the flow, such that accruals on the paycheck are not accurate to what is in time and attendance.
Human Resource Management (7)
80%
8.0
Employee demographic data
80%
8.0
Employment history
80%
8.0
Job profiles and administration
80%
8.0
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.
80%
8.0
Organizational charting
80%
8.0
Organization and location management
80%
8.0
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)
80%
8.0
Payroll Management (7)
58.57142857142857%
5.9
Pay calculation
80%
8.0
Support for external payroll vendors
N/A
N/A
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment
90%
9.0
Benefit plan administration
80%
8.0
Direct deposit files
80%
8.0
Salary revision and increment management
80%
8.0
Reimbursement management
N/A
N/A
Leave and Attendance Management (3)
80%
8.0
Approval workflow
80%
8.0
Balance details
80%
8.0
Annual carry-forward and encashment
80%
8.0
Employee Self Service (5)
80%
8.0
View and generate pay and benefit information
80%
8.0
Update personal information
80%
8.0
View job history
80%
8.0
View company policy documentation
80%
8.0
Employee recognition
80%
8.0
Asset Management (1)
N/A
N/A
Tracking of all physical assets
N/A
N/A
HR Reporting (3)
60%
6.0
Report builder
60%
6.0
Pre-built reports
60%
6.0
Ability to combine HR data with external data
60%
6.0
Integration with other HR capabilities
N/A
N/A
Performance Management (5)
N/A
N/A
Performance plans
N/A
N/A
Performance improvement plans
N/A
N/A
Review status tracking
N/A
N/A
Review reminders
N/A
N/A
Multiple review frequency
N/A
N/A
Succession Planning (4)
N/A
N/A
Create succession plans/pools
N/A
N/A
Candidate ranking
N/A
N/A
Candidate search
N/A
N/A
Candidate development
N/A
N/A
Onboarding (2)
50%
5.0
New hire portal
50%
5.0
Manager tracking tools
50%
5.0
Performance and Goals (4)
N/A
N/A
Corporate goal setting
N/A
N/A
Individual goal setting
N/A
N/A
Line-of sight-visibility
N/A
N/A
Performance tracking
N/A
N/A
Recruiting / ATS (7)
40%
4.0
Job Requisition Management
50%
5.0
Company Website Posting
50%
5.0
Publish to Social Media
50%
5.0
Job Search Site Posting
50%
5.0
Duplicate Candidate Prevention
N/A
N/A
Applicant Tracking
70%
7.0
Notifications and Alerts
10%
1.0
  • Positive having personal and payroll data in one system
  • Negative, every enhancement a la carte comes with a hefty cost
Customer support is always there however, each time you call you have to re-explain your situation again
Ascentis has some great features. The costs associated with the add ons equate to adding 1+ staff member to our organization, the ESS is easy to use for our employees.
250
HR
Production
Finance
Customer Service
Sales
10
  • na
  • Connecting the organization
  • unsure
Yes
ADP workforce
I would evaluate 3 plus sources
  • Implemented in-house
Yes
Change management was minimal
  • Incorrect set up in the NOVA time module had to resort to the VP of the division
Our profile was not completely set up before our go live date.
  • Online training
There's alot of information to be absorbed, the trainers are experts in their area and go through the training very quickly.
No
Yes
No, it took multiple attempts to correct. (still unsure if its corrected)
The overall support is great.
  • Recruiting
  • Human Resource
  • Nova Time
No
  • na
  • no
na
na
na
We were never told our sales person was no longer with the organization
none,
na
Yes
smooth
  • na
  • na
No
Score 4 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
HR has allowed the employer and the employees track attendance. We store all our personnel information within the program. It is user friendly for staff but the admin component is not webbased, Citrix based
  • Web based interface for employees
  • Track attendance
  • Allows employees to make changes to their information
  • Quick customer service responses
  • Web interface is user friendly
  • Employer interface is Citrix based and extremely cumbersome
  • Employer portal is not web-based
  • There is no app for it
  • Time and attendance could be more flexible in scheduling
Automated employee tracking. Employee information, employees can upload information
Human Resource Management (5)
50%
5.0
Employee demographic data
50%
5.0
Employment history
70%
7.0
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.
50%
5.0
Organizational charting
40%
4.0
Organization and location management
40%
4.0
Payroll Management (5)
12%
1.2
Pay calculation
20%
2.0
Benefit plan administration
10%
1.0
Direct deposit files
10%
1.0
Salary revision and increment management
10%
1.0
Reimbursement management
10%
1.0
Leave and Attendance Management (3)
80%
8.0
Approval workflow
80%
8.0
Balance details
80%
8.0
Annual carry-forward and encashment
80%
8.0
Employee Self Service (5)
52%
5.2
View and generate pay and benefit information
70%
7.0
Update personal information
80%
8.0
View job history
50%
5.0
View company policy documentation
50%
5.0
Employee recognition
10%
1.0
Asset Management
N/A
N/A
HR Reporting (1)
20%
2.0
Pre-built reports
20%
2.0
Integration with other HR capabilities
N/A
N/A
Performance Management (2)
10%
1.0
Review reminders
10%
1.0
Multiple review frequency
10%
1.0
Succession Planning (4)
10%
1.0
Create succession plans/pools
10%
1.0
Candidate ranking
10%
1.0
Candidate search
10%
1.0
Candidate development
10%
1.0
Onboarding (2)
15%
1.5
New hire portal
20%
2.0
Manager tracking tools
10%
1.0
Performance and Goals (4)
10%
1.0
Corporate goal setting
10%
1.0
Individual goal setting
10%
1.0
Line-of sight-visibility
10%
1.0
Performance tracking
10%
1.0
Recruiting / ATS (2)
10%
1.0
Job Requisition Management
10%
1.0
Applicant Tracking
10%
1.0
  • Track employee attendance
  • Not fully web-based
  • Reasoanably priced
It is the most economical product
Acentis provides timely support
Acentis HR upgrade went extremely smoothly.
180
We deliver Paramedic Services (140 staff)
Child Care, Social Housing, Ontario Works and Administration (40 staff)
1
Our EA/HR assistant support staff in entering their time and trouble shooting any issues
  • Requesting Time Off
  • Human Resources Letters
  • Employee information
  • Use it as an organizational list
  • Request time off on a mobile device
  • Approve Time off on a mobile device
  • Employee Benefits
  • Applicant data base
  • Screening new job applicants
The admin is not web based, using citrix sessin
Yes
paper process using email
  • Price
It was a very economical
Look for a product that was all web based and totally integrated with Microsoft Outlook
  • Implemented in-house
Change management was minimal
Very lttle issues with the new product very user friendly Except admin which is not web based
  • Loading all the employee data
  • uploading the HR documents
  • determining the appropriator approve process strings and when a manager is off who handles it
No real issues to be honest
Yes
There were many issues logging into the admin section via a citrix session, they finally go me connected but it did take some time to resolve.
  • Employees viewing their profile
  • Employees requesting Leave
  • Employees looking up staff in the organization
  • Employee portal
  • Back end administration - Not web based
  • Reminders do not work unless you run a report
  • no integration of calendar with Microsoft Outlook or any other calendar system
Yes
The mobile interface works very well, easy to request and approve time off
Based on the fact that the back end administration is not web based and requires a citrix session
It would work for small organizations, and larger ones
Yes it is always available except the back end is citrix based and is not always available
no issues here
  • we tried accpacc
  • does not integrate with calender's
  • we attempted to integrate benefits
  • applicant data base
We were not able to integrate with outlook calendar
Benefits was to confusing
Accpac was too expensive
We are to small an organization for the applicant data base
  • Microsoft Outlook Calenders
  • Financial System
No they do not support Microsoft Outlook Calendar integration last time we checked
If it were more economical we would consider financial integration
  • File import/export
Basic file export for mailing lists and employee information
Did not integrate with calenders
I would strongly suggest they integrate with calendar systems - i.e. Microsoft Outook
Sales were very professional and ccommodating
Very easy to work with and great staff
yes, no concerns
No really, just make sure you are getting the product that will work for your size organization
Yes
yes
  • more Web based functionality
  • went from PC based computer program to web based except the admin section still citrix based
  • hoping for integration with Microsoft Outlook Calendar
  • Easier integration with Payroll
No
No
Kelly C. Neill, SPHR | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Ascentis is being used across the whole organization. Primarily by HR but all managers have MSS access and all employees have ESS access. It has been an excellent solution for managing benefits companywide. We are an international employer so time zone differences as well as geographical challenges drive the need for a global solution.
  • Recruiting/Onboarding - We typically hire candidates site unseen and send them overseas to work. Ascentis allows us to capture information on the candidates from the recruiting phase all the way through the onboarding phase of the hiring process.
  • Extremely Customizable HRIS - The ability to customize and add tabs to the HR side of Ascentis provides endless opportunities to capture any and all data that needs to be tracked and/or reported on for employees.
  • The Benefits enrollment, open enrollment and carrier connect features of the system have streamlined the Benefits Administration process in my organization to a point where it requires very little time and attention. Once the benefits are set up through Setup Manager and tied to the benefit provider through Carrier Connect, there is very little maintenance or attention required.
  • The organizational structure of Ascentis and segregated nature of the system and system support can be confusing. For example, if I need assistance with onboarding an employee it is not often clear who I should contact for assistance. The company seems to be divided by Ascentis HR, Ascentis Payroll, Ascentis TimeKeeping, and Ascentis Recruiting, It would be nice to have one point of contact for customer support for the entire Ascentis system rather than having multiple points of contact that are often changing.
  • I attending the Ascentis User Conference in 2013 during which we were told that Ascentis HR would be transitioning to a new platform in early 2014. Since that conference, I have received no communication from Ascentis as to the status of the transition and we are still on the Remote Desktop platform.
  • During the User Conference 2013 there was no one from Ascentis that was familiar with the Onboarding side of Ascentis. I got the impression that we were one of very few customers utilizing the onboarding feature and the Ascentis staff was not aware of the features and were unable to answer any questions. In fact, I felt like I was answering their questions rather than them answering mine.
  • Would love to see the system be more flexible for international use. The system does not allow international contact information to be entered and does not allow for selection of any country locations other than US and Canada. We have had to work around these limitations.
  • The Attendance tracking is somewhat limited in that it does not allow for a policy which awards PTO in lump sums at multiple intervals throughout the year. It allows a policy where a flat amount is awarded once a year or where the PTO is accrued on a regular basis only.

There are no deal breakers with Ascentis in my opinion. The system is very flexible and allows for work arounds where limitations exist.

Update: In the last year and a half Ascentis has been unable to provide electronic transmittal of benefit information through their system in a timely, accurate and/or consistent manner. This is a key component of any HRIS in my opinion and the failure to provide this feature (which we are paying for) has been a very large disadvantage for our company. If a timely, accurate and consistent automatic transmittal of benefit information to benefit plan providers is important to your organization, I would not recommend Ascentis at this time.

Human Resource Management (7)
61.42857142857143%
6.1
Employee demographic data
50%
5.0
Employment history
80%
8.0
Job profiles and administration
80%
8.0
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.
50%
5.0
Organizational charting
10%
1.0
Organization and location management
80%
8.0
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)
80%
8.0
Payroll Management (6)
N/A
N/A
Pay calculation
N/A
N/A
Support for external payroll vendors
N/A
N/A
Benefit plan administration
N/A
N/A
Direct deposit files
N/A
N/A
Salary revision and increment management
N/A
N/A
Reimbursement management
N/A
N/A
Leave and Attendance Management (3)
100%
10.0
Approval workflow
100%
10.0
Balance details
100%
10.0
Annual carry-forward and encashment
100%
10.0
Employee Self Service (4)
80%
8.0
View and generate pay and benefit information
90%
9.0
Update personal information
90%
9.0
View company policy documentation
80%
8.0
Employee recognition
60%
6.0
Asset Management (1)
50%
5.0
Tracking of all physical assets
50%
5.0
HR Reporting (3)
90%
9.0
Report builder
90%
9.0
Pre-built reports
90%
9.0
Ability to combine HR data with external data
90%
9.0
Integration with other HR capabilities
N/A
N/A
Performance Management
N/A
N/A
Succession Planning
N/A
N/A
Onboarding
N/A
N/A
Performance and Goals
N/A
N/A
Recruiting / ATS
N/A
N/A
  • Improved employee communication and customer service. Empowered employees to keep their own data current and relevant
  • Streamlined the recruiting, benefits administration and onboarding processes to significantly reduce the amount of time required by HR. Reduced the HR staff by 1.5 FTE as a direct result of implementation of Ascentis HR and Ascentis Recruiting.
  • Significantly impacted the companies ability to maintain compliance with Affirmative Action requirements.
  • Ultipro,Abra
The user adaptability of Ascentis is far superior to other HRIS I have used. The ability for the user to taylor the system to the specific needs of the company is by far the biggest selling point of the system. Additionally, the reporting feature which allows the user to pull data from any field in the system, even customized fields, is extremely attractive and not common with other HRIS.
100
All functions of the organization.We are a General Contractor on federal contracts. Most of our projects at this time are overseas. Ascentis Employee Self-Serve and Manager Self-Serve help us to quickly facilitate information and changes to employees' information that time zone differences would typically make challenging. Benefits enrollment is all done through Ascentis as is the onboarding process. The new hire is able to sign off on all new hire documents including the I-9 and W-4 prior to ever reporting to the job site. Once the employee arrives on site, the designated manager or HR Rep is able to review the original I-9 documents and certify the Employer's section of the I-9 form.
2
Basic computer skills are required. The system is extremely user friendly and customer support is available when needed.
  • New Hire Benefits Enrollment and Open Enrollment
  • Managing Employee changes to personal information
  • Recruiting and Onboarding new hires
  • Benefits Management through Carrier Connect electronic feed of all benefit changes
  • We track base passes and housing assignments for our expatriate employees
  • We track Authority levels for all employees (e.g.: spending authority, authority to approve travel, credit card limits, contract authority levels, etc.)
  • We track required annual training and required document distributions (e.g.: Summary Plan Descriptions, 401k eligibility notifications, etc.)
  • Assuming the flexibility remains the same with the new platform that will be rolling out this year, the uses are unlimited.
This rating would be a 10 if it were not for some issues we have been having recently with the benefit carrier connections. The carrier connections are critical for us so how these issues are resolved will be key in our renewal decision.
No
  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
Primary factors considered in the selection decision were adaptability and value added. The majority of our employees work on project locations overseas. Adaptability of the system has been critical for us in being able to track the data we need and provide access to offsite managers and employees. The recruiting and onboarding systems and carrier connect are key to being able to effectively disseminate information to employees we often never meet face to face.
I wouldn't change anything. I am very satisfied that I made the correct decision for this organization.
  • Implemented in-house
Yes

Ascentis HR was implemented in the initial phase. This was a smooth process done by in-house HR staff which allowed training on the system to occur at the same time as implementation. The Customer Support was excellent through this process

Carrier Connect was the next phase of implementation. This process was slower than I had hoped and required me to keep on top of Customer Support throughout the process. Once I escalated the issues to the next level, the implementation went much quicker and follow-up improved.

Ascentis Recruiting and Onboarding was the final stage of implementation. This side of the system is more complex and involved, and took longer to implement. I got the impression during this phase of implementation that there was a definite disconnect between HR Recruiting and the rest of the Ascentis products.

Change management was a big part of the implementation and was well-handled
Getting management and staff buy in from beginning to end is critical to the success of the process. Frequent communication is essential!
  • The implementation was relatively seamless. The most significant issue was the seemingly lack of urgency on the part of the customer support team for implementation of Carrier Connect. Once the issue was escalated, the process moved forward more quickly and smoothly.
Don't skip steps. The customer support for Ascentis HR left it up to us how far we wanted to go with implementation of benefits for example. I was very glad that I elected to go into the detail implementation that I did rather than just doing the basics and waiting until later to complete the process.
With most issues, Ascentis support is very responsive and helpful, however when the issue is one that requires technical review and/or support, there is rarely any follow-up or response. The issues with the electronic transmittal of benefit information to carriers was one that after 1.5 years has yet to be resolved and follow-up from Ascentis on the status has been minimal. I have only receive information after repeated complaints were filed and escalated to top management.
Yes
No. Examples are the benefit transmittal to carrier, attachment glitch in Ascentis HR where double clicking on the attachment freezes the system, etc. In some respects I have felt that Ascentis has been more focused on implementing their new platform and products at the detriment to their original products. I do like the direction the company is moving in, however, the support for their current products which customers are paying for today, needs to be a priority.
Yes, with routine issues and questions on how to perform certain tasks, etc. Ascentis Support is very responsive and good at walking the User through the process. The Customer Support staff are usually friendly and very willing to assist. When the issue becomes too technical and has to be referred to technicians, the issue is rarely resolved, or there is no follow-up to let the User know that the issue has been resolved.
  • Adding user defined tabs to Ascentis is extremely easy and provides extreme flexibility to the system.
  • Reporting is simple and can be performed on any field in the system including the custom tab fields.
  • Benefit set up can is cumbersome and can be difficult depending on the complexity of the benefit. The premium fields in benefit setup do not always conform to the way the benefit providers actually bill which can make it difficult to establish accurate premium rates in Ascentis.
Yes
Overall an excellent system, very user friendly and flexible. I am looking forward to the enhancements that will be provided with the new platform and hoping that the new platform provides the same level of flexibility and adaptability that the current system does.
Mary Meadows | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
MultiLingual Solutions utilized Ascentis to streamline the process from recruiting, hiring, and paying an employee. It was also used for benefit administration. The system was being used by the organization as a whole. The business problem the software addressed was the time consuming manual process for all the various functions that the system was being used. It took away the need for spreadsheets and not only reduced man hours to manage these processes manual but also saved time by not having to complete double entries and reduced errors.
  • Benefit Administration - The system fully automated the benefit elections at on-boarding and open enrollment. The carrier connections made life so much easier as it eliminated the need to access multiple benefit carriers to do simple tasks.
  • On-boarding - The system allowed the organization to utilize and change processes to meet the need of the organization by providing additional documents during the on-boarding process to only the employees who were required to complete them.
  • HRIS - The HRIS system was so easy to use and allowed the organization to almost eliminate the need for hard copy employee files
  • Reporting - the report writer system was fantastic. It allowed me to develop custom reports that were necessary in my day to day functions. It also allowed me the flexibility to run the reports quickly when requested by management.
  • Recruitment - when setting up the recruiting module some information was not clearly defined which required the organization to pay Ascentis to fix the issues within the module. If it was clearly articulated by Ascentis that they could complete the customization at the time of implementation it would not have cost the organization a fairly significant amount of money to fix the issue 2 years later.
I believe that the system is well suited for an organization that is mid-sized and requires customization for internal processes. The key question that should be asked is:

What are the special customization needs of the client at the time of implementation?
Human Resource Management (7)
77.14285714285714%
7.7
Employee demographic data
90%
9.0
Employment history
90%
9.0
Job profiles and administration
90%
9.0
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.
N/A
N/A
Organizational charting
90%
9.0
Organization and location management
90%
9.0
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)
90%
9.0
Payroll Management (6)
78.33333333333333%
7.8
Pay calculation
90%
9.0
Support for external payroll vendors
100%
10.0
Benefit plan administration
100%
10.0
Direct deposit files
100%
10.0
Salary revision and increment management
80%
8.0
Reimbursement management
N/A
N/A
Leave and Attendance Management (2)
N/A
N/A
Approval workflow
N/A
N/A
Annual carry-forward and encashment
N/A
N/A
Employee Self Service (5)
80%
8.0
View and generate pay and benefit information
100%
10.0
Update personal information
100%
10.0
View job history
100%
10.0
View company policy documentation
100%
10.0
Employee recognition
N/A
N/A
Asset Management (1)
100%
10.0
Tracking of all physical assets
100%
10.0
HR Reporting (3)
63.33333333333333%
6.3
Report builder
100%
10.0
Pre-built reports
90%
9.0
Ability to combine HR data with external data
N/A
N/A
Integration with other HR capabilities
N/A
N/A
Performance Management
N/A
N/A
Succession Planning
N/A
N/A
Onboarding
N/A
N/A
Performance and Goals
N/A
N/A
Recruiting / ATS
N/A
N/A
  • Overall, the system allowed for me to provide quick on the spot answers to employee questions as well as ad hoc reporting to the management team.
  • The system is so robust it addressed the need to for additional processing time when it came to benefits administration and payroll.
  • Xtensia
Xtensia would not allow for customization to meet the needs of the organization. It also did not allow for the administrator to create workflows or update data as needed. We terminated the contract within the first 60 days of deployment due to the negative experience in using the system.
5
Accounting, Recruiting, Human Resources
2
A good overall understanding of the processes for the functional area so that Ascentis personnel can easily support the needs of the organization.
  • Payroll
  • HRIS
  • Recruiting
  • To reduce man hours and overall errors when completing full life-cycle employee processing from recruiting, on-boarding, conversion to an employee, benefits, and payroll.
  • Performance Management
No
  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
The single most important factor was the ease in customizing the entire system to the needs of the organization. The company recruiting and hired in a niche market, language instructors for government contracts, and the system allowed for the build out to capture the additional information that was needed during the recruiting process as well as customize the HRIS system for capturing the additional information.
I would not change the evaluation and selection process. We utilized a third party vendor who researched the systems on the market that would be best suited for the needs of the organization. Through their analysis of our needs, the top three systems were selected and from there the organization viewed demos which provided valuable insight into the functionality of the product.
  • Implemented in-house
Yes
The HRIS system was implemented first in under a week in order for the Recruitment module to be stood up at the beginning of the Affirmative Action Plan year. This way the details and data captured would coincide with the AAP and not be broken. The Recruitment module's implementation took a little longer as there was significant customization and build out that was needed in order to fully capture the data necessary for the organization's hiring process.
Change management was a small part of the implementation and was well-handled
The organization needed to make a change from the paper processes that were currently occurring to include the massive spreadsheets the recruiters were using for their hiring and tracking of candidates. This information made it very difficult to complete an accurate Affirmative Action Plan until the change. Each party involved in the process was very accepting and wanted the change to occur since the process improvement would also reduce their time in the recruiting and HR arena.
  • The recruiting module was not clearly defined on what could be implemented and customized. There was a feature that could have been added at the time of implementation to capture additional necessary data; however, it was not provided to the organization until well after implementation at a cost. There would not have been a cost to the company if the customization took place during the implementation.
  • HRIS - the only issue was the short time table to collect and analyze data.
It was very easy to implement, but the customization pieces should really be fleshed out in order to determine the full need of an organization at the time of implementation. I believe if a little more time was spent on the requirements, the recruiting module would not have to be customized again at a cost at a later date.
The individuals who provided the training were very knowledgeable and made learning the system very easy.
For the recruitment and HRIS module the support was exceptional; however, the individual assigned to our account in Payroll support was not timely in responding or acknowledging the receipt of the request for help. Several times there was a need to escalate an issue to a more senior person on the team.
Yes
Yes. Only a few times did the recruiting portal go down. As soon as it was identified to Customer Support they would immediately work on the issue and find a resolution. The resolutions were completed fairly quickly and to our satisfaction.
Jen Norton for Carrier Connect was able to assist me in the process of our Open Enrollment that did not go as smooth as wished. The issue was the carrier did not provide the rates or specs for the feed until the week before Open Enrollment was to begin. I contacted Jen and she was amazing. Jen immediately started working on our issue and said the process would normally take two weeks to fix, but would do their best to complete it sooner. Jen and her team were able to turn a two week process into a four day fix. I cannot speak more highly of a person at Ascentis than Jen Norton.
  • Benefit Administration - the flow of information to the carriers
  • HRIS - I was easily able to pull data when needed
  • Recruiting/On-boarding - the flow of information was easy and the system provided prompt notifications when a person moved from one status to another in the system.
  • Some report functions could be cumbersome when trying to determine what the actual data is needed. The fields were not always as user friendly as I would like.
Yes, but I don't use it
The overall ease of access and flow of information made my life so much better that when I lost most of my support staff due to retraction in the industry and hiring, I was able to continue to support the 300 employees on my own. Also, when I provided training to the benefit broker, he was very impressed and able to understand the functions quickly.
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