Reveiw of Ascentis
February 23, 2015

Reveiw of Ascentis

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Modules Used

  • recruiting, self-service, time and attendance, payroll, carrier connect

Overall Satisfaction with Ascentis

Ascentis is being used by our whole organization, for the employee's complete life cycle. We are using the applicant tracking system, onboarding, employees self service, payroll, time and attendance, benefits (carrier connect), and termination and archiving. We are not using the COBRA function, as this is being handled by one of our carriers. It addresses all issues connected with employee information tracking, reporting, payroll, and benefits administration, as well as recruitment for our internal job opportunities.

Pros

  • The Employee Self Service tool through Ascentis is very clean and uncluttered compared to our previous system. Our employees seem to appreciate the streamlined nature of handling their time and paycheck transactions through ESS.
  • Carrier connect feeds the benefits information to the carriers electronically, so that I do not need to enter data into each carrier's website for new hires, adds, terms and Open Enrollment.
  • For the most part, there is a seamlessness and flow through the modules, so that your candidates can apply, be hired, then on boarded, and the information will flow directly into HR and payroll.

Cons

  • We were told during the sales process that our current performance management tool could be customized and implemented within the system. When we followed up after purchasing the products, we were told that our tool could not be implemented the way we had understood.
  • Some of the information gathered during the application process (such as education) does not flow into Ascentis HR, and very little information flows to Novatime. Our payroll administrator is responsible for populating many of the fields, but many fields also remain blank, since they are redundant with Ascentis HR.
  • We previously had Benetrac for our benefits administration and carrier connect. Benetrac was full service, meaning that I supplied the information, and Benetrac built our system based on our benefits structure. Ascentis is not like this at all. Implementation meant that my payroll administrator and I spent countless hours entering data and building the structure of our system. For example, with benefits, I was shown how to enter the information for each benefit, then allowed to proceed on my own. The info I entered was never checked for accuracy. I am now encountering endless problems with benefit effective dates and employee start dates as a result of not knowing what I did not know. My Ascentis support team is extremely patient as we try to unwind my errors, but the credibility I am losing with my employees who bring the errors to my attention is beyond infuriating.
  • Better customer service
  • Increased employee efficiency
  • Frustration on part of employees with errors
Paycom. We went with Ascentis because Paycom did not have the ability to customize our performance management tool

Some key questions to ask during the selection process are:

  • How much time will be required of me during implementation? What can I expect during the implementation process?
  • Aside from our initial investment, what types of customization are available, and what will be the cost to our organization?
  • How much time will it take for the carrier connect process to be completed? How will the transition work with my previous benefits administration system?

Be sure to understand how the timing of implementation of each module will affect your workflow, and what you will need to do doing the transition process to keep your business running smoothly.

Ascentis (discontinued) Feature Ratings

Employee demographic data
8
Employment history
3
Job profiles and administration
8
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.
8
Organizational charting
4
Organization and location management
9
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)
6
Pay calculation
8
Support for external payroll vendors
Not Rated
Benefit plan administration
6
Direct deposit files
7
Salary revision and increment management
8
Reimbursement management
Not Rated
Approval workflow
9
Balance details
8
Annual carry-forward and encashment
9
View and generate pay and benefit information
9
Update personal information
9
View job history
6
View company policy documentation
7
Employee recognition
Not Rated
Tracking of all physical assets
Not Rated
Report builder
5
Pre-built reports
5
Ability to combine HR data with external data
3

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