Selecting a payroll system is crucial yet challenging for any business.
This review provides an in-depth examination of ADP Workforce Now, a leading payroll solution, to help you determine if it's the right fit for your needs.
We'll explore ADP Workforce Now's key capabilities, implementation process, core functionality for payroll management, additional HR modules, customer support offerings, and how it compares to top competitors. By the end, you'll have the information needed to decide if ADP Workforce Now is the ideal payroll system for your business.
Introduction to ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now is a leading cloud-based human capital management (HCM) platform designed for mid-sized organizations. It combines payroll, time tracking, human resources, benefits administration and talent management in one unified system.
Key capabilities include:
- Payroll - Process payroll across all 50 U.S. states. Includes tax filing, direct deposit, garnishments and more.
- Time & Attendance - Track hours worked, schedule employees and manage paid time off. Ensure accurate payroll.
- HR Management - Onboard new hires, manage employee data, develop talent and track performance.
- Benefits Administration - Select plans, enroll employees and process life events. Integrates with major insurance carriers.
- Reporting & Analytics - Real-time metrics on payroll, HR, and benefits. Custom reports for data-driven decisions.
With ADP Workforce Now, midsized companies can effectively manage the entire employee lifecycle within a unified platform. It aims to simplify payroll and HR so businesses can focus on growth.
Implementing ADP Workforce Now
Implementing a new payroll and HR system like ADP Workforce Now can seem daunting, but with careful planning and preparation, the process can go smoothly. Here are some best practices to consider when migrating to ADP Workforce Now:
Deployment Timeline and Resources
- Allow 2-4 months for implementation. Rushing the process often leads to headaches down the road.
- Involve key department stakeholders early on, such as HR, payroll, IT, and finance. Their input is crucial.
- Hire an experienced ADP implementation consultant. Their guidance can save significant time and frustration.
- Have a project manager oversee the deployment so tasks stay on track.
Data Migration Plan
- Audit your existing payroll and HR data first to identify any data gaps or errors. Cleaning the data now prevents issues later.
- Map your legacy data fields to the corresponding fields in ADP Workforce Now. ADP provides mapping templates to facilitate this.
- Set a data migration test schedule and verify transfers by comparing reports from old and new systems.
- Freeze any non-essential data updates in your old system 4 weeks prior to go-live to lock down data.
Following structured best practices when deploying ADP Workforce Now reduces risk and sets up your organization for a simpler transition. Investing time into planning, testing, and stakeholder training prevents major headaches down the road.
Core Functionality for Payroll Management
Analysis of payroll features like payment processing, tax filing, and gross-to-net calculations.
Payment Flexibility
ADP Workforce Now provides several options for paying employees, including:
- Checks: Print paychecks locally or have ADP mail them directly to employees.
- Direct deposit: Deposit pay directly into employees' bank accounts. Setup is fast and easy.
- Pay cards: Load employee pay onto prepaid debit cards. Useful for employees without bank accounts.
Businesses can offer multiple payment options and allow employees to select their preferred method.
Tax Filing and Compliance
ADP handles complex payroll tax calculations and payments automatically:
- Federal taxes: Withholding, depositing, filing, and year-end reporting for income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes.
- State taxes: State income tax withholding for all 50 states, plus handling of state unemployment taxes.
- Local taxes: Support for local tax rules and automated filings.
ADP stays up-to-date as tax laws change, ensuring full compliance without the hassle. Their tax experts also handle deposit schedules, wage attachments, penalties and interest, amendments, and other issues.
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Additional HR Modules
Benefits Administration
Vintti does not provide benefits administration services. As an accounting and finance staffing agency, Vintti focuses solely on helping companies hire specialized accounting professionals from South America to save on payroll costs. They do not have tools to manage health insurance, 401(k), FSA, or other employee benefits.
However, for companies looking to streamline their benefits administration, there are some excellent solutions available. Top providers like Gusto, BambooHR, Rippling, and Zenefits offer robust platforms to consolidate and automate benefits enrollment, changes, compliance, and reporting. Key features can include:
- Customizable benefit plans and rules engines
- Integrations with top insurance carriers
- Automated enrollment with electronic signatures
- Beneficiary management and life event change processing
- COBRA and FSA administration
- Reporting for compliance filing (5500, 1094/1095, 941, W-2, etc.)
By centralizing benefits data and processes, these systems can save HR teams significant time and effort while ensuring full legal and regulatory compliance.
Performance Management
As Vintti focuses specifically on recruiting and staffing accounting professionals, they do not offer performance management software. However, for organizations looking to implement goal setting, reviews, feedback, and development planning, there are excellent tools available.
Leading performance management systems like Reflektive, Lattice, Betterworks, and Develapp provide functionality like:
- Customizable review cycles and forms
- Real-time feedback and check-ins
- OKR and goal alignment
- Development planning and tracking
- Talent calibration and succession planning
- Reporting and analytics
By taking performance management digital, companies can increase transparency, align teams to objectives, develop talent faster, and make more data-driven decisions. These systems help managers provide more coaching and feedback to employees when they need it most.
For any business seeking to improve their performance management strategy, today's software solutions offer a much more continuous, personalized, and effective approach compared to old-school annual reviews.
Customer Support and Training
Standard Onboarding and Ongoing Assistance
ADP provides comprehensive onboarding support and ongoing assistance to help customers get the most out of Workforce Now Payroll.
When signing up, customers are assigned an implementation manager who provides guidance on configuration, data migration, integration, training, and go-live. Support includes:
- Dedicated phone, email, and chat access to the implementation team
- Online knowledge base with setup guides, user manuals, FAQs, and training videos
- Standard implementation timeline of 4-8 weeks
After launch, ADP continues to provide phone, email, and chat support on weekdays during standard business hours. Common requests include:
- How-to questions on running payroll and using system features
- Troubleshooting issues like error messages or access problems
- Submitting enhancement ideas or reporting bugs
While support meets the needs of most customers, those requiring more assistance can enroll in premium support offerings.
Additional Services
For an additional fee, ADP provides premium support services and professional services targeted to specialized needs:
- Priority Support - Faster response times and extended weekday and weekend hours
- Designated Client Service Representative - An account manager familiar with the customer's setup
- Expert Training - Customized onboarding and training tailored to the customer's configuration
- Professional Services - Hands-on help from ADP consultants for unique projects or complex integrations
These premium options provide an enhanced level of personalized and expert-level service for customers with more complex requirements. Though not typically needed, they offer added value for those willing to invest more.
Comparing to Leading Competitors
How ADP Workforce Now stacks up to other top payroll and HCM solutions like Gusto, BambooHR, Paychex Flex, and Paycom.
Strengths and Weaknesses
ADP Workforce Now excels in the following areas:
- Integrations: Offers over 300+ pre-built integrations with top HR apps to streamline data flows. Easy to connect payroll data into other business platforms.
- Analytics: Robust real-time analytics and reporting across workforce metrics. Helps track KPIs and inform business decisions.
- Compliance: Keeps up-to-date on changing regulations across states and ensures payroll tax filings are compliant. Lowers compliance risk.
- Support: Provides phone, chat, knowledge base resources, and dedicated account management. Quick access to support when issues arise.
However, ADP Workforce Now falls short in a few aspects:
- Ease of Use: The platform can be overwhelming for first-time users. Steep learning curve to leverage all features.
- Customization: Limited ability to customize workflows or tailor platform to unique needs. More rigid configuration.
- Mobile Access: Missing some key mobile functionality for employees/managers to access data and manage tasks.
So while powerful and feature-rich, ADP Workforce Now struggles a bit on user experience and flexibility components compared to competitors.
Best Fit by Business Size
Small Businesses (<50 employees)
ADP Workforce Now may be overkill for most small businesses. Competitors like Gusto provide an easier out-of-box solution for basic payroll and HR needs of small teams.
Mid-Market Businesses (50-1,000 employees)
The sweet spot where ADP Workforce Now shines. Mid-market firms get the most value from the extensive features and integrations, while still keeping costs reasonable.
Enterprise Businesses (>1,000 employees)
Workforce Now scales to even the largest workforces. Large firms can leverage ADP's advanced reporting and data analytics across divisions to derive deep workforce insights. But costs are high.
So ADP Workforce Now is likely best suited for mid-market businesses around 100-500 employees in size based on features offered and pricing models. Very small businesses can find cheaper solutions and very large enterprises may want more customization.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Key Takeaways
ADP Workforce Now is a comprehensive payroll and HR solution suitable for medium to large businesses. Key strengths include:
- Robust functionality across payroll, time tracking, benefits admin, and more
- Configurable to complex pay rules and workflows
- Mobile access and employee self-service portal
- Integrations with other ADP solutions and some third-party software
Potential downsides to consider:
- Can be costly for smaller businesses
- Steep learning curve to set up and customize
- Mixed reviews of customer support response times
Best fit would be mid-size to enterprise firms seeking an all-in-one platform to manage payroll and other HR tasks.
Next Steps for Evaluation
If ADP Workforce Now seems like a potential fit, recommended next steps:
- Schedule a demo to see the system firsthand and ask about specific use cases
- Request quotes for your business’s size and discuss costs
- Map out current workflows and requirements to see how ADP can align to your needs
Thoroughly evaluate integrations, implementation timeline, and support terms before making a decision. Comparing to alternatives like Paycom or Paylocity can also help determine the best payroll software for your business.
