ADP PCPayroll For Windows: Better Than The Alternative ***9/2005 Update
Written: Apr 01 '01 (Updated Nov 02 '05)
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Pros: Adequate all-purpose system; multistate tax deposits; integrated payroll and HR
Cons: Inconsistent service, complex system
The Bottom Line: For a company with a medium sized multi-state payroll, ADP is the best choice. Set your parameters and procedures carefully and be your own customer service advocate.
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| Saxguy's Full Review: ADP PC/Payroll for Windows |
We’ve had ADP’s PC Payroll for Windows product for about 3 years now and I believe that it is the best choice for a medium-sized payroll where employees are based in multiple states.
***Update, September 2005**************************
The updated portion is between the asterisks.
We are still using ADP and are still pleased with them. The HR system (HR Perspective) works well with the payroll side. Since I first wrote the epinion, we have consolidated three of our payrolls into one and that has worked out well.
We have also added the Totalpay feature, which means that the checks are drawn on an ADP bank account at Bank One, instead of our own. This makes the bank reconciliation easier. Our employees have had no problems cashing checks because Bank One has plenty of branches throughout the Chicago metro area.
I do take calls occasionally from sales reps from Paychex and Ceridian, but I don't even meet with them anymore. I basically say, "find me a client who has 600 people, including clergy, in many states in the union and then we'll talk." I haven't yet been presented a reference organization with a similar payroll who is paying less.
ADP has also shown a willingness to make long term agreements to moderate price increases based on a multi-year commitment.
We have found out that some of their auxiliary services are expensive. We handle our regular and voluntary (403B accounts, like a 401K) pension plans through a sister corporation, and ADP's price was not competitive on those services. Also we handle the flexible benefits accounts (medical and dependent care spending) through a vendor that the sister company introduced us to, and ADP's quote was not competitive with them.
No, they're not perfect. We still have occasional issues that need to be worked out. However, I have not had to worry about payroll getting done. That's really important to me.
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First, a description of my organization. We have approximately 600 employees on our semi-monthly payroll. While most are based in Chicago, we nevertheless have employees in most of the states in the US, at deployed program offices. Our payroll is complicated by the existence of some clergy employees, who are not subject to social security, a taxable tuition reimbursement plan and relocation expense benefits that are richer than the IRS allows.
We have had PC payroll for Windows for about 3 years. We had been on ADP’s previous product - a DOS-based system, and selected ADP’s product out of a formal process. The other systems we evaluated were Ceridian who, like ADP is a service bureau product, Cort Systems, which is PC based and one other who I do not remember. We chose ADP as having the best alternative for the money. Ceredian was much more expensive; myself and the IT department were leery of pc-based systems which could be fragile. Plus we would incur more effort to pay taxes.
ADP has the following benefits:
Tax Calculation and Payment We use an agency payroll. In other words, we let ADP calculate and pay the tax payments in various jurisdictions and we pay ADP the gross payroll cost. For a payroll less than 1000 employees, it’s just not worth it to spend time and money on keeping up with local tax regulations and making payments.
A Sister Module, HR Perspective, That Is Integrated Certainly we’ve had our struggles. However, there is a means for the systems to communicate with each other, through the in-box. It’s a way of making sure that the systems have congruent data. During our evaluation process, Ceredian’s HR product was clearly behind ADP’s.
Records Retained On Our System While ADP prints the checks and maintains records, most of the data sits on our own file server. The system does require a stand-alone server.
Routine Processing Payroll processing times are scheduled in advance and our employees understand that.
Fewer and less complicated input screens than Ceredian or the others, plus autopay permits you to schedule regular payroll checks without having to input each one.
They are willing to negotiate on prices and bundled services Ceridian’s processing would have cost much more, because they would have required customization. Plus, the maintenance fees would have been increased.
However, we have had some difficulties, too. We looked at these as a learning process.
Customer service There were times when it was difficult to get help on certain processes. Rather than whine about it, we decided to be our own advocate.
The fact is, most people don’t think about their paychecks until there is something wrong with them or they are late. Then, morale drops like a rock. Our employees were depending on us, so we developed an urgency, then took the following actions that really did help.
1. Dialogue with ADP’s support The first account rep I had was difficult. He didn’t even want to come in to talk with us. So, I asked to be transferred to a different rep. Things improved immediately.
2. Use their sales department for customer service When routine channels fail, this works wonders - especially if you might be buying more services.
3. Get Major Account status We talked with them about this and the fact that we had 3 payrolls, and they did it. Major Account customers get much better service.
4. Learn which Support people are knowledgeable and helpful and call them for help. We’ve gotten tremendously better support by identifying the field reps who are accessible and dependable.
5. Ask for advice and listen to it We learned, very recently, that the systems function much better when most of the input is done in the HR module and then passed through the in-box to Payroll. We were doing the opposite and we are now trying to change.
Make sure others have the same environment We had a number of technical problems with the initial install, basically because we were among the first to use our server configuration, which they recommended. We ended up having to do our own technical support at times. This was annoying because they assured us that we were not among the first. Now, for upgrades, we make sure that we discuss system function with users who have the same configuration as the one we are installing.
In addition to the occasional service problems and not setting up the system the most effective way, we’ve also had difficulties due to our way of doing things. Running the tuition reimbursement plan with the regular payroll has made things difficult, so we are now running a separate payroll. We’ve also had difficulty because our procedures are not as routine as they could be and were not documented as well as they could be. Plus, our organization’s commitment (or lack thereof) to quality and timing of paperwork makes things difficult. None of those things are ADP’s responsibility, but they have made our payroll process a little tougher. We’ve improved by focusing on creating a routine, improving the quality in our administrative processes and preventing problems.
So, ADP has not been the perfect vendor. They have done a reasonable job based on our needs and our number of employees. We’ve benefitted from some of their advice and suffered from others. However, they have done a reasonable job at a reasonable price. I can recommend them, with the reservations shown above.
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