ADP ‘ EasyPayNet

LEARNING CURVE – 5 Stars
My first impression of the user interface was that it is a fairly simple procedure to work through a payroll process. The system uses numbered menus for each of the major components and then, within each of these menu items, presents a series of tabbed screens to flow through the process in an organized fashion. It would be helpful if the system provided a little more in the way of on-screen prompts to help guide you to the next step in the process, although this becomes much less import-ant once you have processed a payroll or two.

BREADTH & DEPTH OF FEATURES & SERVICES – 5 Stars
This system is a bit deceiving at first in terms of the depth of functionality provided. Once you go through the process of setting up an employee and processing a payroll, you realize that all of the pertinent features of payroll have been addressed. The workflow for processing a payroll is for the client to submit the payroll data by direct entry via the Web. Once the payroll has been processed by ADP, the reports and forms are available for viewing and printing within one hour of processing.

Some of the notable features available in EasyPayNet include the following:

ADP utilizes a true service bureau model where you submit payroll data to the system for processing off-line (by ADP), and the necessary reports are available one hour later for viewing and printing.

Up to 14 separate payroll deductions are available per employee. This includes tracking a running balance of a loan or prepayment.

Direct deposit transfer for up to three bank accounts per employee.

Payroll data can be entered directly online, one employee at a time or through a spreadsheet-like entry form for easy entry. Hours or earnings can also be pre-filled with regular pay data to save on data entry.

Option to pre-calculate a paycheck to review the pay, deductions and net pay amounts prior to sending the payroll off to ADP for processing.

Accommodates third-party payments for sick pay.

REPORTING CAPABILITIES – 5 Stars
The system provides the accountant with the ability to view electronic reports online from the ADP web site. All reports can be saved by the accountant on their local system for future printing, viewing, exporting, etc. These reports can be exported for further analysis in programs such as Excel.

INTEGRATION / IMPORT & EXPORT – 5 Stars
A QuickBooks interface will soon be available (date not provided by vendor) to convert payroll data into QuickBooks for posting the payroll activity to a client’s general ledger. As far as other applications and services that ADP provides, suffice it to say that they offer a solution for nearly every aspect of the payroll and human resource function with which a small business has to deal. This includes a service to sign, stuff and mail the payroll checks. As an alternative, you can choose to print your clients’ checks through the service.

CUSTOMER SERVICE & SUPPORT – 4.5 Stars
The vendor offers the ADP Tax and Financial Services Toolbox that provides a comprehensive knowledgebase of payroll and HR information, including downloadable federal and state forms. An online help database and links to the ADP Toolbox described above are also available. I was unable to find any supporting material of services available to help accountants market and deliver a payroll service offering, although the vendor has indicated that this will be available with the wholesale service.

SUMMARY
ADP enjoys the benefit of a well-known name and is obviously focused and experienced in payroll processing. Their size and resources might be a potential detriment in terms of finding your way around the ADP system electronically because of the breadth and depth of resources they offer. With the wholesale service, ADP deals directly with the accountant.

2004 OVERALL RATING: 5

Review Attributes

In order to maintain as much consistency
in our reviews as practical, the
payroll software solutions were
rated on the following five areas:
Learning Curve; Breadth & Depth of Features & Services; Reporting Capabilities; Integration/Import & Export; and Customer Service & Support.

We also looked at the vendor’s
history and vision in terms of the
company’s experience, resources
(personnel and financial) and reputation
in the profession and the extent
to which they are focused on payroll
services. We also considered how
the vendor approaches the accountant’s
role in the payroll service delivery
model.

The user interface is the primary
attribute evaluated to rate the
system’s Learning Curve. If
the software has an easy-to-follow
and intuitive interface, it received
the highest rating. On the other
hand, if it is not readily apparent
how and where to find features and
functions in the system, even though
the feature set may be complete,
we assessed a lower rating. This
is a key factor to evaluate because
of the intensive interaction of
the system that is required by your
staff and, in some cases, your clients.

The functionality of a payroll system
is a key characteristic to evaluate
because it will directly influence
the range of clients to which you
will be able to provide payroll
services, as well as the scope of
the services you will be able to
offer. Functionality is measured
in large part by the Depth &
Breadth of Features & Services.
How many options does the package
offer? Does it provide features
that meet the needs of a growing
company such as EFTPS (Electronic
Federal Tax Payment System)? MICR
(Magnetic Character Ink Recording)
and Direct Deposit? An extended
set of these types of features resulted
in a very high ranking in this category.

The following questions all relate
to the rating of the software’s
Reporting capability. What types
of reports does the system produce?
What is the content? How are they
designed? What flexibility is offered
in the sorting, selection and design
of the report contents?

Integration/Import & Export
assesses the packages ability to
integrate with other software applications,
such as client write-up, the client’s
accounting system, HRIS (Human Resource
Information Systems) and other applications
to minimize data entry and optimize
the potential to leverage the information
flow into and out of the payroll
system.

The true measure of a software’s
value is not limited to the program
itself, it is heavily influenced
by the vendor’s ability to
help you use and apply it. All it
takes is one frustrating afternoon
of system problems on a day when
multiple client payrolls need to
get out the door and you can’t
get the help you need from the vendor
to leave you with a long-lasting
distaste for the entire system.
We have done our best to rate the
vendor’s ability to deliver
Customer Service & Support,
but at the end of the day you need
to conduct your own due diligence
on this attribute and talk to a
few client references about their
experience with the vendor in this
area. It is one thing for a vendor
to say what kind of support they
offer, it is quite another to deliver
it. We have included the vendor’s
direct support of the accountant
in terms of marketing and practice
aids to help establish a payroll
service bureau style offering in
this category.