Ascentis (discontinued) vs. Paycom

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Ascentis (discontinued)
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
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.N/A
Paycom
Score 7.4 out of 10
N/A
Paycom supports HR and payroll with automated, employee-first technology that supports every stage of employment. Its single database enables seamless data management, to reduce errors, endless data entry and time-consuming administrative tasks.N/A
Pricing
Ascentis (discontinued)Paycom
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Ascentis (discontinued)Paycom
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Ascentis (discontinued)Paycom
Considered Both Products
Ascentis (discontinued)
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
We switched from ADP to Ascentis because we appreciated the fact that Ascentis was a smaller company able to focus better on each customer and provide the help that we never would have received from ADP.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
I have only used Ascentis for payroll administration so it is the Gold Standard for me!
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
Ascentis was the first system that I introduce to an organization and coordinating the full implementation. No comparison at this time.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
Ascentis/Nova Time is much more user friendly as far as the timekeeping and accrual side.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
I have used Success Factors, Cornerstone and researched 6 other companies when we were looking at Ascentis. At the time, Ascentis seemed to have good customer service.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
We selected Ascentis over Paylocity because we were frustrated with a lack of support from Paylocity and because we could have additional functionalities like recruiting and LMS in our HRIS at the same price we were paying for Paylocity.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
The Employee Self Service look and feel along with the Payroll solution seemed like the better choice for our Company.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
We have all modules.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
[Selecting Ascentis] was mostly due to budgetary reasons as well as having a system that would allow some type of syncing between programs.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
Ascentis offered a quality product at an affordable price. The other companies were too big and cost way too much for a non-profit organization to justify.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
I've only used other payroll systems, not payroll/HR combinations. So I can't really compare.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
Cost was in line with other systems, but we liked the customer service, and the feel of the product (based on what we also thought out employees would find easiest to use)
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
There are pros and cons to both. Ascentis fits the size of this organization better and their support is better.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
When I started working here Ascentis is what they used. At first, I thought this system is not user friendly at all it was a lot of steps to go through coming from ADP. Ascentis has really changed and has come along way from 4 years ago.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
I think Ascentis works best for our size and the needs of our business.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
I am not able to comment on this as this platform was chosen from our cooperate office. The CoOps had no say in the decision/selection of the HRIS that was selected for all 5 OpCos.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
I love Ascentis more than Ultipro because of the support that Ascentis gives us everyday. I know that if I have a question small or big I can make a quick phone call and have someone available to help me without putting a ticket in and waiting for days!
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
Posting of jobs has been more efficient with the use of Ascentis. Keeps postings in one place and helps with applicant tracking keeping them in one place.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
I've used multiple other applicant tracking systems. The overall ATS Ascentis offers isn't terrible and is very user friendly. It is the small everyday things that cause the most frustration. Having to reach out to support for seemingly small things that we should be able to do …
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
Due to already having used Timekeeper for a long number of years, we did not search for other products. Prior to Ascentis, we were all paper and in house.
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
ADP Workforce Now
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
We thought they were better. In some ways, they are. All have pro's and con's.
Paycom
Chose Paycom
Paycom has many more features and is far superior to these.
Chose Paycom
Paycom is what was in place when I started this job.
Chose Paycom
Paycor was our previous provider, and we had an incredible amount of issues. There was so much manual work to keep information correct, and the flow of information was tedious. Paycom had all of the features we were looking for.
Chose Paycom
Paycom has a much wider range of functionality and the site is user friendly. The app is also better organized and easier to use with the self service portal and manager access in one place. The reviews and goal tracking is much more efficient than the other competitors I’ve …
Chose Paycom
Over all it came down to functionality and price. ADP didn't come well reviewed by other [...]'s and Paylocity didn't seem as intuitive as Paycom. Our Paycom rep also took a lot of time with us, explaining things and showing us how the system would help us. We felt like she …
Chose Paycom
Paycom has a great user environment and mobile app.. It is very easy to administer and follow the data flow.
Chose Paycom
The level of support is not comparable. It's been great with Paycom.
Chose Paycom
In my opinion, Paycom is leaps and bounds ahead of Paylocity. Paycom is a much more sophisticated piece of software that has made the entire employee experience so much more palatable.
Chose Paycom
Paycom is much better as it allows us to assign training and recruit. Whereas ADP had to download a third party application to use these.
Chose Paycom
ADP Workflow, Paylocity, BambooHR, Worklio - Paycom has a superior feature set and reporting tools. Rippling, Gusto, PlanSource - Paycom is less preferred due to its overly complex feature set.
Chose Paycom
Paycom works well with our employee population and size. They are customizable and able to fit our unique needs. Benefit administration and open enrollment can be done in a breeze. Paycom has lived up to their sales and marketing promises.
Chose Paycom
Paycom was able to provide better customer service support as well as the data being a single database of information allowed for greater flexibility in report writing function. Additionally, being able to have different modalities of recording time worked, via the computer, …
Chose Paycom
We had a lot of technical issues with Paycor due to the fact that they purchased separate software platforms and cobbled them into one system that did not flow as seamlessly as we would have liked. Our staff were constantly complaining that the app would glitch or that punches …
Chose Paycom
Paycom stacks up well overall against other providers in the same realm. There are areas of improvement that other companies are handling better, but overall, they are very similar. Paycom could improve on two major components: intersystem communication and ATS. Betti, however, …
Chose Paycom
Much more user friendly.
Easier and more responsive web time clock.
If I had a problem with Paychex I waited days for a response and was rerouted through 6 different departments, now with Paycom I wait minutes for a helpful answer to my questions.
Chose Paycom
Paycom is my first choice from working with other services like Peoplesoft, Paychex and ADP.
Chose Paycom
All of the HCMs are pretty much the same, they all just have different modes of applications. The only negative about Paycom is their reporting structures (somewhat) but that is based upon how your organization sets things up. It was already set up when I arrived. I would also …
Chose Paycom
We are presently using UKG. I have to say that Paycom is more user friendly to use.
Chose Paycom
I honestly believe I chose Paycom because of the relationship I had with our sales rep. I felt comfortable discussing issues with him and I trusted that he was going to be a man of his word. Blain was wonderful to work with and if I had any issues, I called him and he took …
Chose Paycom
Paycom is very user-friendly. Managers can review and approve employee timecards easily. The entire HRIS system allows information to flow together seamlessly. Your general ledger is tailored to your payroll and reporting needs. You no longer need multiple systems, you can do …
Chose Paycom
The customer service for starters. I used ADP for years and the customer service was awful. Their software is not user friendly either. When they upgrade something, they do not train you. The last straw I had with ADP was when they made complete chaos out of our open enrollment …
Chose Paycom
Paycom is amazing in the customer service piece where ADP was severely lacking
Features
Ascentis (discontinued)Paycom
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
7.1
Ratings
10% below category average
Paycom
7.9
Ratings
1% above category average
Employee demographic data6.70 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Employment history7.30 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Job profiles and administration6.90 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.6.70 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Organizational charting5.20 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Organization and location management8.00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)8.80 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
7.8
Ratings
2% below category average
Paycom
8.1
Ratings
2% above category average
Pay calculation7.10 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors6.10 Ratings6.40 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment8.30 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Benefit plan administration6.70 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.20 Ratings9.80 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.60 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Reimbursement management8.80 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
7.8
Ratings
3% below category average
Paycom
7.7
Ratings
4% below category average
Approval workflow7.90 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Balance details7.00 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment8.40 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
7.0
Ratings
14% below category average
Paycom
8.9
Ratings
10% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information7.80 Ratings9.80 Ratings
Update personal information8.60 Ratings9.60 Ratings
View company policy documentation5.40 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Employee recognition6.00 Ratings7.30 Ratings
View job history7.30 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
5.8
Ratings
33% below category average
Paycom
4.9
Ratings
49% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets5.80 Ratings4.90 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
6.3
Ratings
17% below category average
Paycom
6.7
Ratings
11% below category average
Report builder7.00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.50 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data4.60 Ratings5.80 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
5.1
Ratings
43% below category average
Paycom
7.8
Ratings
1% below category average
New hire portal5.30 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Manager tracking tools4.90 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
7.2
Ratings
9% below category average
Paycom
5.5
Ratings
36% below category average
Corporate goal setting6.70 Ratings4.20 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.60 Ratings6.90 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility7.10 Ratings4.80 Ratings
Performance tracking7.20 Ratings6.20 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
6.0
Ratings
26% below category average
Paycom
7.0
Ratings
11% below category average
Performance plans5.60 Ratings7.40 Ratings
Performance improvement plans5.60 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Review status tracking5.80 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Review reminders6.50 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Multiple review frequency6.60 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
5.9
Ratings
28% below category average
Paycom
6.8
Ratings
14% below category average
Create succession plans/pools6.40 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Candidate ranking6.40 Ratings6.80 Ratings
Candidate search5.00 Ratings5.80 Ratings
Candidate development5.80 Ratings5.40 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
5.5
Ratings
34% below category average
Paycom
5.7
Ratings
30% below category average
Job Requisition Management5.40 Ratings5.80 Ratings
Company Website Posting5.20 Ratings5.20 Ratings
Publish to Social Media5.60 Ratings4.80 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting5.80 Ratings5.30 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention5.60 Ratings6.30 Ratings
Applicant Tracking5.70 Ratings5.40 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts5.30 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Ascentis (discontinued)Paycom
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Ascentis (discontinued)Paycom
Likelihood to Recommend
7.2
(0 ratings)
7.9
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
6.3
(0 ratings)
8.9
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.6
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Availability
6.7
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.1
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.2
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.0
(0 ratings)
6.4
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.3
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.3
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
3.0
(0 ratings)
5.5
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
6.7
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.6
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.6
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Ascentis (discontinued)Paycom
Likelihood to Recommend
In working with Ascentis in payroll, the program makes my job so much easier. I am new to this position and the learning process has been so much easier with this product than those in the past. I appreciate the patience I am given when I call in for assistance as well.
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It's very mobile friendly, especially for people that aren't tech savvy. We have an aged workforce where we were really concerned about how they would adapt, going from the comfort of using paper to a mobile and online application. But the training was really easy and the adaptation has been simple for us as a company.
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Pros
  • Easy to use software. I have had several new HR employees comment on how easy the system is to learn!
  • Problem Solving- Ascentis is always problem solving! When we were in the process of selecting a new payroll company, we needed unemployment claims management assistance for our locations, something Ascentis did not currently offer. The sales rep went out of his way to find a unemployment claims management company that would work with Ascentis and us. That company has helped us keep an 80% win rate for our claims!
  • User conference- Engage is an awesome way to learn more about the products Ascentis has available as well and meet up with the staff you work with every day!
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  • I think that it's just really user friendly on both sides, the employer and the employee side. I think from the employer side, once you get a niche of it and how it works, it's really easy to troubleshoot on your own. At least from my experience, you rarely have to call your contact because it's just so easy to try to figure out on your own. And on the employee side, I feel like the fact that we get to see what employees see, but before we put anything out really helps us help them if they are running into any issues. But typically when we do send something out, we just did our performance reviews, no issues whatsoever. It kind of takes you step by step. I feel like it just does a really good job of seamlessly taking people step by step in every process throughout whatever they're doing in Paycom.
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Cons
  • Updating the system so it is one platform and not two.
  • Create changes to the benefit enrollment process and upgrade the system so hire dates do not need to be changed to trigger benefits for status changes.
  • Focus updates on HR Admin, mobile application, ATS and transitioning to one platform. Larger areas of focus have been on the payroll portion of the system with a few updates to other areas.
  • When something is broken, quicker turn time on fixing the issue.
  • System needs updates to support AAP reporting.
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  • We wish that Paycom would offer more hands-on help. A lot of our specialist is great in helping us to resolve whatever issues that we have. However, it's just a list of steps to get there. It's not necessarily like, "hey, here you go, here's the resolution to your problem." So if we don't already understand how to do something, providing steps doesn't necessarily clear that understanding up or provide any clarification.
  • Additionally, I find that for our organization in particular, we have specific niches within it that Paycom doesn't really address or has any solution on how to address it. It just remains unresolved to this day and we continue to have errors in that area.
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Likelihood to Renew
If I were given the opportunity to select a new system, Ascentis would definitely be a strong contender. It links together the functions much more seamlessly than other systems I have used. By far the best part though is the customer support after implementation, this is where many companies fail. It was very appreciated that even after every module went live the service level was still high.
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Because it has everything that we need and as we grow, we are learning how robust Paycom can actually be but we need to be willing to spend the money. It's not expensive but we, as a company, are not used to spending that much on a system for HR and payroll.
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Usability
Employees and Management all love this product, as the ease of use is great! The app makes it very user friendly, as things can be done from cell phones anywhere at any time! Our Field Service Technicians love that they can clock in and out, etc., from any location, and that their time can be approved accordingly.
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The interface is very intuitive, you can navigate it pretty well. Everything's pretty much spelled out and the features just flow really well. They make it easy for you to go back and forth with the UX/UI type of interface. So I think it was built pretty well.
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Reliability and Availability
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.
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They are very dependable and I have never experience any outages
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Performance
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.
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Yes, Paycom's performance is excellent, no issues.
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Support Rating
Support is attentive and quick to answer the call and get the answer for you. If they for any reason cannot answer right then, they are back to you within a day and always seem to have a sense of urgency. You truly get the impression that they are aiming to make you happy.
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Our TSR has been wonderful to work with. Every step of the
way he was quick to respond and answer any questions we had. I knew I could
reach him at any time (day or night) and he would be available to assist.
Implementing a new HRIS system is obviously a huge task and I contribute all
our success to our rep Kurt! Of course, with any implementation, there were
bumps along the way and issues. But I always knew we would work as a team to
get those issues figured out. Working in the Paycom system has been smooth and
easy to learn and I enjoy the employee self-service interface. Our managers
have had positive things to say and are all excited about the changes we have
been able to make to our organization due to Paycom being implemented.
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In-Person Training
First, to clarify our "in-person" training was done mainly through Web-X meetings and conference calls. It was the closest thing we got to as far as an "in-person" training for this software. However, for the large majority of it, this type of training worked out well. We were able to share our screens and the trainer was able to share his/her screen. We could follow along with what we were doing in our database in real time and see how different functions worked and how manipulating our information could produce different results. It was also nice in that it provided for real-time results if something hadn't been coded correctly or we were having issues as to why something wasn't working the way we thought it should be. However, it did have some downsides in that we often had to rely on a conference phone and that made it difficult to hear people on both sides. Also, sometimes the trainers had internet difficulties when working from home and that caused issues with the WebX meetings.
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They were a sales person and not really a good trainer.
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Online Training
Ascentis HR has a number of online training videos to watch on a number of different topics. I gave it a lower rating because there is not much interactivity with the videos and it seems to cater to really only one or two learning styles. Plus, one has to be pretty motivated to go to a separate area to access the videos and then pull up a specific one to watch it and then learn. From my experience, people know that they are there, many just don't take the time and effort to go find them and actually watch them - especially since the username and password are different from their normal username and password.
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It was good, but hard to know what questions you need to ask until you actually get in there and start working with a live product. But Paycom is also very helpful every time I call and can't figure something out. Nathan has been very friendly and helpful no matter what I call him about. He is always eager to help out.
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Implementation Rating
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.
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Not at all satisfied it was a nightmare we spent over 8 months with the implementation team having issues after issues all related to the Puerto Rico regulations (half my employees are in Puerto Rico) and at the end we were moved over from the implementation team to the production team without all the issues being resolved
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Alternatives Considered
Ascentis has far better customer service and the implementation experience was also better. The ability to do a lot of customization is also easier with Ascentis as it's smaller organization. The payroll has positive and negatives compared to ADP but the accuracy is the same in both. Ascentis just started their community site which doesn't have a lot of traffic but hopefully can become more like ADP's community site, which was extremely helpful to me as an administrator.
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We really only had Paychecks and that was our biggest problem is that with several different companies, it was very hard If you had a salary employee and didn't terminate them in the prior company, they get paid twice, so this has really been definitely a big help for us.
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Scalability
Large acquisition would be very complicated, seems more appropriate for companies under 100
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Paycom is very user friendly
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Return on Investment
  • It has been great to have all of our employee information in one central location, easy access and that the modules communicate/link together. If I change something here, it gets "pushed" to all other modules.
  • I do not maximize ESS, particularly posting information on the home page because it is so TEDIOUS.
  • LOVE the app, would love for it to be easier for employees to reset their password to whatever they want vs. the system generated password.
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  • I would think the most time would come from applicant tracking and I don't think that's a Paycom issue necessarily. I think it was a training issue during implementation. I would say that that has improved now that we had onsite training. But initially the applicant tracking piece can be difficult when you're used to just using an ATS. That's specifically for talent acquisition because there's a lot of nuances that goes into the system that Paycom bills.
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ScreenShots

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.

Paycom Screenshots

Screenshot of a new study that reveals that for a composite organization representative of interviewed clients, unifying HR and payroll in a single-database software with automation and streamlined workflows achieved a three-year 362% ROI and resulted in: $1.4M net present value*; over 45% total time saved by HR; 80% time saved on compliance work.Screenshot of IWant, which is a command-driven AI engine in a single database, for instant access to employee data.Screenshot of Direct Data Exchange®, which takes a detailed pulse of how employees interact with Paycom. It automatically assigns a dollar value of savings based on Ernst & Young research.