Dayforce Powerpay vs. PDS Vista

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
N/A
Dayforce Powerpay allows small businesses to pay and manage employees. It is used to simplify and automate payroll processes with automatic payroll calculations and remittances to the CRA and RQ, and streamlines payroll with connected time and attendance tracking to help ensure people are paid accurately.N/A
PDS Vista
Score 1.2 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Vista® is a human resource, benefits, payroll, recruiting, and self-service software. Functional elements include recruitment, staffing, position and training management, compliance, and performance and compensation.N/A
Pricing
Dayforce PowerpayPDS Vista
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Dayforce PowerpayPDS Vista
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsLicense pricing is based on the number of full and part-time active employees within bands (e.g. 751-1,000). SaaS pricing is based on PEPM.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Dayforce PowerpayPDS Vista
Considered Both Products
Dayforce Powerpay
Chose Dayforce Powerpay
Being able to remit payroll directly to CRA reduces the number of steps in payroll processing. It also means that there is no way for us to forget a remittance. This is important to us because it's all-in-one software. I did like that QB would have the entry directly there so …
Chose Dayforce Powerpay
Even though Quickbooks was cheaper, I would have to do more work, much more information added into the system and while I would pay less per pay run, there was a lot more work for me to do. I prefer to pay a little extra and spend my time making money instead of the headache of …
Chose Dayforce Powerpay
Wagepoint has made errors in the past. ADP has terrible customer service. QuickBooks Online is convenient however the Dayforce Powerpay pricing is better for larger payrolls. Payworks has no "run as is" option.
Chose Dayforce Powerpay
I selected Powerpay (Ceridian at it was then) for the ease of use. I like that I have the choice of phoning my payroll in or doing it online myself. I used Ceridian a long time ago when I worked part time for a law firm. The Powerpay system is easy to use, it is logical and you …
Chose Dayforce Powerpay
Have not used any other payroll software in my experience.
Chose Dayforce Powerpay
Having used both Ceridian Powerpay and DayforceHCM, I find that Ceridian Powerpay is the better solution for the average user. DayforceHCM provides a more fully-featured solution for an organization, but utilizing those features will depend on your organizational needs. …
PDS Vista
Chose PDS Vista
I've used Peoplesoft HCM in the past. The products have some similarities, but they are marketed to different sized companies, so it's a bit of apples to oranges. Peoplesoft was very complex and challenging to manage and support. Vista HRMS should require fewer technical …
Chose PDS Vista
ADP and Paylocity. Vista may not be as flashy as those user sites, but it is much more effective and easy to use for multiple roles in the system. Admins, managers, and users are much easier to manage and their experience is better having the single sign-on for them to use.
Chose PDS Vista
Vista is much easier to maintain, navigate and train new users than TesserAct. Vista is much easier and less costly to maintain than PeopleSoft.
Chose PDS Vista
Vista has modules built in the system with maintenance fees that are feasible. The functionality and capabilities of the system are robust - not sure what the system cannot do. The system is reliant on your skills to modify the modules but the customer support team will partner …
Chose PDS Vista
The other two I have used in the past were a pay as you go type of a thing where you had to request and pay for every report that you wanted, I like the on demand and licensing concept better.
Chose PDS Vista
We’ve looked at other HRMS applications over the years and PDS’ product is a great fit for us. Many of the other applications are much more expensive and difficult to install and support.
Chose PDS Vista
Vista HRMS offered the same or similar options for their product, but Vista's customer service is top notch and can't be beat! When we first selected Vista we were a much smaller company. The people behind Vista HRMS were very forthcoming with answers to our questions and …
Chose PDS Vista
We converted from Lawson/Infor's HRMS solution. This was becoming increasing difficult to maintain and the annual maintenance costs were many times higher than PDS. We evaluated Workday, Ultimate, ADP and several other software solutions during our evaluation phase. Workday was …
Chose PDS Vista
Vista is much more powerful, robust, flexible and intuitive than these other programs.
Chose PDS Vista
Vista was by far the most flexible solution we evaulated.
Chose PDS Vista
VISTA allows for more flexibility and integration with our accounting system.
Chose PDS Vista
We had multiple vendors come and demo their products/systems for us. Each one had great features but at the end of the day, based on what the Vista HRMS system had to offer and how we were able to personalize the system to meet our needs we felt the choice was simple and we …
Chose PDS Vista
We selected Vista HRMS because of the cost, and the ability to modify base code when needed.
Chose PDS Vista
The open environment of our hosted system allows us to develop modules and customizations as if the system were developed in-house. With the IT staff we have, this provides great opportunities for extending PDS' capabilities. Additionally, I have never worked with a better …
Chose PDS Vista
I wasn't around when other products were being evaluated. But I've been working with the system for almost 5 years now and I'm pretty happy with it (and I'm picky!) I think the biggest reason we picked it was because of how configurable it is as well as having the ability to …
Chose PDS Vista
I have used only Vista HRMS and do not have an accurate comparison.
Chose PDS Vista
I wasn't part of the implementation team for selection of Vista HRMS, but the feedback that I received was that this was the most robust, configurable product on the market for the price range we were looking to spend. No software is perfect, but Vista HRMS does suit our needs …
Chose PDS Vista
They switched to save money.
Features
Dayforce PowerpayPDS Vista
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce Powerpay
8.9
Ratings
8% above category average
PDS Vista
3.2
Ratings
85% below category average
Pay calculation9.10 Ratings3.00 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors9.20 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment8.70 Ratings4.00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration8.70 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.00 Ratings4.00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.80 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Reimbursement management8.90 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce Powerpay
-
Ratings
PDS Vista
1.9
Ratings
122% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings3.00 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings3.00 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings3.00 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce Powerpay
-
Ratings
PDS Vista
1.0
Ratings
156% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce Powerpay
-
Ratings
PDS Vista
2.0
Ratings
121% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings4.00 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings3.00 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce Powerpay
-
Ratings
PDS Vista
7.3
Ratings
10% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings7.30 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce Powerpay
-
Ratings
PDS Vista
2.0
Ratings
116% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings2.00 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings2.00 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings2.00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce Powerpay
-
Ratings
PDS Vista
1.0
Ratings
155% below category average
New hire portal00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce Powerpay
-
Ratings
PDS Vista
2.8
Ratings
95% below category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings6.40 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce Powerpay
-
Ratings
PDS Vista
1.0
Ratings
155% below category average
Performance plans00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce Powerpay
-
Ratings
PDS Vista
2.3
Ratings
109% below category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings3.60 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings3.60 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce Powerpay
-
Ratings
PDS Vista
1.4
Ratings
139% below category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings1.90 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings2.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Dayforce PowerpayPDS Vista
Small Businesses
OnPay
OnPay
Score 9.9 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
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Dayforce PowerpayPDS Vista
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(0 ratings)
1.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.6
(0 ratings)
2.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.1
(0 ratings)
7.3
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Dayforce PowerpayPDS Vista
Likelihood to Recommend
I like Dayforce's timesheet inputs. I like that there is both the rapid entry and the timesheet tabs. It's easy and quick, and it makes a lot of sense. I wish Dayforce would pay out RSP payments, rather than log them only. It would eliminate a step for us and make things faster. But it's only once per year, so not a huge issue.
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You have the option of taking the system in house or being a hosted client. Figure out what resources your IT department has to spare, if you will have a dedicated administrator who will do all the upgrades and enhancements or if you will be job sharing those responsibilities. Like all software, Vista HRMS has multiple upgrades a year. You will need someone or a team of a few individuals to test these upgrades out and be able to take on a role of administrator, technology consultant or front end user and make sure these upgrades are working from all angles. Vista HRMS really is a good product for keeping all HR and Payroll related records in one system, I just stress the fact that you have to have someone on hand who wants to own the product and be willing to learn as much as possible. The more you put into this product, the more you will get out of it
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Pros
  • Ceridian Powerpay simplifies the payroll process, very little manual work involved during each payroll run.
  • Ceridian Powerpay is mostly an intuitive interface with easy to understand workflows to allow for multiple users to be able to use the system if required.
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  • Vista HRMS is very flexible, it does everything we need for HR, benefits and payroll. It’s user-friendly and intuitive to use, when we roll out new self-service items our employees have no problems and require minimal training or documentation.
  • PDS has excellent customer service and support. We get answers to the majority of our questions and problems quickly, within the day that we call. More complex issues that may require PDS’ technical support are usually addressed within a few days. We were upgrading our production servers to Windows 2012 over a weekend and a key person in our organization was on leave. When we checked with PDS to see what cost would be involved if we needed their help, they said it was included in our regular maintenance, no extra cost.
  • The PDS User’s Conference is an excellent learning opportunity for training on everything Vista does, including using Crystal Reports for custom reporting. You also get to meet and talk to the executive and development staff and have direct input into the future product development.
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Cons
  • Adjustment - Reversal sometimes gives an error
  • Emergency Contact Comments field - would be nice if it would accept more characters in this field
  • A warning that 'no ROE will be created' popup when EI or other related fields are marked Exempt
  • Rate history on an employee's page would be nice
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  • Job History - Too many areas that dates populate.
  • ATS - There is a lack of flexibility for applicants when applying for multiple jobs.
  • Searching - The functionality is a little limited, would be nice to type in any information on a person and search.
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Likelihood to Renew
Powerpay exceeds my expectations: it's easy to use and does not 'eat' my time by wondering what the end result will be. I can see what each employee's pay statement will look like before I submit the payroll for processing. Monthly processing fees are not exorbitant and the service from support it top notch, quick and awesome when you need it! What's not to like? It's a terrific company to have on your side!
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It's working well for us. Yes, we do have some challenges, but we're working through them. With all the time and money put in to this, why would we switch. Especially since we really haven't used this product to it's full potential, but that's many due to time challenges.
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Usability
Dayforce
Powerpay has a great interface that makes it easy to navigate, easy to remit
payroll, and easy to report after the fact. It has made overseeing and executing our payroll easier for me as an administrator, and our staff find their portal easy to navigate as well. The only thing that I find less desirable is that you need to start a payroll in order to make any adjustments to employees' information.
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In my line of work, PDS Vista doesn't fit. I recruit and manager talent pipelines, as well as all onboarding aspects of 11 companies. I spend more hours getting data configured and searching for information within this software than I spend with my candidates. Theres an abundance duplication, and there isn't a single stream of information shared across screens. I have to input the SAME details into several screens for them to match up. Nothing is intuitive, and its certainly not end user friendly
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Reliability and Availability
I have never experienced application errors or unplanned outages. I do know that I could phone Dayforce Powerpay and give them hours and other deductions and they would do the payroll and I could either have them deliver the completed payroll by courier (there are small extra charges for this) or I could download the completed payroll on pay day. I have also been able to complete payroll our payroll at home instead of at the office. Dayforce is very accessible by phone or online.
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No answers on this topic
Performance
Pages online load in seconds. Click and it's instantly there! I have never had pages not loading properly or taking time to load. Payroll reports also downloads quickly. We do not interface Dayforce Powerpay with anything else
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Regardless the issue, the Customer Support team is offering outstanding services! When I am calling, the wait time is reasonable, and the team members will ensure you receive the right support in a timely manner, with politeness and kindness. If you reach out the team that it's a guarantee that your issue will be solved!
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PDS has excellent customer service and support. We get answers to the
majority of our questions and problems quickly, within the day that we
call. More complex issues that may require PDS’ technical support are
usually addressed within a few days
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Online Training
I have used Powerpay before (at a previous employer) but a few years had elapsed. I had a quick online training session (less that 30 minutes) to recover basic knowledge and I was away. I still from time to time have to do something that i am not quite sure of and pick up the phone! Every one that works at Ceridian - now Dayforce - have been able to answer my question and tell me where to go in the program, click on what and do what I need to do. The support is out-of-this-world good!
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The resources and online tools that PDS provide are extremely thorough and helpful in our training and learning.
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Implementation Rating
I initiated the implementation. I answered all the questions I was asked, prepared the documentation and sent it off and it was done! Quickly, efficiently and done well!
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Ask lots of questions, ensure you fully understand the functionality (particularly history records) and train, train, train the users for correct and complete utilization of the system.
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Alternatives Considered
Even though Quickbooks was cheaper, I would have to do more work, much more information added into the system and while I would pay less per pay run, there was a lot more work for me to do. I prefer to pay a little extra and spend my time making money instead of the headache of trying to submit everything. It may work well for those who use that program with everything else on a daily basis, but I don't and also did not want to learn a new system when I have something that works really well!
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We had multiple vendors come and demo their products/systems for us. Each one had great features but at the end of the day, based on what the Vista HRMS system had to offer and how we were able to personalize the system to meet our needs we felt the choice was simple and we havent looked back since.
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Scalability
We have a small staff of less than 20 employees. We moved our payroll from a previous provided because of terrible and expensive service. Dayforce is much, much easier to use and costs about 30% less than the previous provider. Dayforce Powerpay also seem to have people that speaks clearly and are efficient in everything they do so that less time is wasted by phone calls that has you on hold for 3 hours!
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • The return on investment has been substantial for our company. Having a payroll system that calculates everything for you, processes important documents, and only takes minimal time and effort allows us to focus more time on running the business and generating revenue.
  • Instead of having a user spend half a day (or potentially a full day) processing payroll, it only takes a couple hours (obviously depending on how many employees need to be processed).
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  • Vista HRMS offers a very reasonably priced solution that performs the functions we need for our business.
  • With a very small IT staff we successfully implemented all modules of Vista HRMS in approx. 6 months from start of implementation. Compared to other projects the cost to implement this system was very cost effective.
  • We have been able to maintain our internal benefits, payroll & HR functions in-house with no additional staff at a significantly reduced annual maintenance cost.
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ScreenShots

PDS Vista Screenshots

Screenshot of employee data, which is the heart of a corporate knowledge base. Within Vista, an organized database of employees, applicants, jobs, and positions can be created and maintained. The product’s flexibility allows users to structure corporate data as simply or as complicated as business needs require.Screenshot of Vista Payroll, which is designed to strike the perfect balance between power and simplicity. It is designed to process large volumes of data within tight time constraints, whether U.S., Canadian, or Caribbean.

Vista Payroll is focused on its main tasks of calculating pay, creating paychecks, producing payroll registers, and federal, state, local, and provincial tax reports.Screenshot of the included Vista Benefits features, which can include unlimited plans and coverage levels, automated benefits eligibility, auto-housekeeping of valuations and premiums.Screenshot of Vista Recruiting, which presents critical applicant information in an efficient manner for both human resources professionals and hiring managers, alike.

Vista Recruiting gives HR departments command over the entire hiring process for each department in every location while more easily tracking and controlling costs, improving applicant management, strengthening relationships with applicants, and reducing paperwork for the HR team.