ADP Run Review | PCMag

ADP is a well-known provider of payroll, HR, tax and benefits administration, and more to companies of all sizes. Its payroll and HR service for small to medium businesses, ADP Run, is one of the best options for processing payroll we’ve tested, thanks to its exceptional combination of usability and flexible yet comprehensive payroll processing. Its depth and customizability show in every part of the service, including its mobile apps. It’s an Editors’ Choice winner, alongside Gusto, which we recommend to novices, and OnPay, which is ideal for larger SMBs and those in vertical industries. 

How Much Does ADP Run Cost?

ADP Run has advanced payroll and HR tools at a price small businesses can afford. The Essential Payroll level, which I reviewed and which is ADP Run’s entry-level tier, costs $79 per month plus $4 per employee per month (limited to 49 employees). It costs less than Gusto Plus ($80 per month plus $12 per employee per month). The best value for small businesses that need payroll services is OnPay, which gives you robust (though not as robust as ADP Run) payroll and HR tools for $40 per month plus $6 per employee per month. Patriot Software Full Service Payroll is one of the least expensive payroll services I’ve tested, at $37 per month plus $4 per employee per month.

To give these prices a bit more context, ADP’s help options are more generous than its competitors, and its upgrade path is far broader, supporting small businesses all the way through enterprises. Its features and flexibility are superior, too.

How Do You Get Started With ADP Run?

ADP Run’s onboarding process is accommodating for both novice and experienced payroll managers. If you feel confident in your ability to set up the site for your company, you can use the step-by-step walkthrough it provides and then launch right into a payroll run. Less savvy users might want to let ADP payroll experts set everything up at no extra charge. 

Businesses that have a payroll history with another application should be able to import that data or at least enter it from pay stubs and reports. Managers can invite employees to do some of their own onboarding without veering into employer-only information, as competitors like Workful allow. Either way, ADP Run has a comprehensive and well-guided setup process.

(Credit: ADP/PCMag)

The process of getting underway with ADP is made more pleasant by its simple, clean, and professional UI and its clear and understandable navigation tools. Its skillful use of screen space makes it easy to find your way around and do your work without feeling claustrophobic or scrolling excessively. Pages load and refresh quickly. Good use of color, graphics, and fonts contribute to a look that’s attractive and easy to read, though not as colorful and aesthetically pleasing as Gusto.

Working With Employee Records

ADP Run allows you to pay both employees and contractors, as Square Payroll does. Employee record templates are more thorough than what you get in most other payroll services for small businesses. They provide individual pages for standard information, including employment and tax, time tracking, pay stubs, and earnings and deductions. 

The details go deep here. The Employment Info page, for example, contains fields for options like union status, pension participation, and key employee designation. The Federal Tax Info page has not only complete current W-4 information but also data from the previous one. And you can block employees from editing their W-4 fields. There’s more, though it primarily falls under the HR umbrella (more on that later). 

Employees can log in to a portal through a browser or mobile app to access time off requests, a punch clock, their benefits plan information, and more.

(Credit: ADP/PCMag)

How Do You Run Payroll With ADP Run?

Once you launch payroll, you can import ADP time cards if you subscribe to the company’s Time & Attendance add-on (costs vary by business size). You can import an Excel hours spreadsheet or hours from integrated time tracking software like QuickBooks Time (which is included with Intuit QuickBooks Payroll). Otherwise, you enter hours manually. 

ADP Run gives you control over the columns that appear, like other payroll processing services do, including pay types like bonus and floating hours, letting you hide any you don’t need. You can even assign hours to locations, departments, and jobs.

Great pop-up menus for each worker give you access to data like employee information and earnings and deductions, so you can view and edit background data and even add employees before you get to the payroll preview. One complaint is that manual entry can be a little awkward. I found I had to scroll vertically to see all the fields, but the scroll bar is at the bottom, so I had to scroll up and down a lot.

(Credit: ADP/PCMag)

The payroll preview shows totals for items like gross pay, net pay, taxes, and other deductions, and you can see the details for each employee via a report or a pop-up page. 

ADP Run’s post-payroll summary is excellent. It shows the total cash required and the check date. It also gives you links to related actions, including viewing payroll details, reviewing reports, and printing checks. You can set up a group of reports to run automatically. Every small business payroll service has a unique way of running payroll. ADP Run’s is especially comprehensive and flexible.

Plentiful, Customizable Reports

ADP Run offers more—and more customizable—reports than any other payroll service in the same price range. Single reports range from standard, broad reports like Time Off and Payroll Summary, down to more targeted, simple reports like Missed Punches and Employee Skills. You can download them in PDF and Excel format. You can also run reports in predefined, related “packages” and create your own. 

A powerful custom report option lets you build reports in a variety of categories, like Employee and Contractor, Payroll, and Human Resources, dragging and dropping columns to create and save your own format.

(Credit: ADP/PCMag)

ADP Run on the Go

ADP Run’s mobile app (available for Android and iOS) is outstanding. It doesn’t replicate absolutely everything that’s on the browser-based site, but it comes close. You can, for example, onboard a worker, run a payroll, view comprehensive employee records, access some HR tools, and create some reports—you need to enlarge them and hold the phone sideways, but they’re there. Some forms and reports download into related applications like Microsoft 365 and Google Drive. The looks and works great, and it’s the best I’ve seen among payroll services for small businesses.

(Credit: ADP/PCMag)

ADP Run’s attention to detail in personnel records is unmatched by the other payroll applications I’ve reviewed. For example, it tracks some unusual information in employee records that competitors don’t, like skills, training, and assigned company property. If your business is large enough to have an HR specialist on staff, you should consider one of ADP’s more advanced services, such as one of its Workforce Now packages, rather than ADP Run. These subscriptions bundle in more tools for HR specialists, like those for hiring, training, managing new hire paperwork, compliance alerts, and more.

ADP is a benefits broker, so you can work through the company to manage benefits like medical insurance and retirement plans. You can also do it on your own in ADP Run, setting up your withholding and company costs and paying benefits providers yourself.

Generous Help and Support

Beyond the support offered with onboarding, an abundance of help is available throughout the site. A Guide Me feature walks you through the steps for a number of tasks, including running a payroll. There are also reference guides, FAQs, a voluminous searchable database, and built-in context-sensitive guidance throughout the site.

Chat support is available weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and live payroll support by phone is available 24/7/365. I got a quick response from the chat support, and the agents were knowledgeable and friendly. I can’t imagine anything more ADP could do to help its clients.

(Credit: ADP/PCMag)

Is ADP Run Safe to Use?

ADP products and services are designed and maintained with controls and procedures to prevent incidents. It has a dedicated fraud prevention program, ever-evolving anti-fraud practices, and cutting-edge technology. The company embeds multiple layers of protection into its products, processes, and infrastructure, to be sure that security remains at the forefront. ADP’s proactive culture and operations include research and testing on evolving threats and continual training in new guidelines and practices.

Is ADP Run Right for Your Business?

ADP Run’s attention to detail, depth, flexibility, and overall payroll and HR competence are unparalleled among online payroll services for SMBs. It’s ideal for many small businesses, though especially those poised for growth, since ADP makes it easy to upgrade beyond the SMB level. But not every business needs as much as ADP Run has to offer. Our two other Editors’ Choice winners, Gusto and OnPay, are exceptionally capable, customizable, and friendly—and perhaps better suited to less complex businesses. All three deserve your consideration, though Gusto is notably good for novices, and OnPay is ideal for businesses in vertical industries.