RUN Powered by ADP Review

ADP® is one of the biggest names in human capital management (HCM) and HR, providing advanced technology and outsourcing solutions for major corporations worldwide. But ADP also provides small business payroll software, called RUN Powered by ADP®. Nearly 800,000 small business clients use ADP's payroll solutions. If you want a powerful suite of payroll processing solutions in a "small business" package, RUN Powered by ADP could be the right choice for your business.

RUN Powered by ADP® is designed for small businesses with 1-49 employees. This is serious payroll software with powerful features for HR and employee benefits -- and it could be the best choice for a wide range of small businesses and industries.

RUN Powered by ADP® offers four payroll software plans that could be a good choice for your small business. Some plans offer more advanced payroll processing features, while others include higher levels of sophisticated HR support.

All of the features listed below are included in all four tiers of RUN Powered by ADP® -- including the simplest plan, Essential Payroll. Here are a few of the best features of RUN Powered by ADP®:

Run payroll anytime, anywhere

This payroll software lets you run payroll online (via desktop or laptop computer), from a mobile app, or via phone. Whether you're at the office, in your store or restaurant, or on the go, RUN Powered by ADP® makes it convenient to run payroll.

Auto payroll for recurring amounts

Not every small business payroll software solution offers automatic payroll, but ADP does. RUN Powered by ADP® lets you put recurring payroll on auto-pilot, so you don't have to re-enter the same details every time. This can be a useful way to save time and avoid data entry errors.

Flexible pay options

RUN Powered by ADP ® gives you options to pay people with direct deposit, via check or with the Wisely® Direct debit card. Wisely® by ADP is a prepaid account that workers can use for earned wage access (to get paid when they want, not just on payday) or to receive direct deposits from other sources, like other employers or government benefits programs.

Automatic tax filings (and protection)

The best payroll software should make payroll taxes automatic, and RUN Powered by ADP® accomplishes this. ADP's software automatically calculates, deducts, pays, and reconciles your people's taxes for every paycheck. ADP will also create W-2 and 1099 forms for your workers, and (for an additional fee) will file these tax forms for you. Based on the website, it's not clear if some of these tax form filings might require an additional fee:

No one wants to experience tax errors or misunderstandings with tax authorities. But if it happens to your business, it's good to have someone in your corner who can resolve any tax questions quickly. In case of inquiries or issues with tax authorities, ADP will respond to the inquiries that are relevant to its work on your company's deposits and returns. And in case of a tax filing error by ADP, the company will pay for the fines or penalties.

Employee self-service

RUN Powered by ADP® makes it easy for your workers to enter their own information during onboarding of new hires, and get access to their payroll details anytime. ADP® Employee Access lets people sign up for paperless pay statements, see their pay history, view W-2 and 1099 forms for up to three years, and manage ADP retirement accounts.

Integrates with accounting software

RUN Powered by ADP® integrates with several of the big-name accounting software brands, via General Ledger Interface. This feature lets you export your ADP journal entries into your accounting software (Creative Solutions, QuickBooks® Wave, Xero) or a generic output file. Save time on rekeying data and get a clearer view of your small business accounting and bookkeeping. These and other integrations are available in the ADP Marketplace.

Compared to other companies we've reviewed, ADP is rather tight-lipped about its payroll software product. During my research, it was hard to access certain information about exactly how the ADP product works.

For example, when I tried to sign up for a self-guided demo to see the functionality of RUN Powered by ADP® behind the scenes, the company said that this information had to be kept confidential, with no screenshots. Because of these restrictions, I do not have as detailed of an impression of this product as I have for some of the other best small business payroll software.

As a company, ADP has a great reputation and is an industry leader in HR software; ADP works with some of the biggest employers on Earth, and hundreds of thousands of small businesses. I have no reason to doubt that this ADP small business payroll product is well-designed and easy to use. But I don't have a lot of evidence and examples that can be shared publicly.