Quickbooks vs ADP: An Overview
Quickbooks and ADP both are undoubtedly some of the best payroll software in the market right now. If you want to choose one, you need to find out which one would serve your purpose the best. Even though they are both payroll software, they have their differences and unique selling points, and it's important that you know about them.
If you are having a hard time deciding between them, hopefully, this article will be able to clear your confusion and help you come up with a decision that you won’t regret in the future. I have reviewed more than 70 payroll software and here are my findings about these two:
|
Quickbooks Features overview |
ADP Features overview |
|
| Payroll processing | Yes | Yes |
| Direct bank disbursement | Yes | Yes |
| Tax calculations and filing | Yes | Yes |
| Payroll compliance | Y/N | Y/N |
| Mobile apps available | Android, iOS, Windows | Android, iOS, Windows |
| Employee self-service | Yes | Yes |
| Accounting integrations | No | No |
Quickbooks vs ADP: Features
As Quickbooks and ADP both are payroll software, they provide fairly similar features. But that’s not where we are going to solely focus. We will take a look at the similarities and the dissimilarities and uniqueness of these features for a fair comparison.
Quickbooks comes with features such as benefits management, check printing, direct deposit, multi-state support, payroll reporting, self-service, tax compliance, vacation or leave tracking, W-2 preparation, wage garnishment, etc. ADP, more or less, comes with the same features with the addition of 401(k) tracking. which is a decent touch. Moreover, ADP offers miscellaneous employee benefits such as retirement and learning where Quickbooks provide none.
In short, Quickbooks and ADP both provide tons of features, but ADP gets an edge here because of some additional features that it provides on top.
Winner for Best Features: ADP
Quickbooks vs ADP: Plans and Pricing
Quickbooks and ADP provide a comprehensive list of plans where you will be able to pick a suitable plan according to your need. Let's get to know about them in-depth:
Quickbooks offer three plans in total. Quickbooks also offers you the opportunity to use it free for 30 days so that you can experience it in real-time.
The three plans of Quickbooks are core, premium, and elite. The core is like a basic package that provides all the primary features of payroll software, which are great for small enterprises. It includes features such as full-service payroll, auto payroll, automated tax filing, payrolls, etc. This package will cost you $45/month with the addition of $4 per employee. Next is the premium package which costs $75$ per month with the addition of $8 per employee. It comes with much more features such as HR management, workers compensation administration, etc. The elite package is the most feature-rich package that Quickbooks is offering at $125 per month with $10 per employee. It is great for big enterprises and has features such as personal HR advisor, tax penalty protection, etc.
When it comes to the pricing of the software, ADP falls far behind because they don’t provide any sort of prior pricing info. The only way to know the probable expenses is to contact them directly and get a quotation.
ADP has four monthly plans, namely – Essential, Enhanced, Complete, and HR Pro. The essential is the beginner package with the basic features. Featurewise, it is quite similar to the core package offered by Quickbooks. The subsequent plans will provide more features and charge you more as well. HR pro is supposedly their best package in terms of features – it is suitable for those who have a big enterprise and want HR management.
Considering the detailed pricing plans and the free 30-day trial options, Quickbooks is the obvious winner.
Winner for best Plans Pricing: Quickbooks
Quickbooks vs ADP: Ease and Use of Setup
Quickbooks really focused on this part and made it as easy as possible for users to set up and get started with. Initially, there will be a setup wizard, which will give you a step-by-step guideline to kick things off. It will ask for different information regarding your business organization and your employees. After you have put everything in, you are ready to go. You will find a dashboard where you will be able to control things manually. The user interface is brilliantly designed so that you can navigate things without any problem.
ADP is also fairly similar in this regard. The setup process is not complicated at all. You just need to provide some necessary information as Quickbooks. The user interface is also decent and easy to use, but it's not as well organized as Quickbooks, which gives Quickbooks a win over ADP in this segment.
Winner For Ease of Use: Quickbooks
Quickbooks vs ADP: Security
You are required to provide payroll software with a lot of sensitive information and, without proper security measures, your personal information would be vulnerable to threats.
Quickbooks and ADP both have paid utmost attention here as they are in compliance with the best security standards. This ensures that all information is safe and secure. Their software comes with advanced encryption technologies and regular security updates as well.
Winner – best for security: Draw
Quickbooks vs ADP: Customer Support
Quickbooks has a dedicated customer support team and it is available through email and live chat. This is available from 6 am to 6 pm, 6 days a week. In this regard, Quickbooks provides additional priorities to premium and elite plan customers such as 24/7 support.
Unlike Quickbooks, ADP provides excellent 24/7 customer support, which is not exclusive to people with premium plans only.
Winner – Best customer support: ADP
The Bottom Line on Quickbooks vs ADP
Considering the comparison held in the five segments, it is a draw. In certain aspects, Quickbooks looks better, and in other instances, ADP has an edge over ADP. However, the difference between them is not radical. It is rather subtle, making both of them excellent choices as payroll software. In light of the differences pointed out above, it will be easier for you to pick a suitable payroll software that would perfectly suit your needs.
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