2018 Review of RUN Powered by ADP

RUN Powered by ADP (RUN) and RUN Powered by ADP® Payroll for Partners (RUN for Partners) are payroll solutions offered by ADP. RUN is designed for small businesses with 1-49 employees, with RUN for Partners designed exclusively for accounting professionals that offer payroll services to clients.

RUN is completely cloud-based and enables users to access the application from any device, including smart phones and tablets. RUN is also scalable, offering four versions of its small business application; Essential Payroll, Enhanced Payroll, and Complete Payroll and HR and Complete Payroll and HR Plus. All four versions of RUN offer complete payroll processing, 1099/W-2 processing, tax compliance, including electronic filing, and basic HR tools. ADP offers several payroll delivery methods, including direct deposit, prepaid VISA cards, ADP Checks, and Paperless delivery, with the option of having ADP print checks, insert them in envelopes and deliver them to a business location. Accountants can use ADP’s free cloud-based platform, Accountant Connect to access their authorized RUN client payroll data.

RUN offers a recently enhanced, intuitive user interface that offers access to all payroll-related functions including the Run for Partners option, as well as time management and an option to enter manual checks. Accounting firms can use the RUN for Partners Firm View option to view all active clients and their current status, including next payroll run date. Payroll, tax, and employee reports can also be accessed directly from the dashboard. RUN also handles After-the-Fact payroll processing.

RUN contains tax tables for all 50 states, with federal, state, and local tax filing handled automatically by ADP, including compliance reporting, electronic filing, where available, and tax remittance. The product offers excellent reporting options, with a variety of payroll, tax, benefits, and miscellaneous reports available. There is also an option to create custom reports if desired. Payroll reports available in RUN include a payroll summary, earnings record, earnings by department, a deduction summary, retirement contributions, and a timecard comparison. Users can also export all standard and custom reports to Excel if desired.  

RUN offers easy integration with a variety of third-party time and attendance products and also offers a time and attendance system that includes easy online clock-in and clock-out capability, scheduling, sick time and vacation tracking, and a variety of time and attendance reports. ADP also offers a variety of add-on modules, including a comprehensive hiring and HR management module, as well as access to insurance products and plans and retirement services, offered through certain ADP affiliates and licensed representatives.

RUN also offers easy exporting of data from RUN to popular third-party applications, such as QuickBooks, QuickBooks Online, Creative Solutions, Sage, Wave and XERO. For those using other applications, RUN allows users to create a generic output file that can be exported to a variety of applications.

RUN offers system access to employees, and firms can offer this access to their clients, who in turn can offer it to their employees. The online portal allows employees to clock in and out, view and print current and historical paystubs, as well as access year-end documents, such as Forms W-2. Employees will also have access to other information from the portal, such as available sick and vacation time, and ADP retirement plan and employer provided health plan** information.

All versions of RUN offer HR tools, with the Complete Payroll & HR version offering extensive HR tools and resources, including an employee handbook wizard, access to the HR helpdesk, and HR training and toolkits. Complete Payroll & HR also offers clients single sign on access to post jobs on ZipRecruiter at no additional charge.

RUN offers access to help and support from any interface screen, or users can simply click on the question mark that is found in all areas of the product. Toll-free customer support is available 24/7, and users can access support via email, as well. Accounting professionals using RUN for Partners will also be assigned a dedicated associate who can assist during the new product setup phase. There is also a separate help desk option available to accounting firms.

RUN and RUN for Partners are both designed to handle payroll for small businesses with up to 49 employees. The product offers four versions, with business owners and accounting professionals able to obtain a personalized quote directly from ADP.

2018 Overall Rating – 5 Stars