Payroll Relief vs. APS

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Payroll Relief
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Payroll Relief is payroll processing software for accountants, from AccountantsWorld headquartered in Hauppauge. Payroll Relief automates actions like direct deposit, tax payment, tax filing, and electronic child support, boasting 100% calculation accuracy, and also supports batch processing of payroll and check printing, to minimize data entry.
$1,495
per month
APS
Score 1.4 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
APS is a national workforce management and cloud-based HR solution provider. The platform includes core HR, payroll, time and attendance (including manager and employee self-service), compliance tools, and onboarding.N/A
Pricing
Payroll ReliefAPS
Editions & Modules
Pay per Payroll
$356.95
per year
First Year Cost
$1495
per year
Pay per Paycheck (after first year)
$2000
per year
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Payroll ReliefAPS
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsThe Payroll solution is offered as a standalone service, but additional solutions must be used in conjunction with the Payroll solution.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Payroll ReliefAPS
Features
Payroll ReliefAPS
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Payroll Relief
8.7
1 Ratings
6% above category average
APS
9.1
33 Ratings
10% above category average
Pay calculation7.31 Ratings10.032 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment9.11 Ratings10.04 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.11 Ratings10.032 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management9.11 Ratings8.024 Ratings
Reimbursement management9.11 Ratings8.913 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings8.013 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings8.822 Ratings
User Ratings
Payroll ReliefAPS
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(1 ratings)
1.0
(36 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.7
(6 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(4 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
6.8
(5 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.7
(4 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Payroll ReliefAPS
Likelihood to Recommend
AccountantsWorld
Payroll Relief can be customized to work for just about any business. Electronic tax payment and e-filing services are not available in all states so the system may be less appropriate in jurisdictions where there is a lack of automation on the back-end. This lack of automation can be overcome by a payroll processing provider that has good internal processes and an understanding of how to handle their clients' filings/payments directly with these unsupported states
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APS
APS Payroll is an easy to use payroll system, and integrates well with some things such as the APS Hire feature, which handles onboarding, and the eSelfServe timeclock feature. It exports well to Quickbooks, but is only ok with NetSuite. (It works but is a completely manual process and takes a lot of setup.) Our tax registration and filing has been fine and we're always apprised of any tax discrepancies such as small Unemployment overages/underages when filed compared to what was withheld.
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Pros
AccountantsWorld
  • Payroll entry and approval is simple
  • The system supports unlimited pay types so it is easy to customize the system for our clients
  • The system automates the filing of most tax forms and W-2s
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APS
  • It's fast and intuitive. Our previous contractors were ADP and Paychex and neither were intuitive. Our payroll runs have less errors now than with previous vendors. Payroll prep time is down from 5 hours with ADP to 2 hours with APS for the HR Manager.
  • The limiters are great. I'm always afraid of that error that no one caught. Let's assume that you add a $200 limiter to overtime. Any time that a staff member is about to receive more than $200 in overtime for that pay period, a red flag goes up for the HR manager to double check.
  • We have 3 programs in public schools that block certain ports. APS has a 2nd feature using GPS so that staff can only check in for their shift while they are in the designated GPS range. Great for someone who has to report to a remote location. Just add the GPS coordinates and they can't check until they get to the project.
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Cons
AccountantsWorld
  • The site navigation can be confusing.
  • The system lacks HR functionality. There is no automated employee onboarding option. PTO can be tracked but there is no way for employees to request time off from their employee portal.
  • Payroll processors do not get a dashboard showing a list of payrolls that are scheduled to be processed each day like some other systems do.
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APS
  • Reporting - We have six different business units and the reporting is separate for all three. Most reporting I do requires information from all business units so am running six reports and then copying and pasting to get the report I need.
  • Multi-state taxes - We have a number of employees who live in New York and work in New Jersey. APS OnLine is designed to accommodate one state withholding so ability to have "worked in" state and "lived in" state taxes withheld went away. This was a shortfall.
  • The Carrier connection setup took much longer than expected. After a year, we are still having some issues with some items transferring over to the GL.
  • The CA overtime calculation does not calculate after 8 hours per day, only on the 40 per week so we override each week.
  • Reporting - when running Benefit reports, it recognizes employees who formerly carried the plan but may have dropped it. To get around this, we have to delete off the employee's record so the history is not readily available.
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Likelihood to Renew
AccountantsWorld
No answers on this topic
APS
I have been using the system for over a year now and feel more comfortable with the functionality of it. I have just recently implemented the benefit administration portion.
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Usability
AccountantsWorld
No answers on this topic
APS
The APS Payroll software is very easy to use, and it is easy to train new employees on it. The APS Payroll support team is very helpful and response time is quick. It is easy to enter/change employee information, adjust salaries and benefits, etc. New features have also been added that makes it even better, such as being able to set up your own income/deduction items.
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Reliability and Availability
AccountantsWorld
No answers on this topic
APS
I haven't had any outages
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Performance
AccountantsWorld
No answers on this topic
APS
Very quick
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Support Rating
AccountantsWorld
No answers on this topic
APS
I had to learn APS on my own, and the support team held my hand. They are still there when I have an occasional question. Anytime I need support, I can call my rep or send an email and help is on the way, without failure. The support team is awesome
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In-Person Training
AccountantsWorld
No answers on this topic
APS
Even if it wasn't in-person on location, we felt like we had our trainer in the room with us.
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Online Training
AccountantsWorld
No answers on this topic
APS
We had great webinars.
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Implementation Rating
AccountantsWorld
No answers on this topic
APS
It would have been helpful to understand the phases of the implementation up front so I could have prepared differently for enrollments, billing, and transfer of information to payroll. At the end of the day, I'm happy with the selection and the system and anticipate I will like it better as we go along. We have done a number of other system implementations in the past few years, and this has been pretty painless, however, I've had a few surprises.
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Alternatives Considered
AccountantsWorld
Payroll relief is more customizable and easier to use than some other systems we have reviewed. The fee structure is better suited for our client base as well.
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APS
We had used ADP for years and had always struggled with their customer service. With over 20 locations (20+ W2s, quarterly filings, etc) we had a lot of questions. We would have to call and sit on hold for long periods of time to talk to someone who couldn't always answer our questions. Then we would get different answers from different people or have to re-explain our issue. It was a major time suck for my employees and they dreaded having to call all of the time. For us - the final straws for us to switch providers were: +Numerous year end filings with incorrect names and addresses (they couldn't keep our 20+ locations separate even though our paperwork was completed correctly) +Incorrect SUI rates for several locations that resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in overpayments which was a lot of money for small hotels. We had sent in numerous requests for them to fix this but it never happened +Lack of care - even though we were having all of these issues, nobody would work with us to get them all resolved and make sure to remedy the situation. We had to seek out a manager to get them resolved but even after this, we still had more issues. Overall - DON'T stick with ADP or even think about switching to them. They might be able to slash prices but their poor customer service and lack of care will cost you in the end. It's not worth it. APS does everything ADP had the capability of but we don't have the errors or headaches we did before. I am really looking forward to this year end!
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Scalability
AccountantsWorld
No answers on this topic
APS
I've never had a problem with the system nor in finding the right information.
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Return on Investment
AccountantsWorld
  • We can process a large number of payrolls with a relatively small staff.
  • Payroll relief is simple to sell and support.
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APS
  • We were able to transition quickly and continue to successfully hire and onboard new hires for several Clubs that opened within weeks of moving to APS.
  • We do struggle a bit with the ease of reporting simply because our locations are all under separate EIN and that can make it difficult to easily combine data queried under custom reports, so the volume of reporting that I might wish to be able to push through weekly in order to help address 'real time' trends is not always available.
  • The lack of effective dating for position and wage changes does mean that HR and available APS data is not 'real time' accurate and that HR does need to return to the system to update changes well after-the-fact, which is not ideal.
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ScreenShots

Payroll Relief Screenshots

Screenshot of AccountantsWorld offers Payroll Relief with extensive data entryScreenshot of Payroll Relief offers extensive review screens for payrollScreenshot of Payroll Relief offers a comprehensive set of tools to manage your payroll practice, including a dashboard that monitors data for each client.

APS Screenshots

Screenshot of workforce planningScreenshot of expense management