How To Run ADP Payroll In 7 Steps

There is a reason why ADP is one of the longest-standing and most widely-used payroll services in the country. To put it bluntly, ADP knows what it’s doing. While ADP was handling payroll needs long before anyone had ever heard of the cloud, it has also shown a remarkable ability to stay at the forefront of current technology trends in the industry, if not out in front. Even as more payroll companies pop up seemingly every day, providing plenty of competition, ADP continues to stand the test of time, and, especially for mid-sized to larger businesses, it remains one of the top software options in the country.

One of the main reasons ADP has been able to stay so popular is its highly intuitive interface. Even with loads of features, ADP is one of the easier-to-use systems around. However, if you’re just starting out with the program, it might seem a bit intimidating, but by following these quick and easy steps, you’ll learn how to process payroll in ADP in no time.

How To Run ADP Payroll

Running ADP payroll is a quick and easy process that can be accomplished in just a handful of steps. Simply start a new cycle, add or make changes to employee information, verify employee hours, and send it out for processing.

Step 1: Create Your ADP Run Account

To run ADP payroll, the first thing you’ll need to do is set up an account. I would suggest doing this over the phone and speaking with a representative as ADP does not list its pricing information online, and you’ll want to get an accurate quote. A representative will also be able to figure out your business’s specific needs and help tailor features and integrations for you.

Once you’ve signed up, you can either fill in your employees’ information for ADP via a spreadsheet or send it to your rep. After you’ve provided ADP with your banking information, the system goes to work, and you’ll be ready to process your first payroll.

Step 2: Start A New Payroll Cycle

To run payroll, you’ll need to be logged into your ADP account. From there, you can start a new cycle by clicking on “Process” and navigating to “Payroll Cycle.” This will clear out your old information and get you started fresh.

First, you’ll want to verify that your pay date and processing end dates are correct. You will also want to confirm that you are on the correct company code if you differentiate between salaried and hourly employees, for instance. From here, you can also make sure that your scheduled deductions are correct. Once this information is verified as accurate, you can hit Continue.

Step 3: Enter/Verify Employee Information

At this point, you have the opportunity to enter any new employees who may have come aboard since the previous pay period. Once you provide basic information, ADP will send an email to onboard them and assign them an employee number. ADP also sends new-hire information to the state automatically.

Even if you don’t have any new employees, you will want to verify your current employees’ pay status and make any changes to benefits, pay rates, or personal information.

Step 4: Add Contractor/Hourly Information

For non-salaried employees, you’ll need to enter their hours manually. You can click on “Add Contractors” from the menu if you have any new contractors for the time period and then insert all of the relevant information. You can also manually enter your hourly employees’ hours, including any overtime or sick and vacation hours that were taken. From here, you can also enter any one-time deductions, such as charitable gifts through the company.

Step 5: Resolve Time Card Issues

ADP has a built-in feature that will automatically detect any potential errors with employee time cards. ADP has its own time tracking software, or you can integrate another program if you wish. Once you’ve verified that there are no issues, you can click through to the next step.

Step 6: Preview Payroll

Once you’re confident that all of your information has been entered accurately, you can hit “Preview Payroll.” This will give you an overview of what the pay period will look like. ADP automatically takes care of taxes and deductions, taking yet another step out of your hands. If you find an error or something that looks suspicious, it’s easy to go back and double-check or edit entries as necessary. Once you’re confident that everything lines up for the upcoming pay period, simply hit “Approve.”

Step 7: Review

You’re done! ADP now takes over handling the hard stuff, such as tax information and bank deposits. You can still view all of the relevant information. If you have ADP synced up with accounting, you can download your payroll and run reports to get into analytics.

Final Tips On How To Use ADP Payroll

Hopefully, this brief overview has given you some confidence that ADP is, in fact, a simple process that can alleviate many of the typical pain points that can come with running payroll. As you get more comfortable with the software and with running payroll in general, here are a few additional suggestions for how to use ADP payroll:

• Don’t Procrastinate: It may seem obvious, but the sooner you can get a jump on running payroll, the better. Giving yourself ample time to account for new employees or any one-time additions can dramatically decrease the chances for errors, even with software such as ADP doing much of the legwork for you.
• Automate As Much As Possible: Payroll software wants to make things easy for you, and you can help things out by taking as much manual labor out of the process as possible. Getting your employees on a direct deposit schedule and eliminating things such as paper checks can save you time and, in most cases, help get your employees paid faster.
• Stay Up To Date On Law & Tax Changes: While automatically handling state and federal taxes is one of the bigger perks of using accounting software, you still need to make sure you’re acutely aware of any new payroll taxes or benefit changes that may be upcoming. After all, the software isn’t perfect, and it will be up to you to make sure that they are implemented correctly.

FAQs About Using ADP Payroll