ADP Workforce Now
Comprehensive HR and payroll platform for mid-sized businesses with integrated payroll, benefits, talent management, and compliance tools.
Website: www.rippling.com
Rippling at a glance
- Best for
- Growth-stage companies unifying HR, payroll, and IT
- Pricing model
- Per employee per month, by module
- Deployment
- Cloud, with device management agents
- Regions
- US, plus global payroll and EOR coverage
- Key integrations
- QuickBooks Online, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct
Last reviewed . Pricing and features change frequently — confirm current details with the vendor.
Rippling is a workforce platform combining HR, payroll, benefits, and IT management in one system, built around a single employee record that drives every downstream action.
How accounting firms use it
Firms typically encounter it at clients that adopted it as a company-wide system rather than recommending it themselves. The payroll module handles federal, state, and local tax calculation and filing, and general ledger integration posts journals with department, class, or location dimensions attached — which is the feature firms tend to appreciate most, since payroll cost arrives pre-split rather than requiring allocation.
For clients hiring internationally, global payroll and employer-of-record services keep foreign employees inside the same system. That simplifies reporting considerably compared with a separate provider per country, though it introduces cost the firm should make sure the client understands.
Key features
The defining capability is workflow unification across domains that are normally separate systems. A new hire triggers payroll setup, benefits enrolment, device provisioning, and software access from one action; offboarding reverses all of it, including revoking app access and recovering hardware — a control point most small companies handle badly.
Payroll covers multi-state US employment, contractors, and international staff. Benefits administration, time tracking, expense management, and corporate cards are available as modules. IT management includes device enrolment, security policy enforcement, and app provisioning.
Who it’s best for
Tech-forward startups and growth-stage companies, particularly those with distributed or international staff and no dedicated IT function. The unified model pays off where employee turnover is high enough that onboarding and offboarding friction is a real cost.
Traditional small businesses rarely need the IT layer and generally do better on Gusto, OnPay, or Patriot Payroll. Clients wanting co-employment benefits access look at Justworks or TriNet instead, and Deel is the closer comparison for international-first hiring.
Rippling FAQ
- What makes Rippling different from Gusto?
- Gusto covers payroll, benefits, and light HR. Rippling adds IT management — laptop provisioning, app access, and device security — driven from the same employee record. Hiring someone triggers payroll setup, benefits enrolment, hardware shipping, and software access in one workflow, and offboarding revokes it all. Clients without that IT requirement are paying for scope they will not use.
- Does it handle international employees?
- Yes. Global payroll covers employees in a number of countries, and an employer of record service allows hiring where the client has no legal entity. This is a common reason growth-stage companies choose it over a US-only platform, though the cost per international employee is materially higher than domestic payroll.
- How does the general ledger integration work?
- Payroll journals sync to QuickBooks Online, Xero, NetSuite, and Sage Intacct, with mapping configurable by department, class, or location. The dimension-level mapping is unusually flexible, which suits clients that need payroll cost split across cost centres without manual journal work.
- Is there an accountant partner program?
- Yes. Firms can access client accounts through a partner console with role-based permissions, and referral arrangements are available. The console is less mature than Gusto's or ADP's for firms managing large numbers of small clients, so it fits firms with fewer, larger clients better.
Rippling Alternatives
Other payroll tools for accounting firms, ordered by how much of Rippling's functionality they cover.
BambooHR
HR and payroll software helping growing companies manage workforce processes, automated HR, payroll, and employee self-service.
ClockOn
ClockOn is an Australian workforce management platform combining rostering, time and attendance, award interpretation, and STP payroll in one system.
Deel
Global payroll and compliance platform for hiring and paying employees and contractors in 150+ countries with local tax compliance.
Gusto
Cloud-based payroll, benefits, and HR platform that simplifies payroll and HR management for small to medium-sized businesses.