Automatic Data Processing Inc., a provider of human resources, payroll and benefits administration services, has launched its first application, Run powered by ADP mobile payroll.

First introduced in 2008, ADP has continually enhanced Run with direct client feedback, and thus the company realized that it had to take its payroll platform into the mobile space. The Run application for Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch and iPad lets business owners take the functionality of Run and manage payroll remotely wherever they go.

“Over the last two or three years, we’ve been rolling out Run, our Web-based payroll product, and our clients love it, but they don’t want to be tethered to their PC—they want to do things more mobilely,” said Richard Wilson, Florham Park, NJ-based senior vice president of product development and small business services at ADP.

“It really resonated that we needed to extend the use of our Run payroll solution to mobile devices,” he said. “Now we service the entire country with Run, our flagship payroll product for the small-business space, companies with 50 employees or less—we have nearly 400,000 of those clients.

“An office manager can run the payroll on the Mac or PC and can then call the owner, who can bring it up on the iPhone app, review it and approve it—a lot of clients doing that, and it’s a very powerful thing.”

ADP, with nearly $9 billion in revenues and about 550,000 clients, is a provider of business outsourcing products and services.

ADP expands payroll services to mobileWithin the next two years, businesses will be spending 35 percent of their IT budgets on mobile, per ADP.

The fact is, the definition of the office is changing. With smarter devices and faster networks, ADP’s goal is to bring its products and services to clients wherever they choose to work.

A recent ADP Research Institute survey of small business owners nationwide indicates that small businesses are leading the way in this trend toward increased mobility.

In fact, nearly all small business executives surveyed—90 percent—indicated that they spend at least some time outside of the office for business, averaging nine hours a week or 23 percent of a 40-hour work week.

Of that 90 percent, nearly 30 percent indicated that their time spent on-the-go is increasing.

With Run powered by ADP mobile payroll’s secure system, clients can:

• Enter and review payroll information for employees and contractors

• Pay via checks or direct deposits

• Calculate earnings and deductions, as well as federal, state and local taxes

• Review hours and earnings to confirm accuracy before payroll is processed

• Preview payroll liability and cash required, and confirm funds to be withdrawn

• Review reports from the current and previous periods in real time

In today’s environment, small business owners need to move quickly to manage their cash commitments and balance their obligations to employees and vendors.

With more than 1,000 small business-oriented mobile applications available for the iPhone alone, ADP clients can already monitor inventory, ship orders, and handle accounting on their mobile devices.

Now they can manage payroll remotely with ADP’s secure systems.

ADP is running a national integrated marketing campaign featuring digital advertising to get the word out about the Run application.

The Run powered by ADP mobile payroll application is available for free from the App Store for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

ADP is also currently developing a version of the application for Android devices.

“Small businesses are fueling the recovery that we’re having, and as we talked to clients, they told us, ‘In this challenging economy, I can’t be home or at the office to do payroll—I have to be able to be out and about and run payroll while on the go,’” Mr. Wilson said.

“All of our sales associates have been trained to demonstrate the Run app for new prospects, and we’re contacting our clients now to get the word out about it,” he said. “Our sales force is using this as another way to showcase the fact that we have a more complete offering for our clients.”

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