Efficient management of human resources (HR) tasks calls for a powerful platform that greatly reduces the possibility of errors and supports data-driven decision-making. However, choosing one software that comes with advanced functionality and perfectly aligns with your company's requirements can be tricky. It requires a strong assessment of its features, pricing, and integration capabilities. 

That said, Dayforce and Paylocity are two such platforms, widely known for their intuitiveness and user-friendly dashboards, that can help you manage administrative tasks like a breeze.   

Dayforce is a unified platform that helps users access all sorts of workforce information in one place. Paylocity, on the other hand, helps large businesses and multinational companies streamline administrative tasks and stay legally compliant.   

The following Dayforce vs Paylocity comparison discusses their core features, unique functionalities, pros and cons to help you select the better option for your business. 

Dayforce Vs Paylocity: An Overview

Feature 

Dayforce 

Paylocity 

Human Resources Management 

  • Provides content curation tools 
  • Supports single employee record system 
  • Automates manual tasks 
  • Configurable payroll reports 

Payroll Processing 

  • Supports global payroll in 200+ countries 
  • Continuous payroll processing 
  • Global payroll across 100+ countries 
  • Employee self-service portal 

Talent Management 

  • AI-powered talent acquisition functionality 
  • Recruitment and onboarding tools are unified in a single platform 
  • Automated recruitment 
  • 360-degree feedback to employees 

Learning And Development 

  • Custom learning content for employees 
  • Automated certifications 
  • Curated learning pathways for the workforce 
  • Provides access to 95,000+ courses 

Analytics And Reporting 

  • Configurable dashboards 
  • Real-time data insights 
  • Customized dashboards  
  • Real-time data insights 

Pricing 

  • Starts at $22/employee/month 
  • Custom pricing  

What Is Dayforce?

Based on cloud technology, Dayforce HCM offers a comprehensive suite of features catering to businesses of varying sizes across several industries. Whether it's talent acquisition or streamlining global payroll, the software provides a seamless experience. Employers can gain valuable insights into workforce data, stay informed about changing tax laws, and maintain compliance. It also uses the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to make analytical hiring decisions, leaving no room for error.  

Unique Features Of Dayforce  

  • Dayforce Wallet: Through Dayforce Wallet, the software offers employees access to their earned wages. The workforce can request on-demand payment whenever they are struggling with finances, and administrators can easily streamline their pay cycle at any time of the month 
  • Continuous Payroll Calculation: Businesses can continuously run payroll and streamline financial data management in real-time. This functionality also helps financial managers reduce manual labor and work efficiently  
  • Talent Intelligence: The platform helps hiring managers make AI-powered hiring decisions, identify room for improvement in the workforce, and upskill them. Recruiters can also automate job requisitions  

Pros And Cons Of Dayforce  

Pros:  

  • Its efficient payroll functionality makes payroll processing easier for the HR staff 
  • The software's real-time data insights make data analysis easier and facilitate informed decision-making 
  • Dayforce is highly customizable, and companies can configure it based on their working criteria  

Cons:  

  • Employees cannot run paycheck scenarios and learn about changing tax laws 
  • The lack of a dark mode option can be inconvenient for users with light sensitivity  

What Is Paylocity?

Paylocity HR & Payroll is a full-service HR platform that centralizes the essential workforce and administrative data into a single system. Users can leverage its diverse array of powerful tools and streamline tasks, maximize productivity, reduce potential human errors, and work towards organizational objectives. The software's usage of AI to predict labor cost trends and recruitment recommendations makes it an ideal choice for large enterprises worldwide.  

Unique Features Of Paylocity  

  • Modern Workforce Index: Paylocity uses AI-powered data points and taps into employee sentiment, satisfaction, and performance. This approach helps employers determine their employee engagement levels and identify areas for improvement 
  • Time And Attendance: Users can get real-time visibility into employee's working hours, attendance, and working hours. Companies can also approve and edit timecards to streamline the data accuracy for precise payroll calculation  
  • Scheduling: The platform helps administrators manage and simplify employee shift scheduling and labor costs with its powerful scheduling tool. Managers can make schedules based on employee’s local time, location, availability and reduce no-shows while maximizing productivity   

Pros And Cons Of Paylocity 

Pros:  

  • The system makes it easier to manage multi-county companies and stay compliant 
  • By housing all the essential data in a unified platform, the platform offers seamless data access  
  • Employee information can be easily managed, and their profiles can be timely updated  

Cons:  

  • The mobile app does not register the clock in if the internet is not good 
  • Users cannot co-browse share screens while working, and that can be a bit inconvenient 

Dayforce Vs Paylocity – Key Features Comparison

Human Resources Management  

Human Resources Management

Dayforce helps businesses simplify and streamline HR tasks, enabling them to save time and focus on more important business strategies. Administrators can leverage the software's single-employee record system.

In addition, employers can allow employees to access their profiles and manage their information. Dayforce also allows administrators to curate content that aligns with different audiences' needs and builds a stronger brand image for the company.

With Paylocity, companies can automate manual tasks and save time for more important tasks. It offers an extensive employee self-service portal, enabling employees to access their administrative and payroll data. It also allows the workforce to edit and update their personal data and collaborate with their team members.

Moreover, the platform's easy-to-use dashboard helps organizations stay compliant with industry standards and avoid legal trouble.

Winner: Paylocity wins this round for providing collaborative tools, compliance support, and a user-friendly dashboard, giving it a more well-rounded edge.

Payroll Processing

Dayforce helps businesses stay compliant with ever-changing payroll tax laws and regulations by providing expert assistance that monitors tax rules. It also offers an on-demand pay service that empowers employees to get paid when they need it the most.

The software continually processes payroll, making pay management flexible and accurate. Moreover, Dayforce offers global payroll services, allowing businesses to pay remote employees in over 200 countries.

Paylocity simplifies and automates payroll tasks, ensuring precision and accuracy. Administrators can configure reports and check types to avoid potential errors and increase work efficiency. The platform syncs payroll information with 401(k) and retirement plans, which reduces user's manual work and streamlines complex pay tasks.

Paylocity audits employees based on their geolocation and helps them stay compliant. Additionally, companies can also pay remote employees across more than 100 countries.

Winner: Dayforce stands victorious in this round for offering compliance in over 200 countries and continuous payroll calculation functionality.

Talent Management

By providing efficient talent retaining functionality, Dayforce allows users to hire, upskill, and retain the top talent that contributes to the company's growth. By using the power of AI, it offers smart hiring recommendations and helps recruiters hire the best match.

Moreover, by merging recruitment and onboarding within a single platform, Dayforce enables employers to make data-driven decisions while saving time and increasing productivity.

With Paylocity, companies can automate recruitment and select the best match for their available job posts, all the while enhancing the candidate experience. Recruiters can also empower candidates to schedule video interviews based on their convenience and availability.

Employers can monitor employees' performance and their potential to move forward in their careers by carrying out regular assessments. Managers can also give 360-degree feedback to the workforce, acknowledge their hard work, and boost their motivation to perform better.

Winner: Paylocity is the undisputed winner of this round for providing ongoing employee development and efficient talent management solutions, from hiring to career growth.

Learning And Development

Users can upskill their employees and help them professionally grow with Dayforce. The software provides customized learning for employees that aligns with their career goals and helps them increase their skill set. In addition, managers can track the workforce's learning and performance and award them with automated certifications to boost their confidence and acknowledge their dedication.

Furthermore, employees can also opt for several learning methods the platform supports, including eLearning, webinar courses, and classroom training sessions. Lastly, learners can also access the training content on the go via the Dayforce mobile application.

Paylocity seamlessly integrates with Go1*, a learning content platform, providing access to 95,000+ courses to learners. Employers can automate recruite's training and bulk assign them assessments, courses, and curate learning paths for them. Moreover, organizations can recommend customized courses that can greatly benefit employees and help them move forward in their careers.

Winner: Paylocity secures the advantage in this round for enabling automated training workflows and personalized learning paths.

Analytics And Reporting

Accurate data analysis is essential for informed decision-making, and with Dayforce, users can achieve this goal. By utilizing its diverse library of pre-built, customizable dashboards and key performance indicators (KPIs), companies can efficiently analyze data trends and even foresee future trends. Additionally, Dayforce's reports are an effective source to make the data insights easily readable and make analytical decisions.

Paylocity allows administrators to create personalized dashboards and streamline the data evaluation process. Organizations can monitor and translate data into measurable figures, such as labor costs, employee engagement, time, and cost savings. Plus, the software also provides real-time employee performance metrics.

Winner: Dayforce takes the lead with its rich library of pre-built, customizable dashboards, predictive trend analysis, and visually accessible reports.

Dayforce Vs Paylocity Pricing

Dayforce employs a per-employee-per-month (PEPM) pricing model and costs around $22-31/employee/month. Paylocity, on the other hand, offers custom pricing plans that can be tailored to varying organizational needs. Get in touch with us to get a personalized price quote.  

Disclaimer: The pricing information has been sourced from third-party websites and is subject to change.   

Final Verdict – Which HR Software Edges Out?

Both platforms offer powerful features and deliver what they promise. Whether it's timely customer support, error-free payroll processing, or making employees move forward in their careers, both Dayforce and Paylocity are the best choices. However, choosing one of them depends on some primary factors, including your most pressing needs.  

If you are running a growing business and focused on continuous payroll and powerful talent management tools, Dayforce is your best bet. On the contrary, Paylocity is a better choice for large enterprises looking for a unified HR platform that streamlines workforce management.