ADP + NetSuite Integration: Payroll Automation

The Payroll-to-GL Problem

Your payroll runs in ADP. Your accounting runs in NetSuite. And every pay period, someone on your finance team spends hours translating payroll data into journal entries.

They download reports from ADP. They map departments and cost centers. They manually create journal entries in NetSuite. They reconcile to make sure nothing got missed. Then they do it again in two weeks.

This is fixable.

What We Build

An ADP-NetSuite integration automates the payroll posting process. When ADP finalizes a pay run, the integration creates corresponding journal entries in NetSuite—properly coded to departments, classes, and accounts.

Journal Entry Creation

After each pay run completes in ADP, the integration:

1. Retrieves payroll register data via ADP APIs
2. Maps earnings, deductions, taxes, and employer contributions to GL accounts
3. Allocates costs to departments and classes based on employee assignments
4. Creates journal entries in NetSuite with full supporting detail
5. Attaches source documentation for audit purposes

The result: payroll entries appear in NetSuite within hours of pay run completion, not days.

Account Mapping

This is where the real work happens. ADP payroll data doesn't map cleanly to your chart of accounts. Consider:

Gross Wages: Maybe you want one GL account for all wages. Maybe you want salary vs. hourly separated. Maybe commission goes somewhere else entirely.

Employer Taxes: FICA, FUTA, state unemployment—each might have its own account or consolidate into a single liability.

Benefits: Health insurance employer portion, 401(k) match, HSA contributions. Different accounts, different debit/credit behavior.

Deductions: Pre-tax vs. post-tax, voluntary vs. mandatory. Some hit liabilities, some just reduce wages.

We build a mapping configuration that handles your specific requirements. When your COA changes or you add a new benefit plan, the mapping updates—usually without touching code.

Employee Data Sync

Keeping employee records aligned between ADP and NetSuite is tedious. The integration handles:

• New hire creation in NetSuite when added to ADP
• Department/subsidiary assignment updates
• Termination status changes
• Basic demographic sync (name, address, etc.)

This isn't a full HRIS integration—just enough to keep payroll posting accurate.

Multi-Subsidiary Support

For companies with multiple NetSuite subsidiaries, the integration routes payroll to the correct entity. An employee in the UK subsidiary posts to UK accounts with the right subsidiary context. US employees post to US accounts.

Multi-currency? We handle the exchange rates using your NetSuite currency configuration.

Technical Reality

ADP has several products with different API capabilities:

ADP Workforce Now: Most common for mid-market. Has reasonable APIs we can work with. Some data requires flat file exports rather than API access.

ADP RUN: Smaller company product. API access is more limited. We often combine API calls with scheduled file exports.

ADP Vantage HCM: Enterprise product with better API coverage. Integration options are more flexible.

The integration architecture depends on which ADP product you have and what data access is enabled. We've built all three.

Authentication: ADP uses OAuth 2.0. We maintain secure token refresh and handle their API rate limits.

Data timing: Payroll data becomes available after the pay run finalizes. Depending on your pay schedule and ADP configuration, that might be same-day or next-morning.

What This Changes for Finance

Before integration:

1. Pay run completes on Friday
2. Monday: Download ADP reports
3. Monday-Tuesday: Build journal entry in Excel
4. Tuesday: Enter JE in NetSuite
5. Tuesday-Wednesday: Reconcile, find errors, fix
6. Next pay period: Repeat

After integration:

1. Pay run completes on Friday
2. Friday evening: Journal entries post automatically
3. Monday: Review and approve

Month-end close gets faster. Your team spends time analyzing, not data entry.

Common Questions

How do you handle payroll corrections and adjustments?

Adjustments processed in ADP flow through the same integration. If ADP issues a correction, the corresponding adjustment entry posts to NetSuite. Voided checks, manual checks, off-cycle runs—all handled.

What about workers' comp and other accruals?

Workers' comp accruals, PTO liabilities, and similar can be calculated and posted. This requires additional configuration since ADP doesn't always expose this data directly.

Can we review entries before they post?

Yes. The integration can create entries in "pending" status for approval before finalization. Most clients prefer automatic posting with exception-based review, but we build to your preference.

How detailed are the journal entries?

As detailed as you want. Summary entries by department? One line per employee? Breakout by earnings code? The level of detail trades off between GL clutter and audit granularity. We recommend department-level summary for most clients.

What about historical data?

Migrating historical payroll entries is possible but rarely worth the effort. Most clients go live on a prospective basis—new pay runs integrate, historical data stays in ADP reports.

Cost and Timeline

Standard ADP Workforce Now integration: $20,000-$35,000

Includes journal entry posting, basic employee sync, standard mapping. 4-6 week implementation.

Complex multi-subsidiary: $35,000-$55,000

Multiple entities, complex allocation rules, extensive mapping, custom reporting. 6-10 weeks.

Ongoing support: $500-$1,000/month

Monitoring, mapping updates as your COA changes, troubleshooting.

These are estimates. Actual scope depends on your ADP configuration and accounting requirements.

Is This Worth It?

The integration pays for itself if:

• You run payroll bi-weekly or more frequently
• You have 100+ employees (entry effort scales with headcount)
• Multiple departments or cost centers require allocation
• Your accountant spends 4+ hours per pay period on payroll entries
• You've had audit findings related to payroll posting errors

For a 10-person company with monthly payroll, the ROI probably isn't there. But for mid-market companies with real payroll complexity, manual entry is just burning hours every pay period.

Getting Started

If you're manually posting payroll from ADP to NetSuite, we should talk. Tell us which ADP product you use, how many employees, and roughly how complex your payroll allocation needs are. We'll give you a straight answer on what integration looks like for your situation.

Let's discuss your ADP integration