ADP TotalSource®
What is ADP TotalSource?
ADP TotalSource is ADP's professional employer organization (PEO) solution for small and midsize businesses. It brings payroll, benefits administration, workers' compensation and regulatory compliance together with dedicated HR expertise and technology to help businesses manage growing workforce complexity. ADP TotalSource is an IRS-certified PEO (CPEO) and ESAC-accredited.
How ADP TotalSource works
With ADP TotalSource, small and midsized businesses gain a co-employment partner to help strengthen their HR capabilities, support employees and navigate workforce challenges with greater confidence.
Partnership model
Who handles what with ADP TotalSource
ADP TotalSource is a shared-responsibility model: some things ADP manages fully, some stay with you and a few sit in between.
- ADP handles benefits administration end-to-end, from plan negotiation and enrollment to ongoing support
- ADP manages risk and safety programs directly, helping to reduce your workplace injury and compensation exposure
- Compliance is shared: ADP monitors regulations and flags changes, while you implement them in how the business operates day to day
- HR guidance is shared: Your dedicated HR business partner provides expert advice and recommendations
- You run payroll while ADP provides the platform, specialist support and compliance guardrails for all things payroll-related
- You keep control of managing your business, leading day-to-day operations, including hiring decisions, roles and customer relationships
A service model built to support how your business operates
At the center of ADP TotalSource is a service model designed around people. You work with dedicated experts who understand your business and operate as an extension of your team, providing ongoing guidance and support. This partnership helps you navigate challenges, act with clarity and scale with confidence.
- Your HR business partner is your dedicated HR expert, serving as your main point of contact and providing daily support and strategic guidance for your business
- A highly specialized team of specialists works alongside your HR business partner on payroll & tax, talent, HR investigations, workers' comp claims, benefits administration, risk & safety and more
- ADP MyLife Advisors helps your employees navigate everyday HR, benefits and payroll questions and important life moments with knowledgeable, compassionate support
- Our guidance is backed by ADP's EPLI policy, so you're protected as well as advised
Unparalleled support for your employees
When you make the move to ADP TotalSource, your employees get everything in one place, including pay statements, time off, timekeeping, benefits enrollment, retirement and even onboarding before day one. And when they need a real person, dedicated support is just a call away.
- 24/7 mobile access to pay stubs, W-2s and direct deposit setup through the ADP mobile app
- Guided digital benefits enrollment, with live support during open enrollment and life events
- Self-service for routine changes, so employees aren't waiting for you or HR for answers
- Direct access to award-winning ADP MyLife Advisors, with 90% of issues resolved on the first call*
- Career development through skills training, leadership courses and more
What you get with ADP TotalSource
Compliance
Let us worry about keeping up with evolving HR compliance requirements. ADP TotalSource provides always-on compliance support, proactive outreach and expert guidance, giving you more peace of mind.
Payroll
Pay your employees accurately and on time across one state or all 50, with all-in-one payroll and tax support handled by ADP specialists.
Technology
Manage all your HR to-dos in one intuitive platform, with employee self-service, a top-rated mobile app, 24/7 reporting and advanced analytics all backed by leading security and continuous threat monitoring.
Benefits
Offer competitive benefits including medical, vision, dental, 401(k), EAP, pet wellness and more, all negotiated and administered by ADP, so you don't have to.
Hiring
Get the support and technology you need to make hiring and onboarding faster and easier, from applicant tracking and background checks to a branded career site and new-hire onboarding right on our app.
Who is ADP TotalSource best for?
ADP TotalSource is ideal for businesses seeking a stronger approach to managing and supporting their workforce, whether they're navigating growth, workforce challenges or growing HR demands.
- For small, hands-on teams: When the owner, office manager or another employee is juggling HR on top of other duties, ADP TotalSource helps streamline HR, payroll, benefits and compliance so your team can spend less time on administration and more time running the business.
- For expanding businesses: As you add employees, locations or states, ADP TotalSource helps create consistency with standardized HR processes, compliance support and technology that scales with your business.
- For complex, established organizations: If you're managing a larger workforce, multiple business units or increasing compliance requirements, ADP TotalSource provides specialized expertise, integrated systems and multistate compliance support to help you operate consistently at scale.
Interactive demo: See how ADP TotalSource works
Access our interactive demo and see how easy it is to manage
everything HR for your business.
How ADP TotalSource pricing works
ADP TotalSource pricing is quoted rather than listed, since it is built around factors that are specific to your business. The same factors drive cost across the PEO category, and our guide to PEO costs breaks down each one. The largest drivers are:
- Workforce size and demographics
- Injury-risk profile and workers’ compensation exposure
- Where your employees work, and the compliance complexity that comes with it
Certified PEO
ADP TotalSource: IRS-certified PEO (CPEO) and ESAC-accredited
ADP TotalSource is backed by the PEO industry’s toughest certifications. It is among approximately 12% of PEOs that are an IRS-certified CPEO1,2 and just 6% of PEOs with ESAC-accreditation3. This means stronger financial protections, verified compliance and less overall risk for your business.
- IRS-certified PEO (CPEO) since 2017, providing certain financial protections and tax benefits to PEO clients
- ESAC-accredited since 1995, demonstrating financial stability, tax compliance, ethical business conduct and adherence to regulatory requirements and operational standards
- Bonded up to $1 million annually to guarantee tax payments
- Full continuity of tax credits you'd be entitled to outside a PEO relationship
- Compliance with 40+ industry best practices
How ADP TotalSource helps others like you
Testimonials
I believe that ADP not only has the technology to support us, but also the people. And the people are always there for us.
Igor Lorenzen, TI Sparkle, Chief Financial Officer
Testimonials
TotalSource has taken out the guess work when it comes to being compliant and also an advocate for my employees. I’m able to have a team on my side and I feel like I can go into an HR situation with no worries because I have a team behind me to guide me. TotalSource has allowed me to feel confident in my job and in my ability to help my employees.
April Bauman, EDC Technologies Inc
Testimonials
There are things I never expected to experience in this role, like when equal opportunity reporting was new, or when healthcare laws started changing, but ADP’s been there guiding me every step of the way. I know they’re moving forward and keeping up with the times, and that makes me feel confident in their partnership.
Tracey Thomas, Controller, Andrew Vasquez Inc.
Testimonials
The biggest benefit of ADP TotalSource is accessing a benefit plan that allows us as a small business to compete with bigger firms when competing for and retaining talent. We repurposed all the time saved by switching to TotalSource into growing the business.
Vivek Chakrabortty, CEO, The Kavi Group LLC
Testimonials
Even though ADP is a huge organization, you can pick up the phone and have a solution in minutes. It could be a legal request, employee question, tax problem — it doesn’t matter. ADP helps you find an answer.
Beat Kahli, President & CEO, Avalon Park Group
ADP TotalSource provides value in time and money savings
Small and midsize business report big results with ADP TotalSource. Read our ADP TotalSource® ROI research study to see how.4
70%
Of clients saw measurable ROI within 6 months
50–80%
Reduced payroll processing time
70%
Reduction in employee onboarding time
FAQs about ADP TotalSource
How does the co-employment relationship work with ADP TotalSource?
Co-employment is the legal foundation of ADP TotalSource. ADP takes on certain employer responsibilities, such payroll administration, benefits administration and compliance, while you keep control over hiring, firing, pay decisions and day-to-day operations. ADP takes on your administrative HR work and offers guidance where needed, but company culture and decision-making remain firmly yours.
How does ADP TotalSource handle employees in multiple states?
ADP TotalSource manages multi-state payroll, tax filings and state-specific compliance as part of its core platform, so you don't need separate systems or vendors for each state you operate in. As your business expands, ADP TotalSource scales with you, absorbing the added compliance and payroll complexity that comes with growth.
What types of businesses and industries use ADP TotalSource?
ADP TotalSource supports small and midsize businesses across a wide range of industries, including professional services, manufacturing and logistics, architecture and engineering, real estate, wholesale, nonprofits and many more. Whatever your industry, ADP TotalSource scales to fit your size, complexity and footprint. Discover how with client stories.
What does implementation look like when switching to ADP TotalSource?
ADP makes it easy by working with you every step of the way. First, you'll assign a team member to partner directly with us. ADP will handle the heavy lifting, but you'll stay close throughout the process, overseeing setup and system tests. From there, you'll meet your dedicated HR business partner, who'll walk you through how we support your workforce across benefits, compliance, training, hiring and retention. Most businesses are up and fully running within a few weeks.
*ADP MyLife Advisors, 2025 Service Performance
- IRS active CPEO list (the countable PDF): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-sbse/active-cpeos.pdf - dates, entity counts, Rippling/Gusto absence
- NAPEO Industry Overview (500 PEOs): https://napeo.org/intro-to-peos/industry-overview/
- Based on a count of ESAC’s state by state accredited PEO directory, July 2026, counting each PEO once. https://www.esac.org/Business/find-a-peo
- May 2026 ADP TotalSource ROI Research
Considering a PEO?
See for yourself how it works with our interactive demo.
Get started with ADP
Or call us at 866-360-2454