Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) is an American provider of

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...

management software and services, headquartered in Roseland, New Jersey.

History

In 1949, Henry Taub founded Automatic Payrolls, Inc. as a manual payroll processing business with his brother Joe Taub.

Frank Lautenberg Frank Raleigh Lautenberg (; January 23, 1924 June 3, 2013) was an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as United States Senator from New Jersey from 1982 to 2001, and again from 2003 until his death in 2013. He was ori ...

joined the brothers in the company's infancy. In 1957, Lautenberg, after successfully serving in sales and marketing, became a full-fledged partner with the two brothers. In 1961, the company changed its name to Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP), and began using

punched card A punched card (also punch card or punched-card) is a stiff paper-based medium used to store digital information via the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Developed over the 18th to 20th centuries, punched cards were widel ...

machines A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolec ...

, check printing machines, and

mainframe computer A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise ...

s. ADP went public in 1961 with 300 clients, 125 employees, and revenues of approximately . The company established a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

in the United Kingdom in 1965. In 1970, Lautenberg was noted as being the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the company. Also in 1970, the company's stock transitioned from trading on

American Stock Exchange NYSE American, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and more recently as NYSE MKT, is an American stock exchange situated in New York City. AMEX was previously a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known ...

to trading on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

. Lautenberg continued in his roles as chairman and CEO until elected to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

from New Jersey in 1982. From 1985 onward, ADP's annual revenues exceeded the $1 billion mark, with paychecks processed for about 20% of the U.S. workforce. In the 1990s, ADP began acting as a

professional employer organization A professional employer organisation (PEO) is an outsourcing firm that provides services to Small and medium-sized enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses. Typically, the PEO offering may include human resource consulting, safety and risk ...

(PEO) making several related acquisitions. On October 21, 2008, ADP switched its stock listing to the

NASDAQ Global Select Market The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

. In 2020, ADP was ranked 227 on the ''Fortune'' 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue. ADP has also been included on Fortune Magazine's "World's Most Admired Companies" List for 14 consecutive years and has earned recognition from DiversityInc as one of the top companies for diversity and inclusion in the United States for 11 consecutive years. ADP has about 64,000 employees worldwide and its

fiscal year A fiscal year (also known as a financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. La ...

2024 revenues were $19 billion.

Acquisitions

ADP acquired the pioneering online computer services company Time Sharing Limited (TSL) in 1974 and Cyphernetics in 1975. As ADP became a professional employer organization, it made several acquisitions. In 1995, the company acquired the German company Autonom and the payroll and human resource services company GSI, among others. In September 1998, ADP acquired UK-based Chessington Computer Centre that supplied administration services to the

UK Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

. In 2006, ADP acquired Kerridge Computer Co. Ltd., a dealer management systems (DMS) provider to auto dealers, primarily in the UK. In 2007, the ADP Brokerage Service Group was spun off to form

Broadridge Financial Solutions Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. is a public corporate services and financial technology company. Headquartered in Lake Success, New York, the company was founded in 2007 as a spin-off from Automatic Data Processing. Broadridge supplies comp ...

, Inc. In January 2017, ADP acquired The Marcus Buckingham Company (TMBC). In October 2017, ADP acquired Global Cash Card, a digital payments facilitator. In January 2018, ADP acquired

WorkMarket WorkMarket is a New York City-based company that provides an online software platform, platform and marketplace for businesses to manage contingent workers and IT talent. The company was founded in May 2010 by Jeffrey Leventhal. In January 2018, W ...

, a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

–based software platform company that helps businesses manage freelancers, contractors, and consultants. Later that same year, the company announced the acquisition of Celergo, a global payroll management service company. In 2023, ADP acquired workflow automation tool Sora. In October 2024, ADP acquired WorkForce Software, a management services provider.

Divisions and spinoffs

Broadridge Financial Solutions

In 2007, the ADP Brokerage Service Group was spun off to form

, Inc., removing about US$2 billion from ADP's total yearly revenue. ADP distributed one share of Broadridge common stock for every four shares of ADP common stock held by shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 23, 2007.

CDK Global, LLC

Formerly called ADP Dealer Services,

CDK Global CDK Global Inc. is an American multinational corporation based in Austin, Texas, providing data and technology to the automotive, heavy truck, recreation, and heavy equipment industries. The company has 37 locations in 25 countries and its produ ...

was formed October 1, 2014, and provides technology services to automotive dealerships, as well as vehicle manufacturers. In 2010, ADP acquired the automotive marketing company Cobalt. BZ Results, winner of ''AutoSuccess'' magazine's 2005 "Innovative Company of the Year" award, was purchased by ADP in 2006. At the time, BZ Results was valued at $125 million. On April 7, 2014, ADP laid off several Dealer Services associates in a reorganization and 3 days later announced plans to spin off the Dealer Services division as a standalone company. On August 19, 2014, ADP Dealer Services announced that the name of the new company, post-spinoff, would be CDK Global (an acronym for Cobalt, Dealer Services, Kerridge). Both S&P and

Moody's Moody's Ratings, previously and still legally known as Moody's Investors Service and often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its histo ...

downgraded ADP to AA in April 2014, after the dealer services unit was spun off.

Employment data

ADP has been used as a source of private-sector employment data in addition to or in place of United States

Bureau of Labor Statistics The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the government of the United States, U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics, labor economics and ...

reports. ADP's National Employment Report launches the day before BLS reports. In 2022, it was redesigned in collaboration with Stanford's Digital Economy Lab.

References

External links

* {{Authority control, state=expanded 01 01 Business services companies of the United States Payroll Companies based in Essex County, New Jersey Roseland, New Jersey Business services companies established in 1949 American companies established in 1949 1949 establishments in New Jersey Companies in the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats