# ADP Refer & Earn Review: Pricing, Features, Alternatives

ADP Refer &#38; Earn: ADP's referral track for accountants, paying revenue share instead of a wholesale margin. Pricing from On request, SOC 2 yes (type ii), and how it compares to the alternatives, for US accounting and bookkeeping firms.

Source: https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/adp-refer-and-earn/

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[Accounting Tools](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/) · [Payroll & PEO](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/)

# ADP Refer & Earn

Strong Option · ADP

ADP's referral track for accountants, paying revenue share instead of a wholesale margin

[Visit ADP Refer & Earn](https://www.adp.com/partners/accounting-professionals/refer-your-clients.aspx) [All 19 payroll & peo tools](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/)

Best for

Firms that want out of payroll production but want to keep visibility and a residual

Starting price

On request

SOC 2

Yes (Type II)

Multi-factor auth

Unconfirmed

Ownership

ADP, Inc. Small Business Services Division

Integrates with

QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, Accountant Connect, ADP Marketplace

The read

## What ADP Refer & Earn does

This is a compensation program, not a piece of software. ADP presents accountants with three ways to work together, and Refer and Earn is the one where the firm hands the payroll engagement to ADP and takes a commission for it. The headline term on ADP's own page is up to 75% revenue share plus ongoing residuals on eligible referrals, spanning payroll, HR, benefits and tax credit services rather than payroll alone. The program runs under separate terms published at adpaccountantrevenueshare.com, which is operated for ADP by Amplifinity. The percentage tiers, the base the share is calculated on, and how long the residuals run are all governed by those terms, and none of that detail was retrievable from the public pages, so treat the 75% figure as a ceiling on a structure you will need ADP to explain before signing.

What the firm gets alongside the money is Accountant Connect, which ADP provides free. It gives a single dashboard across referred clients, authorised access to their payroll data and tax forms, scheduled multi-client payroll reports, general ledger mapping into QuickBooks, Xero or Sage, and benchmarking tools. For year-end and for tax prep that is genuinely useful, and it is more visibility than most referral arrangements give.

What the firm gives up is the engagement. ADP contracts with the client, ADP bills the client, ADP sets the price, and ADP owns the relationship afterwards. There is no wholesale rate to buy at and mark up, no client-billed partner discount, and no ability to fold payroll into a fixed monthly advisory fee at the firm's own margin. The firm cannot run payroll on the client's behalf under this arrangement either. Batch processing across a client list is not the model here. The client logs in to RUN and runs their own payroll, and the firm watches through Accountant Connect. Revenue that used to be recurring firm revenue becomes commission on someone else's recurring revenue, and commission structures are the vendor's to change at renewal.

Compared with ADP RUN for Partners, this is the lower-effort, lower-control half of the same house. RUN for Partners keeps the firm in the processing seat. Compared with Paychex's referral track it is broadly similar in shape, and against Gusto Pro it is a clear philosophical split: Gusto lets a firm choose per client between revenue share, a client-billed partner discount, and wholesale billing where the firm invoices and keeps the spread. ADP's referral route offers only the first of those three.

The inherited top-pick tier does not survive the category's own test. A referral program cannot be where a firm starts when the question is how to handle client payroll, because it is the decision to stop handling it. As a route for a firm deliberately exiting payroll production while retaining a residual and client data access, it is a strong option and probably the best-paying one of its kind. That is where it belongs.

Capabilities

## What you get

Revenue share stated as up to 75% plus ongoing residuals on eligible referrals

Covers payroll, HR, benefits and tax credit products, not payroll alone

Free Accountant Connect access to referred clients' payroll data and reports

Multi-client payroll reporting and general ledger export after the referral

Program terms administered separately at adpaccountantrevenueshare.com

Pricing, security, integrations

## What it costs and what it connects to

ADP does not publish a price for ADP Refer & Earn; it is quoted per firm, usually on firm size or entity count.

ADP Refer & Earn holds a SOC 2 Type II report.

ADP Refer & Earn connects to QuickBooks, Xero and Sage. Supporting more than one ledger matters for firms whose clients are split across them.

Beyond that: Accountant Connect and ADP Marketplace.

[Vendor pricing page](https://www.adp.com/partners/accounting-professionals/refer-your-clients.aspx) · [Vendor security page](https://www.adp.com/about-adp/data-security.aspx)

Our rating

## Why we rate ADP Refer & Earn a Strong Option

ADP Refer & Earn is rated Strong Option, alongside 8 other of the 19 payroll & peo tools in this directory.

A credible choice that wins on a specific fit rather than across the board — a price point, a niche, a workflow, or an integration the top picks do not cover as well.

[How these ratings are decided](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/methodology/).

Same vendor

## More from ADP

### [ADP RUN for Partners](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/adp-run-for-partners/)

Partner edition of RUN, where the firm processes client payroll instead of referring it

Strong Option

Alternatives

## ADP Refer & Earn alternatives

### [ADP RUN for Partners](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/adp-run-for-partners/)

Partner edition of RUN, where the firm processes client payroll instead of referring it

Strong Option

### [Paychex Flex](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/paychex-flex/)

National payroll bureau platform a firm refers clients to rather than resells

Strong Option

### [myPay Solutions](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/mypay-solutions/)

Outsourced payroll bureau sold through accounting firms rather than direct to employers

Strong Option

### [Gusto](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/gusto/)

Small-business payroll with a partner program that lets firms choose how they bill

Top Pick

### [Payroll Relief](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/payroll-relief/)

Batch payroll processing platform licensed to the firm, which bills clients at its own rates

Dated

### [Accounting CS Payroll](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/accounting-cs-payroll/)

Multi-client batch payroll engine sold to firms that run payroll as a service line

Dated

[Compare all 19 payroll & peo tools](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/)

Sources

## Where these facts came from

Researched from public sources. Pricing and security claims change without notice, so check the vendor before you buy. Last reviewed September 8, 2026.

### [ADP Refer & Earn page for accounting professionals](https://www.adp.com/partners/accounting-professionals/refer-your-clients.aspx)

Retrieved 2026-09-08

### [ADP partner options for accountants](https://www.adp.com/who-we-serve/by-partner/accountants.aspx)

Retrieved 2026-09-08

### [Accountant Connect overview](https://www.adp.com/who-we-serve/by-partner/accountants/accountant-connect.aspx)

Retrieved 2026-09-08

### [Revenue Share Incentive Program site](https://www.adpaccountantrevenueshare.com/)

Retrieved 2026-09-08

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