Dayforce
Headquarters
Minneapolis, MNFounded
1992CEO / Founder
David OssipEmployees
5001-10000Funding
PublicStock
DAYProducts
1 product listedAvg. AI Score
7.9/10Website
dayforce.com/
Profile updated
About Dayforce
Dayforce is a cloud-based human capital management (HCM) platform headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company was originally founded in 1992 as Ceridian, a payroll and HR services firm, and rebranded to Dayforce in 2024 to align its corporate identity with its flagship software product. David Ossip, who joined as CEO in 2013 following Ceridian's acquisition of his company Dayforce Corporation, continues to lead the organization.
The Dayforce platform consolidates payroll processing, human resources, benefits administration, talent acquisition, workforce management, and analytics into a single continuous-calculation engine. The product is designed for mid-market and enterprise customers across industries including retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services. Notable customers have included major North American employers with large hourly workforces. The platform operates in multiple countries, supporting global payroll and compliance requirements.
Ceridian completed an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CDAY in April 2018, raising approximately $462 million. The company rebranded entirely to Dayforce in early 2024. As of recent filings, the company employs approximately 6,000 to 9,000 people globally. Dayforce has made several acquisitions over the years to expand its capabilities, including the purchase of Excelity Global in 2021 to extend its Asia-Pacific payroll footprint.
Specialties
Financials
Dated, source-cited figures. Estimates are marked.
Products by Dayforce
All products by Dayforce reviewed by our AI panel of experts.
How Our Review Panel Scores Dayforce
Six independent reviewer personalities assessed Dayforce's product on their own terms. They disagreed by 1.2 points — The Finance Lead was the hardest to convince, The Domain Strategist the most positive.
Averaged across 1 reviewed product in our catalog. Scores are out of 10.
Competitive Landscape
Who Dayforce competes with, and how they differ.
Workday targets large-enterprise HCM/ERP buyers with a unified finance-plus-HR suite and batch payroll processing, while Dayforce differentiates on a single real-time, continuous payroll calculation engine.
UKG (formed by the 2020 Kronos–Ultimate Software merger) leans hardest into workforce management and scheduling for large hourly/shift workforces, competing with Dayforce head-on for the same continuous-pay, WFM-plus-HCM enterprise deals.
1 product reviewed on TopReviewed
ADP is the payroll-services incumbent with the broadest client base from small business to enterprise and a large PEO/outsourcing arm; Dayforce competes on a single modern cloud platform versus ADP's mix of legacy and newer product lines.
1 product reviewed on TopReviewed
Paycor focuses on small and mid-sized U.S. businesses with HR/payroll bundles at lower price points, competing below Dayforce's enterprise-and-large-mid-market focus.
1 product reviewed on TopReviewed
Rippling bundles HR, IT device management, and finance workflows for fast-growing SMB/mid-market companies, while Dayforce is built for large multinational enterprises needing complex global payroll compliance.
Company Timeline
Key milestones in Dayforce's history, with sources.
- Acquisition
Thoma Bravo completes acquisition of Dayforce
Thoma Bravo completed its $12.3 billion acquisition of Dayforce, Inc.; Dayforce common stock ceased trading and was delisted from the NYSE and TSX.
dayforce.com - Acquisition
Thoma Bravo agrees to acquire Dayforce for $12.3B
Thoma Bravo announced a definitive agreement to acquire Dayforce, Inc. for $70.00 per share in cash, valuing the deal at approximately $12.3 billion and taking the company private.
thomabravo.com - Milestone
Company officially renamed Dayforce Inc.; ticker changes CDAY to DAY
The corporate name officially changed from Ceridian HCM Holding Inc. to Dayforce Inc., with the NYSE/TSX ticker symbol changing from CDAY to DAY effective February 1, 2024.
globenewswire.com - Acquisition
Ceridian agrees to acquire eloomi, a Copenhagen-based learning platform
Ceridian entered a definitive agreement to acquire eloomi, a learning experience platform provider based in Copenhagen and Orlando, to add learning and development capabilities to Dayforce; the deal closed February 1, 2024.
globenewswire.com - Milestone
Ceridian announces plan to rebrand as Dayforce
Ceridian HCM Holding Inc. announced at its INSIGHTS 2023 customer conference that it would transition its corporate brand to Dayforce, its flagship HCM platform, effective January 2024.
globenewswire.com - Funding
Ceridian HCM IPO — $22.00/share on NYSE and TSX
Ceridian HCM Holding Inc. priced its IPO at $22.00/share (above the $19-21 target range) and began trading on the NYSE and TSX under ticker CDAY, with gross proceeds of $631.3M combined with a concurrent $100M private placement — an implied IPO valuation of about $3 billion.
lexpert.ca - Acquisition
Ceridian completes acquisition of Dayforce Corporation
Ceridian Corporation completed its acquisition of Dayforce Corporation, the cloud HCM software provider whose platform Ceridian had first invested in during February 2011, becoming the foundation of Ceridian's SaaS strategy.
newswire.ca - Acquisition
Ceridian agrees to be taken private for $5.3B
Ceridian entered a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Fidelity National Financial (with Cannae/Kensington Capital) in an all-cash deal at $36.00/share, valuing the company at approximately $5.3 billion.
investor.fnf.com - Founded
Control Data Corporation renames itself Ceridian Corporation
Control Data Corp announced it would change its name to Ceridian Corporation and spin off its computer-systems operations into a separate company, Control Data Systems, Inc., retaining information services and defense electronics.
company-histories.com
Explore AI Software Reviews
Browse multi-perspective AI panel reviews across hundreds of AI tools, agents, and platforms. Find the right software with insights from CTO, Developer, Marketer, Finance, and User perspectives.