"Adoption of Accountant Connect has been strong," CEO Carlos Rodriguez said during the webcast. He noted accountants are an important source of client referrals.

The cloud-based Accountant Connect, which provides a single sign-on to Run Powered by ADP, provides payroll processing for accountants and their clients. It gives them access to client payroll reports, tax forms and essential practice management tools, among other resources.

Executives did not address the effort by investment firm, Pershing Square Associates, to elect five members of the ADP board and drop Rodriguez as communications about that initiative were received after the webcast.

For the year, ADP reported net income of $1.73 billion for fiscal 2017, an increase of 16.1 percent from $1.49 billion for the prior year. Revenue for the most recently ended year was $12.38 billion, an increase of 4 percent from $11.67 billion from fiscal 2016. Growth was up 4 percent organically. Payroll revenue rose to $8.52 billion, an increase of 3.4 percent from $8.23 billion for the compared years.