There are a variety of options available to SMBs when it comes to hiring software. While some might struggle to find affordable programs, there are affordable options available for entrepreneurs looking for their first HRIS system.
A handful of tools can help you manage your HR needs. If you’re a small business owner then there’s no need to let software or hiring an HR manager getting in the way of growing your business. Use this guide to discover the best options for using HR software for small business.
ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now is a well-known, web-based HR software made for small and midsized businesses.
ADP helps businesses automate all their HR and Payroll processes using a single dashboard.
From the dashboard, you will manage employee payroll, time and attendance, and benefits.
Some features include bonuses, time and attendance, employee health insurance statistics, benefits, and talent management.
You will also be able to generate insightful reports from this dashboard.
ADP Workforce Now comes with a benefit plan creation wizard that you can configure to meet the policies and processes of your business.
You can get three months FREE for small businesses and startups when you sign up for small business payroll processing.
Features
- Benefits administration features
- Real-time analytics
- Human resources management functionalities such as recruiting, engaging, retaining, and promoting your employees.
- Direct deposit
- General ledger interface
- New-hire reporting
- W-2s and 1099s
- Tax filing
- Payroll delivery
Cons
ADP only offers performance management and employee engagement tools in its plans reserved for companies with 50+ employees.
OrangeHRM
OrangeHRM is a user-friendly, cloud-based resource management and HR tool suitable for businesses of all sizes and fields. The solution is used by more than 3.5 million users worldwide, thanks to its cost and the offered features.
This is an open-source solution, and it comes with all the benefits you expect. You can learn all about why Open Source Software is good for small businesses here.
OrangeHRM does offer paid plans, but the solution is free as you can get almost all the features you want at zero cost. OrangeHRM’s features include benefits and leave management, recruitment, personnel and information management, time and attendance tracking, and employee self-service.
There is also a large number of available customizations to choose from. The level of customizability means the solution is flexible and easily scalable. As your business grows, you won’t find yourself migrating to another system, which can be very annoying time-consuming.
What do you get for free?
- Document Management
- Performance Assessment
- Employee self-service
- Personnelinformation management
- Time and leave management
- Time and attendance management
- Travel and expense tracker
Cons
Of course, being an open-source software comes with its cons. The solution needs you, or someone in your company, to have some IT knowledge. You will need to implement your servers and maintain the solution (and its installed hardware).
Customer support is not included in the free version, and updates and bug fixes cost extra. In addition, some limitations could be problematic for advanced users. For example, you won’t keep an audit trail on system changes or customize workflows.
Zoho People
If you’re familiar with the Zoho family of business products and/or have used them before, then Zoho people might be the HR platform you need.
Zoho People is an excellent HR management tool that offers a free version with outstanding features. These features include time and leave management, admin operations, file cabinet, time and attendance tracking, form customization, and real-time collaboration.
You also get performance management functionalities, such as performance appraisals, self-appraisals, and performance reports. In addition, the employee self-service portal gives employees to access and control over their information.
Zoho people also offers integrations with many third-party apps and services. Zoho’s HR process automation is a great time saver and can save your valuable business time, money, and human power.
It acts as a complete HR solution available online, which means you can access it anywhere. In addition, it allows you to manage and access all your employee data from a single location.
Zoho People is the best HR Software for payroll.
What do you get for free?
- Leave Management
- Employee self-service
- Basic HRIS
- Recruitment Management
- Employee Management
- Third-Party Integrations
Cons
Unfortunately, Zoho’s free plan is only available for up to five users and offers a tiny 250-MB of storage. Both numbers mean that the free version is not a free-forever or a freemium plan but is meant as a free trial that will force you to eventually upgrade to a paid plan if you wish to continue using the solution.
Zoho People don’t come with performance management and employee engagement tools.
ICE HRM
ICR HRM is an HR software for startups, small and mid-sized businesses. The solution has a rich user interface that was built with PHP and Javascript. In addition, this solution is easily customizable and expandable thanks to its modular structure.
As you can expect from a complete HR solution, the solution offers plenty of features such as time tracking, attendance tracking, employee information management, and more.
ICE HRM allows you to easily update all employee information with the click of a button. The timesheets feature is excellent, especially in that you can easily export it as an excel file so you can use it with other applications or import it to another platform.
Since ICE HRM is an open-source application, you get all of this for free, and the only limitation is the number of available users.
What do you get for free?
- Attendance Management
- Time Tracking
- Employee management
- Company information management
- Time tracking and timesheets
- LDAP login
Cons
Unfortunately, ICE HRM’s free version is only available for up to five users. However, you can still use the solution for free, but you will need to host it on your servers and do the maintenance yourself.
ICE HRM is also missing some crucial functions altogether. These include document management, audit trails, and custom HR forms. You will also need to do the troubleshooting yourself as the support is pretty much non-existent, and you will need to find out the answers to your questions and problems on your own.
BambooHR
BambooHR is a web-based HR system that’s designed for small and midsized businesses. It enables enterprises to track training, benefits, store information, forms, time-off requests, and more.
BambooHR was built on the principle that HR is for the people only and not the paperwork. They position themselves as a solution that can help small businesses transition from spreadsheets to a flexible and efficient core HRIS system.
BambooHR is user-friendly with an engaging interface that makes using the solution easy.
The solution offers excellent onboarding tools, flexible performance management, customizable fields, tabs, user groups, performance reviews. In addition, BambooHR integrates smoothly with many third-party applicant tracking and payroll systems for extended functionality.
What sets BambooHR apart from other HR software is its intuitive and engaging user experience, making it easy for first-time users to adopt the solution without training quickly.
BamboHR is the best HR software for people management.
Cons
BambooHR doesn’t offer native integration with popular payroll software, something most of its competitors, like Gusto, offer. BambooHR also has a hefty setup fee, unlike Gusto and Zoho People, who don’t charge you a setup fee.
Zenefits
Zenefits is an online HR software solution to help startups and small-to-midsized businesses with their HR and payroll needs.
Zenefits offers an employee directory, business intelligence, insurance benefits management, and payroll processing.
The solution gives businesses the ability to manage all their HR-related processes from a single interface. It also offers employees the ability to access the system to control all their HR records.
Zenefits also works hard to keep your managers updated with employee tax and earnings, deductions, and more. With Zenefits, you will also not have to worry about ACA compliance, and the mobile app and PTO tracks add a new layer of functionality to the solution.
Zenefits’ features include personnel management, onboarding, and offboarding. In addition, Zenefits can smoothly integrate with your already-existing infrastructure and the apps and systems you are already using.
Zenefits is the best HR software for hiring and recruiting.
What do you get for free?
- Hiring
- Onboarding
- Offboarding
- Personnel Management
- Employee directory
Cons
Zenefits, as a standalone app, doesn’t offer much. The app’s free version is functional but pretty barebones, especially compared to some of its direct competitors on this list. Zenefits could greatly benefit from adding features – such as performance management – to their free version.
If you’re looking for payroll, you should better look elsewhere, such as these free and open-source payroll
Conclusion
If you are looking to find the best hr software, the above tools will help you to select the right HR software for your company.