HR and payroll are office administrative departments that handle personnel issues like hiring, training, documentation, accounting, etc. Many companies employ full-time staff to handle HR and payroll management. On the other hand, some companies hire third-party providers for handling these aspects. There are different software solutions that can manage both of these areas in an effective manner.
Why You Need HR Payroll Software
HR processes like hiring, employee onboarding, running payroll, and managing benefits are very time-consuming. As a small business owner, you’re looking to save time and money wherever you can.
With HR payroll software, you can automate specific tasks and collect data to improve how your business runs.
Using HR payroll software can help to streamline your small business in a lot of ways:
- It’ll help to make your HR team more efficient, so they can work on other projects
- It’ll ensure you’re always paying and withholding the right amount
- It’ll help you avoid fines and compliance issues
- It makes managing PTO and bonuses much easier
- It makes offering employee health insurance and other benefits easy
- It streamlines employee onboarding, so new hires can get to work sooner
Sage Business Cloud People
Sage Business Cloud People is a formidable human resources (HR) platform that caters to the requirements of larger enterprises. Beginning at $10 per employee per month, this suite competes with other products in this space, including Kronos Workforce Ready and SAP SuccessFactors. Ideal for companies with less than 200 employees, Sage Business Cloud People requires about 90 days to get analytics, core HR, payroll, and reporting up and running according to a Sage representative. This length of time might put off small to midsize businesses (SMBs) and startups with a smaller team of employees.
Still, that’s the primary downside of Sage Business Cloud People, and it’s relegated mainly at small companies. For larger companies with the need for and time to invest in this level of HR functionality (especially those with a multinational presence), there’s a lot to like about Sage Business Cloud People. In that respect, it joins vendors such as Cezanne OnDemand and WebHR as cloud-based HR suites that support different currencies and currency exchange rates, country holidays, languages, and payroll tax laws. Smaller companies that only do business domestically, however, will likely find Sage Business Cloud People to be too expensive of an offering for them.
Sage’s Salesforce Connection
Sage calls its platform an “end-to-end” system and offers integrations with companies such as Salesforce. Another thing that sets Sage Business Cloud People apart from competitors is how it’s built, which is on top of Salesforce’s Force.com technology platform. Companies that already use Salesforce may find being familiar with the platform’s back-end user interface (UI) helps them save time getting Sage Business Cloud People up and running. But companies don’t have to be existing Salesforce customers to use Sage Business Cloud People. The Salesforce connection brings real-time visibility. Because they log in to the service directly, the vast majority of Sage Business Cloud People users may never know that when they request time off or change insurance beneficiaries, they’re doing it through a Salesforce application.
Sage Business Cloud People is one of the only HR management services we tested that uses dual portals. One portal is a “Workforce eXperience (WX)” interface for employees and managers while the other portal is a separate behind-the-scenes UI for high-level system administrators such as an HR director or HR information systems (HRIS) manager. System admins access the separate UI to configure and manage the service using templates, checkboxes, and drag-and-drop features. They can create rules for onboarding employees in different countries or determine which class of employees has access to which features.
PROS
- An end-to-end human resources (HR) solution with a slant towards multinational companies.
- Built on top of Salesforce’s platform.
- Good support and integration with third-party payroll vendors.
CONS
- Setting it up can take a long time, especially for multinational users.
- Expensive option for smaller businesses.
- Salesforce foundation is a mixed bag that may alienate non-Salesforce shops.
BambooHR
BambooHR is human resources (HR) management software that brings a large set of features and functionality wrapped in an easy-to-use package. Pricing is high, beginning at $4.95 per employee per month, which is a possible deterrent for smaller companies. Despite this, BambooHR’s excellent range of intuitive features makes it indispensable, earning it our Editors’ Choice designation for all-inclusive HR management systems. This rating, however, requires some extra explanation. When you look at the features table in our main HR review roundup article, you’ll also see Editors’ Choice awards handed out to other products. So, please note that only BambooHR holds the award in the category of all-inclusive HR management packages because it covers almost everything an HR professional might need to do. These tasks include applicant tracking (AT), benefits administration (BA), employee onboarding, HR reporting, time-off tracking, and performance management.
PROS
- BambooHR brings a wholistic and thorough approach to human resources (HR) management software.
- It is easy to get up and running with open APIs that offer lots of potential for integration with HR tech vendors.
CONS
- Pricier than competing products.
- Lacking in benefits administration (BA) features compared to rival solutions.
- Lack of benefits data in mobile app.
ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now provides a comprehensive suite of tools that help organizations handle payroll, time and attendance, talent management, benefits administration, and other HR processes. The modules enable organizations to efficiently manage the complexities of the employee lifecycle. The cloud-based platform is best suited for midsized and enterprise organizations with 50 employees or more.
Built on a single, configurable database, the software facilitates data syncing across different components to reduce manual entry and data errors. Embedded with protective layers such as physical security, intelligent detection, fraud defense and other mechanisms, the HRM system also provides enhanced security and data privacy.
Why use ADP Workforce Now?
- Streamline Processes: ADP Workforce Now automates critical processes such as onboarding, record-keeping and employee status changes. It also facilitates tracking certifications, licenses and other information, along with tracking and reporting data related to compliance.
- Offer Employee Self-Service (ESS): Employees can access their pay, benefits and time information. They can also request time off, view work schedules, download pay statements, configure direct deposit settings and manage benefits information.
- View Real-Time Insights: Data analysis tools provide visibility into a number of key metrics. These include labor costs, overtime, actual vs. scheduled hours, turnover rate and a host of other KPIs.
- Seamlessly Integrate: Standard APIs allow all the solutions in the ADP Workforce Now suite to integrate with many types of systems, including accounting, ERP, time and attendance, recruiting and onboarding, learning platforms, benefits administration, employee benefits, and productivity and collaboration. Workday, Litmos, ZipRecruiter, TSheets, QuickBooks, Slack and Microsoft Teams are among the hundreds of add-ons available.
- Manage Information Anywhere: ADP Workforce Now provides an app for iOS and Android platforms. This gives managers and employees 24/7 mobile access to time and attendance features, benefits information, and more. Secure access is granted via PIN, password or fingerprint.
Paylocity
Paylocity is an all-in-one cloud payroll solution that enables organizations of every size to execute administrative tasks such as talent acquisition, time and labor management, and other core processes. Its functionality includes multiple configuration options that allow companies to customize according to their needs.
It contains robust security measures such as encryption, real-time backups and secure data centers. It also has a user-friendly mobile app that is compatible with both iOS and Android devices.
Why use Paylocity?
- Streamlined Talent Acquisition: The software is equipped with capabilities that make the recruiting process more manageable. Users can automate tasks, create custom workflows for hiring, post jobs internally, configure applications and post jobs.
- Simplified Onboarding: The portal centralizes information to create a simplified process for new hires. It can be configured to gather necessary employee details such as contact info, withholding forms and an employee handbook with e-signature functionality.
- Competent Employees: The platform facilitates easy-to-understand training that equips employees with critical skills, regardless of the initial skill set or position. The built-in LMS suite offers multiple methods and formats that fit the user’s preferred learning style.
- Compliance Peace of Mind: The software can train users on compliance topics and assess them on a regular basis. It also aggregates news and industry trends into a feed to keep users updated on compliance laws.
- Automatic Notifications: Users can easily stay informed with push notifications that automatically send updates about new hires, changes, time off approvals and terminations.
- Employee Engagement: The platform offers engagement tools that promote community interactions, gather feedback and support peer recognition. This boosts engagement within teams and across departments, as well as improves productivity.
- Administrative Add-Ons: Services like FSAs, HSAs, TMAs and COBRA supplement standard plans with complementary programs, giving employees a wide choice of benefits to meet their specific needs.
Conclusion
You’ve recently landed a new job. Congratulations! But now you have the additional tasks of enrolling in your health insurance, starting your retirement plan, setting up payroll, creating documents for your insurance company, and learning how to pay yourself. It seems like there are thousands of HR and Payroll related tasks to take care of. That’s why you need an HR & Payroll software package.