Human Resources Software Cost: What You Need to Know

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Systems that help a business carry out its Human Resources work may go by many names including human resource management software (HR software), human resources information system (HRIS), human resources management system (HRMS), and human capital management (HCM). No matter what you call it, the primary aim is the same - to help organize your employees and streamline their operations.

Modern workforces are in flux like never before due to factors such as globalization, freelancing, remote workers and alternative work schedules. This makes the task of managing them a real challenge. The use of HR software, however, makes organizing your business' human capital much simpler. It will allow you to spend less time on trivial tasks and more time creating and implanting progressive strategies. This buying guide provides a rundown on HRIS software costs and basics.

An Overview of HRIS Systems #

HRIS software can perform pretty much any human resource function that you need it to. But, you'll find that they all, more or less, provide the following base features:

• Payroll: HR management software can aggregate employees' work times, make the proper deductions, and issue paychecks.
• Labor resources management: Keep track of what employees are actually spending time on so you can better manage their labor.
• HR management: Effectively manage employee data such as contact information, education, job history, and much more.
• Benefits administration: An HRMS system allows you to easily keep track of which employees are enrolled in which benefit programs and reduce the amount of time your company spends on processing forms and answering questions about benefits owed.
• Worker self-service: One of the ways HR software helps simplify human resources is allowing employees to access company databases, update their information, enroll in and check benefits online, and much more.
• Other features: Additional functions that human resource management software can perform include recruiting, hiring, training, and development.

Aside from deciding which HR software features your company would benefit from, another important consideration is whether the HRIS system will operate locally via software or be hosted remotely and accessed through the internet. The benefits of each are as follows:

• Locally hosted: An HRMS system based on traditional software is completely in-house, meaning that the program runs on your office computers. In this configuration, your company's IT staff is responsible for server maintenance, backing up data, and security. So called client-server systems have higher initial fees, but cost less to maintain and upgrade.
• Vendor hosted: If your business chooses an application service provider (ASP) for its human resources software solution, its application and data will be hosted remotely on the vendor's servers. ASP systems are managed by IT professionals, so you need not worry about security and data backups. You could encounter problems, however, if your company's internet connection goes down. Online HR software has lower up-front costs but you'll pay more in monthly fees.