What's the best payroll software for my business?
- Claire Baker
- Apr 18
- 2 min read
My recent series sharing my opinions about various payroll and HRIS providers has gotten some attention. I think I know why.
Witty one-liners aside, HR software is a pretty blind item. You don’t get to try before you buy.
Even with the providers who give you a sandbox (I love you too, Rippling), it’s hard to get a true sense of performance until you have live data.
Meaning real people,
getting real pay
with real consequences for getting it wrong.
Real people, who are busy, distracted, and imperfect
navigating workflows built by and for your company.
Every product looks great if no one actually touches it.
Because some of a company's most sensitive and highly-regulated data flows through the HRIS, very few people get full insight into everything that’s happening in the platform.
Even fewer understand how the software abstracts over the complicated and outdated tax, insurance, and compliance processes and requirements underneath.
And because of the cost of switching, most people only get to try a few in their careers.
A product that works in one org may not be appropriate for another.
I’m the person companies call in when their HRIS has a problem that no one can fix.
Which means that I’ve seen what happens when a platform is pushed to its limits.
I’ve worked in more than a dozen systems in more than a hundred companies.
I’ve seen how they break, what led to the problem, and how the platform responds.
I’ve seen how they interact with other systems, where the data goes, and what assumptions it’s based on.
What I look for in a platform:
🧿 How good is it at preventing bonehead mistakes?
Mistakes will happen. But how does the tool make sure there are less of them, and how do they respond when they come up?
🧿 How does it play in the sandbox?
Most mistakes happen when information moves between systems. If your integrations are unreliable or you require manual imports, it’s an accident waiting to happen.
🧿 How do they respond in a crisis?
HRIS systems affect people’s pay, access to healthcare, and livelihood. Errors have real-life consequences. I expect vendors to take that responsibility seriously.
This week, I posted a digest of my payroll and HRIS reviews (so far). The reviews may be opinionated, but they’re based on my experience. Your experience may be different. I invite you to start a respectful dialog in the comments.
And subscribe. Do that, too.
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