How to choose the best HR software for your business: questions to ask vendors

In this guide, a vendor is a company that sells HR software. Leave means holidays, sick days and other time off, and carry-over means unused leave moved into the next year. A data processing agreement is a contract saying how the vendor may use and protect your employees' data.

Why a sales demo is not enough

An HR demo shows a neat employee profile and a leave request approved in one click. The problems show up later, for example:

• leave is calculated in a way that doesn't match your country's rules or your contracts,
• employees' personal data is stored somewhere you can't explain to them,
• the price per employee adds up as you grow, or features you need are in a higher plan.

So ask about these in writing, and ask every vendor exactly the same questions. Then you can compare their answers directly.

Before you contact any vendor

Write down your answers to these four points. They decide which questions in the checklist matter most to you.

• Your people. How many, in which countries, and whether full-time, part-time, shift or contract.
• What you need to manage. Records, leave, onboarding, documents, performance reviews, or hours worked.
• Your payroll. Whether payroll is done in-house, by an accountant, or by separate software.
• Where data must stay. Any rules about where employee data is stored or who may see it.

The checklist

The questions are in three groups. Must have means a problem here can break employment or data rules, or make it costly to leave. Nice to have means it makes a real difference for many people. Optional means it only matters to some people. When you open the checklist in NeutralPick, you can move any question to a different group to match your answers above.

• Must have
• Leave calculated under your rulesCan it calculate leave the way my country's law and our contracts require, including part-time staff, public holidays and carry-over?Leave rules differ by country and contract. Test with a made-up copy of one of your part-time employees: same hours and contract, no real name or details.
• Protects employees' personal dataOften required by lawWill you sign a data processing agreement, tell us where data is stored, and let us limit who sees sensitive details such as health or pay?Employee data is sensitive. Data protection laws in many countries require a contract and access controls.
• Employees can help themselvesCan employees request leave, see their balance and update their own details from a phone, without help from a manager?If staff can't use it themselves, HR work stays on someone's desk.
• You can take your records with youCan we export all employee records, documents and leave history in common formats such as spreadsheet files and PDFs, at any time and after cancelling?Many countries require you to keep some employee records for years after someone leaves, and to delete them once they are no longer needed. Ask an accountant how long.
• A price per employee you knowWhat is the yearly price for our number of employees on the plan with everything we need, and do former employees count?Some vendors charge for leavers or have a minimum number of employees.
• Nice to have
• Connects to your payrollCan changes such as new starters, leavers and unpaid leave go to our payroll software or accountant automatically?Saves re-typing changes and reduces payroll mistakes.
• Onboarding new startersCan it send new starters forms and documents to sign, and checklists for their first weeks?Saves paperwork for every new hire.
• Documents in one placeCan we store contracts and documents per employee, with reminders for expiring ones such as work permits?In many countries, employing someone whose work permit has expired is illegal.
• Reports you needCan it show reports on number of employees, absence and leave, and can we build our own?Useful for planning and for any reports your country requires.
• People in more than one countryCan it handle employees in more than one country, with each country's leave rules and holidays?Only matters if your team is spread across countries.
• Optional
• Hours and shiftsCan it record hours worked or plan shifts?Only matters for hourly or shift staff.
• Performance reviewsCan it run simple performance reviews and goals?Useful as you grow; often an extra cost.

Answers to look at carefully

Vendors often answer the points below in vague terms. When you get a vague answer, ask the follow-up question shown here. A vague answer often means the honest answer is "no" or "only partly".

• "Handles leave for any country". Ask them to set up a made-up copy of one of your part-time contracts in the trial and show the balance.
• "Secure" or "compliant". Ask: will you sign a data processing agreement, where is the data stored, and who at your company can see it?
• A price per employee. Ask for the yearly total for your headcount, including leavers, minimum numbers and add-ons.
• Leaving later. Ask: can we export everything, including documents, and for how long after we cancel?

What to do with the answers

1. Put all the vendors' answers side by side.
2. Look at the Must have questions first. If a vendor answers No to something you marked as a must-have, remove that vendor.
3. If a vendor answered "Partial" to a must-have, ask them exactly what is missing.
4. In the trial of each one left, set up two or three test employees that copy your real contracts (one part-time), without real names or personal details, and check their leave.

Why use NeutralPick to compare HR software vendors

• Every vendor answers the same questions. Each vendor gets its own private link to your checklist and answers in writing, so you can compare their answers question by question.
• All the answers in one table. You see every vendor's answer to every question side by side, instead of searching through emails and call notes.
• No vendor can pay to influence it. There are no adverts, no paid placements and no "featured" vendors. No vendor can pay to be shown to you or placed higher.
• Free, with no account. You don't need to sign up or pay anything.

Start with this checklist See an example comparison