Best HR Software for 2024

HR software is of great importance since it helps companies manage their employees, employee-related processes, and confidential information. Therefore, choosing software to run your business smoothly can be a complex undertaking.

Still, HR software is a broad term and can be used for different purposes. So, we made certain to cover some of the most used Human Resource software, including:

• Recruiting software,
• Applicant Tracking Software (ATS),
• Employee engagement software,
• Performance management software,
• Learning management software, and
• Payroll software.

We did thorough research to make sure we found the best possible software for each group and made our selection based on:

• User-friendliness,
• Multi-platform availability,
• Business size, and
• Feature variety.

Stick around to find out about the best HR software currently available.

BambooHR — best for end-to-end recruiting processes

As their slogan says, “from hire to retire,” BambooHR can serve as a great solution for onboarding, offboarding, and everything in between.

BambooHR really leaves a great impression at first glance — very intuitive interface and easily accessible features in the hiring section, such as Job openings, Candidates, and Talent Pool.

What sets BambooHR apart from other similar apps is that HR managers can use the New Hire Packet Template, which serves as a customizable template for onboarding purposes. As an HR, you can simply enter information about new hires, such as:

• The time new hires start their first working day,
• The place they should go to (if it's an on-site job),
• Which person to contact, and more.

We really like the ability to add some Get to Know You questions in the template so the team can get familiar with the new employees or create tasks for new hires. BambooHR leaves nothing to chance when it comes to hiring new employees and making sure they are well-informed about the whole process.

BambooHR pros are:

• All-in-one HR tool (including hiring, onboarding, training, benefits, PTO, etc.),
• Leaves a great impression on new hires due to its user-friendly interface,
• Reduces paperwork and saves time thanks to its built-in electronic signature, and
• Includes a time tracking integration.

BambooHR cons are:

• No pricing plans disclosed,
• Doesn't offer expense management on the platform, and
• Comes with limited features on the mobile app.

What's new with BambooHR

BambooHR improved their payroll options as of September 2023. Users can now see dedicated tabs that show deductions, taxes, hours, and extra pay.

BambooHR pricing and plans

Who can use BambooHR

Mid-sized businesses.

BambooHR platforms supported

Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android

Manatal — best AI-powered software for recruiting

AI-powered recruiting software Manatal is built with one goal in mind — to speed up the recruiting processes and source the best hires.

Namely, Manatal AI Engine promises to find the perfect candidate based on your job requirements — by browsing over 20+ social media and public platforms, including LinkedIn, Medium, GitHub, and more.

What we liked about Manatal is its intuitive homepage that provides a very clear breakdown of:

• Clients,
• Jobs and candidates together with referrals,
• Revenue,
• Marketing, and others.

Also, adding a job candidate in Manatal is very straightforward — you can do it:

• Manually — by completing a form, uploading their resume (or resumes), and importing a JSON or CSV file, or
• Automatically — by installing a Chrome extension you'll be able to search candidates from LinkedIn.

Choose the way that fits you, and enjoy the recruiting processes fast and easy with Manatal.

Manatal pros are:

• Very intuitive interface,
• Uses AI to source candidates,
• Offers Kanban boards for better workflow visibility, and
• Syncs with numerous job posting websites.

Manatal cons are:

• Resume uploads are limited to 1,000 resumes at once, and
• The Career page is available in English and Spanish only.

What's new with Manatal

In September 2023, Manatal released SMS messaging within their app. This way, you can communicate with your candidates without using a third-party app.

Manatal pricing and plans

Users can also ask for a custom plan — you can contact their sales team to get a quote for a custom plan based on your business needs.

Who can use Manatal

The tool is a good choice for HR teams, recruiters, and headhunters.

Manatal platforms supported

Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android

Workable — best for managing entire recruiting processes

Workable will help you discover top talent and hire the most suitable candidates, due to the variety of recruiting and onboarding options it comes with. Workable boosts your recruiting processes by automating job posting across 200+ job websites, including Google, Indeed, LinkedIn, etc.

To be able to post a job using Workable, you should:

• Click on Post a job, and start filling out necessary fields, such as job title, assign a reference code for this job,
• Choose whether a job posting will be on-site, hybrid, or remote, and
• Add a description of the job.

Next, you will be asked to enter the job requirements, job benefits, employment details, and finally, annual salary.

Our personal opinion is that adding an estimated annual salary to a job posting adds value to the posting itself, and we found the fact that Workable encourages that remarkable.

Workable pros are:

• Integrates with leading job-posting websites such as LinkedIn,
• Makes recruiting fast and easy, and
• Offers emailing candidates directly from the software.

Workable cons are:

• Limited number of integrations, and
• Hefty subscriptions.

What's new with Workable

Workable became Indeed's Platinum Partner at the beginning of 2023. As a result, Workable users now have access to exclusive resources, integrations, and tools to enhance their recruiting processes.

Workable pricing and plans

Who can use Workable

Small businesses, midsize businesses, freelancers, large enterprises.

Workable platforms supported

Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android

Freshteam by Freshworks — best for candidate resume sorting

Freshteam is a tool that allows you to track job candidates throughout the recruiting and hiring processes, such as:

• Managing job openings,
• Engaging with your candidates,
• Deciding which candidates to interview by sorting through hundreds of resumes, and more.

The best thing about tracking job candidates in Freshteam, based on our observation, is that you can save your favorite candidates and their resumes thanks to the Freshteam Talent Pool option.

With the Talent Pool option, you can archive job candidates that weren't a great fit for a current position but might be for some future positions.

When you decide to archive a candidate for a future job opening, simply go to the Candidates section and click on the in-tray icon next to the candidate's name to move it safely to the Talent pool. Later, you can:

• Recommend a job role or roles for that particular candidate,
• Add tags for quick candidate identification, and
• Notify the candidate when a similar job opening pops out.

Then, as soon as you create a job posting, Freshteam will send you a notification if you have a suitable candidate in the Talent pool.

Freshteam pros are:

• Automatic job candidate search (no more Excel sheets),

• Growing your own candidate database, and
• No excessive paperwork (collecting documents and signatures with ease).

Freshteam con is:

• Limited integrations.

What's new with Freshteam

In 2022, Freshteam introduced Checkr — an AI-powered tool for in-depth background checks that recruiters can conduct to get a better insight into potential job candidates.

Freshteam pricing and plans

Who can use Freshteam

Businesses of any size, especially growing businesses.

Freshteam platforms supported

Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android

JazzHR — best for automating hiring processes

JazzHR is, among other things, an applicant tracking system that will help you optimize and automate your recruiting processes without wasting precious resources.

Thanks to its third-party integrations with some of the leading hiring software such as JobTarget, Verified First, Nonprofit HR, and others, you will be able to reach more quality candidates in the blink of an eye.

As filtering applicants is one of the crucial processes regarding applicant tracking software, JazzHR has an easy solution for you. Simply click on the magnifying glass icon in the toolbar to be able to run a quick search by typing a candidate's name, email address, or phone number.

We appreciate having the option to quickly search for something through the magnifying glass option (and not many software offer this option).

Moreover, with the JazzHR Bulk Email add-on, you can keep candidates informed on their progress, let existing candidates know about new job openings, or even send bulk rejection letters.

JazzHR pros are:

• Quick candidate search option,
• Bulk actions like bulk email and bulk texting, and
• The fact that it's highly customizable.

JazzHR cons

• Limited third party integrations,
• Quite costly for running a small business, and
• Lacks mobile applications.

What's new with JazzHR

JazzHR added a new feedback feature called Candidate Scorecard this year. This feature enables bias-free candidate feedback thanks to its standardized grading criteria.

JazzHR pricing and plans

Who can use JazzHR

Small businesses and freelancers.

JazzHR platforms supported

Web, Mac, Windows

Teamtailor — best for managing ongoing recruiting processes

Teamtailor is a modern recruitment platform that helps you attract and hire top talent, while building strong relationships with your job candidates.

While testing the app, Teamtailor seemed quite easy to use and navigate. As for candidate tracking during the recruitment process, we found a very useful option in Teamtailor — Guide time.

Namely, Guide time is used for better candidate tracking according to the stages in the recruitment process. You just need to go to the Candidates section where all your candidates are listed, and select the name of the candidate whose status you want to see.

When you click on the job candidate's name, you will see 5 stages candidates can be moved to:

• Inbox,
• Reviewing,
• Interview,
• Offered, and
• Hired.

Every time you move a candidate from one stage to another, a notification will show up on the right side of the screen stating the time and date and the stage where you moved the candidate.

Guide time is used to set the maximum time a candidate can stay in a specific stage, and when that time passes, the app will mark the candidate as Overdue.

To set the Guide time, click on the three dots in the right corner and tailor it according to your needs and objectives.

We find this an amazing candidate tracking option that makes it easier for HR managers to set and achieve goals during the recruitment process.

Teamtailor pros are:

• Intuitive features for candidate tracking,
• Quite easy to use and navigate, and
• Multiple integrations.

Teamtailor cons are:

• Pages sometimes need a long time to load, and
• The Analytics section is difficult to understand.

What's new with Teamtailor

In September 2023, Teamtailor integrated with Deel, an all-in-one HR platform for global teams. Teamtailor users can now create localized legal contracts, track time off, grant bonuses, etc.

Teamtailor pricing and plans

You will have to contact their sales team for the pricing details. However, Teamtailor offers a free trial.

Who can use Teamtailor

Businesses of any size.

Teamtailor platforms supported

Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android

ThriveSparrow — best for connecting your workforce together

ThriveSparrow is software with features mainly focused on elevating employee experience and employee engagement.

ThriveSparrow nurtures an employee-first culture. With that in mind, in ThriveSparrow, HR managers can:

• Create employee engagement surveys to get valuable insight into employee satisfaction,
• Encourage appreciation among team members by recognizing other people's accomplishments and giving kudos, and
• Get detailed insights on employee progress and engagement through heatmap analytics.

As for its functionalities, ThriveSparrow offers several features for engaging people within an organization. We particularly like its Feed section that basically resembles a social media network where everyone from the team can communicate, recognize employees through giving kudos, share news, and more.

As for granting kudos in ThriveSparrow, simply:

• Click on Grant Kudos button on the home page,
• Determine how many points to give away (you earn points using the app and receiving kudos from other team members),
• Tag a team member (@),
• Write a custom appreciation message, and
• Click Grant.

As soon as you click on the Grant button, the post is visible within your team/organization, and other members can share their excitement by adding comments or using emoji reactions. This way, employee feedback is visible to everyone, which increases transparency within an organization and boosts employee motivation.

ThriveSparrow pros are:

• Fun interface that functions as a social media platform where people can engage,
• Very affordable, and
• Integration with Slack for peer-to-peer recognition.

ThriveSparrow cons is:

• Lacks mobile applications.

What's new with ThriveSparrow

ThriveSparrow keeps its users in suspense as it will expand its feature collection with Performance reviews, Goals, and One-on-ones very soon.

ThriveSparrow pricing and plans

Who can use ThriveSparrow

Businesses of all sizes.

ThriveSparrow platforms supported

Web, Mac, Windows

Jotform — best for creating online forms

Jotform is a platform that uses online forms as its main employee engagement feature and offers its users 10,000+ ready-made form templates for different purposes, such as payment forms, application forms, signup forms, and many others.

As for elevating and encouraging employee engagement within an organization, HR managers can use their ready-made questionnaires, quizzes, feedback forms, pools, employee satisfaction surveys, and more.

Out of thousands of templates available within Jotform, we would like to single out its employee satisfaction survey templates. HR managers can use them to get a better insight into their employee satisfaction in the workplace.

All you need to do is:

• Choose a template (or start a new one from scratch),
• Customize it to suit your company's needs and the purpose of your survey,
• Share it with your team members, and
• Receive responses later in your secure Jotform account.

There's a plethora of options to customize your survey — choosing the rating system, adding different elements (e-signature, company logo, captcha, page break, etc.), choosing the color, style, or theme of your future survey, and much more.

We think this might be the most feature-rich online form maker we've ever tried (and we've tried dozens so far).

Jotform pros are:

• Thousands of ready-made form templates available,
• Integrations (Zapier, Google Sheets, PayPal, Zoho CRM, etc.), and
• Intuitive form creating.

Jotform cons are:

• Free plan has a limited number of templates.

What's new with Jotform

At the end of 2023, Jotform connected with Salesforce, and users are now able to collect data easily, thanks to its no-code form builder and automation features such as dynamic prefill, e-signatures, shareable apps, and more.

Jotform pricing and plans

Who can use Jotform

Business of any size.

Jotform platforms supported

Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android

Employment Hero — best for conducting surveys

Employment Hero is an all-in-one HR software that offers numerous features to operate your team at every stage.

Apart from its plethora of features for HR operations, Employment Hero helps companies develop and grow the company culture that everyone enjoys. Rewards, recognition, happiness surveys — these are only some of the Employment Hero ways to engage employees effectively.

Employment Hero simplifies the process of getting employee feedback via monthly employee engagement surveys. Such surveys help HR managers measure how satisfied and motivated employees are.

On the left-hand side menu, there's an option to click on Engagement to choose from Happiness Surveys and Custom Surveys. We wanted to see what Happiness Surveys in Employment Hero looked like, and we found out that the app allows you to create a custom survey and use a happiness scale graph where employees can score their satisfaction at work from 1 to 10.

Also, employees may leave a comment in a comment box to elaborate on their answers in more detail. The app guarantees that all submissions are anonymous.

After the employees have completed their survey, you will get the results in the form of a graph that will show the respondents' answers. Green colors show happy employees, while pink color indicates unhappy employees. Based on our observation, Employee Hero turned out to be a very transparent and intuitive tool.

Employment Hero pros are:

• Variety of features is offered in the free plan, and
• All-in-one HR tool.

Employment Hero cons are:

• The setup process is a bit complicated.

What's new with Employment Hero

In May 2023, they introduced AI enhancements to email templates, happiness surveys, job descriptions, recognition, shoutouts, feedback, and more. Such enhancements help teams and managers communicate in a more efficient way, while boosting employee confidence at the same time.

Employment Hero pricing and plans

Who can use Employment Hero

Businesses of any size, freelancers.

Employment Hero platforms supported

Web, Mac, Linux, Windows, iOS, Android

15Five — best for increasing employee engagement

15Five is a performance management app that focuses on maximizing employee engagement, productivity, and retention. It's specifically designed to help HR leaders encourage high performance.

15Five uses ready-made performance reviews that you can customize to fit your company's culture. With 15Five, performance review cycles are no longer daunting but easy to run since the tool helps managers evaluate employee performance, set goals for them, and find areas of improvement.

The great thing about 15Five is the option to manage and track the company's Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). In the All objectives section, managers can set personal or company-oriented goals, assign tasks to people, see goal progress, and more.

To create new objectives, simply:

• Click on Create a new objective,
• Give a name to it,
• Select an owner, and
• Assign the objective to a particular person or set company-wide goals.

Next, you can align your newly created objective with a parent objective (optional step), define your key results, and create a start and end time for your objective. As simple as that.

15Five pros are:

• Highly customizable employee engagement survey templates,
• Affordable plans, and
• Efficient goal tracking.

15Five cons are:

• Limited integrations, and
• Poor reporting options.

What's new with 15Five

As of 2022, admins can now use employee ID rather than email address to find and access employee data faster.

15Five pricing and plans

Who can use 15Five

Mid-sized to large businesses.

15Five platforms supported

Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android

WebHR — best for conducting performance reviews

WebHR is a human resource management software that automates your company's HR processes, such as onboarding, recruitment, payroll, performance, and more. With WebHR, HR managers can create a positive appraisal experience by setting clear company goals and expectations.

WebHR may be a great solution for organizations wishing to maintain employee engagement and high performance thanks to its performance management features.

In WebHR, HR managers can design custom Performance evaluation templates or create them from scratch to evaluate employee performance using objectives, KPIs, and competency indicators. The following are some example templates you can use, such as annual performance appraisal, employee performance factor, and more.

If you would like to assess an employee's performance, the app offers extensive templates with questions related to employee quality of work, punctuality, and more. Simply tick the rating that best describes employee performance according to the given criteria.

What we like most about these assessments is that WebHR encourages you to be detailed when providing feedback by writing about each employee's achievements or giving extra comments if needed.

WebHR pros are:

• Easy to use and navigate software, and
• Affordable software since you can run all of your HR processes, such as recruitment, onboarding, payroll, performance, etc.

WebHR cons are:

• The interface looks a bit outdated compared to other similar apps.

What's new with WebHR

WebHR's stayed true to its tried and tested formula for a while now, so they haven't made any significant changes to their software over the years.

WebHR pricing and plans

*To be able to use add-ons for recruitment, applicant tracking, performance, eSignatures, forms, HR letters and benefits, you must pay additional money on a monthly subscription.

Who can use WebHR

Businesses of any size.

WebHR platforms supported

Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android

Monday.com — best for maximizing employee and company

Monday is an all-in-one performance management app that encourages organized and collaborative ways of working.

Monday offers a plethora of features that may help you manage the most important elements of a performance management process — planning, communication, reviewing, and support.

We would like to single out Monday's performance review feature. The feature gives you the option to see teams grouped based on departments with the ratings and assessments of their performance visible next to their names.

You may score the quality of their work, initiative, technical knowledge, punctuality, and other aspects as — good, excellent, satisfactory, or unsatisfactory.

We find employee review performance in Monday quite useful as they help HR managers identify top performers and see how they grow, or record poor performers to be able to take timely action.

Monday pros are:

• A variety of different features,
• Multiple customization options, and
• Integrations with software such as Zoom, Slack, Zendesk, etc.

Monday cons are:

• Confusing interface, difficulties when trying to navigate through the software.

What's new with Monday

Monday's newest release was in October 2023, and admins can now define “team owners” who are able to make changes on the team, such as adding or removing team members, creating sub-teams, changing the team name, and more.

Monday pricing and plans

Who can use Monday

Businesses of any size, freelancers.

Monday platforms supported

Web, Mac, Linux, Windows, iOS, Android

Absorb LMS — best for AI-powered learning

Absorb LMS is an AI-powered tool designed to streamline learning processes within an organization.

Absorb LMS offers a smooth learning experience to both learners and administrators through features such as social learning, learning paths, gamification, and more.

What we would like to single out when trying out Absorb LMS is that learners get a chance to enjoy an AI-powered learning experience, while admins can manage and track progress throughout the learning processes trouble-free. For a better learning experience, learners can:

• Take courses,
• Watch informative videos, or even
• Take polls and quizzes within the app.

We find it amusing that you can create custom quizzes with questions of your choice (true or false, multiple choice, etc.), and enable scoring and passing grades.

To create a quiz, you will need to add a Quiz page to your course, name your quiz, choose the type of quiz you want (true or false, multiple choice, etc.), and start writing your questions.

On your right-hand side, you are able to see options for scoring, setting a passing grade, allowing question skipping, and more.

Absorb LMS pros are:

• Integrated AI,
• Unique learning experiences (such as creating custom quizzes), and
• Detailed reporting.

Absorb LMS cons are:

• Limited ability to edit course-related options in bulk.

What's new with Absorb LMS

In October 2023, Absorb LMS announced a collaboration with ChurnZero, a customer success platform, to help companies boost their customer experience, satisfaction, and retention.

Absorb LMS pricing and plans

Absorb LMS offers custom pricing based on the number of your employees and your specific business needs. There's a free trial within the app.

Who can use Absorb LMS

Businesses of any size.

Absorb LMS platforms supported

Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android

TalentLMS — best for ready-made learning courses

TalentLMS is a learning management platform perfect for creating and managing online courses.

With TalentLMS, you can access a library of ready-made courses that focus on improving your team's soft skills. TalentLMS allows you to provide lifelong training to your employees no matter where they are, which is a great option for remote teams.

In the toolbar section, you are able to choose between 3 roles in TalentLMS:

1. Instructor — creates new courses and assigns users to a course,
2. Administrator — manages users and creates reports, and
3. Learner — has an overview of courses and takes courses when assigned.

If you want to create a course as an instructor, all you need to do is click on Add course in the instructor's dashboard.

The platform allows you to customize the course to your needs:

• Name the course,
• Select a course category,
• Set the price for the course,
• Limit the number of learners for that course, and
• Set start/expiration dates of the course.

Finally, pick one of the default certificate templates or make your own to award your learners for completing the course successfully.

What we find really useful about this course-making platform is that instructors can even include a video with course instructions to make it easier for the learners if they have any concerns about the course (use a YouTube or Vimeo URL).

TalentLMS pros are:

• Over 800 unique ready-made courses,
• Centralized place for all training needs, and
• Free unlimited customer support for all plans including Free plans.

TalentLMS cons are:

• Poor reporting options.

What's new with TalentLMS

In May 2021, TalentLMS released Training matrix, a feature that users can use to see the course progress from a single page.

TalentLMS pricing and plans

Who can use TalentLMS

Businesses of any size, freelancers.

TalentLMS platforms supported

Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android

D2L Brightspace — best for employee training

D2L Brightspace is a learning management platform that offers possibilities for high-quality learning, both for schools or businesses.

With D2L Brightspace's intuitive platform, you provide your employees with meaningful learning opportunities and help them improve their knowledge and skills through custom courses and assessments.

To create a custom course as a Course designer in D2L Brightspace, go to Build your course on the homepage and click on Create New. The software will then ask you about the content you would like to create — new lesson, quiz, assignment, and others.

For this purpose, we chose to create a new Assignment. Creating an assignment in D2L is very straightforward — name it, set the due date, set grading points, and provide learner instructions. As for giving instructions to your learners, you can upload photos, record audio or video, share links, and more.

What's more, you can add release conditions so that users can view or access the assignment after they meet the necessary conditions, add task submission conditions, and more.

We like that the platform offers flexible and scalable learning opportunities to its users while course designers can create custom courses that fit their needs.

D2L Brightspace pros are:

• Numerous ready-to-use course templates, and
• The option to give certificates after a finished course.

D2L Brightspace cons are:

• Frequent notifications popping up while navigating through the software.

What's new with D2L Brightspace

Last year, D2L introduced the Creator+ feature, thanks to which users can now craft advanced interactive content using visual effects.

D2L Brightspace pricing and plans

You'll have to contact their support team for the pricing details. There's a free trial within the app.

Who can use D2L Brightspace

Businesses of any size.

D2L Brightspace platforms supported

Web, Mac, Linux, Windows, iOS, Android

Homebase — best for fast payroll running

Homebase is a payroll tool that also offers employee scheduling and time tracking.

Homebase makes running payrolls a breeze — HR managers can turn their employee timesheets into payroll. Later on, Homebase automatically processes employee tax filings according to state, local, and federal requirements.

To run payrolls in Homebase, go to the Payroll section and click Start payroll. Homebase will then lead you to the section where you can see a breakdown of your employees':

• Wage rates,
• Work hours,
• Time off,
• Sick time,
• Paid holidays, and
• Tips.

You can basically just go through this and edit any crucial fields if necessary since Homebase automatically imports them for regular payroll, and this is probably the best thing about this software.

When you click Next, you will see benefits, taxes, post-tax deductions, and net pay for each employee. Edit any entries if necessary (again, the app automatically fills these fields based on employee location, hourly pay, marital status, etc.). If everything seems right, click Next to move on to the Review and submit payroll page.

Finally, you will be able to see a payroll summary. The Total Payroll Cost amount is the actual sum of wages, taxes, and benefits.

In the end, click Submit payroll and you are done.

Homebase pros are:

• Ability to run employee payroll for multiple locations, and
• Software automatically converts timesheets into wages and files taxes.

Homebase cons are:

• Built for hourly employees more than for salaried employees.

What's new with Homebase

In December 2022, Homebase released new updates to the software including:

• Online Time Clock for mobile applications (both iOS and Android), and
• Mobile Schedule Editor (available on both iOS and Android) which managers can use to build and edit schedules from their phones.

Homebase pricing and plans

Who can use Homebase

Businesses of any size.

Homebase platforms supported

Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android

Wave — best small business payroll software

Wave is perfect for keeping track of your cash flow — cash coming in and going out of your business, together with your profit and loss (expenses, unpaid invoices, etc.).

Wave eases both employee and admin-related tasks. It offers employees the option to:

• See their payroll reports and pay stubs,
• Add their personal credit cards,
• Track expenses, and much more.

On the other hand, admins can:

• Pay employees and contractors in a matter of minutes,
• File taxes,
• See a breakdown of their payroll expenses by employee, expense type, etc.

Profit and loss statements explained (+ templates and examples)

To pay your employees using Wave, you first need to make sure that you've previously:

• Added your employees,
• Completed your tax profile,
• Applied for direct deposit (not supposed to do this if you are using checks to pay your employees),
• Set employee hourly rate (for hourly employees only), and
• Set payroll frequency.

Now, it's time to run payroll.

When you click on Run payroll, you'll see a calendar where you need to edit the start/end dates of the pay period and the payday based on the pay frequency you've previously chosen.

We find it very useful that the software alerts you if you haven't completed any of the required steps above. In that case, a notice will pop out stating the things you must complete to run payroll successfully. If there are not notices that you must address, then click on Approve this payroll to run payroll successfully.

Wave pros are:

• Great for businesses on a budget (offers free features), and
• Efficient email and live chat support.

Wave cons are:

• Tax compliance in only 14 US states,
• You cannot change the frequency of payment once you set it and run your first payroll, and
• No option to manage employee benefits.

What's new with Wave

In 2022, Wave updated its automatic tax payment processes for US customers. Before this update, Wave had to schedule all tax payment withdrawals with the receiving agency, but now Wave can make those withdrawals by itself.

Wave pricing and plans

Who can use Wave

Small businesses, freelancers.

Wave platforms supported

Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android

How to do payroll for small business

What software do HR people use?

Different HR professionals have various software needs, depending on the tasks they're currently performing, and these needs and tasks determine what software they'll use. Let's go over some of the most frequently used HR software.

#1: Recruiting software — to manage recruitment tasks

Apps that offer recruiting features to their users help recruiters post jobs, attract people, and simplify communication between them and job candidates. They usually work as an all-in-one app that offers secure storage of employee data and easy navigation through recruiting processes — from sourcing to hiring.

The common features of recruiting software include:

• Job posting options,
• Resume management,
• Resume reviewing,
• Resume storage,
• Candidate interviews, and
• Recruitment process management.

#2: Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) — to track job applicants

Applicant tracking software helps you manage candidate sourcing and evaluation tasks, as well as oversee the hiring process from start to finish. In other words, ATS software is designed to simplify the candidate sourcing process by letting HR managers collect, sort, and scan resumes automatically based on keywords and job descriptions they've created.

The most common features of applicant tracking software include:

• Job posting boards,
• An index of career sites,
• Interview tools, and
• Various analytic tools.

#3: Employee engagement software — to track employee engagement

Overall, employee engagement applications help companies keep employee satisfaction high. Meaning, engaged employees are satisfied employees who perform better, resulting in decreased employee turnover.

Employee engagement software helps you handle a variety of employee engagement tasks, including increasing sales, decreasing turnover, and improving training.

The common features of employee engagement software include:

• Feedback features,
• A reward-based system,
• Progress tracking features,
• Employee guides, and
• Goal management.

#4: Performance management software — to track employee performance and give appraisals

Performance management software is designed to increase workforce productivity and make sure employees are aligned with the company's goals and objectives. This type of software helps managers write job profiles, describe expectations for job positions, and deliver assessments of employee work.

Performance management software also aims to improve employee engagement by providing transparency, recognition, and feedback.

The common features of performance management software include:

• Coaching tools,
• Succession,
• Performance vault,
• Workflows meant to help you track your mentoring activities, and
• Workflows meant to help you track your coaching activities.

#5: Learning management software — to provide employees with learning opportunities

Learning management software helps companies provide training courses and programs. This type of software allows companies to teach new skills and expand on their employees' skills through quizzes, games, and other gamified learning methods.

The common features of learning management software include:

• Support for mobile learning,
• Tests and assessments,
• Course calendars, and
• Competency management features.

#6: Payroll software — to manage payroll

Last but not least — payroll software is used for running employee payroll. Such software usually consists of features for managing, tracking, and automating employee payments. This type of software also helps companies handle payroll before sending out invoices in accordance with current taxes and regulations, and helps them make sure their employees are paid what they're due and on time.

The common features of payroll software include:

• Payroll processing,
• Tax calculations,
• Tax filing,
• Payroll compliance, and
• Expense management.

How to calculate work hours: A step-by-step guide to calculating payroll and hours worked

How to choose a perfect HR software for your business (+ steps)?

Opting for the right HR software for your business after reading this extensive review list may seem hard. However, we provide you with some easy-to-follow steps for choosing the best one for your needs.

Step #1: Determine your business needs

This is a crucial step because knowing where your business stands right now and where you want it to be may help in making the right decision.

Meaning, if you, for instance, feel like there's a lack of satisfaction among your workers or your turnover rate is higher than usual, you may consider implementing an employee engagement software into your business (or change the existing one, for that matter).

Such software may be of help to you in terms of:

• Collecting regular employee feedback,
• Celebrating employee accomplishments, or
• Setting clear goals to increase employee retention and satisfaction in the workplace.

Therefore, think about your business objective before you invest in wrong HR software and spend your resources in vain.

Step #2: Involve your team in decision making

It goes without saying that selecting the right software for your business should be done in agreement with your team. Brainstorming ideas in a group can result in making effective, more deliberate decisions. Whether you opt for a meeting or conduct an online survey, make sure you ask questions like:

How can HR software benefit us?
What's wrong with the existing HR software?
What challenges is the HR team facing right now?
Which features should a perfect HR software include?

Consulting with your team will greatly aid your decision-making process of introducing the right HR software into your organization.

Step #3: Do your research

Now that you are familiar with your needs and you've consulted with your team, it's time to see what's out there.

The HR software collection is undoubtedly vast, so finding the right one for your needs may be daunting. If you'd like to see what's out there on top of the apps explored in this guide, software review websites may offer in-depth descriptions of popular HR software currently on the market. You may even see user comments, grades, screenshots, demo videos, steps on how to use an app, and more.

Step #4: Try before you buy

Don't make a reckless choice and buy software that you are not sure is the right solution for your business. Most software-making providers on the market offer a free trial of their products, so make use of it!

Trying out different software will help you decide what works best for you. Look at the following tips when testing out software:

• See whether the software in question provides the features you are looking for,
• Make sure the tool is easily navigated (complex software result in confusion and chaos within the organization),
• See if the app provides integrations with other tools (the more integrations, the better), and last but not least
• Ask your colleagues what they think of the software.

Furthermore, if you don't have enough time to test out the software, don't hesitate to ask for a trial extension — most commonly the sales team will be more than happy to do it.

Step #5: Be aware of your budget

Finally, make sure you set a budget for this undertaking that you will stay within. Luckily, in this text, you can find comprehensive pricing lists and plans for each HR software. Most of them are based on fixed amounts plus charges per user paid monthly (you may also choose between annual or monthly billing, however, annual billing is a more affordable option).

Therefore, take into consideration the size of your business and start comparing prices and plans.

Bonus software: Time clock & timesheet software Clockify

Clockify is a time tracking software that HR specialists can use to track their employee work hours (billable or non-billable) spent on a specific project or task (individuals can also use it for time tracking purposes).
The best thing about Clockify is its simplicity regarding time tracking, but also the fact that it provides a detailed overview of everyone's logged work hours that can further be used for scheduling, running reports, or forecasting projects.

In Clockify, you can choose how you want to track your time. If your choice is to enter hours manually, then open the online timesheet, select what you've worked on and enter the time for the corresponding day.

Or, start a timer, and your hours get automatically recorded — you'll still be able to edit logged hours later on if there's been some changes along the way. As for projects and tasks, you create custom projects and tasks you or your employees are working on.

Later, you can run a report for any period you wish, and the software breaks down all the time by employees and project and even calculates pay (or cost) according to each person's hourly rate.

We think it's great that the app lets you choose the way you want to track your time. Sometimes we forget to start the timer, and the fact that Clockify lets you add it later, makes you feel at ease.

Clockify pros

• Free version offering multiple features,
• Unlimited users,
• Quite affordable, and
• Idle detection.

Clockify cons

• The timer doesn’t stop automatically when you stop working on a task/project, and
• No reminder when time entries overlap.

What's new with Clockify

As of 2023, all users can now track break time via Time tracker. What's more, you can now export all projects into the CSV or Excel format.

Clockify pricing and plans

Who can use Clockify
Freelancers, small businesses, and teams of any size.

Clockify platforms supported

Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android

Smart choice of software can streamline human resource processes

Implementing a quality HR software into your business may ease and automate the time-consuming tasks and operations.

As you can see, there is a vast number of HR software for different purposes. While choosing the one for your needs, make sure you cover the following points:

• It's a good fit for your business size,
• Monthly/yearly subscription is in accordance with your budget,
• It's rich in features (or it provides the features that your business demands),
• It helps promote great team culture, and others.

We tried hard to test each app from the list, and we hope we helped you find the one that is suitable for your needs.

Also, don't forget to track your employee hours and attendance, as it is the cornerstone of each HR process. Keep track of your employee hours and attendance fast and easy by signing up with Clockify — the most popular free time tracker for teams.

Sign up for Clockify here.