HRMS
How to choose HRMS software in India: 9 questions to ask before you buy
Most HRMS demos look the same: a clean dashboard, a leave calendar and a payslip. The differences that matter show up months later, at month-end, during an audit or when a branch opens in another state. Ask these nine questions before you sign up for any HRMS, including ours.
1. Does it handle statutory compliance for your state?
PF and ESIC work the same way across India, but professional tax and labour welfare fund differ from state to state, and so do minimum wages. Ask the vendor to run a sample payroll for one of your real employees in each state you operate in, and check the deductions line by line.
2. Can employees read their payslips in their own language?
In Maharashtra, many employees are more comfortable in Marathi or Hindi than in English. When payslips are in a language people read easily, HR answers far fewer "why is my salary different this month?" questions.
3. How is attendance captured, and can you trust it?
Paper registers and shared biometric devices are easy to game. Look for options that fit how your people actually work: geo-fenced mobile punch-in for field and site staff, a selfie or face check to stop proxy attendance, and QR codes or supervisors marking attendance for people without smartphones.
4. Does it work across branches and shifts?
Growing companies add branches, night shifts and rotating rosters. Check that policies, shifts, holidays and reports can be set per branch, and that a head-office view still shows the whole company at once.
5. Is there a mobile app for employees and managers?
Employees should be able to punch in, apply for leave and download payslips from their phone. Managers should be able to approve requests and see who is present without logging in to a desktop.
6. Where is your data hosted, and who can see it?
HR data includes salaries, bank details, ID documents and sometimes photos. Ask which cloud provider hosts the data, how each company's data is kept separate, how access is controlled by role, and what happens after repeated wrong passwords. Ask how often data is backed up and whether a restore has been tested. Under India's DPDP Act, your company stays responsible for this data, so the vendor's answers matter.
7. Can you import your data, and export it any time?
You should not have to type in every employee by hand. Check that existing records can be imported from Excel, and that you can export employees, attendance and payroll registers whenever you need them, including if you ever leave.
8. How is it priced, and what is included?
Most Indian HRMS products charge per employee, per month or per year. Compare the full cost: setup fees, payroll or compliance modules sold as add-ons, mobile app charges and support plans. A slightly higher plan that includes payroll can cost less than a cheap plan plus add-ons.
9. Who supports you, in which language, and how fast?
The first payroll run on a new system always raises questions. Find out whether you get a named person who helps with setup, whether support speaks your team's language, and how quickly they reply in the week salaries go out.
We built RootWave HRMS around these questions: payroll with PF, ESIC, PT and LWF, payslips in Marathi, Hindi and English, geo-fenced and face attendance, multi-branch support and a mobile app, with published pricing per employee per year.