The commonest misunderstanding: that an HR system replaces your accountant. It does not. Payroll and mandatory filings stay exactly where they were.
What changes is everything else — leave, hours, records, onboarding — which currently runs on email and spreadsheets and costs you hours every month.
Want to see what you would save?
Tell us how many people you are and how you track leave and we will tell you what is worth changing.
When you genuinely need one
| Size | What suffices |
|---|---|
| Up to 8 people | A shared sheet with a clear rule |
| 8–25 people | A simple leave and hours tool |
| 25–60 people | A full HR system |
| 60+ people | A system with appraisals and reporting |
Four signs the time has come:
- You do not know who is away next week without asking.
- Leave is counted by hand and balance disputes arise.
- Staff documents live in three different places.
- Onboarding a new joiner depends on what somebody remembers.
The second is the most expensive in terms of trust. A disagreement over a leave balance costs more in atmosphere than the system costs in a year.
What an HR system covers
| Area | What it solves |
|---|---|
| Leave and absence | Request, approval, balance, team calendar |
| Hours and attendance | Recording, overtime, shifts |
| Employee record | Contracts, certificates, expiry dates |
| Onboarding | A checklist with an owner and a deadline |
| Appraisals | Objectives and conversations, on the record |
The first area justifies the investment on its own in most businesses of this size. The request → approval → calendar update flow removes dozens of emails a month.
The third has compliance value too. A system that flags an expiring certificate or contract prevents problems that would otherwise surface in an inspection.
How to design an approval flow properly before automating it: workflow automation, and how documents get signed without printing: digital signatures.
What stays with your accountant
The line is clear and worth agreeing before you buy anything:
- Calculating and paying payroll.
- Filings and submissions to the relevant authorities.
- Interpreting employment law — leave, hours, contracts.
- Social security and tax matters.
The system’s role is to feed accurate data, not to decide. A good system exports the month’s changes in a format your accountant can use — and that is the critical question to put to any vendor.
Obligations around notifying working hours, overtime and changes do shift, and the detail decides compliance. Confirm with your accountant or an employment lawyer what applies to your business before relying on any automation.
Not sure where the system ends and the accountant begins?
Tell us what you do manually today and we will tell you what can move into a system.
How to choose without overbuying
Five criteria, in order of weight:
- Simplicity for the employee. If a leave request takes more than a minute, the emails come back.
- Works on a phone. Half your people are not sitting at a desk.
- Data export for your accountant, in a format they accept.
- Access rights by role — a manager sees their team, not everybody.
- Data retention with a clear deletion period.
The fourth and fifth are obligations, not preferences. Staff data is among the most sensitive a business holds: minimum access, a clear purpose, a defined retention period.
Cost: €3–8 per employee per month for the basics, more with appraisals and reporting. Indicative ranges — confirm with quotes. How to work out whether it paid: digital transformation ROI.
Frequently asked questions
Does it replace payroll?
No. It feeds payroll with data; the calculation and the filings stay with your accountant.
How long does setup take?
1–2 weeks for leave and records. Hours take longer if you run shifts.
Will the team actually use it?
If a leave request takes two taps on a phone, yes. Otherwise no — and you find that out in the trial.
Do I need an HR manager?
Not at this size. You need one person who keeps the system current.
Where is the data stored?
Ask explicitly. Prefer a vendor who states it in writing along with the processing terms.
The first step
Count how many emails your business exchanged last month about leave, days off and shift changes.
Multiply by five minutes per email. That is the number to compare against any subscription — and it is usually not close. What else is worth automating: business automation.
Next step
Book a free 30-minute call with the team at The Dev Alley. We will look at how you manage staff today and what is worth moving into a system.