Onboarding software for small business is judged by one hire run through it on the trial: does every line of the checklist reach its owner with a date, do the contract and the handbook get signed online and held against the hire, is the training recorded, and is the thirty-day review booked before day one ends. The onboarding checklist on this site prints the lines free, without an account; the onboarding software guide covers the category; the vendors' prices are cited below.
The lines chased
Offer, contract, handbook, tax forms, equipment, accounts, introductions, first task, buddy, training, review. Each assigned to a person with a date, and chased until done. Software that lists the lines and does not chase them is the checklist with a login.
The documents signed and held
The employee contract tool and the employee handbook template on this site print the two documents; the software gets them signed online and keeps the signed versions against the hire with the date. The handbook acknowledgment is the one most often missing.
Training and the review
What the hire was trained on, by whom, when, recorded; and the thirty-day review booked with the reminder set. The review template on this site prints the review. The training record is what an insurer or a customer asks for after an incident, and the review date is what stops the first month drifting into the third.
The price
From the vendors' own pricing pages, cited below: Homebase lists its Essentials plan at $30 per location per month billed monthly or $24 billed annually, with unlimited employees, and a Basic plan at $0 for one location with up to 10 employees; BambooHR starts at $10 per employee per month for Core and $17 for Pro; Deputy's Core plan is $6.50 per user per month. HeadcountDesk Pro is $24 per month per location.
Questions people ask about onboarding software for small business
Do I need onboarding software for one hire a year?
The checklist and the free tools cover one hire; the software earns its keep when there are several or when a document goes missing.
What is the most common failure?
The handbook signed for the first hire and not the fourth. The software's job is to make the fourth identical.
Is the checklist free?
Yes, without an account.