Staff management software, for a small employer, is the record and the documents, and the question that decides between products is how they are priced. Per location, a shop with twelve staff pays one figure; per employee, twelve. 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. The tools on this site print every document free, without an account; this page is what the software that keeps them has to do, and how to compare the price.
What it keeps
One record per person: contract, handbook acknowledgment with version, tax forms, onboarding checklist and training, hours and approvals, reviews with signatures, write-ups citing the handbook, changes to pay and role, the exit. The contract tool, handbook template, onboarding checklist and review template on this site print the first four.
What it does
Asks for each document when due, holds the signed version, reminds the manager of reviews, approves hours on the DOL overtime rule cited below, exports the record. The PTO and overtime calculator on this site is the hours arithmetic.
Per location or per employee
A per-location price does not move when the shop hires; a per-employee price does. For a small employer with a changing headcount the first is predictable and the second is a line that grows. The vendors' pages cited below state which each is.
What is free first
The employee handbook template, the onboarding checklist, the employee contract tool, the review template, the calculators and the timesheet invoice all print without an account, and each is the same document the subscription keeps. The record that holds them against each employee, with the reminders and the export, is the paid product.
Questions people ask about staff management software
Is staff management software the same as scheduling software?
Scheduling is one module; the record and documents are the part a small employer cannot do without.
How many employees before it pays?
The first time a document goes missing; before that, the free tools and a folder.
Where are the prices from?
The vendors' own pricing pages, cited below, on the day they were read.