What is an HRIS?
An HRIS (human resource information system) is software that stores information about employees and reports on it: who works here, in which role and location, under which manager, since when, and with which documents. It is the record that the rest of HR software is built on.
What an HRIS holds
- Employee master data: personal details, contact, bank and statutory identifiers.
- Job and organisation: role, grade, department, manager, location and cost centre.
- History: every change of role, salary or location, with dates.
- Documents: offer letters, ID proofs, policies accepted.
- Reports: headcount, joiners and leavers, attrition, and HR data for audits.
HRIS vs HRMS vs HCM
The three terms overlap, and vendors use them loosely. Read strictly, each one contains the one before it:
| HRIS | HRMS | HCM | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stands for | Human resource information system | Human resource management system | Human capital management |
| Core job | Keep employee records and report on them | Run HR processes on those records | Manage the workforce as a whole |
| Employee records | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Attendance and leave | Sometimes | Yes | Yes |
| Payroll and statutory deductions | Usually not | Yes | Yes |
| Hiring and onboarding | Usually not | Usually | Yes |
| Performance, learning, succession | No | Sometimes | Yes |
| Typical buyer | Companies with payroll elsewhere | Most Indian companies of 100 to 1,000 | Large enterprises |
For what an HRMS covers in detail, see What is an HRMS?
Which one does an Indian company need?
The deciding question is payroll. In India, payroll means PF and ESI, professional tax and labour welfare fund that change by state, and wages as the labour codes define them. An HRIS on its own does not do that, so a company that buys one also needs a payroll system, and the two have to agree every month on joiners, leavers, attendance and salary changes.
For most companies of 100 to 1,000 employees, one HRMS that holds the records and runs payroll is simpler and leaves fewer places for figures to disagree. HCM suites earn their cost when talent processes such as succession planning across thousands of people matter more than payroll.
To compare products on your own criteria, use the free HRMS scorecard, or read the honest HRMS buyer's guide.
Is Flowy an HRIS?
Flowy includes an HRIS: one employee record from the job description to the final settlement. It is sold as an HRMS because it also runs hiring, onboarding, attendance, leave, payroll and exits on that record, and checks every salary structure against the labour codes before payroll runs. Try the free Payroll Health Check on your own salary grades.
Questions about HRIS
What is the full form of HRIS?
HRIS stands for Human Resource Information System: software that stores employee information and reports on it.
What is an example of an HRIS?
The employee database inside most HR software is an HRIS: names, roles, managers, locations, documents and history, with reports on headcount and attrition. Products sold as HRIS include BambooHR and Rippling; in India most products are sold as HRMS, such as Keka, greytHR, Darwinbox, Zoho People and Flowy.
What are the 5 types of HRIS?
Textbooks usually list operational (day-to-day records), tactical (decisions such as hiring and training), strategic (workforce planning), comprehensive (all of these in one system) and limited-function (one task, such as attendance). In practice, buyers choose by what the software does, not by these labels.
Are HRIS and HCM the same?
No. HCM (human capital management) is the widest of the three: an HRIS’s records, an HRMS’s processes such as payroll, plus talent management such as performance, learning and succession planning.
Is HRIS software the same as HRMS software?
They overlap, and many vendors use the terms for the same product. Strictly, an HRIS keeps records and reports, and an HRMS adds the processes run on them, payroll above all.
Does an Indian company need an HRIS or an HRMS?
If the software has to run payroll, which in India means PF, ESI, professional tax and LWF by state, you need an HRMS, or an HRIS joined to a separate payroll system. Most companies of 100 to 1,000 employees find one system simpler.