What is an HRMS?
An HRMS (human resource management system) is software that keeps one record for every employee and runs the HR work around it: hiring, onboarding, attendance and leave, payroll, and exits. In India it also has to get the statutory side of payroll right, state by state.
Looking for a government HRMS login, such as Indian Railways HRMS or e-HRMS? Those are run by their departments. This page is about HRMS software that companies use for their own employees.
What an HRMS does
Every HRMS starts with the employee record and builds the work on top of it. The usual modules:
| Module | What it does |
|---|---|
| Core HR (the employee record) | Personal details, role, manager, location, salary history and documents, kept as one record from joining to exit. |
| Recruitment | Job descriptions, candidates, interviews and offers, so a hire arrives with their data already in the system. |
| Onboarding | Joining forms, documents, policies to accept, and a first-day checklist. |
| Attendance and leave | Shifts, punches, regularisation, leave balances and approvals. |
| Payroll | Salary structures, monthly pay, statutory deductions, payslips and bank files. |
| Exits | Resignation, notice, clearance and the full and final settlement. |
| Employee self-service | Leave requests, payslips, tax declarations and letters, without writing to HR. |
| Reports and audit trail | Headcount, attrition and cost reports, and a record of who changed what and when. |
Larger suites add performance reviews, learning and succession planning. Those are usually called HCM; see HRIS vs HRMS vs HCM.
What an HRMS has to do in India
Global HRMS explainers stop at the module list. For an Indian employer, the harder part is that payroll changes by state and by law, and the HRMS has to keep up:
- The labour codes’ definition of wages. PF and gratuity are calculated on wages as the codes define them, which can be more than basic pay. See the 50% wage rule.
- PF, ESI, professional tax and labour welfare fund. Professional tax and LWF differ by state, so an employee in Bengaluru and one in Pune are deducted differently. See payroll rules by state.
- Returns and due dates. The EPF return, ESI, TDS, PT and LWF each have their own dates. See the statutory compliance calendar.
- Exits on the codes’ terms. Final dues, leave encashment and gratuity on the codes’ wage base. Try the full and final settlement calculator.
When a company needs one
Spreadsheets work while one person can hold the whole payroll in their head. They tend to break when a company hires in more than one state, when attendance feeds pay, or when an auditor asks who changed a salary and when. For most Indian companies that happens somewhere between 50 and 200 employees.
How to choose an HRMS
- Run your own payroll through it. Ask each vendor to process three of your salary grades and one of your states during the demo.
- Check the statutory work, not the screens. Ask how it calculates PF on the codes’ wages, and how it handles a state you pay in.
- Count the cost over three years as headcount grows, not the first-year price.
- Ask how you leave. Can you export every record and payroll history in a usable format?
The free HRMS scorecard turns these into weighted scores, and the honest HRMS buyer's guide covers the whole process.
Where Flowy fits
Flowy is an HRMS and payroll system for Indian companies with 100 to 1,000 employees. Hiring, onboarding, attendance, leave, payroll and exits run on one record, and every salary structure is checked against the labour codes before payroll runs. You can see what it would find in your structures with the free Payroll Health Check.
Questions about HRMS
What is the full form of HRMS?
HRMS stands for Human Resource Management System: software that keeps employee records and runs the HR work around them, such as hiring, attendance, leave, payroll and exits.
What is the use of an HRMS?
It keeps one record per employee and runs the repeated HR work from it: onboarding, attendance and leave, payroll and its statutory deductions, letters, approvals and exits. Employees use it to apply for leave and download payslips; HR and finance use it to run payroll and answer audits.
What is HRMS in salary?
In payroll, the HRMS is the system that holds each employee’s salary structure and calculates the monthly pay from it: earnings, PF, ESI, professional tax, TDS and other deductions, and the payslip.
Is an HRMS the same as an HRIS?
Not quite. An HRIS (human resource information system) is mainly the employee database and reports. An HRMS usually includes that and adds the processes run on it, payroll above all. Many vendors use the two words for the same product. See HRIS vs HRMS vs HCM.
Is an HRMS the same as payroll software?
Payroll software only calculates pay. An HRMS includes payroll, but also the records and processes payroll depends on, such as joining dates, attendance, leave and exits, so the figures come from one place instead of being re-keyed every month.
Which HRMS software is used in India?
Widely used names include Keka, greytHR, Darwinbox, Zoho People and Flowy. They suit different sizes and needs; the free HRMS scorecard lets you weigh them on your own criteria.
Is the Indian Railways HRMS the same thing?
It is an HRMS, run by Indian Railways for its own employees, with its own login. This page is about HRMS software that companies buy for their employees.