What is an HRIS?

Definition

An HRIS, or human resources information system, is the software that holds a company's employee records: personal details, job, salary, contract, leave and documents. It is the source that payroll, benefits and finance systems draw from, and it usually adds onboarding, absence management and reporting on headcount and people costs.

Also calledhuman resources information systemHR systemHRMS

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Holds: Employee records
Feeds: Payroll, benefits, FP&A
Category: Payroll

How an HRIS fits with payroll and finance

The terms overlap: HRIS, HRMS and HCM (human capital management) describe the same core with more modules added for recruiting, performance and planning. What matters to finance is the link to payroll and the ledger. Rippling, Gusto, PayFit and Personio combine HR and payroll on one employee record; larger companies often run a separate HRIS and send changes to their payroll providers. Deel and Remote add employer of record services for staff in countries where the company has no entity. Headcount and salary data from the HRIS also feed budgets and headcount plans in FP&A tools.

Common questions

What is the difference between an HRIS and payroll software?+

An HRIS holds who employees are and what they are paid; payroll software calculates each pay run, deducts tax and pays people. Many platforms now do both on the same employee record.

Which HRIS integrates with accounting software?+

Most HR platforms with payroll post journals to QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite and other ledgers. Check that the integration maps departments and entities, not only totals.

What is the difference between HRIS, HRMS and HCM?+

They describe overlapping software. HRIS usually means core records; HRMS adds payroll and time; HCM adds recruiting, performance and workforce planning. Vendors use the terms loosely.