Finding Malaysia's Best Human Resource & Payroll Software: altHR vs Others

Disclaimer: As of 1 July 2023, altHR no longer offers a Payroll module.

In the age of digitalisation and automation, it is unfortunate to find many Malaysian companies still struggling with time-consuming and administrative HR processes. Most companies still manage their HR tasks using traditional methods from the 90s. 

Some of these processes include:

• Submitting expense claims using paper forms
• Requiring physical signatures and stamps for leave approvals
• Taking attendance using a physical punch card system
• Scheduling shifts using Excel sheets and complex formulas

Do these sound familiar to you?

What is HR Digitalisation?

HR digitalisation is a process of automating traditional HR processes mentioned above and using digital methods or tools to process them instead. 

Years ago, employers or payroll administrators used to visit the bank in-person to process monthly EPF submissions. Today, digitalisation enables all EPF submissions and contributions to be done online, saving time and money.

Outdated HR processes such as filing documents and paperwork can be frustrating to handle. This can cause employee dissatisfaction which eventually contributes to turnover.

For example, manual leaves or expense claims approval processes leaves room for human error and can be frustrating especially when it is delayed because too much manual intervention is required.

HR digitalisation is important to allow HR teams to have more capacity and focus for strategic and complex issues faced by their organisations. The benefits of HR digitalisation include: 

• Reducing time spent on repetitive, manual administrative tasks
• Eliminating the process of counting leave balances or getting it wrong
• Tabulating employee’s total expense claims on Excel sheets
• Allowing businesses to focus on improving employee experience and engagement instead
• Allowing all business units to focus on high-value work that leads to higher productivity and profitability

How can an HRMS Help?

HR digitalisation is made possible by the rise in Human Resources Management Systems (HRMS). HRMS is a combination of both software and processes that businesses can use to automate HR processes and enhance productivity. 

HRMS have distinct features such as being user-friendly, efficient and mobile. Today, HR managers are able to manage their entire organisation’s HR processes anytime and anywhere. A smartphone and an online connection is all we need to manage our HR operations.

Modern digital Human Resources tools can simplify HR processes through:

• Electronic leaves management
• Complete payroll processing with accurate statutory deductions
• Instant business travel arrangements
• Digital expenses claims and approvals
• Providing quick access to important work documents
• Digital attendance and time tracking
  

and more! 

HR Digitalisation Challenges

As wonderful as it sounds, HR digitalisation can be challenging to achieve in practice. The main reason is that companies may be reluctant to change their traditional ways of working.

This is a prevalent issue in Malaysia where companies are not open to technology due to cost or resource constraints. Many may not even know how to get started and what tools to use.

The other challenge is that there are many digital HR systems to choose from in Malaysia. Simply put, interested stakeholders may be demotivated to tackle HR digitalisation as the amount of information is overwhelming and there is no simple comparison that they can refer to.

Fortunately for you, we have done the legwork to research and prepare a comprehensive comparison guide to help you to kickstart your HR digitalisation journey! 

The Main HRMS Players in Malaysia 

In this guide, we compare our human resource and payroll software, altHR, with four other HRMS players in the Malaysian market. Let’s begin with a brief introduction of all five HR systems.

altHR is an all-in-one HR software that provides features from core HR operations to employee engagement on top of features to help your business navigate the New Normal way of work. It is available on both mobile and web apps. ‍

Local Players:

• PayrollPanda is a payroll-focused platform, with a leave management feature
• Kakitangan covers leaves and claims management, payroll and employee database
  

International Players:

• Swingvy has three categories - employee access, company information and people management
• HReasily offers payroll, leave & claims management and time & attendance tracking
  

If you are choosing between altHR and these HR solutions, we have created the ultimate comparison for you. Read on to find out why altHR is still the best HRMS in Malaysia and why it is suitable for your organisation.

Reasons Why altHR is the Best HRMS  

1) Extensive HR Features for all your needs

altHR aims to fully digitalise HR for companies of all sizes. Core features include altHR Payroll for end-to-end electronic payroll processing; altHR Leaves for leave management and altHR Expenses which allows convenient digital expense claims and approvals. 

altHR also provides complimentary document cloud-storage and organisation-wide sharing to enable instant and convenient access anytime, anywhere through altHR Documents. Your entire HR operations can be managed through altHR’s mobile and web apps. 

Other important core HR features include altHR Rostering, altHR Time Tracking and altHR Travel. As companies grow, HR teams will have additional responsibilities on top of the main HR tasks. altHR provides great scalability by offering these additional features in an all-in-one plan and flat pricing. 

altHR’s competitors offer similar core HR features but are otherwise limited in the number of features for a complete HR digitalisation. All 5 HRMS offer Leaves Management and Payroll Processing, but only altHR covers comprehensive digitalisation of your core HR needs.

Here is a complete features comparison between all HRMS:

altHR is the overall champion in terms of the number of features provided. Its comprehensive features can accommodate companies of any size to manage various HR tasks with different levels of complexity.

Swingvy’s main features include digital leave application and expense claims. Payroll is an add-on feature in both products and Time Tracking is considered a premium feature for Swingvy.

Similarly, Kakitangan offers payroll processing, leave application, expense claims, and shift-scheduling. However, essential features such as document storage and sharing, employee profile audit logs and attendance are premium features in Kakitangan at an additional price.

HReasily positions awkwardly between all HRMS as its features are much more limited and lacklustre.

Meanwhile, PayrollPanda only offers payroll processing, payslips and statutory forms generation plus leaves management. 

2) Superior Value

altHR offers straightforward and transparent pricing. Aside from having more features, altHR offers the best value overall due to its SME-friendly pricing.

Here is a price comparison table for all of the HR systems based on their complete features:

* Promotional pricing till 31 December 2021

Comparing the full versions of these HRMS, altHR proves that a complete HR digitalisation experience should not come at a high cost. Once again, altHR takes the cake in terms of value and price, offering extensive HR features at a fraction of the cost.

3) Better Compatibility & Scalability 

altHR is an all-rounded HR software that provides the flexibility for companies of any size to fully digitalise their HR. From SMEs that are new to HR digitalisation to large enterprises streamlining specific HR processes, altHR can cater to various needs at all stages of your growth.

As your business grows bigger and has more complex HR needs, you can easily scale and utilise advanced features such as altHR Rostering and altHR Sales Kit without the need to pay more on your existing plan. 

These features complement other departments within your organisation too. altHR Sales Kit provides Sales or Business Development teams with instant, mobile access to updated sales materials.

Besides saving printing costs, the feature empowers all your employees to be the company’s ambassadors as it enables them to easily share promotional materials to their friends and family.

altHR’s competitors lack scalability. For example, PayrollPanda offers limited features aimed at streamlining only certain processes. For companies starting their HR digitalisation journey, most HRMS may not be suitable as its limited features hinders the full potential of an HR transformation. 

As companies scale further, they could be stuck with an HR software that may not be able to cater to their growing needs. Swingvy, Kakitangan and HReasily offer additional features but their features are only limited to the mainstream HR features such as Expense Claims, Attendance and Time Tracking.

In the long-run, altHR is the best option to not only help companies scale in HR but the entire organisation as well. altHR strives to be the Super App for companies, beyond just digitalising HR operations.   

4) The Smoothest Transition for HR Teams

Fully digitalising HR functions can be daunting and tedious. If your company is new to HR digitalisation, a smooth and simple transitioning process is crucial for you to embrace digitalisation with confidence. 

That is why companies that sign-up for altHR will also be given a 30-day free trial, no credit card needed.

The 30-day free trial is important for new users to get used to HR digitalisation. With this 30-day period, new users can fully utilise altHR and go through all of the monthly HR processes such as Expense Claims, Leave Management, and most importantly Payroll Processing.

Best of all, the altHR customer success team provides the ultimate onboarding experience through a fully guided tour within the altHR dashboard, video tutorials for each feature, a comprehensive Knowledge Base and assistance from us throughout your time with altHR.

In short, altHR is the superior HRMS In terms of providing the best HR transition and onboarding experience. With the generous free-trial period and comprehensive guidance, altHR is determined to build lasting relationships and trust.  

Pulling it all together

According to our extensive research and comparison, we can proudly announce that altHR is the best HRMS in Malaysia based on four main wins. 

altHR provides the most extensive features for a complete HR digitalisation, and it offers the best scalability for all business sizes due to its flexibility in features. Companies can mix and match dozens of HR features comprising core HR features to employee engagement and benefits.

Best of all, altHR’s affordable pricing gives all companies a chance to experience maximum HR digitalisation value with minimal investment in time and cost.

To further ease the HR transition, the altHR customer success team is committed to providing you with a seamless onboarding experience and ample guidance on using our human resource and payroll software.

Excited to start your HR digitalisation journey with altHR? Experience our 30-day FREE trial today and get access to our full altHR suite with minimal sign-up effort.

For more HR resources, visit our blog now to help you leverage altHR's strength to the fullest.