Situation guide
Replacing a legacy HRIS without breaking payroll
Switching your core HR system is one of the biggest projects an HR team takes on. Done well, it fixes years of workarounds. Done poorly, it breaks payroll in the first week.
Signs it is time
- Every change requires a consultant.
- Employees avoid the self-service portal.
- Reports require manual exports.
- The vendor cannot support new states or countries.
- Integrations break regularly.
A replacement plan
- Document current processes and pain points.
- Clean data before migration.
- Run parallel payrolls before go-live.
- Plan go-live at a quarter or year start when possible.
- Train managers and employees with short, role-based sessions.
Categories involved
Frequently asked questions
When is the best time to switch HRIS?
Many teams switch at the start of a calendar year or quarter to simplify tax reporting.
What is a parallel payroll?
Running payroll in both systems and comparing results before going live.
Primary sources we checked
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