No More Excel Sheets: Why Growing Companies Switch to HRMS?

The 2023 reports by KPMG India states that more than 40% of mid-sized companies manage their HR activities and operations using Excel sheets. The data shows the probability of having endless manual errors, compliance issues, and time losses using such method. The switch to HRMS becomes important as another study reveals that nearly 30% of the companies spend their time in rectifying payroll errors and making the adjustments considering leave records and employee’s claim data.

Every single mistake hamper productivity and could lead to financial losses for businesses. That’s why companies switch to HRMS to manage their operations, cost, time, and avoid any potential loss. This guide covers a detailed overview of what a daily HR management with Excel sheet and advanced HRMS like Kasturi HR looks like.

Practical Comparison Table: Real HR Tasks – Excel vs. HRMS

HR Task	How It Looks in Excel (Typical Workflow)	How It Works in HRMS (Kasturi HR)
Leave Management	HR receives leave request via email → checks balance manually → updates leave sheet → replies to employee.	Employee logs into portal → views balance → applies for leave → manager gets notified → 1-click approval.
Payroll Calculation	Multiple sheets: attendance + salary + deductions → manual formulas → monthly updates → error risk.	Attendance auto-syncs with payroll → rules auto-apply → payslips generated instantly, error-free.
Employee Onboarding	Manual document collection → folder creation → data entry in multiple sheets.	Upload documents digitally → auto-fill fields → onboarding checklist completed within minutes.
Reimbursement Claims	Receipts sent via email → HR reviews → approval via email → add to next payroll cycle manually.	Employee uploads receipt → automated policy check → routed to manager → approval auto-reflects in payroll.
Generating Reports	HR manually creates charts/pivots from data sheets every month.	Dashboards & downloadable reports available in real-time with one click.

Why Companies Need to Switch to HRMS from Excel

Excel is a great software, helpful for managing multiple reports and rest of the operations. But when it comes to managing HR activities, here is why it lacks–

• Error-Prone Data Entry: The manual data entry in Excel enhances the possibility of errors and miscalculations, majorly for payroll processing and compliance data management.
• Lack of Data Security: Though, Excel sheet can be locked, but it is not as secured as a smart payroll system, like Kasturi HR.
• No Real-Time Updates: The management has to spend a lot of time in finding out the updated details of employees’ work details, including their check-ins/outs, attendance management software, etc.
• Limited Scalability: When the organization grows, it becomes challenging to manage everything using Excel sheets. Hence, for pay structured, adding new employees, or managing multi-location data gets affected with Excel sheets.
• No Audit Trail: The history version is available in Excel to see who’s changed what. But it is not as efficient as compared to a cloud-based attendance management software like Kasturi HR.

In short, what worked for a team of 10 simply doesn’t work for a workforce of 100+. Here’s a brief overview of how HR activities management look like in Excel.

Sample Excel Sheet View (Traditional HR Management)

Employee Name	Emp ID	Leave Balance (CL/SL)	Leave Applied (Date Range)	Leave Status	Working Days	Days Present	Payroll Gross	Deductions	Net Pay	Reimbursements	Remarks
Ramesh Verma	1001	CL: 5 / SL: 4	10-Apr to 12-Apr	Pending	22	19	₹45,000	₹2,100	₹42,900	₹500 (Travel)	Email leave request sent
Meera Singh	1002	CL: 7 / SL: 2	3-Apr to 3-Apr	Approved	22	21	₹48,000	₹0	₹48,000	₹300 (Meal)	Claimed via email
Ajay Sharma	1003	CL: 0 / SL: 6	–	–	22	22	₹50,000	₹500	₹49,500	₹0	No recent updates

What Makes HRMS Better: Key Reasons to Switch to HRMS

A smart payroll system SaaS HRMS platform–Kasturi HR– enables efficient activities management. Here’s how it adds value to the management–

• Centralized Dashboard: Employees and users can view attendance data, manage payroll, leave balances, salary details, and all documentations related to the company policies.
• Automated Workflows: Auto payroll process, calculating and updating leave and attendance management software tracking, save time for the management. It reduces HR intervention and enhances productivity.
• Role-Based Access: The Kasturi HR credentials can be updated according to the designation of employees. HRs have admin accessibility whereas employees have employee-login.
• Cloud-Based Access: The workforce can easily access the details anytime as the HRMS is cloud-based and work efficient.
• Compliance Friendly: It is compliance friendly, enabling accurate deductions of tax, PFs, ESIs, and other essential deducting factors.

Create Employee Profile in HRMS functionality allows smooth document handling, faster verification, and personalized access control for each employee.

HRMS Dashboard View: Post Switch to HRMS Workflow

Automated, Real-Time, and Click-Based Interface

Here is the visual presentation of Kasturi HR’s smart dashboard of managing HR activities.

1. Overall HRMS Dashboard Accessibility

• Easy Company Policy Accessibility

• Easy Attendance Management

Key Benefits of Switching to HRMS

Here is the key significance for a company when it switch to HRMS from manual HR activities management–

 1. Time Efficiency: It becomes efficient for HR managers to streamline overall HR activities and automate the processes, saving everyone’s time.  

2. Accuracy and Error Reduction: The automation of payroll, calculating adjustments quickly, and managing employee’s monthly salary considering their month’s leave and attendance records become easier with advanced smart payroll system.

3. Data-Driven Insights: HR managers can easily get insights into employees’ records, real-time data, making helpful decisions about performance and productivity.

4. Employee Self-Service: Employees can easily apply for leaves, discrepancies, update their daily reports, and work status, enabling employee self-service throughout the organization.

Interested in knowing more about the latest features of Kasturi HR? HR Software Features 2025 Update guide will walk you through the latest innovations.

Conclusion: The Right Time to Switch to HRMS is Now

Relying on Excel sheet to managing HR activities could lead to potential losses and damages to the company. With the rising demand of smart attendance management software like Kasturi HR, users get automation, insights, and reduced stress. It is the high time to switch to HRMS like Kasturi HR to enable productivity and efficiency.