HRMS RFP template for Indian SMBs (copy/paste)

Why you need an RFP (even if you’re only talking to 3 vendors)

Most HRMS purchases fail because evaluation is unstructured. A vendor demo looks good, but the system doesn’t fit your month-end realities: approvals, exports, auditability, and policy edge cases.

A simple RFP (Request for Proposal) helps you:

• compare vendors on the *same* questions
• force clarity on implementation and support
• document assumptions (so you don’t get surprised later)
• negotiate exports, audit logs, and SLAs upfront

This template is intentionally SMB-friendly: short enough to use, detailed enough to catch real risk.

Section 1: Company context (fill this first)

• Company name:
• Employee count today / projected 12 months:
• Locations/states:
• Industries/worker types (office/field/plant):
• Payroll responsibility (in-house vs outsourced):
• Attendance complexity (shifts, overtime, biometric, field staff):
• Target go-live date:
• Primary internal owner (HR):
• Finance owner (month-end):
• IT/security reviewer:

Section 2: Scope for the first 60 days (v1)

Mark In scope / Out of scope.

Core HRMS

• Employee master + org structure
• Documents storage + download
• Policy acknowledgements
• Workflows/approvals
• Role-based access control (RBAC)
• Audit log
• Reporting and exports

Optional (phase 2)

• Attendance/leave
• Payroll/compliance module
• ATS
• Performance/OKR

The vendor should propose an implementation plan aligned to this.

Section 3: Must-have requirements (pass/fail)

Data and exports

• Employee master export available on demand (CSV/Excel)
• Documents export / bulk download option (with structure)
• Audit log export (who changed what)
• APIs (optional), but exports are non-negotiable

Permissions and auditability

• RBAC supports HR vs manager vs employee
• Sensitive fields (salary, IDs) can be restricted
• Audit trail for edits, approvals, overrides

Workflows

• HR can configure workflows without custom development
• Approval visibility (pending/approved/rejected)
• Reminders/escalations for pending approvals

Support

• Named escalation path
• Response SLAs during month-end (if payroll/attendance involved)

Section 4: Demo script (use this in every vendor demo)

Ask the vendor to do the following live (not slides):

1) Create a new employee record 2) Upload 2 documents and show access permissions 3) Change manager/department and show audit trail 4) Run a policy acknowledgement workflow 5) Export employee master 6) Show 3 key reports: - headcount by location/department - joiners/leavers - missing documents / acknowledgements

If attendance is in scope:

• missed punch flow + approvals
• shift assignment
• attendance lock for month-end

If payroll is in scope:

• arrears and reversals
• statutory summaries
• rerun payroll safely

Section 5: Implementation plan (what we expect)

Vendors should provide:

• a week-by-week plan
• what they need from us
• templates required
• training approach (HR + managers)
• go-live support window

A typical 50–500 rollout is 3–6 weeks depending on complexity.

Section 6: Commercials (pricing + contract)

Please provide:

• pricing model (PEPM, seats)
• modules included/excluded
• one-time implementation fee (what’s included)
• renewal policy and assumptions

Contract clauses to include:

• data ownership
• export guarantee (employee master + documents + audit logs)
• support SLAs + escalation
• implementation scope in writing

Section 7: Security and privacy

• Data storage location and retention
• Access controls and admin permissions
• Audit logs
• SSO (if supported)

Section 8: Scoring sheet (1–5)

Score each vendor:

• Fit to v1 scope
• Export quality
• RBAC + audit trail
• Workflow flexibility
• Reporting usability
• Implementation clarity
• Support SLA quality

Shortlist the top 2–3 and run a second demo focused on edge cases.

Recommended next steps

Use Compare on HRSuggest to keep a shared shortlist link, then request demos/quotes via the tool pages.

If you want tailored options, start with the /shortlist.