HRIS Implementation Checklist: What to Prepare Before Go-Live
A practical checklist for Philippine companies rolling out an HRIS for the first time: employee data, payroll setup, government IDs, work schedules and go-live testing.
Why preparation determines how smooth your go-live is
Most HRIS implementations that stall do so for the same reason: the data is not ready. The software is set up in hours; gathering clean, complete employee records from across departments takes weeks. Starting that data work before the system is live cuts go-live time in half.
This checklist covers what to gather, who owns each piece, and in what order.
Phase 1: Company setup (week 1)
Do this before importing any employees.
Company information
Legal company name as registered with BIR
Business address, contact number, industry
SSS Employer Number, PhilHealth Employer Number, Pag-IBIG Employer ID
BIR TIN and RDO (Revenue District Office)
Payroll structure
Decide the payroll basics before employees are in the system:
| Decision | What to confirm |
|---|---|
| Pay frequency | Semi-monthly (1st and 15th) or monthly |
| Pay type | Monthly rate or daily rate |
| Divisor | 261, 313 or 365 — write this in the policy before the first payroll |
| Cut-off dates | Which days of the month close each period |
| Bank | Which bank handles salary crediting and which format it needs |
Work schedules and shifts
Define at least one default work schedule (for example, 8 AM to 5 PM, Monday to Friday) before importing employees. Each employee contract links to a schedule, and payroll uses the schedule to compute late minutes and overtime.
Government contribution tables
Check that the SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG rates loaded in the system match the current year's tables. Rates change; do not assume the defaults are current. See configure SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG contribution tables.
Holidays
Load all national and special non-working holidays for the year. A missing holiday means payroll applies regular rates on a day that should have been paid at a premium. See set up holidays and holiday pay rates.
Phase 2: Employee data (week 2)
This is the longest phase. Assign one person from HR and one from each department to collect and verify the records.
Required for each employee
Full legal name (as in government ID)
Employee number (your company's format)
Work email address (becomes the login)
Date of hire
Department, position, branch
Contract type (Regular, Probationary, Project-based)
Basic salary and pay frequency
Work schedule
Government IDs — often the hardest to collect
| ID | Where employees get it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| SSS number | SSS portal (my.SSS.gov.ph) | Required for SSS R3 contributions |
| PhilHealth number | PhilHealth portal or HR 12 card | Required for RF-1 report |
| Pag-IBIG MID | Virtual Pag-IBIG or UMID | Required for MCRF report |
| TIN | BIR RDO or eTIS | Required for withholding tax and BIR 2316 |
Missing TINs are the single most common reason a company cannot file a complete BIR alphalist. Collect these before go-live, not after.
Bank account details
Collect the account number, account name and bank for every employee who will receive salary via bank crediting. The account name must match the name on file with the bank exactly. See generate bank files for salary crediting.
Phase 3: Leave and attendance setup (week 3)
Leave types and policies
Map your company's existing leave benefits to the system:
List all leave types your company offers (Vacation Leave, Sick Leave, Birthday Leave, Bereavement Leave, and any others).
For each leave type, define the annual entitlement, whether it accrues monthly or is granted in full at the start of the year, and what happens to unused days at year end (carry over, convert to cash or forfeit).
Check whether probationary employees are entitled to the same leave as regular employees, or a reduced entitlement.
See set up leave types and leave policies.
Opening leave balances
If employees already have leave credits accumulated before go-live (for example, you are moving from a spreadsheet), you need to enter those opening balances manually. This is not an import that can wait — employees who file leave from day one need accurate starting balances.
Biometric device connection (if applicable)
If your company uses biometric time-keeping devices, set up the sync agent before go-live so that attendance data flows in from day one. See connect a biometric device.
Phase 4: Parallel run before go-live
Run one payroll period in parallel: compute payroll in the new system and in your old system (or spreadsheet) for the same period, and reconcile the results line by line.
Common differences to investigate:
Daily rate — different divisors produce different daily rates, which flows through to late deductions, absence, overtime and holiday pay
13th month year-to-date — if you are mid-year, confirm the opening balance is correct
Government contributions — confirm the MSC bracket for each employee
Do not approve the first live payroll run until the parallel results agree within a peso. See run payroll and review and approve the pay register.
Phase 5: Employee access
Send login invitations only after a contract is active in the system. An employee who logs in without a contract will see their own profile but cannot access payslips.
Communicate what employees can do in the Employee Portal on day one: view payslips, file leave, file overtime, request DTR corrections, and download their certificate of employment.
Timeline at a glance
| Week | Work |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Company setup, schedules, holidays, contribution tables |
| Week 2 | Employee data collection — HR leads, departments assist |
| Week 3 | Leave setup, opening balances, biometric sync |
| Week 4 | Parallel payroll run; reconcile; fix differences |
| Go-live | Send invitations; run first live payroll |
The timeline is a guide. A company with 20 employees can move faster; one with 300 across multiple branches will need longer for data collection.
The most common go-live blockers
Missing government IDs — start requesting these in week one
Salary history gaps — if payroll must reflect mid-year data, you need records going back to January
No decision on the divisor — without a written policy, the first payroll dispute will be about the daily rate
Biometric setup left until last — device registration and punch sync take longer than expected
Opening leave balances skipped — employees notice on day one if their leave credits are wrong