What is compensation management software?

Compensation management software is a platform that helps you plan, provide and administer adequate employee compensation packages. This includes base salaries, retirement and investment planning and merit bonuses. It uses advanced technology and stored data to help you create fair packages that keep employees happy and stay within budget.

This software can help managers plan hiring offers for new team members, adjust compensation for existing employees and administer policy changes. The software creates a compensation dashboard for visibility on how you compensate your team. This may help you make informed decisions and be mindful of pay equity.

Compensation management software

You can compare the following employee compensation tools, their features and benefits to find one that meets your goals.

1. BalancedComp

BalancedComp is designed for financial institutions, including banks and credit unions. This specialization helps organizations offer competitive pay based on industry standards. The Import Wizard lets you easily import data from your payroll system and automatically pairs the data to the matching attributes. With the Budget Builder feature, you can test different budget scenarios, and the system automatically generates letters displaying salary changes.

Key features:

• Single dashboard to show all base and incentive pay
• Pay grade and performance review management
• Data analysis and filterable reports for detailed drill-down
• Evaluation of compensable factors for all positions
• Automatically sync and update employee information

Price: A custom quote is available after a demo.

2. BullseyeEngagement

BullseyeEngagement includes a suite of HR solutions, including compensation management, workforce planning, performance management and recognition and rewards. It lets you develop salary structures based on set budget guidelines. You can use it for salary and bonus compensation cycles, performance-based pay calculations, bonus payouts and automatic calculations.

Key features:

• Benchmarking data
• Automatic calculations using local currency
• Analytics for gender pay equity
• Leadership dashboards with operational and employee data
• Single sign-on and secure data transfers
• Ability to automatically sync employee data with another system

Price: The cost depends on options chosen from the à la carte suite.

3. Commissionly

Commissionly provides sales commission compensation management across many industries, including medical and IT sales. It has dedicated integrations with popular CRM, payment, ecommerce and accounting software tools. You can easily import historical data to use in your calculations. Custom reports help you make informed decisions for your organization.

Key features:

• Complex and varied commission structures
• Multistage commission payments
• Real-time commission assessments
• Conditional commission payments

Price: Customized quotes are available.

4. Compport

Compport gives you more control over workflows and the system’s rules. It breaks down your compensation plan into several categories, and you can use it for sales incentive management (SIM), bonus planning, merit cycles, pay equity and long-term incentive plans.

You can also create offer letters showing the full value of the compensation you offer. This software works with third-party integration partners, including Jira and PeopleStrong.

Key features:

• Merit and promotion processes and salary review automation
• Ability to design and simulate bonus schemes before launch
• Stock- and cash-based long-term incentives
• Pay equity management
• Real-time and multidimensional compensation analytics and reporting

Price: A demo is available for custom quotes.

5. FocalReview

SpiraLinks’ FocalReview platform is a configurable platform for managing compensation by role. It helps with merit, promotions, bonuses and stocks. You can compare compensations and access the history tracking feature to understand your compensation practices. It also offers data to analyze your budget and workplace diversity.

Through the employee portal, your team can access letters and statements regarding compensation. The software also incorporates performance management with forms and templates.

Key features:

• Automated workflow processes
• Customizable dashboards with more charts
• Enhanced executive compensation with multiyear stock distribution
• Easy addition of documents to annual performance and 360-degree review processes
• Employee self-service portals
• Ad hoc reporting

Price: A demo is provided, followed by a quote.

6. Heartpace

Heartpace offers HR and pay management modules and provides salary mapping, review and analysis and market salary data. The platform also incorporates General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance support.

Because it’s a cloud-based program, Heartpace is accessible from any mobile device and integrates with payroll and other business systems. The customizable reports let you monitor important key performance indicators (KPIs).

Key features:

• Access to centralized historical data
• Enterprise-level security for better access
• Integration with popular platforms, such as G Suite and Azure SSO
• REST API for custom connections and syncing with third-party platforms

Price: Pricing depends on the total users and chosen modules.

7. LaborIQ

LaborIQ provides updated information based on scientific analysis so you can better plan compensation packages. The pay benchmarks highlight pay gaps, and HR managers can refine job responsibility comparisons to ensure they analyze identical roles. The data exists in your personalized dashboard.

Key features:

• Dynamic dashboard to track critical KPIs and manage searches
• Salary benchmarking across markets and roles for compensation accuracy
• Customizable market-driven salary recommendations
• Top-performing marke research for business expansion

Price: Custom quotes are available.

8. Mereo

Available in 40 countries and nine languages, Mereo is an all-in-one platform that helps save time calculating reward systems. It’s ideal for midsize and large organizations aligned with high-end methodologies, such as Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound (SMART) and Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC). It incorporates recognition and helps you manage variable compensation, such as bonuses, to remain consistent and transparent.

Key features:

• Visualization to monitor performance
• Secure, centralized data for accurate analysis
• Skills assessments for identifying required position competencies
• Automated bonus calculations
• Customized reward strategies
• Employee training and progress management

Price: The cost varies based on users.

9. PTO Exchange

PTO Exchange gives employees more control over unused paid time off. Rather than helping you plan your compensation, it gives you another option for making your compensation package more appealing. Employees can exchange their leftover PTO for retirement contributions, education expenses, travel rewards and more.

Key features:

• Dashboard for better benefits
• Administration and deduction management
• Self-service employee portal for goal setting, tracking and time management
• Management approval process tracking

Price: PTO Exchange’s cost is based on a percentage of the transaction amount.

10. SimplyMerit

SimplyMerit helps you manage your annual compensation cycle. It supports collaboration with real-time change monitoring with multi-currency budgeting. The platform also lets you see how remuneration changes affect your overall compensation structure. Analysis features help you source biases, disparities and trends to make adjustments. You can also use SimplyMerit with other HRIS platforms, including ADP and UKG.

Key Features:

• Simple, intuitive interface
• Guidelines and compensation management recommendations
• Robust workflow engine for better monitoring and collaboration
• Process visibility throughout the cycle for better communication and transparency
• Updates tracked for auditing

Price: You can receive a custom quote depending on the number of employees. A demo is available.

11. TalentComp

As a comprehensive, multilingual HR compensation solution tool, TalentComp manages unlimited variable compensation programs that are equitable and competitive. It also automates calculations for increases based on merit, cost of living and other factors. The platform enables managers to tie organizational goals to employee productivity with the help of KPI tracking and analysis.

Key features:

• Centralized employee data repository
• Self-service tool for empowering employees and providing quick answers
• Automated management of PTO
• Streamlined compensation review for easy routing, approval and distribution
• Real-time performance management planning and monitoring

Price: More information and pricing may be available through the demo.

12. UZIO

UZIO‘s comprehensive product suite covers payroll, benefits and HR tasks. It’s a cloud-based platform that incorporates AI to automate processes. You can sync it with your HR systems to simplify benefits administration. The platform allows your employees to select the benefits they need while helping you manage your costs.

Key features:

• Ability to sync payroll with HR and benefits for more accuracy and better compliance
• Workers’ compensation life cycle automation
• Benefit plan creation and enrollment tracking
• Better collaboration, which improves productivity and removes silos

Price: The pricing uses a per-employee per-month model with options for additional per-employee monthly rates.

13. Workzoom

Workzoom is a cloud-based software solution that supports HR, talent, workforce and payroll processes. Processing features can help with commission pay and pay scales. You can also use the system to track compensation rates for salaried, hourly and commissioned employees and review their compensation history.

Key features:

• Powerful dashboards and on-demand reports
• Automated processes and workflows for accuracy, efficiency and compliance
• Self-service portal so employees can maintain their information
• Dashboards for real-time updates

Price: Minimums apply to the per-suite per-employee cost. Live demos are available for specific pricing.

What to look for when choosing compensation software

When comparing employee compensation tools, consider these factors:

1. Centralized data storage

Having adequate compensation data may make the software more effective. Consider how the system stores data and how easy it is to access it. Options to segment your data based on departments, countries and other categorizations may be helpful.

2. Accessibility

Cloud-based salary management software keeps your information easily accessible. Employees responsible for hiring, making job offers and developing compensation packages can access the data from wherever they work.

3. Automation

Effective employee compensation tools offer automated calculations to reduce the risk of errors. Automation can also save time when creating and administering your packages.

4. Simple data exporting and importing

Look for systems that integrate with your current software to make data sharing easier. It’s also important to choose a secure system that protects employees’ information.

5. Effective Reporting

Customization when creating reports gives you more control over the data you receive. Real-time data may improve business decisions and help you adjust employee compensation when circumstances change.

Compensation management software FAQs

Why is compensation management important?

Every industry assesses compensation. For sales-based businesses, it’s typically a straightforward process where higher sales yield higher bonuses. For manufacturing organizations, compensation may be more complex, with revenue allocated for machinery and workers. Compensation software manages direct and indirect payment options, helping companies balance employee satisfaction and a healthy budget.

What companies need compensation software?

Compensation software tools aren’t limited to specific sectors or industries. Companies or organizations that want to attract, motivate and retain employees can benefit from the software.

What are some benefits of compensation management software?

Having a central data source generally reduces human error. Plus, this data can help you create job offer packages and handle salary negotiations. High-quality programs also incorporate compliance support to help you follow regulations related to compensation.