A Quezon City-based SME with fewer than 80 employees delayed HR automation for almost three years because management believed HRIS platforms were only for large corporations. During that period, payroll processing relied heavily on spreadsheets, manual attendance tracking, and email-based leave approvals. What looked like “cost savings” eventually resulted in payroll delays, overtime disputes, and

A Philippine SME with fewer than 150 employees recently discovered payroll discrepancies affecting multiple departments after an HR officer accidentally copied outdated attendance formulas into a shared spreadsheet. The issue delayed payroll processing for days, triggered employee complaints, and forced management to conduct manual payroll corrections before salary release. What started as a “small spreadsheet