Payroll Hero seeks to make human resources fun — finally

Punching clocks and employee timesheets — two common but outdated HR systems that are still practiced in businesses.

Payroll Hero, a user-friendly payroll management software for businesses and the winner of the Judges’ Choice Award at Echelon Philippines Satellite, aims to change things around.

Companies sometimes find employees tinkering their reports on the number of work hours they’ve clocked. These bad practices result in ghost employees, time stealers, time wasters, and buddy punchers.

Payroll Hero’s biometric authentication feature solves this problem by helping managers ensure that employees are at their workstations. The system is conveniently accessible using an iPhone, iPad, or any computer with a web cam.

These clock-in pics are then given a mood rating to establish productivity and mood. Payroll Hero is replacing the typically mundane procedure of clocking-in and using it to engage employees and enhance company culture.

Other features include a beautiful display that shows the availability of employees, and payroll management tools. Current beta users such as The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (Philippines) have reportedly shortened payroll processing time significantly from 16 days to just five hours.

The product is currently still in closed beta, but they hope to gain 100,000 employees by the end of 2012. Recognizing the lack of a dominant HR IT solution here in Asia, the team is optimistic about gaining momentum.

Payroll Hero is founded by serial entrepreneurs, Mike Stephenson and Steve Jagger, who have started three businesses together since 2000.  These are: CombustionHosting, which was sold in 2006, Ubertor, a CMS the duo bootstrapped to a million dollars in recurring revenue, and OutsourcingThingsDone, a Philippine-based leased labour business in which they discovered the pain of payroll and HR with a team of 75. It was their last endeavor that led to Payroll Hero.

Having a Filipino heritage, Steve and Mike had the urge to return back and start something great in the Philippines. It is the duo’s goal to place the Philippines on the map by producing great software that would solve problems for other companies.

Payroll Hero is currently raising a round of financing, and are looking for partners to take the company to generate US$100 million in annual revenue.

Looks like the Payroll Hero is off to a good start, with even Eric Ries, Payroll Hero’s advisor, leaving the following comment: “Seriously impressed by the team’s hustle, early traction, and global first outlook.”

Payroll Hero is a top ten finalist at Echelon 2012 and winner of the Judges’ Choice award for the Philippines Satellite. Organized by tech blog e27 for the third year running, the conference is a key startup launchpad in Asia with over 1,100 delegates in attendance and 50 startups exhibiting in the Marketplace. Check out SGE’s coverage of Echelon 2012.