Digging through random folders, misnamed files, and mystery spreadsheets just to find one onboarding doc.
Not fun, is it? Moreover, you risk losing important employee files and finding yourself in a full-on fiasco. If you are an HR professional, chances are you have been there.
And you are not alone! According to a ClickUp report, the average professional spends more than 30 minutes a day searching for work-related information. That’s over 120 hours a year lost; time you could have spent handling your actual assignments.
That’s why it’s time to upgrade to an HR employee file management software that makes your life easier.
Whether you are running a fast-growing startup or just trying to bring some order to the chaos, here are 10 employee file management software tools that are seriously worth checking out.
Employee File Management Software
- Employee File Management Software at a Glance
- What Should You Look for In an Employee File Management Software
- The 10 Best Employee File Management Software
- 1. ClickUp (Best for centralized document management and task tracking)
- 2. Bamboo HR (Best self-service option for employees)
- 3. Rippling (Best for automating HR workflows)
- 4. Zoho People (Best for mobile-friendly employee documentation and management)
- 5. Gusto (Best for payroll management for small businesses)
- 6. Namely (Best for implementing employee and manager self-service platform)
- 7. Paycor (Best for healthcare and manufacturing companies)
- 8. ADP Workforce Now (Best for HR outsourcing)
- 9. SAP SuccessFactors (Best for managing your employees’ career growth)
- 10. DocuWare (Best for maintaining HR data compliance)
Summarize this article for me pleaseEmployee File Management Software at a Glance
| Tool | Best for | Key features | Pricing* |
| ClickUp | Centralized document management and task tracking; Team size: Startups, SMBs, Enterprises | Docs for employee profiles, Connected Search, Automations, Access control, HR templates | Free Forever, Customizations for enterprises |
| Bamboo HR | Self-service option for employees; Team size: SMBs | PTO tracking, onboarding tools, e-signatures, pre-built HR reports | Custom pricing |
| Rippling | Automating HR workflows; Team size: SMBs, Enterprises | Unified HR, IT, and Finance, automated compliance, payroll, and device management | Custom pricing |
| Zoho People | Mobile-friendly documentation; Team size: SMBs, Enterprises | Case management, customizable workflows, pulse surveys, built-in LMS | Custom pricing |
| Gusto | Payroll document management; Team size: Small teams, SMBs | Payroll tax registration, onboarding, benefits sync, and custom reports | Plans start at $49/month |
| Namely | Employee and managers who need a self-service platform; Team size: Small teams, SMBs | Self-enrollment in benefits, customizable news feeds, and goal tracking | Plans start at $9/month per user |
| Paycor | Health and manufacturing companies Team size: Enterprises of over 1000 people | AI-driven recruitment, shift optimization, and labor expense tracking | Custom pricing |
| ADP Workforce Now | HR outsourcing; Team size: Enterprises | Document expiration alerts, tailored reports, e-signatures, and access permissions | Custom pricing |
| SAP SuccessFactors | Managing employee career growth; Team size: Enterprises | Growth Portfolio, natural language queries, automated onboarding, compliance monitoring | $75.60/month per user |
| DocuWare | Maintaining HR data compliance; Team size: Enterprises | Secure digital signing, audit trails, intelligent search filters, and compliance with HIPAA/GDPR | Custom pricing |
How we review software at ClickUp
Our editorial team follows a transparent, research-backed, and vendor-neutral process, so you can trust that our recommendations are based on real product value.
Here’s a detailed rundown of how we review software at ClickUp.
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Should You Look for In an Employee File Management Software
Not every employee document management system you stumble upon will be right for you. Here’s a checklist for choosing a tool that turns document dread into HR zen:
- Centralized document storage: Stores every contract, ID proof, and policy file—all your employee documents in one tidy space, and offers free HR templates for easy organization
- Detailed filters and search options: Offers extensive filters (names, tags, or even keywords) so your team can easily use the HR document management software
- Automated admin tasks: Let’s you set up rules for file naming, version control, and expiry alerts. With such employee management software, your HR team spends less time clicking and more time doing what actually matters
- Real-time editing updates: Shows who edited what and when with a clear version history. No more mystery changes or ‘Who deleted this?!’ moments
- Smooth integration with existing tools: Syncs with your existing HR system, payroll software, video conferencing tools, and cloud storage
- Enterprise-grade security: Provides end-to-end encryption, access controls, secure file sharing for business, and backups to protect your files. Fewer compliance fires for HR to put out
- Mobile app: Offers a mobile application to view or upload documents on the go. Perfect for hybrid teams and spontaneous “I need that now” moments
👀 Did You Know: A Nitro survey revealed that only 3% of knowledge workers are satisfied with their company’s document handling process. So the majority of organizations have broken document workflows.Â
Summarize this article for me pleaseThe 10 Best Employee File Management Software
Now that you know what ideal HR document management software looks like, here are the top ten options.
1. ClickUp (Best for centralized document management and task tracking)
ClickUp is the world’s first converged AI Workspace and the perfect one-stop solution for managing employee files.
Whether it’s work contracts, onboarding docs, or performance reviews, ClickUp keeps everything organized and easy to find in one place. It’s like your digital filing cabinet, but without those nasty papercuts and the chaos of lost documents.
ClickUp Brain and Brain MAX
Bring all your employee file management needs into one, powerful, AI-powered Workspace with Brain MAX in ClickUp. Here’s how:
- Smart search: Instantly search ClickUp, Google Drive, GitHub, OneDrive, SharePoint, and ALL your connected apps + the web to locate files, documents, and attachments
- Use Talk to Text to ask, dictate, and command your work by voice—hands-free, anywhere
- Leverage premium external AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini with a single, contextual, enterprise-ready solution
- Automated organization: Suggests folders, tags, or categories for your files based on content and usage patterns, keeping everything neatly organized
Further, you can ask ClickUp Brain to retrieve files and documents from your workspace or, even better, create them with you and watch it do it for you in seconds.
Brain empowers HR professionals to quickly generate job descriptions, policy documents, and employee communications with just a prompt. It ensures content is clear, consistent, and tailored to the audience, saving valuable time on drafting and editing.
With Brain, HRs can focus more on people and strategy while AI handles the heavy lifting of content creation.
ClickUp Chat and Folders
Not only that! Our nifty employee file management also offers ClickUp Chat, where you and your team can discuss important HR policies, employee performance, and everything in between and beyond.
Now that you have your employee profile and other employee information drafts ready, keep everything neatly organized with ClickUp Project Hierarchy.
Start by creating a space for your HR team. Within that space, you can set up ClickUp Folders for each department, like marketing, engineering, and customer support. Within each employee folder, add other relevant documents like nested pages or sub-sections:
- Onboarding
- Performance Reviews
- Certifications
- Leave Records
You can also add checklists to each subfolder. When you scale your team, the number of folders and subfolders will naturally go up. Still, finding documents shouldn’t feel like you are going on a treasure hunt, and our employee document management software solves this problem, too.
ClickUp Enterprise Search
With ClickUp Enterprise Search, you can find any file, document, or task within your integrated tech stack with just a few clicks.Â
Searching for an employee contract? Or maybe you need to find a specific employee review? Just search by keyword, owner, or other relevant attributes, and BAM! The doc you wanted is right there.
All you need to do is integrate your existing HR tools with ClickUp, and the connected search feature will pull up any information you want. So, no more sifting through endless folders and praying you don’t miss anything.
After all this planning, one missed HR task can derail all your efforts. But with ClickUp Project Management for HR Teams, you keep every task on track.
It lets you turn onboarding plans and other HR strategies into ClickUp Tasks. You can assign each to the right team member, set up due dates, and track progress in one place.
ClickUp Ambient Agents
That’s not all. ClickUp Agents to respond to certain triggers and perform actions in a specific location.Â
Use Case: For example, the HR team’s Channel is flooding with new people ops people asking for documents and files. The people partner lead wants to use AI to dig up some of these files and free up their team’s time
They create a Custom Autopilot Agent in the Channel and instruct it to share the file in the knowledge base that it can access. They specify that the Autopilot Agent should only respond when the user’s message contains a clear and direct example. They even give the Autopilot Agent examples of questions.
ClickUp Docs
With ClickUp Docs, you can create, store, and organize all your employee records and jot down their relevant details. Easily draft employee contracts, HR policies, forms, and onboarding steps with your team.
Remember that your stakeholders can edit the doc simultaneously and leave comments for specific team members with ClickUp’s Assign Comments feature.
ClickUp best features
- Create an internal knowledge base, employee profiles, contracts, and more with ClickUp Docs
- Create ClickUp Forms to collect employee details and run employee surveys across departments
- Simplify employee file management with the HR templates
- Set up recurring tasks for things like monthly check-ins, benefits renewals, and compliance reviews with ClickUp Automations
- Check HR tasks’ progress with customizable ClickUp Dashboards
ClickUp limitations
- New users may find the extensive HR management features a bit overwhelming at first
ClickUp pricing
free forever
Best for individual users
Free Free
Key Features:
60MB Storage
Unlimited Tasks
Unlimited Free Plan Members
unlimited
Best for small teams
$7 $10
Everything in Free Forever plus:
Unlimited Storage
Unlimited Folders and Spaces
Unlimited Integrations
business
Best for mid-sized teams
$12 $19
Everything in Unlimited, plus:
Google SSO
Unlimited Message History
Unlimited Mind Maps
enterprise
Best for many large teams
Get a custom demo and see how ClickUp aligns with your goals.
Everything in Business, plus:
White Labeling
Conditional Logic in Forms
Subtasks in Multiple Lists
* Prices when billed annually
The world's most complete work AI, starting at $9 per month
ClickUp Brain is a no Brainer. One AI to manage your work, at a fraction of the cost.
ClickUp ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (10,000+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (4,300+ reviews)
What are real-life users saying about ClickUp?
Anne Thomas, Office HR Manager at Snowville Creamery LLC, says:
💡 Pro Tip: Use ClickUp Relationships to link tasks, docs, or even entire lists together! For example, you can connect an employee’s onboarding task to their performance review, HR checklist, and training docs, so everything stays contextually connected and easy to navigate without jumping tabs!
2. Bamboo HR (Best self-service option for employees)
Keeping track of employee info, onboarding steps, and time-off requests doesn’t have to be a full-time job in itself. Employee data management solutions like BambooHR can save your sanity.
It keeps all your people operations, from onboarding to time-off tracking and performance management, organized and running smoothly in one place. Plus, the pre-built HR reports will make employee record tracking easy for HR process improvements.
Bamboo HR best features
- Track employee records, benefits, PTO, and job history from one place
- Use built-in onboarding tools to guide new hires through every step with ease
- Automate time-off requests and approvals with calendar integrations
- Enable e-signatures to streamline documentation without the printer-paper chase
Bamboo HR limitations
- The HR document management software can get pretty expensive for bigger teams
Bamboo HR pricing
- Custom pricing
Bamboo HR ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 stars (2,400+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 stars (3,000+ reviews)
📮 ClickUp Insight: The average professional spends 30+ minutes a day searching for work-related information—that’s over 120 hours a year lost to digging through emails, Slack threads, and scattered files. An intelligent AI assistant embedded in your workspace can change that.
Enter ClickUp Brain. It delivers instant insights and answers by surfacing the right documents, conversations, and task details in seconds—so you can stop searching and start working.
💫 Real Results: Teams like QubicaAMF reclaimed 5+ hours weekly using ClickUp—that’s over 250 hours annually per person—by eliminating outdated knowledge management processes. Imagine what your team could create with an extra week of productivity every quarter!
3. Rippling (Best for automating HR workflows)
Rippling is a workforce management platform that unifies HR, IT, and Finance operations into a single, cohesive system. Beyond keeping employee data organized, this document automation software automates HR compliance tasks, billable hours tracking, payroll, and onboarding steps, allowing your team to focus on strategies.
Rippling best features
- Keep all employee data, from job titles to equipment issued, in one dynamic profile that updates across every connected system automatically
- Assign, manage, and even wipe company devices remotely to keep employee information and other internal data secure
- Automate workflows for anything from sending reminders about contract renewals to routing performance reviews to the right manager.
- Pay international employees and contractors in their local currency, with compliance taken care of
Rippling limitations
- It lacks customization options for the features
- Some users report complex configuration for workflows and integrations, and limited third-party payroll integrations.
Rippling pricing
- Custom pricing
Rippling ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.8/5 stars (7600+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.9/5 stars (3800+ reviews)
What are real-life users saying about Rippling?
A G2 review reads:
🧠Fun Fact: The concept of flex time was pioneered by the German aerospace company Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm. They introduced “Gleitzeit”, meaning sliding time, giving employees the freedom to start and finish work at flexible hours.
4. Zoho People (Best for mobile-friendly employee documentation and management)
Remember, we said that having a mobile app for your employee document management software is important for on-the-go record-keeping? Zoho People is an ideal platform for that.
The HR system is highly customizable to fit your dynamic needs. Since it’s cloud-based, you don’t have to worry about losing important employee data ever again.
You can also use it for automated hiring and onboarding workflows. Moreover, Zoho People offers an HR helpdesk that your employees can use to raise tickets and resolve issues.
Zoho People best features
- Use the case management module to handle employee queries with service-level agreements and escalation rules
- Create and roll out customizable HR workflows and use directory templates to manage employee data easily
- Build pulse surveys to collect employee feedback and track engagement trends over time
- Monitor training progress with a built-in LMS to ensure your team keeps learning and growing
Zoho People limitations
- The check-in and check-out features are often glitchy
- Some users have found the UI/UX to be unpolished or not as user-friendly as other HR software
Zoho People pricing
- Custom pricing
Zoho People ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 stars (300+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.4/5 stars (270+ reviews)
5. Gusto (Best for payroll management for small businesses)
Forget Paychecks, paperwork, and panic because Gusto helps you skip all three. This HR platform combines payroll, onboarding, benefits, and team management in one user-friendly space.
Have remote teams working from different US states? Easily register for payroll taxes in all 50 states directly on Gusto for streamlined payroll management. Moreover, it integrates with popular performance management software, allowing you to track and measure employee performance and engagement in one place.
Gusto best features
- Onboard new hires with digital offer letters, e-signatures, and pre-built checklists
- Sync payroll with benefits and time tracking, so everything runs on autopilot
- Generate custom reports for headcount planning, compensation analysis, and more
- Offer employees a self-service portal to view their profiles, pay stubs, benefits, and tax documents anytime
Gusto limitations
- It will take you some time to get the hang of all the features if you are a beginner
- Limited scalability and reporting functionalities
Gusto pricing
- Simple: $49/month + $6/month per person
- Plus: $80/month + $12/month per person
- Premium: $180/month + $22/ month per person
Gusto ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 stars (2300+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 stars (4000+ reviews)
What are real-life users saying about Gusto?
A G2 reviewer says,
6. Namely (Best for implementing employee and manager self-service platform)
Namely offers a self-service portal for employees and managers that puts everything, from pay stubs to benefits and time-off requests, in one place so they’re not stuck chasing down info across a dozen platforms. And trust us, it matters.
According to Harvard Business Review, 27% of employees say they feel overloaded by information, to the point where they don’t even bother trying to keep up.
This employee database software cuts through the clutter and gives your team a clean, centralized place to stay in the loop. You can use it to deliver state & federal W-4s, get them signed, and streamline tax compliance and filing.
It also has a newsfeed integrated into your Slack channel where you can share important announcements, celebrate achievements, work anniversaries, birthdays, and more.
Namely best features
- Give employees control over profile management tools to update their own personal and tax info without submitting forms to HR
- Enable self-enrollment in benefits during open enrollment or life events, making the process smoother and more transparent
- Use customizable news feeds to share updates and announcements in one spot that’s easy for everyone to find
- Track goals and performance with built-in review templates and feedback tools that employees and managers can use independently
Namely limitations
- Customer support services are slow
- Some users have reported issues with the software’s interface, including difficulties with updating information, glitches, and problems with accessing certain features like pay stubs
Namely pricing
- Namely Now: Starts from $9/month per user
- Namely Plus, Plus People, and Complete: Custom pricing
Namely ratings and reviews
- G2: 3.9/5 stars (300+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.2/5 stars (400+ reviews)
👀 Did You Know: Just one employee can use 10,000 sheets of paper yearly, which costs about $80. When you do the math for your entire workforce, doesn’t shifting to a document management system look like the wisest choice?
7. Paycor (Best for healthcare and manufacturing companies)
Paycor offers an integrated employee document management system for the healthcare, manufacturing, and service industries. In addition to the document management system, it offers an AI-powered recruitment tool for sourcing suitable candidates from an extensive talent pool.
You can automate your outreach campaigns, access candidate scorecards, and simplify onboarding workflows. This tool also makes billable hours tracking and work scheduling easy, so all your employees get a fair workload and timely payments.
Paycor best features
- Find and hire the right talent and keep all their information organized directly on the platform
- Capture and track employee time with AI-driven tools
- Optimize employee shifts considering your business needs and employee availability, with the ability to swap shifts in real-time.
- Track labor expenses in real-time with budget alerts for overtime, helping to stay on top of labor costs.
Paycor limitations
- Lack of providing advanced features and functionalities, which could limit its usability for complex HR operations
- Users say that customer support is unresponsive
Paycor pricing
- Custom pricing
Paycor ratings and reviews
- G2: 3.9/5 stars (1000+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.4/5 stars (2900+ reviews)
What are real-life users saying about Paycor?
A Capterra review reads:
📖 Also Read: A Digital Decluttering Guide for Creating a Productive Workspace
8. ADP Workforce Now (Best for HR outsourcing)
Is your small HR team struggling to manage employee onboarding and management tasks? Use ADP Workforce Now. This document management software keeps all your employee information organized and offers expert HR professionals to help you with your human resources backlog.
If you have over 1000 employees, ADP Workforce Now will even offer you an integrated HCM and payroll solution customized for your enterprise.
ADP Workforce Now best features
- Set expiration dates for documents and receive automatic alerts to ensure compliance and timely updates
- Generate tailored reports and audit trails to track document access and modifications, ensuring transparency
- Streamline document signing with secure, integrated electronic signatures for faster workflows
- Control and secure access permissions based on user roles, ensuring sensitive employee data is only accessible to authorized personnel
ADP Workforce Now limitations
- The reporting feature is quite complicated
- Integration with third-party tools can also be glitchy
ADP Workforce Now pricing
- Custom pricing
ADP Workforce Now ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.1/5 stars (3500+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.4/5 stars (7000+ reviews)
🎥 Watch: How to use AI for Documentation:
9. SAP SuccessFactors (Best for managing your employees’ career growth)
63% of people leave their jobs because of insufficient or low-quality feedback. Why? Because it keeps them in the dark about their progress and stops them from making actionable improvements.
Prevent that with SAP SuccessFactors, an HR document management software with a Growth Portfolio feature. Beyond keeping your employee information secure and organized, it also lets your workforce analyze their performance and implement guided suggestions.
SAP SuccessFactors best features
- Retrieve employee profile information and HR policy documents using natural language queries
- Let employees submit time-off requests and seek HR policy information through a conversational interface, enhancing employee experience
- Provide new hires with automated, personalized onboarding tasks and checklists, ensuring smooth integration into the company culture
- Monitor and flag potential compliance issues in real-time
SAP SuccessFactors limitations
- This HR document management software takes longer to load than its alternatives
SAP SuccessFactors pricing
- SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central (Core HR): $75.60/month per user
SAP SuccessFactors ratings and reviews
- G2: 3.9/5 stars (670+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.0/5 stars (280+ reviews)
What are real-life users saying about SAP SuccessFactors?
A G2 review reads:
🧠Fun Fact: Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company created the first corporate training film, teaching employees the right safety procedures and work techniques. Guess they knew the importance of showing employees how to work safely before PowerPoint even existed!
10. DocuWare (Best for maintaining HR data compliance)
Navigating HR compliance, especially with a global team, is highly challenging. One slip-up and you will land yourself in murky legal issues.
With enterprise-grade security and compliance flagging features, DocuWare is your ideal companion for collecting and storing employee information securely. It securely archives all file types in a centralized system, keeping your HR practices compliant with HIPAA, GDPR, and other regulations.
With super-specific user rights, rock-solid workflows, and entries that can’t be tampered with, you are protected from data loss, mix-ups, and shady edits.
DocuWare best features
- Facilitate secure digital signing of documents, streamlining workflows, and reducing paper documents
- Generate tailored reports and audit trails to monitor document edits and control access
- Create payslips in any payroll platform and automatically store them in the employees’ digital personnel files
- Quickly locate employee information using intelligent search filters such as name, department, document type, or status
DocuWare limitations
- While there are no inherent file size limitations in the DocuWare system itself, upload speed can be a factor for very large documents
DocuWare pricing
- Custom pricing
DocuWare ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 stars (240+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 stars (100+ reviews)
Summarize this article for me pleaseSimplify and Secure Employee Document Management with ClickUp
From secure storage and powerful search features to automated workflows and mobile access, the tools we covered bring serious organization to your HR processes. Whether you are running a lean startup or scaling a fast-growing company, there’s something in here for every kind of team.
Want all of it in one platform? Choose ClickUp. Use it as your digital filing cabinet and document hub. Get real-time updates so you never miss out on an HR task again.
Moreover, the connected search feature will ensure that you don’t get lost trying to locate an employee document.
So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for ClickUp today to make employee document management less of a headache and more of an automated process.
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
