Best HR Software with Reporting & Analytics in 2026

HR data is only valuable if you can analyze it. Whether you're tracking turnover rates, identifying pay equity gaps, or forecasting headcount needs, robust reporting and analytics transform raw HR data into strategic insights. The best platforms go beyond basic reports to offer custom dashboards, predictive analytics, and compliance tracking.

Quick Takeaway: Top HR analytics platforms offer 50+ pre-built reports, custom report builders, visual dashboards, and export capabilities. Look for both operational reports (daily metrics) and strategic analytics (trends, predictions). Jump to comparison table →

Why HR Reporting & Analytics Matter

Data-driven HR decisions deliver measurable business impact:

Reduce turnover: Identify at-risk employees before they quit (10-30% turnover reduction)
Improve hiring: Analyze source of hire, time-to-fill, cost-per-hire to optimize recruiting
Ensure compliance: Track certifications, training completions, labor law adherence
Control costs: Monitor overtime, PTO liability, benefits utilization
Support planning: Forecast headcount needs, budget for raises, plan succession
Demonstrate ROI: Prove HR's business impact with metrics leadership understands

Types of HR Reports & Analytics

Standard/Pre-Built Reports (Essential)

Ready-to-use reports that every HR platform should offer:

Headcount Total employees by department, location, type
Turnover Voluntary/involuntary separation rates
Demographics Age, gender, tenure, diversity metrics
Compensation Salary ranges, pay equity analysis
PTO Accrual balances, usage patterns, liability
Performance Review completion, ratings distribution
Compliance I-9 status, training completions, certifications

Custom Report Builder (Highly Valuable)

Tools to create your own reports without coding:

Drag-and-drop field selection
Custom filters and grouping
Calculated fields (e.g., "days since last review")
Scheduled automated delivery
Save and share with stakeholders

Visual Dashboards (Game-Changer)

Real-time visual displays of key metrics:

Executive dashboards (high-level KPIs)
Manager dashboards (team-specific metrics)
Customizable widgets (charts, graphs, scorecards)
Drill-down capabilities (click for details)
Mobile-optimized views

Predictive/People Analytics (Advanced)

Machine learning and predictive modeling:

Flight risk prediction (who's likely to quit)
Performance forecasting
Compensation benchmarking against market data
Diversity & inclusion trend analysis
Headcount and budget forecasting

💡 Start Simple: Begin with pre-built reports to understand your data. Graduate to custom reports once you know what questions you're asking. Add dashboards when you need real-time visibility. Reserve predictive analytics for mature HR functions.

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Essential HR Metrics to Track

Recruiting & Hiring Metrics

Time to fill: Days from job posting to accepted offer
Cost per hire: Total recruiting expenses / number of hires
Source of hire: Where your best candidates come from
Offer acceptance rate: % of offers accepted
Quality of hire: New hire performance vs. expectations
Candidate experience: Satisfaction scores from applicants

Retention & Turnover Metrics

Overall turnover rate: Total separations / average headcount
Voluntary turnover: Employee-initiated departures only
Turnover by department/manager: Identify problem areas
90-day turnover: New hire retention rate
Regrettable vs non-regrettable: Did you want them to stay?
Average tenure: How long employees stay

Performance & Engagement Metrics

Review completion rate: % of performance reviews done on time
Performance distribution: Ratings breakdown (avoid everyone being "exceeds")
Goal completion: % of employees achieving objectives
Engagement scores: Survey results over time
Training completion: % completing required courses
Promotion rate: Internal mobility and career growth

Compensation & Benefits Metrics

Compa-ratio: Actual salary vs. market midpoint
Pay equity: Compensation gaps by gender, race, etc.
Benefits utilization: Which benefits employees actually use
Overtime costs: Hours and spend by department
PTO liability: Accrued but unused PTO (balance sheet impact)
Total compensation: Salary + benefits value

Compliance & Risk Metrics

I-9 compliance: Completion and re-verification status
Training certifications: Expiring credentials, overdue renewals
EEOC reporting: EEO-1 data readiness
ACA compliance: Coverage offered, affordability calculations
FLSA compliance: Exempt vs non-exempt classification accuracy
Safety incidents: OSHA recordables, near-misses

Top HR Platforms for Reporting & Analytics

1. Visier - Best People Analytics Platform

⭐ 4.8/5 - Analytics Powerhouse

Starting Price: Custom (typically $10k-50k+ annually)

Visier is purpose-built for HR analytics. It's not a full HRIS—it connects to your existing HR systems (Workday, ADP, BambooHR, etc.) and delivers enterprise-grade analytics and predictive insights.

Analytics Capabilities:

400+ pre-built HR metrics out of the box
Predictive analytics: Flight risk, performance forecasting, diversity trends
Visual dashboards: Executive, manager, and specialist views
Natural language queries: Ask questions in plain English
Benchmarking: Compare your metrics vs. industry standards
Data integration: Connects to 100+ HR/business systems
Custom modeling: Build unique analytics for your organization

What Makes Visier Special:

Industry leader in people analytics (Gartner Magic Quadrant)
Sophisticated predictive models (ML-powered insights)
Designed for non-technical HR users
Best-in-class data visualization
Focuses solely on analytics (not bogged down by HRIS features)

✅ Pros:

Most sophisticated HR analytics available
Predictive insights drive strategy
Works with any HRIS
Beautiful visualizations
Executive-friendly dashboards

❌ Cons:

Expensive (mid-market and enterprise only)
Requires existing HRIS (not standalone)
Implementation takes 2-4 months
Overkill for small businesses

Best For: Mid-to-large organizations (250+ employees) serious about people analytics and data-driven HR strategy

Request Visier Demo

2. BambooHR - Best SMB Reporting Platform

⭐ 4.7/5 - Best for Small/Mid-Market

Starting Price: Custom (typically $5-8/employee/month)

BambooHR delivers surprisingly powerful reporting in a user-friendly package. Their custom report builder lets non-technical users create sophisticated reports without SQL or coding knowledge.

Analytics Capabilities:

100+ standard reports covering all HR areas
Custom report builder: Drag-and-drop interface with 300+ data fields
Visual dashboards: Customizable home screen widgets
Scheduled reports: Automatic email delivery daily/weekly/monthly
Report sharing: Create shared reports for managers/executives
Data export: CSV, Excel, PDF for further analysis
Mobile access: View key reports and dashboards on mobile

Key Reports:

Headcount and demographics
Turnover analysis (voluntary/involuntary, by department)
PTO liability and usage trends
Performance review completion
Compensation analysis and pay equity
Time-to-hire and recruiting metrics
Custom fields reporting (track anything you need)

What Makes BambooHR Special:

Easiest report builder in the industry (truly no-code)
Beautiful, intuitive report layouts
Perfect balance of power and simplicity
Excellent for HR teams without data analysts
Reports actually look professional (not like spreadsheets)

✅ Pros:

Extremely user-friendly reporting
No technical skills required
Comprehensive pre-built reports
Great visualization options
Affordable for SMBs

❌ Cons:

No predictive analytics
Limited advanced statistical functions
Dashboards less sophisticated than Visier
No benchmarking data

Best For: Small to mid-sized businesses (20-500 employees) needing powerful, user-friendly reporting

Try BambooHR Free

3. Lattice - Best for Performance Analytics

⭐ 4.6/5 - Performance Management Leader

Starting Price: $11/employee/month

Lattice specializes in performance management analytics. While it offers broader HR reporting, its strength is turning performance review data into actionable insights about employee development and engagement.

Analytics Capabilities:

Performance analytics: Review scores, goal completion, feedback trends
Engagement analytics: Survey results over time, heat maps by department
Growth & development: Career progression, skill gaps, training effectiveness
Manager effectiveness: Compare manager performance across teams
Real-time dashboards: Live performance and engagement metrics
Custom analytics: Build reports unique to your performance framework
Anonymized insights: Protect privacy while revealing trends

Unique Analytics Features:

Engagement heat maps: Visual representation of team sentiment
1:1 meeting analytics: Frequency, topics, action item completion
Peer feedback patterns: Who gives/receives feedback most
Goal alignment: How individual goals ladder up to company OKRs
Competency tracking: Skill development over time

What Makes Lattice Special:

Best performance analytics in the market
Engagement survey tools included
Focuses on employee development, not just tracking
Great for culture-focused companies
Integrates with major HRIS platforms

✅ Pros:

Excellent performance & engagement analytics
Beautiful, modern dashboards
Manager-friendly insights
Strong focus on employee development
Integrates with HRIS for broader data

❌ Cons:

Limited payroll/benefits reporting
Requires HRIS integration for full HR analytics
More expensive than general HR platforms
Focused on performance—not full HR suite

Best For: Companies (50-2000 employees) prioritizing performance management and employee engagement analytics

Request Lattice Demo

4. Rippling - Best All-in-One Analytics

⭐ 4.7/5 - Unified HR + IT Analytics

Starting Price: $8/employee/month

Rippling provides comprehensive analytics across HR, payroll, IT, and finance—all in one platform. This unified data model enables cross-functional insights impossible with siloed systems.

Analytics Capabilities:

Unified reporting: HR + IT + Finance data in one view
Custom report builder: Create reports across any data in Rippling
Pre-built reports: 50+ HR-specific reports included
Dashboards: Real-time executive and department dashboards
Workflow analytics: Track automation performance and efficiency
App usage analytics: Which software employees actually use
Cost analytics: Total employee cost (comp + benefits + apps + devices)

Unique Cross-Functional Reports:

Total employee cost: Salary + benefits + software licenses + devices
App ROI: Software spend vs. usage by department
Onboarding efficiency: Time to full productivity (HR + IT setup)
Offboarding compliance: Access revocation and equipment return
Security compliance: Who has access to what, audit trails

What Makes Rippling Special:

Only platform with unified HR + IT + Finance analytics
Cross-functional insights (e.g., cost per employee including software)
Workflow automation analytics (measure efficiency gains)
Real-time data (not batch processing)
API access for custom data exports

✅ Pros:

Unified data eliminates silos
Cross-functional reporting unique to Rippling
Real-time analytics
Great for tech/remote companies
Powerful workflow analytics

❌ Cons:

Report builder less intuitive than BambooHR
No predictive analytics (yet)
Visualizations could be better
Premium pricing for full features

Best For: Tech companies and remote teams (20-1000+ employees) wanting unified HR + IT analytics

Start Rippling Trial

5. Workday - Enterprise Analytics Leader

⭐ 4.5/5 - Best for Enterprise

Starting Price: Custom (typically $100k+ annually)

Workday delivers enterprise-grade analytics at scale. Built for large, global organizations with complex reporting requirements and sophisticated data governance needs.

Analytics Capabilities:

Workday Prism Analytics: Combine HR data with external data sources
1000+ standard reports: Covering all HR/payroll/finance areas
Advanced reporting: Matrix reports, trending, calculations
Discovery boards: Interactive dashboards with drill-down
Predictive models: Turnover risk, performance forecasting
Workday Adaptive Planning: Headcount and budget forecasting
Data governance: Enterprise-grade security and compliance

Enterprise Features:

Global reporting: Multi-country, multi-currency, multi-language
Audit trails: Complete visibility into data changes
Role-based access: Sophisticated permissions for sensitive data
Data retention: Historical trending for years of data
Custom calculations: Build complex formulas and business logic

What Makes Workday Special:

Enterprise-scale capabilities (10,000+ employees)
Sophisticated global workforce analytics
Deep integration with Workday financials
Best-in-class compliance and governance
Extensive partner ecosystem for specialized analytics

✅ Pros:

Enterprise-grade analytics at scale
Global workforce support
Robust compliance and governance
Unified HR + Finance platform
Extensive customization

❌ Cons:

Extremely expensive
Complex implementation (6-18 months)
Steep learning curve
Overkill for SMBs
Requires dedicated analytics team

Best For: Large enterprises (1000+ employees) with complex global reporting needs

Contact Workday

6. Gusto - Best Simple Reporting for Small Business

⭐ 4.4/5 - Best for Small Teams

Starting Price: $40/month + $6/employee

Gusto's reporting is intentionally simple—covering the essentials small businesses need without overwhelming users. Perfect if you want answers quickly without learning complex analytics tools.

Analytics Capabilities:

Payroll reports: Tax liabilities, payroll journal entries, wage details
Employee reports: Headcount, demographics, turnover
PTO reports: Balances, accruals, liability
Benefits reports: Enrollment, costs, employee contributions
Compliance reports: New hire reporting, tax forms
Time tracking reports: Hours worked, overtime (with add-on)
Export to Excel: Download data for custom analysis

What Makes Gusto Special:

Dead simple—no training required
Covers essential small business needs
Integrated with payroll (no data syncing)
Affordable pricing for small teams
Great for founders who hate complex software

✅ Pros:

Extremely easy to use
Covers small business essentials
Affordable pricing
No learning curve
Great for non-technical users

❌ Cons:

Limited custom reporting
No dashboards
No predictive analytics
Not suitable for complex needs
Must export to Excel for deep analysis

Best For: Small businesses (5-50 employees) needing simple, essential HR reports

Try Gusto Free

HR Analytics Comparison Table

Platform	Pre-Built Reports	Custom Reports	Dashboards	Predictive	Best For
Visier	400+	✅ Advanced	✅ Excellent	✅ Yes	Enterprise analytics
BambooHR	100+	✅ Excellent	✅ Good	❌ No	SMB reporting
Lattice	50+	✅ Good	✅ Excellent	⚠️ Limited	Performance analytics
Rippling	50+	✅ Good	✅ Good	❌ No	Unified HR+IT
Workday	1000+	✅ Advanced	✅ Excellent	✅ Yes	Large enterprise
Gusto	30+	⚠️ Limited	❌ No	❌ No	Small business basics

🎯 Decision Framework: Choose Visier for advanced people analytics, BambooHR for SMB-friendly reporting, Lattice for performance insights, Rippling for unified data, Workday for enterprise scale, or Gusto for simple small business needs.

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Building an HR Analytics Strategy

Step 1: Define Your Questions

Start with the business questions you need to answer:

"Why is turnover high in the sales department?"
"Are we paying competitively for software engineers?"
"Which hiring sources produce the best employees?"
"What's our PTO liability for budgeting purposes?"
"Are managers completing performance reviews on time?"

Step 2: Identify Required Data

Map which data you need to answer each question:

Turnover analysis → hire dates, termination dates, departments, reasons
Pay equity → salaries, job titles, demographics, tenure
Source of hire → applicant source, hired candidates, performance ratings
PTO liability → accrual rates, balances, employee count, hourly rates
Review completion → review due dates, completion dates, managers

Step 3: Start with Standard Reports

Use pre-built reports to answer common questions:

Run turnover report monthly to track trends
Review compensation reports quarterly for budget planning
Check PTO liability before fiscal year end
Monitor performance review completion during review cycles
Track headcount weekly for capacity planning

Step 4: Graduate to Custom Reports

Build custom reports for unique business questions:

"Show me all employees with more than 80 hours PTO accrued"
"Which departments have the longest time-to-fill for open roles?"
"What's our promotion rate by gender and ethnicity?"
"Who hasn't completed required sexual harassment training?"

Step 5: Create Dashboards for Visibility

Build role-specific dashboards for real-time monitoring:

CEO dashboard: Headcount, turnover, cost per employee, open roles
HR dashboard: Recruiting pipeline, onboarding status, compliance gaps
Manager dashboard: Team headcount, PTO coverage, performance review status
Finance dashboard: Payroll costs, PTO liability, benefits spend

HR Analytics Best Practices

Data Quality Comes First

Clean existing data: Fix duplicates, missing fields, inconsistent entries before analyzing
Establish data standards: Consistent job titles, department names, location codes
Audit regularly: Monthly data quality checks to catch errors early
Train users: Ensure managers enter data correctly at the source

Focus on Actionable Insights

So what? Every report should lead to action, not just information
Tell a story: Present findings as narratives, not just numbers
Recommend actions: Don't just report problems—suggest solutions
Track impact: Measure whether your HR initiatives actually move metrics

Protect Privacy & Compliance

Aggregate when possible: Show team trends, not individual performance
Limit access: Not everyone needs to see compensation or performance data
Anonymize sensitive reports: Remove names from diversity or engagement analyses
Comply with laws: GDPR, CCPA, and local privacy regulations

Start Simple, Add Complexity

Month 1: Run standard reports, understand your baseline
Month 2-3: Build 3-5 custom reports for your unique questions
Month 4-6: Create dashboards for key stakeholders
Month 7+: Add predictive analytics or advanced capabilities

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between reporting and analytics?

Reporting tells you what happened (descriptive): "Turnover was 15% last quarter." Analytics tells you why it happened and what might happen next (diagnostic and predictive): "Turnover increased due to lack of career development, and if current trends continue, we'll lose 20% more employees next quarter." Most platforms offer reporting; fewer offer true analytics.

Do I need a dedicated HR analyst to use these tools?

Not for user-friendly platforms like BambooHR, Gusto, or Lattice—HR generalists can build reports without technical skills. Advanced platforms (Visier, Workday) benefit from having a dedicated people analytics person, especially for predictive modeling and complex custom analytics. Start simple and hire an analyst when ROI justifies it (typically 250+ employees).

How often should I run HR reports?

It depends on the metric: Weekly: headcount, open requisitions, new hire onboarding status. Monthly: turnover, recruiting metrics, PTO usage. Quarterly: compensation analysis, performance review completion, diversity metrics. Annually: total rewards statements, benefits utilization, engagement surveys. Set up scheduled reports so they run automatically.

Can I export data to Excel for custom analysis?

Yes, all major platforms (BambooHR, Gusto, Rippling, Workday) offer CSV/Excel export. This is useful for: combining HR data with financial data, creating custom visualizations in Tableau/Power BI, or ad-hoc analysis in Excel. Just be careful with sensitive data—encrypted files and secure sharing are essential.

What's the ROI of investing in HR analytics?

Organizations with mature HR analytics report: 15-30% reduction in turnover (saving $50k-200k+ annually), 20-40% faster hiring (reducing lost productivity), 10-20% reduction in overtime costs, and improved compliance (avoiding costly penalties). Even small improvements in these areas justify analytics investments. Start by measuring one high-impact area (e.g., turnover) and expand from there.

How do I benchmark my HR metrics against industry standards?

Some platforms (Visier, Workday) include benchmarking data from aggregated customers. Otherwise, use industry reports: SHRM publishes benchmarks, LinkedIn Talent Insights provides hiring metrics, and Payscale offers compensation data. Join HR communities (SHRM local chapters, PeopleOps Slack groups) to informally compare notes with peers in similar industries.

Should I integrate HR analytics with business intelligence tools (Tableau, Power BI)?

For advanced use cases, yes. If you want to combine HR data with sales, finance, or operational data, exporting to Tableau/Power BI enables unified dashboards. Most enterprise platforms (Workday, Rippling, BambooHR) offer API access or direct connectors. However, start with native reporting first—BI tools add complexity and cost justified only for sophisticated analytics needs.

What compliance reports are required for HR?

Common compliance reports include: EEO-1 (annual diversity report for companies with 100+ employees), ACA 1094/1095 (health insurance offering/coverage), OSHA 300 (workplace injuries), VETS-4212 (veteran hiring for federal contractors), and various state-specific new hire reports. Your HR platform should generate these automatically or make data collection simple.

Can I share reports with people outside HR (executives, managers)?

Yes, and you should! Best practices: create executive dashboards with high-level KPIs (turnover, headcount, cost), give managers dashboards showing their team metrics only, and use scheduled email delivery for regular stakeholder updates. Set appropriate permissions so managers see only their teams' data, not other departments. This transparency increases HR's credibility and business partnership.

How far back should my HR data go for meaningful analytics?

Minimum 1 year for basic trending, ideally 2-3 years for seasonal patterns and meaningful comparisons. Historical data helps answer questions like "Is turnover really higher than last year, or is this normal for Q1?" When implementing a new HRIS, import at least 1 year of historical data if possible. More data enables better predictive analytics and identifies long-term trends.

Implementation Roadmap

Month 1: Foundation

Audit current data quality in your HRIS
Clean up data inconsistencies
Define top 5-10 business questions to answer
Run standard reports to establish baselines
Train HR team on reporting tools

Month 2: Build

Create 3-5 custom reports for your unique needs
Build an executive dashboard (even if simple)
Schedule monthly automated reports
Share first insights with leadership
Gather feedback on what's useful

Month 3: Expand

Create manager dashboards (team-specific views)
Add quarterly reports for strategic planning
Begin tracking ROI of HR initiatives
Identify gaps in data or reporting capabilities
Consider advanced features (predictive, benchmarking)

Month 4+: Optimize

Refine reports based on usage (delete what's not used)
Add visualizations to make insights clearer
Integrate HR data with other business data (if needed)
Train managers to run their own reports
Establish quarterly "state of people" presentations to leadership

🎯 Success Metric: Within 6 months, HR should be presenting data-driven insights to leadership monthly, managers should use dashboards weekly, and HR decisions should be supported by analytics (not just intuition).

Start Your Analytics Journey

Final Verdict: Which Platform for HR Analytics?

Choose Visier if: You're mid-to-large (250+ employees) and serious about people analytics as a strategic capability. Worth the investment for sophisticated predictive insights and executive-grade dashboards.

Choose BambooHR if: You're an SMB (20-500 employees) needing powerful, user-friendly reporting without complexity. Best balance of capability and ease of use for HR generalists.

Choose Lattice if: Performance management and employee engagement are your analytics priorities. Best-in-class for tracking employee development and team effectiveness.

Choose Rippling if: You want unified HR + IT + Finance analytics with cross-functional insights. Perfect for tech companies and remote teams needing holistic employee data.

Choose Workday if: You're a large enterprise (1000+ employees) with complex global reporting needs and the budget for enterprise-grade analytics infrastructure.

Choose Gusto if: You're a small business (5-50 employees) needing simple, essential reports without learning complex analytics tools. Perfect for founders who want answers, not training.

🚀 Getting Started:

List your top 10 HR questions that data could answer
Evaluate which platforms offer reports/analytics to answer those questions
Test report builders during free trials (don't just watch demos)
Start with standard reports before building custom analytics
Measure adoption and refine based on what stakeholders actually use

Compare Analytics Platforms

Last updated: February 2026 | SMB HR Reviews Home | All Guides | Tool Comparisons