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HR & Payroll Software Singapore

HR & Payroll Built Into the Same System as the Work

Payroll is downstream of operations: rosters, timesheets, commissions and claims. When HR lives inside the same system as the work, payroll runs stop being a monthly reconstruction project. CPF, SDL and Singapore employment rules included.

Custom enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, built for Singapore SMEs. From $3.5k onwards.

MonTueWedThuFriSatEmployee…Rosters…Employee…Leave &…Rosters…Employee…Reminder sentCustomer confirmed on WhatsAppHR & Payroll Software Singapore

Where Singapore SMEs feel stuck

Most off-the-shelf ERP software is built for someone else's workflow. We design around yours.

Payroll month is spreadsheet month

Hours, OT, commissions and claims are collected from chats and files, then computed by hand.

Leave balances are disputed

Entitlements, carry-overs and half-days live in a file only one person understands.

Work-pass deadlines surprise you

Permit expiries and levy changes are tracked nowhere until they bite.

Commissions are computed twice

Sales computes one number, finance another, and someone argues.

What we build into your ERP

Pick the modules that match how your team actually works. Everything connects to a single source of truth.

Employee Records

Contracts, passes, certifications and documents with expiry alerts.

Rosters & Timesheets

Shifts, clock-ins and OT rules feeding payroll without re-keying.

Leave & Claims

Applications, approvals and balances on employees' own phones.

Payroll & CPF

Payroll runs with CPF, SDL and SHG contributions computed, itemised payslips and bank files (GIRO) generated.

Commissions & Incentives

Rules-based commissions from the same sales data, one number everyone trusts.

IR8A & Reporting

Year-end IR8A preparation and headcount, cost and leave reports.

How we deliver

STEP 1

Map the current flow

We sit with the people doing the work today and document how it really happens, including the workarounds.

STEP 2

Build and ship

A working first version in weeks, wired to your real data, refined with the team using it.

STEP 3

Extend and connect

The module grows into neighbouring workflows or plugs into the rest of your ERP. You own everything we build.

Spreadsheet Payroll Versus HR Built Into the System

Payroll month as a spreadsheet project

  • Hours and overtime collected from chats, paper and files.
  • CPF computed by hand or in a formula nobody has re-checked in a year.
  • Leave balances live in a file only one person fully understands.
  • Commissions calculated separately by sales and by finance.
  • Claims arrive by email and are keyed in again.
  • Payslips produced as a second, manual step after the run.
  • Work pass expiries tracked in a side list, if at all.
  • Bank transfers typed one by one on payday.
  • Labour cost never reaches the job it was incurred on.
  • One person holds the whole process, and their leave is a risk.

HR and payroll inside your ERP

  • Timesheets, overtime and allowances flow from the work records that already exist.
  • CPF, SDL and SHG computed by the run, by age band and residency status.
  • Entitlements and carry-over computed from a policy the system holds.
  • Commission calculated once, from the same sales records.
  • Claims submitted and approved in the same system, landing in the run.
  • Itemised payslips generated from the run that produced them.
  • Pass expiry surfaces as an alert weeks before it bites.
  • GIRO bank file generated from the approved run.
  • Labour cost posts to the project or cost centre it belongs to.
  • The process is in the system, so it survives any one person being away.

Payroll Calculators

CPF, overtime and leave computed against the current statutory rates, with the source and effective date printed on each result.

Your numbers
S$

Ordinary Wages for the month, before CPF

years
Result
Employee contribution
Deducted from the salary
S$1,000
Employer contribution
Paid on top of the salary
S$850
Total CPF contribution
S$1,850
Take-home pay
Wage less the employee share
S$4,000.00
Total cost to employer
S$5,850.00
Age band applied
55 and below
Contribution rates
Citizen or PR (3rd year onwards)
37% total, 20% employee

Contributions follow the CPF Board's steps: the total is rounded to the nearest dollar, the employee's share is rounded down, and the employer's share is the remainder. Figures cover Ordinary Wages only; bonuses and other Additional Wages are subject to a separate annual ceiling of S$102,000 across all wages for the year.

Rates as at 1 January 2026. Source: CPF Board — CPF contribution rate table from 1 January 2026 . This tool is a guide, not tax, legal or accounting advice — check the official source before relying on a figure.

Your numbers
S$
hrs
×

The Employment Act minimum is 1.5

Result
Hourly basic rate
(12 × S$2,400) ÷ (52 × 44)
S$12.59
Overtime rate at 1.5×
S$18.88
Overtime pay for 10 hours
S$188.81
Total pay for the month
S$2,588.81

Overtime must be paid within 14 days of the last day of the salary period. Managers and executives are not covered by Part IV of the Employment Act.

Rates as at 2026. Source: MOM — Hours of work, overtime and rest days . This tool is a guide, not tax, legal or accounting advice — check the official source before relying on a figure.

Your numbers
year

1 = first year with this employer

months
days

Leave 0 to use the statutory minimum

Result
Full-year entitlement
Statutory minimum for year 1
7 days
Pro-rated for 7 months
4 days
Statutory minimum this year
7 days

Statutory annual leave starts at 7 days in the first year and rises by one day a year to a maximum of 14. Pro-rating uses completed months ÷ 12; half a day or more rounds up, less than half rounds down.

Rates as at 2026. Source: MOM — Annual leave eligibility and entitlement . This tool is a guide, not tax, legal or accounting advice — check the official source before relying on a figure.

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What HR and Payroll Software Has to Do in Singapore

Generic HR software handles people. Singapore payroll handles statutory contributions, work passes and itemised payslips, and getting any of them wrong is a regulatory problem rather than an admin one.

A staff roster grid with shifts assigned across the week

CPF contributions computed, not looked up

Employer and employee CPF rates vary by age band and by whether the worker is a citizen or permanent resident, and PR rates step up over the first two years. Computing that by hand across a payroll of thirty people every month is where errors enter.

Itemised payslips

Singapore employers must issue itemised payslips covering basic pay, allowances, deductions, overtime and net pay. Generating them from the same run that computed the payroll removes the second reconciliation step entirely.

SDL and self-help group contributions

Skills Development Levy applies on top of CPF, and SHG contributions depend on the employee's declaration. Both belong in the payroll run rather than in a side spreadsheet.

Work pass and levy tracking

Employment Pass, S Pass and Work Permit holders each carry expiry dates and, for some categories, levies. Expiry has to surface as an alert weeks ahead, not on the day.

Leave entitlement and carry-over

Annual leave, sick leave, and the rules your company layers on top such as carry-over caps and encashment, need to be computed from a policy the system holds rather than from a file one person maintains.

Overtime rules

Overtime eligibility and rates depend on employee category and salary threshold. Encoding the rule once means the payroll run applies it consistently to every timesheet.

GIRO bank files

Paying thirty or three hundred people means generating a bank file from the payroll run, not typing transfers one by one.

Employment records

Contracts, IC and pass documents, certifications and appraisal history belong against the employee record with expiry alerts, not in a shared drive.

Why Payroll Belongs Inside the ERP, Not Beside It

Standalone payroll tools work. They just require someone to feed them, and that feeding is where the month disappears.

Hours worked flowing through to a payslip and payment

Payroll is downstream of operations

Hours worked, overtime, site allowances, commissions and reimbursable claims all originate in the operational system. If payroll lives elsewhere, someone exports, reformats and re-keys them every cycle.

Commissions computed once

When sales data and payroll sit in one system, commission is calculated from the same records that recorded the sale. Two systems means two numbers and an argument at month end.

Timesheets that already exist

If supervisors are already capturing attendance on site or at the counter, payroll should consume those records directly rather than asking for a summary.

Claims without a second inbox

Expense and mileage claims submitted in the same system route through the same approval chain and land in the payroll run automatically.

One employee record

A new hire is entered once. HR, operations and payroll all read the same record, so a pass expiry or a salary change propagates rather than being updated in three places.

Cost allocated to the job

Labour cost posted against the project or cost centre it was incurred on is what makes job costing real. Payroll run in isolation cannot do that.

Off-the-Shelf Payroll Versus Building It In

Both are legitimate. The honest split is about how standard your rules are.

Employee records with contract and pass expiry tracked

When off-the-shelf wins

Your payroll rules are conventional, headcount is stable, and you want statutory updates handled by a vendor. Established Singapore payroll products do this well and we will say so.

When building it in wins

Your pay rules are genuinely specific: shift differentials, per-site allowances, tiered commissions, or piece rates that no standard product models. Or payroll is the last thing still outside the system your operations already run on.

The integration tax

A separate payroll product means an integration to build and maintain, or a monthly export and import. That recurring cost is rarely counted when the licence is compared.

Per-employee pricing

Most payroll products price per employee per month, so the cost scales with headcount permanently. A build carries no per-head fee.

What we actually do

Digital 9 Labs does not rebuild a whole HR suite bespoke. We build the parts that touch your operations, usually timesheets to payroll and claims, alongside whatever you already run. A focused first module starts from about S$3,500 on a fixed quote after a workflow review.

Statutory change

CPF rates and thresholds change. Whichever route you take, confirm who is responsible for keeping the rules current before you commit.

A Worked Example: What Payroll Month Actually Costs

Illustrative arithmetic for a 30-person Singapore SME. Your numbers will differ; the point is that the cost is real and recurring, and almost nobody measures it.

The manual cycle

Collecting hours, overtime, claims and commissions, then computing CPF and producing payslips, commonly takes 2 to 3 full days a month for one finance or HR person.

  • Say 20 hours a month on the payroll run itself
  • Plus 4 to 6 hours answering queries about it
  • 240 to 312 hours a year on one recurring task

What those hours cost

At a loaded cost of roughly S$30 an hour for an HR or finance executive, 20 hours a month is about S$600 a month, or S$7,200 a year, spent reproducing the same calculation.

  • 20 hours x S$30 = S$600 a month
  • S$7,200 a year, before any error
  • Rising with every additional headcount

The error cost nobody budgets

A CPF miscalculation is corrected retrospectively and can require a refiling. One or two of those a year absorbs several more days and creates a compliance record you would rather not have.

  • Retrospective correction and refiling effort
  • Employee trust damaged by a wrong payslip
  • A pattern of corrections is a compliance risk

What automation actually removes

Not the whole job. It removes the collection, the recomputation and the payslip production, which is most of the 20 hours. Review and approval remain human, and should.

  • Hours flow from timesheets already captured
  • CPF, SDL and SHG computed by the run
  • Itemised payslips generated, not assembled
  • Bank file produced for upload, not typed

The payback shape

Against a focused first module from about S$3,500, the recurring S$7,200 a year of reclaimed time is the honest way to frame the return, rather than any headline efficiency claim.

  • First module from about S$3,500
  • Roughly S$7,200 a year of time reclaimed
  • Payback measured in months, not years
  • The gain grows as headcount grows

Where the numbers come from

These are illustrative figures for a 30-person company, not an industry study. Run the same arithmetic with your own headcount, your own hourly cost and your own honest estimate of the hours.

  • Count the hours for one real cycle first
  • Use your own loaded hourly cost
  • Then decide whether the build is worth it

Budgeting the Project Properly

Illustrative arithmetic so you can build a board paper rather than react to a quote. Substitute your own figures throughout.

Phase one, the proving module

Budget S$3,500 to S$12,000 for one workflow solved end to end, live in 4 to 8 weeks on a fixed quote.

  • S$3,500 entry, fixed after review
  • 4 to 8 weeks to live
  • One workflow, fully solved

Phase two, the department

Once phase one is in daily use, a departmental build covering 3 to 4 linked workflows typically runs S$25,000 to S$60,000.

  • 3 to 4 linked workflows
  • S$25,000 to S$60,000 typical
  • Scoped from evidence

Phase three, the operation

A full operation is a six-figure programme across 12 to 18 months, phased so each stage proves itself.

  • 12 to 18 months, phased
  • Each phase funds the next
  • No big-bang go-live

Internal time to reserve

Budget 8 to 15 hours of your team's time per module for interviews, testing and training.

  • 8 to 15 hours per module
  • Across 6 to 8 weeks
  • Mostly the person doing the work

Running cost after go-live

Hosting commonly runs S$50 to S$300 a month at cost on your own account, plus optional care by scale.

  • S$600 to S$3,600 a year
  • Billed at cost
  • Care quoted by scale

The comparison to run

A 20-seat licence at S$120 a month is S$28,800 a year, or S$144,000 over five years before implementation.

  • 20 x S$120 x 12 = S$28,800
  • S$144,000 over 5 years
  • Compare 5-year totals

Grant treatment

EDG can support up to 50% of qualifying costs for eligible local SMEs on reimbursement, applied for before the project starts. PSG does not cover custom work.

  • Up to 50% of qualifying cost
  • Reimbursement basis
  • Apply before starting
  • Confirm with Enterprise Singapore

Payroll Numbers Worth Knowing

Illustrative arithmetic for a 30-person Singapore SME. Confirm every statutory figure with CPF Board or your payroll adviser, because rates change.

Headcount and run size

30 employees means roughly 360 payslips a year, plus 12 CPF submissions and 12 bank files.

  • 360 payslips a year
  • 12 CPF submissions
  • 12 GIRO bank files

Time per cycle

2 to 3 days a month is common for collection, computation, payslips and queries: roughly 20 hours.

  • About 20 hours a month
  • 240 hours a year
  • Concentrated in 3 working days

Cost of that time

At a loaded S$30 an hour, 20 hours is S$600 a month, or S$7,200 a year on one recurring task.

  • 20 x S$30 = S$600 a month
  • S$7,200 a year
  • Rising with headcount

Error correction

One or two retrospective corrections a year commonly absorb 4 to 8 hours each, plus the refiling.

  • 4 to 8 hours per correction
  • 1 to 2 a year is common
  • Plus the compliance record

Claims and commissions

If 30 staff submit 2 claims a month each, that is 60 approvals a month routed by hand unless the system does it.

  • 60 claim approvals a month
  • 720 a year
  • Each one a small interruption

The build comparison

Against a first module from about S$3,500 and S$7,200 a year of reclaimed time, payback is commonly under 12 months.

  • First module from about S$3,500
  • S$7,200 a year reclaimed
  • Payback typically under 12 months

Implementation, Week by Week

Illustrative sequencing for a first module. Dates slip, but the order rarely should.

Week 1: watch the work

We sit with the people doing the job and follow one real case end to end, recording every handoff.

  • 2 to 3 hours of observation
  • The doer, not the manager
  • One real case, start to finish
  • Handoffs written down

Week 2: agree scope and fix the quote

Scope comes from what we watched, and the quote is fixed with assumptions written down.

  • Scope from observation
  • Fixed quote issued
  • Assumptions listed
  • Out-of-scope named

Weeks 3 to 5: build and show weekly

Working screens with your own data every week rather than a demo at the end.

  • Weekly working build
  • Your data, not samples
  • Feedback folded in weekly
  • No big reveal

Week 6: parallel run

New system and old process both run one full cycle, outputs compared rather than trusted.

  • One cycle in parallel
  • Outputs compared
  • Rollback available
  • Confidence earned

Week 7: train by role

Short sessions per role on live records, with a follow-up after the first real week.

  • 30 to 60 minutes per role
  • Their own records
  • Follow-up after week one
  • Written quick reference

Week 8: go live and measure

Switch over, then measure the pain you started with so module two is argued from evidence.

  • Measure the original pain
  • Compare to baseline
  • Decide module two on evidence
  • No expansion without adoption

HR & Payroll: Glossary of Terms

Plain-English definitions of the terms that appear in every vendor conversation.

ERP

Enterprise resource planning: one system holding the records that several departments share, so a customer, job or stock item exists once rather than in five files.

  • One record, many departments
  • Replaces reconciliation with a shared source
  • Scope is a choice, not all-or-nothing

Module

A functional area such as quoting, stock or payroll. A custom build means choosing three or four rather than buying twelve.

  • Buy or build only what you use
  • Modules share one data model
  • Added when the last one is adopted

Master data

The reference records everything else points at: customers, suppliers, products, staff, cost codes.

  • Cleaned once, maintained forever
  • Duplicates here corrupt every report
  • Owned by a named person

Transactional data

The events: quotes, orders, receipts, invoices, payments, timesheets. Volume grows daily; master data does not.

  • Grows with trading volume
  • Immutable once posted
  • Corrections by reversal, not edit

Source of truth

The system everyone agrees to believe when two numbers disagree. Naming it is a management decision, not a technical one.

  • Named explicitly, in writing
  • Other systems reconcile to it
  • Ambiguity here causes most disputes

Integration

A connection letting two systems exchange records automatically instead of by export and import.

  • API or scheduled file exchange
  • Direction matters: push, pull or both
  • Failure handling is the hard part

API

An interface letting software talk to software. If a vendor has none, every future connection is manual.

  • Ask before you buy
  • REST is the common standard
  • Rate limits and auth are the details

Audit trail

The record of who changed what and when. The difference between an explanation and an argument.

  • Every change attributed
  • Retained, not overwritten
  • Required for most audits

Role-based access

Permissions granted by job function rather than by trust, so leavers are offboarded in one action.

  • Permission by role, not person
  • Sensitive screens hidden
  • Revoked centrally

Cost code

The label that puts a cost against the job, department or project it belongs to.

  • Applied at purchase, not month end
  • Drives job profitability
  • Kept short and stable

Committed cost

Money promised but not yet invoiced, usually at purchase order. The figure spreadsheets almost never capture.

  • Visible at PO, not at invoice
  • Early warning on overruns
  • Distinct from actual cost

Reconciliation

Checking two records agree. Most of it exists because data was entered twice.

  • Symptom of duplicate entry
  • Removed by integration
  • Never fully eliminated

Data migration

Moving existing records into the new system, usually the longest and least glamorous task.

  • Cleaning is the larger half
  • Archive rather than import everything
  • Agree a cutoff date

Parallel run

Operating old and new together for one cycle so outputs can be compared before switching.

  • One full cycle minimum
  • Compare, do not assume
  • Rollback stays available

Go-live

The point the new system becomes the record. Best done one module at a time.

  • Never on a Friday
  • One module, not twelve
  • Support present for week one

User acceptance testing

The client testing that the system does what was agreed, using real scenarios rather than a script.

  • Real cases, not happy paths
  • Done by the people who will use it
  • Sign-off before go-live

Change request

Work outside the agreed scope. Named and priced openly so it does not become an argument.

  • Written, not verbal
  • Priced before it is built
  • Scope baseline retained

Technical debt

Shortcuts that make the next change slower. Sometimes worth taking deliberately, never worth taking silently.

  • Recorded when taken
  • Repaid before it compounds
  • Invisible debt is the dangerous kind

Uptime

The share of time the system is available. Ask what it is measured against and who reports it.

  • Measured, not promised
  • Excludes planned maintenance
  • Meaningless without monitoring

Backup and restore

Copies of your data, and the tested ability to bring them back. Only the second one matters.

  • Automated and frequent
  • Restore actually tested
  • Recovery time measured

SSO

Single sign-on: one login across systems, so access is granted and revoked in one place.

  • Central control of access
  • Faster offboarding
  • Fewer shared passwords

Two-factor authentication

A second proof of identity beyond the password. The cheapest security improvement available.

  • Enabled for all admin users
  • App-based beats SMS
  • Recovery codes stored safely

PDPA

Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act, governing how personal data is collected, used and kept.

  • Applies to staff and customer data
  • Consent and purpose matter
  • Breach obligations exist

GST

Goods and services tax, applied per line with the correct category. Errors here are a filing problem.

  • Category per product, not per invoice
  • Tax invoice timing matters
  • Credit notes must reverse cleanly

Peppol

The international network standard behind structured e-invoicing, used by InvoiceNow in Singapore.

  • Documents routed, not emailed
  • Validated before acceptance
  • Each participant has an identifier

CPF

Central Provident Fund: statutory contributions varying by age band and residency status.

  • Rates change; confirm with CPF Board
  • PR rates step up over two years
  • Computed by the payroll run

SDL

Skills Development Levy, payable on top of CPF and computed in the same run.

  • Applies alongside CPF
  • Part of the payroll computation
  • Not an optional extra

EDG

Enterprise Development Grant: supports up to 50% of qualifying costs for eligible local SMEs, on reimbursement.

  • Custom builds may qualify
  • Apply before the project starts
  • Confirm with Enterprise Singapore

PSG

Productivity Solutions Grant, which funds pre-approved packaged solutions rather than custom work.

  • Packaged solutions only
  • Custom builds do not qualify
  • Check the approved list first

SaaS

Software as a service: rented software, priced per user per month, hosted by the vendor.

  • Recurring, not one-off
  • Cost scales with headcount
  • Vendor owns the roadmap

On-premise

Software running on a server you own and maintain, with the costs and control that implies.

  • Hardware refresh every 4 to 5 years
  • You own patching and backups
  • Full control of the data

Total cost of ownership

Licence plus implementation plus migration plus training plus upgrades, over five years rather than one.

  • Five years, not monthly
  • Include internal time
  • The only fair comparison

Vendor lock-in

The cost of leaving. Measured by whether you can export your data and who owns the code.

  • Ask about export before buying
  • Code ownership in writing
  • Proprietary formats are the trap

Scalability

Whether the system copes as volume grows, and what it costs when it does.

  • Load versus headcount pricing
  • Test at 3x current volume
  • Ask what breaks first

Workflow

The sequence of steps and approvals a piece of work passes through, and who owns each.

  • Mapped before it is built
  • Handoffs are where cost hides
  • Encoded once, applied always

Approval threshold

The value above which something needs a second person to agree. Enforced by the system rather than by habit.

  • Set by role and by value
  • Auditable
  • Prevents surprise discounts

Dashboard

A live view of the numbers management asks for, computed from records rather than assembled monthly.

  • Live, not monthly
  • Same data the team uses
  • Few numbers, chosen deliberately

Reporting period

The window a report covers. Agreeing it prevents two people producing different truths.

  • Defined and consistent
  • Cutoff time stated
  • Comparable period on period

Prerendering

Serving fully-formed HTML so crawlers and AI assistants read the content without running JavaScript.

  • Content visible without JS
  • Faster first paint
  • Essential for search visibility

Agentic automation

Software that acts on records rather than only reporting on them, with human approval on anything consequential.

  • Acts, not just reports
  • Approval gates on money and messages
  • Only as good as the data

HR & Payroll: The Numbers, Collected

Illustrative Singapore figures in one place. Substitute your own throughout.

Typical first module

S$3,500 to S$12,000, live in 4 to 8 weeks on a fixed quote after the workflow review.

  • S$3,500 entry point
  • 4 to 8 weeks to live
  • Fixed after review

Typical departmental build

S$25,000 to S$60,000 covering 3 to 4 linked workflows once the first module is adopted.

  • 3 to 4 workflows
  • S$25,000 to S$60,000
  • Scoped on evidence

Typical full programme

Six figures across 12 to 18 months, phased so each stage proves itself before the next.

  • 12 to 18 months
  • Phased, not big bang
  • Each stage funds the next

Hosting

S$50 to S$300 a month for an SME system, billed at cost on your own account.

  • S$600 to S$3,600 a year
  • Billed at cost
  • Scales on load, not headcount

Licence comparison

20 seats at S$120 a month is S$28,800 a year, or S$144,000 over five years before implementation.

  • 20 x S$120 x 12 = S$28,800
  • S$144,000 over 5 years
  • Plus implementation

Implementation on a licence

Commonly 50% to 150% of first-year licence. Below 30% usually means scope is excluded.

  • 50% to 150% typical
  • Below 30% is a warning
  • Migration often separate

Data migration

S$3,000 to S$15,000 depending on record count and how clean the data is.

  • S$3,000 to S$15,000
  • Cleaning is the larger half
  • Archive rather than import all

Training

2 to 5 days is typical. Fewer than 2 usually makes adoption your problem.

  • 2 to 5 days
  • Per role, not per company
  • Follow-up after week one

Your internal time

8 to 15 hours per module for interviews, testing and training. The line most plans omit.

  • 8 to 15 hours per module
  • Across 6 to 8 weeks
  • Mostly the person doing the work

Admin hire comparison

A back-office hire in Singapore costs roughly S$3,000 to S$4,500 a month before CPF and overheads.

  • S$36,000 to S$54,000 a year
  • Plus CPF and overheads
  • Plus recruitment and cover

Hours reclaimed

A workflow costing 20 hours a month is about 240 hours a year, or S$7,200 at a loaded S$30 an hour.

  • 20 hours a month
  • 240 hours a year
  • About S$7,200

EDG support

Up to 50% of qualifying costs for eligible local SMEs, on reimbursement, applied for before starting.

  • Up to 50%
  • Reimbursement basis
  • Apply before starting
  • Confirm with Enterprise Singapore

HR & Payroll: The Buyer's Checklist

Fifteen questions worth asking any vendor, including us.

Ask for the five-year total

Licence times sixty months plus implementation, migration and training. One number, comparable across vendors.

  • 60 months, not one
  • All one-off costs included
  • Written, not verbal

Ask who owns the code

This single answer determines whether you can ever leave.

  • Ownership in writing
  • Repository access
  • Another developer could take over

Ask about data export

A system you cannot export from is a system you cannot leave.

  • Full export on demand
  • Readable formats
  • Scheduled exports you control

Ask what happens in week one

A vendor who starts with observation is scoping from your problem, not their product.

  • Who they interview
  • Whether they walk a real job
  • What they hand back

Ask what they will refuse to build

A vendor who says yes to everything has not understood the problem.

  • Where they recommend off-the-shelf
  • What they push back on
  • Out of scope on principle

Ask to see it running

Screenshots are not a system. Ask for a populated live environment.

  • Live, not slides
  • Populated, not empty states
  • Someone using it

Ask about the second module

The first is a project; the second tests whether the architecture extends.

  • Shared data model
  • What clients added later
  • How long it took

Ask for the support commitment in hours

Response time in hours, business days defined, escalation path named.

  • Hours, not adjectives
  • Business days defined
  • Named escalation

Ask who maintains statutory logic

CPF, GST and e-invoicing rules change. Someone must own keeping them current.

  • Named owner
  • In the contract
  • Update mechanism stated

Ask about the parallel run

One full cycle with both systems live is what turns confidence into evidence.

  • One cycle minimum
  • Outputs compared
  • Rollback available

Ask what training is included

Two to five days by role, with a follow-up after real use begins.

  • Days stated
  • Per role
  • Follow-up included

Ask how change requests are priced

Scope will change. How that is handled is worth agreeing before it happens.

  • Priced openly
  • Baseline retained
  • Written approval

Ask for a reference you choose

Not the reference they offer. One you pick from their portfolio.

  • You pick, not them
  • Same size and sector
  • Ask what went wrong

Ask what the system will not do

Every system has limits. A vendor who names them is a vendor who understands theirs.

  • Named limits
  • Workarounds explained
  • No magic claims

Ask about hosting and who is billed

Hosting billed at cost to your account avoids a reseller margin you cannot see.

  • Billed to you at cost
  • Your account, your access
  • No hidden margin

Trusted by teams across Singapore

Brands that trust Digital 9 Labs, including IDC, AIA, Great Eastern, Prudential, SingHealth Polyclinics, BNI, MINDEF, National Heritage Board, Twin City Endodontics, Essential Block and Launch Media Labs

Talk to us about hr, payroll & cpf

Tell us about the workflows you want to improve. We'll respond within 24 hours.

Frequently asked questions

What SME teams usually want to know before they commit to a custom ERP or workflow system.