How the options stack up.

How to choose between Excel, an HR system and a manpower ERP

Most UAE manpower suppliers start in Excel, and for a handful of workers on one or two sites that is a reasonable place to be. The question is not which tool is best in the abstract, but where the work outgrows the one you have. These comparisons are written around that question.

Four questions that decide it

• Do you bill clients by the hour? If approved hours become client invoices, billing has to come from the same record as payroll, or the two drift apart.
• How many workers and sites? A spreadsheet per site works until the same worker, rate or absence has to be reconciled across several of them.
• How much compliance are you carrying? Visas, Emirates IDs, labour cards and the monthly WPS file are daily operational work for a supplier, not an annual HR task.
• Who else touches the data? Supervisors, finance, workers and subcontractors each need a different view, and a shared workbook gives everyone the same one.

What each comparison covers

Every page sets out what the option does well, where it stops, and a side-by-side table so you can check it against your own set-up. If you are still deciding what to look for in any system, the 12-question buyer’s checklist is a good companion, and the pricing page shows what a manpower ERP costs.