Must-have payroll software RFP template for startups

Payroll at an early-stage company is unforgiving: one slip can rattle morale, drain bandwidth, and distract leaders from building. You’re hiring fast, mixing W-2s and contractors, crossing state lines (and maybe borders), and experimenting with comp — often with a tiny back office. 

The right payroll platform for startups should be an automation co-pilot: quick to launch, hard to break, and flexible enough to handle whatever your growth throws at it.

Use this guide to structure your RFP. For each area, we explain what great looks like for startups then we give you the exact questions to make vendors prove it. At the end, you’ll have a complete set of criteria you can reuse across evaluations — and a free downloadable guide so you can start evaluating vendors ASAP. 

1. Running payroll and supporting your workforce

For startups, payroll needs to be fast, flexible, and error-free. You can’t afford multi-day admin cycles or rigid schedules. A great system should let you run unlimited pay cycles — including off-cycles for bonuses or spot awards — at no extra cost, configure unique pay rules (stipends, commissions, garnishments), and surface anomalies before submission. It should also unify payroll for employees and contractors in one run, so you’re not juggling parallel systems. 

Rippling’s payroll engine delivers exactly that: run payroll in minutes, compare runs line-by-line against history to catch errors, and pay both W-2s and 1099s together with confidence.

RFP questions to ask

• How quickly can we launch payroll and run our first cycle after signing?

• Do you support unlimited off-cycle, bonus, and correction payrolls at no cost?

• Can we configure custom pay types (stipends, commissions, garnishments)?

• How do you surface anomalies before payroll is finalized?

• Can payroll be configured by department, entity, or worker type?

• Can we pay contractors and employees in the same workflow?

• Do employees get mobile self-service to view stubs and tax forms?

2. Automating compliance and reducing risk

Startups scale across states quickly, and compliance complexity multiplies. Payroll software must automatically register and maintain tax accounts, apply the right wage and leave rules when employees relocate, and handle filings and remittances at federal, state, and local levels. It should also guarantee accurate tax handling for fringe benefits and equity, while keeping immutable audit logs to prove compliance. 

Rippling guarantees every filing is correct and on time, automatically maintains tax accounts, applies jurisdiction-specific rules, and supports audit-grade reporting by default.

RFP questions to ask

• Do you set up and maintain state/local tax accounts automatically?

• Are quarterly and annual filings fully automated, including remittances?

• How do you handle compliance changes when employees move states?

• How are equity and fringe benefits taxed correctly in payroll?

• What service guarantees or indemnities exist for filing errors?

• Do you generate audit-ready logs for all payroll actions?

• How are compliance rules updated — who maintains them, and how often?

3. Integrating time, HR, and benefits data

Disconnected systems force startups into CSVs, which is where errors creep in. The right payroll system integrates natively with HR, time tracking, and benefits so changes flow automatically: approved timecards, new-hire onboarding, promotions, offboarding, and deduction updates all sync in real time. Finance should also get automatic journal entries to QuickBooks, Xero, or NetSuite — or whatever accounting software you’re using.

Rippling unifies HR, time, benefits, and payroll in one system, eliminating manual data transfers and reconciliation headaches.

RFP questions to ask

• Do approved timecards flow directly into payroll with jurisdictional rules applied?

• Do onboarding and promotions update payroll automatically?

• Can final paychecks be generated at offboarding with no manual input?

• Are benefit deductions and employer contributions synced in real time?

• Which accounting systems do you integrate with, and how do journals post?

• Do you support multi-dimensional GL mapping (department, project, entity)?

4. Reducing costs

Every dollar of runway matters. Point solutions add hidden fees and create rework. A good payroll platform reduces costs by eliminating manual processes, replacing multiple systems, and cutting the need for additional headcount. 

Rippling consolidates payroll, HR, time, and benefits into one platform, saving startups hours of admin per week and delivering clear ROI — without charging for every off-cycle or correction.

RFP questions to ask

• What’s included in base pricing vs. billed as add-ons?

• Are off-cycles, W-2s, and 1099s included at no extra cost?

• How many admin hours can we expect to save by consolidating on your system?

• Do you offer transparent ROI metrics for startups of our size?

• Can you reduce vendor costs by eliminating other point solutions?

5. Scaling

The system you pick should work for your first ten employees and still support you at 500+. Startups expand across states quickly and eventually add international headcount. Payroll software should seamlessly manage multi-state registrations and compliance, allow you to spin up entities without re-implementation, and scale to global payroll when you need it. 

Rippling’s payroll engine supports all 50 states from day one and offers native global payroll, so you can pay employees and contractors worldwide in local currencies from a single system.

RFP questions to ask

• Do you support multi-state payroll and automated registrations immediately?

• How do you handle compliance when employees relocate across states?

• Can we add entities or locations without major setup projects?

• Do you support paying international employees and contractors in local currencies?

• What’s the effort required to scale from 20 to 200+ employees?

• How do you keep global compliance rules up to date?

6. Reporting, insights, and reconciliation

Investors expect clear visibility into burn and payroll liabilities. Payroll software should deliver dashboards for labor costs, taxes, headcount, and variance, plus automate journal entries into your general ledger. Reporting should be easy enough for non-technical founders and finance leaders to self-serve. 

Rippling includes real-time dashboards, customizable reporting, and auto-journals with dimensions — so startups can close faster and share accurate numbers with boards and investors.

RFP questions to ask

• Which dashboards are included (burn, headcount, employer costs, taxes)?

• Can non-technical users build and schedule reports?

• Do you provide variance analysis across payroll runs?

• How do payroll journals post to accounting (dimensions, timing, reversals)?

• Can we export raw data for board or investor reporting?

• What data retention options are available for audits or diligence?

How Rippling helps startups

Rippling Payroll lets startups run payroll in minutes, automate compliance across every jurisdiction, and eliminate admin by unifying HR, time, benefits, and accounting. 

With Rippling, you can:

• Pay employees and contractors in one workflow

• Generate audit-ready reports

• Integrate directly with your GL for faster close

• File and pay payroll taxes in accordance with local laws

• Replace point solutions with one unified platform

As you grow, Rippling scales with you — supporting multi-state compliance now and global payroll when you need it — without ripping and replacing your system.

Rippling RFP for payroll software for startups example

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