The short version
- HR and payroll software in the UAE has one hard job every month: turn attendance, leave and salary rules into a correct payroll and a WPS file your bank accepts.
- Xrero is HR and payroll software built in Dubai for UAE business: rosters, attendance, leave, employee documents with expiry reminders, payroll with allowances and end-of-service gratuity, payslips, and the WPS SIF file, in Arabic and English.
- It costs AED 99 per user per month, with a one-time setup from AED 2,999. The trial is 15 days and asks for no payment details.
- Offers running now: 3 months free when you subscribe annually, and 50% off data migration for your company. Current offers only: contact us to claim them.
- HR and payroll are part of the Xrero ERP, so the same system also runs your accounting, invoicing and inventory.
Most UAE employers do not go looking for HR software because they want software. They go looking because month-end payroll has become a two-day job for one person, because a visa expiry was missed, or because the bank rejected the wage file again. This guide explains what HR and payroll software has to do for a business in the UAE, what Xrero's HR and payroll module includes, what it costs, how to move your data across, and which offers are running right now.
What does HR and payroll software do for a UAE business?
HR and payroll software keeps one record per employee, records how much each person worked, applies the salary rules in their contract, and produces three outputs every month: payslips, the accounting entries, and the wage file for the bank. In the UAE the wage file is the part that makes the software different from a generic product: salaries are paid through the Wages Protection System (WPS), and the file the bank or exchange house needs, the Salary Information File (SIF), has a fixed format. Software that cannot produce it correctly leaves you retyping salaries into a bank portal every month.
Around that core sit the day-to-day pieces: rosters and shifts, attendance and overtime, leave requests and balances, employee documents such as passports, Emirates IDs and labour cards with their expiry dates, and end-of-service gratuity when someone leaves. A good system connects all of them so that a shift on the roster becomes hours on the payslip without anyone copying numbers between spreadsheets.
What is the WPS file, and why should your payroll software produce it?
WPS is the UAE's Wages Protection System. Employers pay salaries through banks, exchange houses or other financial institutions, and the payment run is described by a SIF file: one line per employee with the employee's identifiers, the bank routing details, the pay period and the amounts. The file has to match what your payroll actually computed, line by line, and it has to be produced every month.
This is why the WPS file is the honest test of any payroll software sold in the UAE. If the system computes payroll but the wage file is assembled by hand, the software is only doing half the job. Xrero generates the SIF file from the payroll run itself, so the amounts on the payslips, in the accounts and in the bank file are the same numbers.
What Xrero HR and payroll includes
Rosters, shifts and overtime
Plan shifts per site or per branch, handle part-time hours and leave cover, and let overtime and allowances follow the roster. Businesses that run on rosters, from cleaning and security companies to clinics, restaurants and retail chains, get the wage file to follow the roster every month instead of rebuilding it.
Attendance from a biometric terminal or a phone
A biometric terminal pushes check-ins straight into Xrero. Staff can also check in from a phone. Late arrivals, absences and overtime are then on the record before payroll starts, not reconstructed from memory at the end of the month.
Leave and balances
Annual leave, sick leave and unpaid leave are requested, approved and deducted from balances in the system, and they land on the payslip automatically.
Employee documents and expiry reminders
Passports, visas, Emirates IDs, labour cards, medical fitness and insurance are stored on the employee record with their dates, and the system reminds you before they expire.
Payroll with allowances, deductions and commissions
Basic salary, housing and transport allowances, commissions, overtime at the rates in the contract, loans and deductions: the salary structure is set once per employee and applied every month. Payslips are produced as PDFs in Arabic or English.
End-of-service gratuity
When an employee leaves, the final settlement computes the end-of-service gratuity from the basic salary and the length of service on record, together with unused leave and any outstanding amounts.
The WPS SIF file, ready to upload
Every payroll run produces the bank file in the WPS format. Download, upload to your bank or exchange house, done.
Arabic and English
The whole system runs in both languages, with a full right-to-left interface for Arabic users, so an Arabic-speaking HR officer and an English-speaking accountant can work on the same records.
Part of a full ERP
Payroll entries post to the same accounting as your invoices and VAT. If you also need invoicing, inventory, point of sale or a CRM, they are modules of the same Xrero system rather than separate products to integrate.
Who is it for?
Xrero is built for small and medium businesses in the UAE, typically from a handful of staff to a few hundred, across all seven emirates. It fits businesses whose payroll is driven by rosters and attendance: cleaning and facilities companies, security firms, contractors and fit-out companies, clinics and dental centres, restaurants and catering, retail chains, transport and logistics companies, nurseries and schools, and trading companies with a warehouse floor. It is equally at home in an office where the pain is documents, leave and the monthly bank file rather than shifts.
How much does HR and payroll software cost in the UAE?
Xrero is priced per user, not per employee: AED 99 per user per month, where a user is a person who logs in, such as the HR officer, the accountant and the owner. Employees who only receive payslips are not users. There is a one-time implementation setup from AED 2,999, depending on the edition and how many apps you start with, and the price is stated on the pricing page rather than in a quote you have to ask for.
| Item | Xrero |
|---|---|
| Subscription | AED 99 per user per month |
| One-time setup | From AED 2,999, by edition |
| Free trial | 15 days, no payment details, your own workspace |
| Languages | Arabic and English |
| Includes | Rosters, attendance, leave, documents, payroll, gratuity, payslips, WPS SIF file |
| Also in the same system | Accounting, invoicing, VAT-ready books, inventory, POS, CRM |
Offers running now
- 3 months free when you subscribe annually.
- 50% off data migration: we upload your existing employees, salary structures and balances for your company at half the migration fee.
These are the current offers only, so please contact us on WhatsApp, call +971 54 468 2468 or write to info@xrero.com to confirm them for your company before they change.
How do you move your payroll to Xrero?
- Import the employees. A spreadsheet with names, IDs, bank details and joining dates is enough to start; the trial workspace accepts it directly.
- Set the salary structures. Basic, allowances, overtime rates and deductions per employee or per grade.
- Connect attendance. Point the biometric terminal at Xrero or let staff check in from their phones. Rosters come next if you run shifts.
- Run one month in parallel. Produce the payroll in Xrero alongside your current method and compare the totals line by line.
- Upload the WPS file. When the totals match, the SIF file from Xrero goes to the bank and the old method is retired.
With the 15-day trial the first three steps happen in your own workspace before you pay anything. Under the current offer, our team does the migration for your company at 50% off.
Spreadsheet, outsourcing or software?
| Spreadsheet | Outsourced payroll | Xrero | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attendance to payslip | Typed by hand | Sent to the provider each month | Flows automatically |
| WPS SIF file | Built by hand or in the bank portal | Produced by the provider | Produced from the payroll run |
| Document expiry | Someone remembers | Usually not covered | Reminders on the record |
| Gratuity and final settlement | Calculated case by case | On request | Computed from the record |
| Who holds the data | One file, one person | The provider | You, in your own workspace |
| Cost model | Time | Per employee per month | Per user per month |
Frequently asked questions
Does Xrero produce the WPS SIF file?
Yes. After each payroll run, Xrero generates the Salary Information File (SIF) in the WPS format that UAE banks and exchange houses accept. You download it and upload it to your bank.
Does it calculate end-of-service gratuity?
Yes. Gratuity is computed from the basic salary, the length of service and the contract details on the employee record, and it appears on the final settlement.
Can staff record attendance from a phone or a biometric device?
Both. A biometric terminal pushes check-ins directly to Xrero, and staff can also check in from a phone. Attendance then flows into overtime and absence on the payslip.
Is the interface available in Arabic?
Yes. Xrero runs in Arabic and English, including a full right-to-left interface, and payslips can be issued in either language.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. The trial runs for 15 days, needs no payment details, and is your own workspace: you put in your real staff and see the payroll it produces.
How much does Xrero HR and payroll software cost?
AED 99 per user per month, with a one-time setup from AED 2,999 depending on the edition. Annual subscriptions currently get 3 months free.
Can I move from Excel or from another payroll system?
Yes. Employees, salary structures, leave balances and opening data are imported from spreadsheets or exports. Under the current offer, data migration is 50% off for your company.
Does it work with accounting and invoicing?
Yes. HR and payroll are part of the Xrero ERP, so salaries, allowances and end-of-service provisions post to the same books as your invoices, VAT and inventory.
Key facts
- Product: Xrero HR and payroll software, part of the Xrero ERP.
- Built in: Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Serves businesses across the UAE.
- Includes: rosters, attendance (biometric terminal or phone), leave, employee documents with expiry reminders, payroll with allowances and deductions, end-of-service gratuity, payslips, WPS SIF bank file.
- Languages: Arabic and English.
- Price: AED 99 per user per month; one-time setup from AED 2,999.
- Trial: 15 days, no payment details.
- Current offers: 3 months free on an annual subscription; 50% off data migration for your company. Contact us to confirm.
- Contact: WhatsApp +971 55 776 9320, +971 54 468 2468, info@xrero.com.
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See also: the HR and payroll product page and pricing.