HR Software for Startups

Sentrient’s HR software for startups is an all-in-one, cloud-based HR system for early-stage Australian companies. It covers recruitment, onboarding, policies, compliance training, employee records, performance and engagement in one platform, comes preloaded with courses and policies, and is built to run without a dedicated HR team.

Yes. Sentrient is built and supported in Australia, and its pre-built policies and courses are written for Australian workplaces. The platform is used by more than 1,000 organisations across Australia and New Zealand, with local support during Australian business hours.

Most startups begin with spreadsheets and a payroll app, then add an HR system or HRIS for startups once hiring picks up. The category covers onboarding, employee records, policies, training, performance and reporting. Sentrient is that HR system, designed to sit beside your payroll tool rather than replace it.

No. Sentrient does not run payroll, Single Touch Payroll, superannuation, rostering, award interpretation or employment contract generation. It is the HR and compliance layer that connects to tools like Xero, MYOB and KeyPay, so your people records, policies, training and performance live in one place while payroll stays where it is.

Yes. Sentrient records credentials against each employee, including working rights checks, professional registrations, first aid certificates and driver licences, with expiry dates and supporting documents. Reports show what is current, expiring or missing across the team. The startup remains responsible for confirming each person is entitled to do the work.

Set an expiry date on the credential and Sentrient sends reminders to the employee and their manager before it lapses, then flags it as overdue on the dashboard. Automation rules can assign a refresher course at the same time, so renewals happen without anyone keeping a separate spreadsheet.

The Fair Work Ombudsman states that employers must give every new employee the Fair Work Information Statement before, or as soon as possible after, they start, and new casual employees the Casual Employment Information Statement at the same time. Sentrient issues these documents in the onboarding workflow and records the acknowledgement. The employer remains responsible for meeting the obligation.

Safe Work Australia describes a primary duty of care on every person conducting a business or undertaking to protect the health and safety of workers, including providing training, information and instruction. The Australian Human Rights Commission states employers have a positive duty to eliminate, as far as possible, workplace sexual harassment. Sentrient assigns the training and policies and keeps the evidence. The startup remains responsible for meeting these duties.

Sentrient includes a library of pre-built compliance courses. The ones most startups assign on day one are Code of Conduct, Work Health and Safety, Sexual Harassment Prevention, Respect at Work, Workplace Bullying, Privacy, Cyber Security, Working From Home and Psychological Health and Safety, with manager versions for new team leads. You can also upload your own content.

Yes. Set a course to recur at the interval you choose and Sentrient re-assigns it, reminds the employee, escalates to the manager and records the new completion. Reports show the completion rate by team, so annual refreshers run on schedule as the company grows.

Sentrient stores each employee’s details, contracts and documents, policy acknowledgements, training completions, credentials, performance records and incident reports in one secure employee record. The Fair Work Ombudsman states employers must keep employee records for seven years and make them readily accessible to a Fair Work Inspector. The startup remains responsible for the content and retention of its records.

Yes. Investors, enterprise customers and auditors ask for evidence that policies are in place, staff are trained and records are kept. Sentrient produces reports on policy acknowledgements, course completions and credential status by person and date, so the evidence is ready when the data room opens.

Employees report an incident, hazard or near miss from a phone or laptop. The report goes to the right manager, actions are assigned and tracked, and the record is kept with the investigation notes. Reports show trends across the company, which supports the consultation and review that safety duties call for.

Once the profile is created, the onboarding workflow sends forms, policies, the Fair Work Information Statement and induction courses automatically, and most new starters finish before day one. Setting up Sentrient itself takes days, not months, because courses, policies and templates are preloaded. It is not overkill for a first hire: the same workflow runs for hire one and hire fifty.

Yes. Each worker gets a profile with the right documents, policies and courses for their engagement type, so casuals receive the Casual Employment Information Statement and contractors and interns get the induction and policies that apply to them. Reporting shows every worker type in one view.

Yes. Group people by office, team or entity, assign policies and training by group, and report on each location or the whole company. A founder in Sydney can see that the new Melbourne hires have completed their onboarding without asking.

Early leavers often cite a poor start, unclear expectations and no visible development. Sentrient gives every hire a structured onboarding, clear goals from the first quarter, regular check-ins and recorded development plans, and the community wall keeps a growing team connected. Engagement surveys through the form builder show where to act before people leave.

Sentrient runs goal setting, real-time feedback, structured performance reviews and development plans in one place. Managers and employees see the same record, review cycles run on a schedule, and the Performance Management course for managers helps first-time team leads run fair conversations as the company grows.

Yes. Sentrient runs in the browser on any device, so staff can complete onboarding, read policies, finish a course, report an incident or check a goal from a phone, tablet or laptop, whether they are in the office, at a co-working space or working from home.

Because it is ready on day one, runs without an HR person, and covers onboarding, policies, training, records and performance in one Australian-built platform that integrates with your payroll and identity tools. Our guide to the best HR tools for startups compares Sentrient with the alternatives if you want to weigh them up.

Sentrient suits startups from the first hire to fifty or more staff, in tech, professional services, health and consumer businesses, and it scales as the team grows. Growing Australian organisations using Sentrient include E3 Advisory, DWS Group, Roche Diabetes Care Australia and Engineers Australia.

Implementation is guided by our Australian team. Employee data is imported, courses, policies and templates are preloaded, automation rules are set for onboarding and renewals, and your admins are trained. Moving from a spreadsheet or another HR system is handled during setup, and most startups are live within days.

Pricing depends on the size of your team and the modules you need, so we prepare a tailored proposal after a short conversation. There is no free tier, and the proposal sets out the terms plainly so you can compare it with other options before deciding.

Yes. Book a free 20-minute demo and we will walk through onboarding, compliance training, records and performance using a startup scenario, then answer your questions. Use the form at the top of this page or the Request Demo button.