Outsourced HR Singapore: Let Someone Else Run the Admin

The problem, in your words

It’s 11pm and you’re the one checking whether last month’s CPF contributions went through correctly. You didn’t start this business to manage payroll cycles, chase leave forms, or figure out whether your offer letter template is still compliant with the latest Employment Act amendment. But here you are, because nobody else is doing it, and the one person who half-does it also has three other jobs.

This isn’t a strategy problem. You don’t need someone in the room asking hard questions about your org design. You need the payroll to run on time, the onboarding paperwork to be correct, and the compliance boxes checked — every month, without you thinking about it.

That’s what outsourced HR is for.

Who this is for

This page is for founders and operators who want HR and payroll transactions handled reliably, not a strategic sparring partner. You’re a good fit if:

• Payroll, CPF, leave, and onboarding admin are consuming hours that should go into the business
• You don’t have (and don’t want) a full in-house HR headcount yet
• Compliance mistakes worry you more than culture or org design does
• You want the work done correctly and on schedule, with clear ownership, not a seat at your leadership table

If what you actually need is someone thinking alongside you on people strategy, org design, or leadership decisions, that’s a different engagement — see our Fractional HR Singapore page instead. This page is about getting the transactional work off your desk.

What we handle

We run the operational HR functions that have to happen correctly, every cycle, whether or not anyone is watching:

• Payroll & benefits administration — processing, CPF, statutory contributions, benefits enrolment
• Onboarding & offboarding — paperwork, documentation, and process so nothing falls through the cracks when people join or leave
• HR policy — documented, current policies that hold up if someone asks to see them
• Employee relations — day-to-day handling of the questions and issues that come up between reviews
• Compensation & benefits administration — keeping the mechanics of pay and benefits accurate and consistent
• HR compliance — staying aligned with the Employment Act and related requirements so you’re not exposed

The outcome we’re accountable for is simple: the admin runs, the deadlines are met, and you stop having to think about it.

How it works

• Book a Kinna Review. A 2-hour diagnostic (US$800–1,500) where we look at what you’re currently doing for HR and payroll, where the gaps and risks are, and what outsourcing would actually take off your plate.
• We scope the handoff. You tell us the story no one else hears — what’s broken, what’s fragile, what’s eating your week. We’re listening, and we map it to a clear scope.
• We take it over. Payroll, compliance, onboarding, and the rest move to us under The Kinna Retainer, an ongoing engagement with defined ownership and cadence.
• You stop firefighting. Admin runs on schedule. You get flagged only when something needs a decision only you can make.

Proof

• The cost of getting it wrong is real and specific. Employment Act breaches carry fines of up to S$5,000 per offence, rising to S$10,000 for repeat offences. Outsourcing to a team whose job is to stay current on compliance is a direct way to reduce that exposure.
• The build-it-yourself alternative is expensive. Hiring an in-house HR Manager in Singapore costs roughly S$140,000–185,000 all-in in year one, once salary, CPF, benefits, and onboarding time are counted — before that person has resolved a single backlog. Outsourcing the transactional load is frequently the more cost-effective route until headcount and complexity justify a full in-house hire. (See our breakdown: The True Cost of HR Teams.)
• We’ve done this before. In one anonymized client scenario — a growing retail brand carrying its HR, payroll, and compliance admin in-house without dedicated support — we took over the full operational load: payroll, statutory filings, and compliance, freeing the founder to focus on the business instead of the paperwork.
• We’re licensed. With Kinna operates under EA Licence No. 26C3338.