Must-have compensation bands RFP template in 2025

Compensation is one of the biggest levers a company has to attract, retain, and motivate talent — but also one of the hardest to manage. Without the right tools, HR and finance teams are stuck in spreadsheets, trying to keep offers consistent, ensure fairness, and stay compliant with fast-changing pay transparency laws.

That’s where compensation bands come in. Done right, they give you guardrails for pay across roles, levels, and locations — so you can control costs, prevent inequities, and make sure everyone is aligned. 

But not all systems handle this well. Some are rigid. Others don’t integrate with payroll or headcount planning. And almost all create more work for HR than they save.

The best solution is compensation bands software that helps you keep all of your salary information centralized, compliant, and transparent (for whoever needs access). But how do you know what compensation bands software to get? This guide breaks down the must-have features to evaluate in an RFP for compensation band software, with the questions to ask vendors. Plus, you’ll get a downloadable template so you can efficiently and effectively evaluate vendors.

Centralized band management

It’s table stakes for compensation bands software to keep all of your salary information in one place. 

When evaluating vendors, ensure that compensation truly means total compensation — not only your employees’ salaries, but also their equity, bonuses, and anything else that might factor into their compensation. 

Bands should be tied to job families, levels, and locations; they should always be up to date and automatically assigned to employees based on their attributes.

RFP questions to ask:

• Can bands be set up for roles, levels, and locations with automatic assignments?

• How does the system prevent outdated or conflicting versions of bands?

• What controls exist to limit who can view or edit bands?

• Can employees and candidates be given secure access to band ranges for pay transparency?

Automated policy enforcement

Compensation bands software should make it easier for you to have oversight on your company’s pay practices, but that doesn’t mean everyone should have oversight — and especially not access to make changes.

Pay inequities can erode trust and expose your company to compliance risk. Manual processes make it easy for managers to make exceptions or overpay. Strong compensation band software enforces policies automatically, flags issues, and provides transparency into equity across your workforce.

Rippling blocks out-of-band offers automatically and routes them for approval. It also provides built-in compa-ratio reporting across any attribute — like gender, department, or location — so HR teams can quickly spot inequities and ensure compliance with new pay transparency laws.

RFP questions to ask:

• Can the system flag or block out-of-band offers automatically?

• What analytics exist to track pay equity across attributes?

• Does the platform support compliance with city, state, and country-specific pay transparency laws?

• Can reports be shared with auditors or regulators securely?

Budget and headcount alignment

Compensation typically makes up the majority of operating costs. Without visibility and guardrails, companies risk overspending or misaligning hiring with budgets. The right system keeps headcount and compensation tightly controlled and easy to track.

Rippling integrates compensation bands with headcount planning software. Every approved role has a defined pay range, and planned vs. actual spend is tracked in real time. Any off-plan request is automatically routed through the correct approval chain.

RFP questions to ask:

• Can compensation bands be tied directly to headcount plans and budgets?

• Do hiring managers see approved bands automatically in the recruiting workflow?

• Can finance track planned vs. actual spend in real time?

• How are off-plan or out-of-budget requests routed and approved?

Recruiter and manager access

If recruiters and managers can’t access approved bands easily, offers get delayed or inconsistent. This not only slows hiring but can also damage trust with candidates. A good system ensures the right people always see the right data.

Rippling makes approved bands visible within recruiting, onboarding, and compensation adjustment workflows. Recruiters always know the right ranges, and managers can’t go outside approved bands without submitting an exception request.

RFP questions to ask:

• How do recruiters access band data when creating offers?

• Can managers request exceptions within the system?

• Are employees able to see their own band and what it takes to move up?

• Does the system log every band-related action for audit purposes?

Real-time reporting and analytics

Leaders need reliable insights on pay equity, budget impact, and compensation trends to make smart decisions. Spreadsheets and siloed systems make this slow and error-prone. The right platform provides instant, accurate analytics.

Because compensation bands live on the same employee record as payroll and HR data, Rippling enables real-time reporting across compa-ratios, pay equity, and total compensation. Leaders can slice data by department, geography, or demographics and get instant, exportable insights

Questions to ask:

• Can non-technical users run pay equity reports without IT or BI support?

• What attributes can be used for compa-ratio and pay equity analysis?

• Are dashboards updated in real time?

• Can reports be scheduled and shared securely?

How Rippling helps enterprises

Rippling’s compensation bands software isn’t just a point solution — it’s part of a single platform that unifies HR, IT, and Finance. By tying bands directly to employee data, recruiting, payroll, and headcount planning, Rippling helps enterprises:

• Keep offers consistent and compliant with pay transparency laws

• Prevent over-offering or under-paying with automatic enforcement

• Control headcount costs by linking roles to approved bands and budgets

• Run real-time pay equity and compensation reports across any attribute

• Give employees clarity on their pay and path forward

With Rippling, compensation bands aren’t another spreadsheet to maintain — they’re a living, automated system that keeps your business fair, compliant, and on budget.

Rippling compensation bands RFP example

Ready to evaluate vendors?

This blog is based on information available to Rippling as of September 11, 2025.