If you've ever run payroll for a small business in the Philippines, you know the drill: spreadsheets, a separate payroll accountant, hours spent computing SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG contributions, and a constant fear that you got the BIR withholding wrong.
We built MAO Workforce to change that.
Why we built this
The problem isn't that Philippine labor law is complicated. It actually has a clear set of rules. The problem is that the tools available to small business owners were either built for enterprise companies with full HR departments, or so generic that they didn't account for Philippine-specific requirements at all.
Business owners were stuck stitching together spreadsheets, WhatsApp messages, and Google Forms to manage their teams. Every payroll run was a manual exercise. Every attendance dispute was a conversation in a chat group. Every new hire meant another row in a sheet someone was already maintaining by hand.
"The system should just know that May 1 is a Philippine holiday and compute the right pay. I shouldn't have to look it up and add it manually every year."
That quote came from one of our early users. It stuck with us, because it captures exactly what we're trying to solve: compliance should be baked in, not bolted on.
What MAO Workforce does today
MAO Workforce is a self-serve HR and payroll platform that Philippine businesses can run independently. Here's what's live today:
- Payroll automation: regular, semi-monthly, and weekly runs with automatic computation of night differentials, overtime, late deductions, and holiday pay
- Statutory compliance: SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG, and BIR withholding computed automatically on every run
- Attendance tracking: clock-in via kiosk, PIN, or the Employee Self-Service portal, with shift schedules and exception handling
- Employee Self-Service: employees can view payslips, file attendance corrections, request leave, and raise payroll disputes from their own portal
- Leave management: SL, VL, and custom leave types with approval workflows and auto-deduction from payroll
- Geofencing: restrict clock-ins to employees within range of your business location, available on the free plan
And it's all available starting at ₱0, free forever for businesses with up to 5 employees, with paid plans that scale as you grow.
What's coming next
We're still early. The roadmap includes BIR compliance exports (Alphalist, 2316), multi-branch payroll with cross-branch visibility, advanced analytics for workforce planning, and deeper integrations with the tools Philippine businesses already use.
We're building this in public, shipping fast, and listening closely to our users. If something is broken or missing, we want to know.
If you're a Philippine business owner managing payroll manually, or paying for software that wasn't built with your requirements in mind, MAO Workforce is worth trying. It takes about 10 minutes to set up, and no credit card is required.