Payroll Processing
Salaries, TDS, PF & ESI — handled
Complete monthly payroll with payslips, TDS computation, PF/ESI challans and full statutory compliance.
What's included
- Salary structuring & payslips
- TDS on salary (24Q)
- PF & ESI challan filing
- Full & final settlements
Understanding Payroll Processing
Paying salaries looks simple until you list what sits behind each payslip: TDS on salary under Section 192 calculated on projected annual income, employer and employee provident fund at 12% of basic wages each, ESI at 0.75% from the employee and 3.25% from the employer for anyone earning ₹21,000 or less a month, professional tax at slab rates that differ by state, and a Form 24Q return every quarter. Get any one wrong and either an employee is underpaid or a government portal starts generating demands.
Our payroll service takes the whole cycle off your desk. Each month you confirm attendance, joiners, exits and any variable pay; we compute gross-to-net for every employee, generate payslips, prepare the bank transfer sheet, deposit TDS by the 7th, file PF and ESI returns, and handle professional tax. When someone resigns, we prepare the full and final settlement — leave encashment, notice period recovery, gratuity where applicable — so exits end cleanly rather than in disputes.
At ₹1,999 per month this usually replaces several hours of founder or HR time and a great deal of anxiety. It also protects the thing employees care about most after the salary itself: a correct, on-time payslip and a Form 16 in June that matches their Form 26AS exactly, so their personal tax filing is painless. Payroll done right is quiet; you will mostly notice the absence of problems.
Who needs this?
Businesses hiring their first employees
The moment you cross even one salaried employee, Section 192 TDS obligations can apply, and at 20 employees PF registration becomes mandatory. Set payroll up correctly from hire number one.
Companies with 10-50 employees and no HR team
This is the zone where a founder or office manager runs payroll in Excel and something breaks every quarter. Outsourcing costs less than the errors.
Employers covered by PF and ESI
PF applies at 20+ employees and ESI at 10+ employees (with the ₹21,000 wage ceiling for coverage). Monthly ECR filings and challans have hard deadlines with interest and damages for delay.
Startups issuing offer letters with CTC structures
We help structure salaries — basic, HRA, allowances, flexible benefits — so employees keep more take-home legally and the company's PF and gratuity liabilities are predictable.
Businesses with employees across states
Professional tax rates and due dates differ across states such as Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and West Bengal. Multi-state teams need someone tracking each state's rules.
When this is NOT the right fit
| Your situation | What applies instead |
|---|---|
| ✕You only engage freelancers and consultants, no salaried staff | Payments to contractors attract TDS under Section 194J or 194C, not salary TDS — you need our TDS return filing service, not payroll processing. |
| ✕You are a proprietor paying only yourself | A proprietor cannot be their own employee; there is no salary, TDS under 192 or PF involved. Your drawings are handled through bookkeeping instead. |
| ✕Directors drawing remuneration with no other staff | One or two directors' remuneration can usually be handled within bookkeeping and TDS filing directly; a full payroll subscription would be overkill until you hire employees. |
Not sure which applies to you? Message us — we'll point you to the right service in minutes, free.
Documents you'll need — and why
Employee master data
Name, PAN, Aadhaar, bank account, date of joining and salary structure for each employee — this drives every calculation, and a wrong PAN means TDS credit will not reach the employee.
Current salary structures or offer letters
The split between basic, HRA and allowances determines PF liability and each employee's tax. We review structures at onboarding and flag inefficient ones.
Employees' tax regime choices and investment declarations
TDS under Section 192 depends on whether each employee opts for the old or new regime and what deductions they declare — we collect these at onboarding and each April.
PF (EPFO) and ESI portal credentials
Monthly ECR uploads, challan generation and new-employee UAN registrations all happen on these portals on your behalf.
TAN and income tax (TRACES) credentials
Needed for depositing salary TDS, filing Form 24Q each quarter and generating Form 16 for employees by 15 June.
Monthly attendance and variable pay inputs
Leave without pay, incentives, reimbursements and overtime change every month; a simple sheet from you by a fixed date is the only recurring input we need.
Professional tax registration details
PT is state-specific — we need your registration numbers for each state where you have employees to deposit and file correctly.
How it works, step by step
- 1
Onboarding and data setup
Days 1-5, one-timeWe build the employee master, verify PANs and UANs, review salary structures, collect regime choices and investment declarations, and agree a monthly input calendar with you.
- 2
Monthly inputs from you
25th-30th of each monthYou send attendance, joiners, exits, and variable pay on the agreed date — typically between the 25th and month-end. One sheet, ten minutes of your time.
- 3
Processing and payslips
Within 2 working days of inputsWe compute gross-to-net including TDS, PF, ESI and PT, send you a salary register for approval, then release payslips and a bank upload file for salary transfer.
- 4
Statutory deposits
By the 7th and 15th monthlyTDS deposited by the 7th of the following month; PF and ESI contributions with ECR filings by the 15th; professional tax per your state's schedule.
- 5
Quarterly and annual compliance
Quarterly / annualForm 24Q filed each quarter, Form 16 issued to all employees by 15 June, and full and final settlements prepared within days whenever someone exits.
Due dates to know
TDS on salary deposit
7th of the following month
March TDS is due by 30 April.
PF contribution and ECR filing
15th of the following month
12% employee + 12% employer share of basic wages.
ESI contribution
15th of the following month
0.75% employee + 3.25% employer, for employees earning up to ₹21,000 per month.
Form 24Q for Q1 FY 2026-27 (Apr-Jun 2026)
31 July 2026
Then 31 Oct, 31 Jan and 31 May for Q2, Q3 and Q4.
Form 16 to employees
15 June each year
For the financial year ended 31 March.
Professional tax
Varies by state
Monthly in most states; slab rates differ (e.g. up to ₹200 per month).
What non-compliance costs
Salary TDS deposited late
Interest at 1.5% per month from the date of deduction to the date of deposit, and prosecution provisions exist for long delays.
Form 24Q filed after the due date
Late fee of ₹200 per day under Section 234E (capped at the TDS amount), plus a possible penalty of ₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000 under Section 271H.
PF paid late
Interest at 12% per annum plus damages ranging from 5% to 25% per annum depending on the length of delay. EPFO tracks this automatically.
ESI contributions delayed
Interest at 12% per annum and damages up to 25%; persistent default can lead to prosecution of the employer.
Form 16 not issued by 15 June
Penalty of ₹100 per day of delay per certificate under Section 272A(2)(g), and very unhappy employees at tax-filing time.
Why doing this right pays off
Every deadline handled
TDS by the 7th, PF and ESI by the 15th, 24Q every quarter, Form 16 by 15 June — tracked and executed without you keeping a compliance calendar.
Accurate take-home, happy employees
Correct TDS projections mean no nasty March deductions; clean payslips and matching Form 26AS credits mean employees never chase you at tax time.
Tax-efficient salary structures
We structure CTC so employees legally maximise take-home under their chosen regime while the employer's PF and gratuity costs stay predictable.
Clean exits with proper F&F
Full and final settlements computed with leave encashment, notice recovery and gratuity where due — documented so exits do not become disputes.
Confidentiality by default
Salary data stops circulating within your office. An external processor means only you and the employee know what each person earns.
Common DIY mistakes we see
- Deducting a flat 10% TDS on salaries instead of computing tax on projected annual income under Section 192, causing either employee demands or refund delays.
- Ignoring ESI because 'we pay well', forgetting that any employee at ₹21,000 or below triggers coverage once you have 10 or more employees.
- Setting basic pay artificially low to shrink PF, which EPFO can challenge and which slashes employees' gratuity and retirement corpus.
- Missing professional tax entirely for employees in states like Karnataka or Maharashtra because the amounts look too small to matter — the penalties are disproportionate.
- Paying an exiting employee an ad-hoc final amount without a documented F&F computation, then facing a labour dispute months later.
Frequently asked questions
PF becomes mandatory at 20 employees and ESI at 10 (in covered establishments), so possibly not yet — but voluntary PF registration is allowed and sometimes worth it for hiring credibility. We check your exact position at onboarding and register you the month you cross a threshold.
Not sure if this is the right service?
Message us on WhatsApp — a real expert replies, usually within minutes.
All-inclusive professional fee. Government fees (if any) extra at actuals.
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🎁 Offers on this service
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Q1 TDS return (24Q/26Q) due
31 July 2026 — book now and beat the last-minute rush.