Payroll and compliance services: salaries and statutory filings from one team, reconciled every month.
Payroll is not hard until it is late, and compliance is invisible until an inspector asks for three years of registers. Our payroll and compliance services take both off your desk: salaries computed and disbursed on a fixed date, PF, ESI, TDS, professional tax and labour welfare fund filed with challans on record, registers kept in the formats the Labour Codes now prescribe, and a monthly compliance pack that an auditor or a principal employer can sign off without a follow-up email.
Employee count, states of operation and current pain points are enough to scope it.
Payroll, filings, registers and vendor audits in one scope.
Two things get outsourced here: the monthly mechanics of paying people correctly, and the evidence trail that proves you did. Both matter, and the second one is what fails audits.
- ✓Salary processing, payslips, TDS and Form 130 (ex-Form 16)
- ✓PF, ESI, professional tax and LWF filings
- ✓Labour Code wage, attendance and contract-labour registers, plus State Shops Act records
- ✓Bonus, gratuity and leave provisioning
- ✓Contractor and vendor compliance audits
Compliance failures are almost never deliberate
They are a missing challan, a lapsed licence and a vendor nobody checked.
Payroll in one file, challans in an email thread, registers with a consultant who left. Nobody can produce a clean three-year trail on demand.
Under-deposited PF, an expired contractor licence or missing registers become recovery orders with interest — and for contract labour, the liability climbs to the principal employer.
A named compliance owner, a fixed filing calendar, and a monthly pack with challans, returns, registers and an exception list.
Get a compliance quote →
Scope, calendar and evidence
The slider gives an indicative monthly payroll outflow with an illustrative 12% fee line. Payroll and compliance services are actually priced per employee per month, as set out in the rate card.
Inputs in, payslips out, no chasing.
Every statutory return is a slice of the payroll register
When payroll is run by one party and filings by another, the numbers drift: the ECR shows a different headcount from the register, ESI is paid on the wrong gross, and TDS returns do not match the certificates. Inspectors and auditors look for exactly these mismatches. We reconcile each return back to the signed register before it is filed.
| Payroll register figure | Where it goes | What must match |
|---|---|---|
| Wages (basic + DA + retaining allowance, with the 50% add-back) | EPF ECR under the Code on Social Security | PF wages per employee, capped or actual as per your policy; member count equals active headcount |
| Gross wages up to ₹21,000 | ESI contribution (0.75% employee, 3.25% employer) | Every eligible employee covered; no one dropped mid contribution period |
| Tax deducted each month | TDS deposit by the 7th; quarterly Form 138 (formerly 24Q) | Deducted = deposited = reported; annual Form 130 (formerly Form 16) equals the sum of the quarters |
| State-wise salary | Professional tax return for each State | Slab applied by work location, not by head-office State |
| Headcount per establishment | Labour Welfare Fund, registers and annual returns | Same people, same dates, in every register |
| Exits | Full and final settlement; PF and ESI exit dates | Dues paid within two working days; exit date identical across payroll, ECR and ESI |
What the Labour Codes changed in your payroll
The Code on Wages, the Code on Social Security, the Industrial Relations Code and the OSH Code replaced 29 central labour laws, and the Central rules under all four were notified in May 2026. Several States are still finalising their own rules; where they have not, earlier rules continue so far as they are consistent with the Codes. These are the changes that show up in the monthly run:
One definition of wages, with a 50% floor
Basic pay, DA and retaining allowance must be at least half of total remuneration. If excluded allowances exceed 50%, the excess is treated as wages for PF, gratuity and bonus — so heavily allowance-loaded CTCs now cost more in contributions.
Pay dates and exit dues are statutory
Monthly wages by the 7th of the following month; on resignation, removal, dismissal or retrenchment, dues within two working days. Full and final settlement has to run off-cycle.
Gratuity for fixed-term employees after one year
Permanent employees still need five years of continuous service; fixed-term employees qualify after one year, which changes provisioning for project and seasonal hires.
Overtime at twice the ordinary rate
Overtime is paid at twice the ordinary rate of wages, within the quarterly overtime limits set under the OSH Code rules. Shift and attendance data must separate normal and overtime hours.
PF wage ceiling raised to ₹25,000
The statutory wage ceiling for mandatory EPF coverage went up from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 a month (Gazette S.O. 5109(E)). New joiners earning up to ₹25,000 must now be enrolled, and the maximum employer EPS contribution rises from ₹1,250 to ₹2,083 a month. Salary structures and cost budgets built on the old ceiling need re-running.
Appointment letters for everyone
Every employee must receive an appointment letter. We generate them from the payroll master so joining date, designation and wages match what is paid.
New registers and wage slips
The Central rules prescribe new formats for the wage register and the wage slip, which can be kept electronically. We move your registers to them without changing how employees read their payslips.
A national floor wage is provided for in the Code on Wages; minimum wages continue to be notified by each State and revised in many States twice a year through variable DA. Check the rate for a role and State with our minimum wage calculator.
Payroll-linked due dates in one place
The dates that apply to almost every employer with payroll in India. State-specific professional tax and Labour Welfare Fund dates follow in the next table.
| Obligation | Due | Evidence in your monthly pack |
|---|---|---|
| Salary payment (monthly wage period) | By the 7th of the following month | Bank credit file and payslips |
| TDS on salaries — deposit | By the 7th of the following month | Challan with TDS working |
| EPF, EPS, EDLI and admin charges | By the 15th of the following month | ECR, TRRN and payment receipt |
| ESI contribution | Within 15 days of the end of the month | Challan and contribution statement |
| Quarterly salary TDS return — Form 138 | 31 July, 31 October, 31 January, 31 May | Filed return and acknowledgement |
| Annual TDS certificate — Form 130 | By 15 June after the tax year | Certificates issued to employees |
| Statutory bonus (8.33%–20%) | Within eight months of the close of the accounting year | Bonus working and register |
| Gratuity on exit | Within 30 days of becoming payable | Computation and payment proof |
Form 130, 138 and 124 are the new numbers under the Income-tax Rules, 2026 (in force from 1 April 2026) for what were Form 16, 24Q and 12BB. Certificates for years up to 2025-26 still use the old forms.
Professional tax and Labour Welfare Fund in major States
Professional tax is a State levy capped at ₹2,500 a year per person by the Constitution; not every State charges it, and Labour Welfare Fund rules vary even more. The pattern for States in the States where employers most often have staff:
| State | Professional tax | Labour Welfare Fund |
|---|---|---|
| Tamil Nadu | Yes — deducted half-yearly (April–September, October–March) under local body rules | Yes — annual contribution |
| Karnataka | Yes — monthly, return and payment by the 20th of the following month | Yes — annual contribution |
| Maharashtra | Yes — monthly, with a higher deduction in February | Yes — half-yearly (June and December) |
| Telangana / Andhra Pradesh | Yes — monthly | Yes |
| West Bengal | Yes — monthly | Yes |
| Gujarat | Yes — monthly | Yes — half-yearly |
| Delhi | No professional tax | Yes — half-yearly |
| Haryana / Uttar Pradesh | No professional tax | Haryana: yes; Uttar Pradesh: no general LWF levy |
Slabs, thresholds and due dates are revised by State notification — we apply the rate current on the payroll date and flag changes before the month closes. Where your State rules under the Labour Codes are still pending, we follow the Central rules and the earlier State rules to the extent consistent.
The compliance pack, and where our responsibility stops
A pack is only useful if an auditor, a customer or a principal employer can sign it off without a follow-up email. It is also only fair if both sides know which obligations stay with the employer.
Inside the monthly pack
- ✓Signed payroll register and variance report
- ✓ECR, TRRN and EPF payment receipt; ESI challan and contribution statement
- ✓TDS challans; PT and LWF receipts by State
- ✓Wage register and wage slips in the prescribed formats
- ✓Headcount reconciliation: register vs ECR vs ESI
- ✓Exception list — anything pending, with an owner and a date
What stays with you as employer
- ✓Registrations in your company's name (EPFO, ESIC, PT, TAN, Shops & Establishments or OSH Code registration)
- ✓Releasing funds before the due dates
- ✓Employment decisions: pay revisions, terminations, policy
- ✓Accuracy of attendance and inputs you approve
- ✓Contractors' own compliance — which we can audit separately
Engaging contractors as well? Their gaps can reach you as principal employer. See the contractor compliance audit and our wider statutory compliance services for registrations, licences and inspections.
Payroll and compliance FAQs
Scope, pricing, liability and what a compliance pack contains.
Get a compliance quote →What does payroll outsourcing include?+
Attendance and input processing, salary computation with statutory deductions and TDS, disbursal support, payslips and Form 130 (formerly Form 16), plus monthly PF, ESI, professional tax and LWF filings with challans, and year-end returns.
How is payroll outsourcing priced in India?+
Per employee per month, with the rate falling as headcount rises. Statutory compliance-only mandates are priced per registration or per state, and contractor compliance audits are usually a fixed fee per vendor per cycle.
What is in a monthly compliance pack?+
Wage registers, attendance summary, PF and ESI challans with ECR, professional tax and LWF proofs, statutory registers, and an exception list of anything pending with an owner and a date against it.
Who carries the liability if a filing is missed?+
Filings inside our scope are our responsibility, and how interest or damages caused by our delay are handled is set out in the contract. Statutory registration in your own name and employer decisions remain yours — the scope document draws that line explicitly.
Can you audit our existing contractors?+
Yes. Contractor compliance audits check licences, wage registers, PF and ESI challans against deployed headcount and minimum wage notifications, and report gaps that would otherwise travel to you as principal employer.
What is the 50% wage rule, and does it reduce take-home pay?+
Under the Code on Wages, basic pay, DA and retaining allowance must be at least 50% of total remuneration; any excess of excluded allowances over 50% is added back as wages. This raises the base for PF (unless contributions are capped at the statutory ceiling, now ₹25,000 a month from 17 September 2026), gratuity and bonus. Take-home can fall slightly if PF is paid on the higher base, even though CTC is unchanged.
What does the EPF wage ceiling increase to ₹25,000 mean for employers?+
From 17 September 2026 the ceiling for mandatory PF coverage is ₹25,000 a month instead of ₹15,000. Employees joining at wages up to ₹25,000 must be covered, employers who cap contributions at the ceiling now contribute on up to ₹25,000, and the EPS share is capped at ₹2,083 instead of ₹1,250. Budgets and offer letters for this wage band should be recalculated.
Is full and final settlement really due within two working days?+
Yes. The Code on Wages requires wages due on resignation, removal, dismissal or retrenchment to be paid within two working days. Gratuity keeps its own 30-day timeline, and PF withdrawal or transfer follows the EPFO process.
Do fixed-term employees get gratuity now?+
Yes. Under the Code on Social Security, fixed-term employees are entitled to gratuity after one year of continuous service, instead of the five years that still applies to permanent employees.
Which States do not charge professional tax?+
Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are among the States that do not levy professional tax on salaries. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat do, each with its own slabs and due dates.
Audit coming, or payroll slipping?
Send headcount and states. We aim to send a scope, a per-employee price and a sample compliance pack within one working day.