Payroll outsourcing that closes on the same date every month
Payroll outsourcing is judged on one thing: whether salaries land on the committed date with the right deductions and the filings done. We run monthly processing, statutory remittance, payslips, TDS and full and final settlement for employers who want their staff to stay on their own rolls.
Headcount, states and current setup. We aim to send a costed proposal within one working day.
One input file in, everything else out
You send attendance and changes. We return the register, the bank file, the payslips, the challans and the reconciliation, on a fixed monthly calendar.
- ✓Monthly processing: earnings, deductions, arrears, LOP, overtime, incentives
- ✓EPF, ESI, Professional Tax and Labour Welfare Fund remittance with challans
- ✓TDS computation, quarterly Form 138 returns and Form 130 certificates (formerly 24Q and Form 16)
- ✓Payslip distribution and employee query desk
- ✓Full and final settlement, gratuity and leave encashment
- ✓Audit-ready wage registers and wage slips in the Labour Code formats, plus State Shops & Establishments registers
Payroll is invisible when it works and existential when it does not
Nobody thanks the payroll team for the 7th. Everybody remembers the month salaries were late, or the year a PF inspection found unremitted dues with interest and damages on top.
When that person resigns or takes leave in the closing week, the process stops. Version control, formula errors and manual challans are all single points of failure.
Plus TDS default interest and late-filing fees, plus the employee-trust damage that follows a single delayed salary month.
Fixed input and output dates, maker-checker on every register, statutory remittance before due date and a second processor who knows your setup.
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Inputs, processing, outputs — the monthly payroll cycle
Payroll outsourcing is priced per employee per month, on a slab that falls as headcount rises. Statutory registration and one-time migration are quoted separately.
A single input template, so nothing is chased in the closing week.
The monthly payroll calendar, with ownership on every line
Payroll outsourcing fails at the hand-offs, not the arithmetic. This is the default calendar for a calendar-month payroll; your credit date and cut-offs can move, but every line keeps a named owner. Your employees stay on your rolls and your statutory codes — we run the process.
| When | What happens | Owner | Output you receive |
|---|---|---|---|
| By the 25th | Attendance, leave, overtime, joiners, exits, revisions, reimbursements and incentives sent in one input template | You (HR / HRMS export) | Input acknowledgement and a list of missing items within one working day |
| 25th – 28th | Processing, then independent check of every register line (maker-checker) | Godstone | Draft register + variance report against last month |
| By the last working day | Review and written sign-off of the register; queries closed | You | Signed register — nothing is paid on an unsigned register |
| Before the 7th | Bank file released for salary credit; payslips published | Godstone prepares, you release funds | Bank upload file, payslips, cost report by GL / cost centre |
| By the 7th | TDS on salaries deposited | Godstone (from your account or funds) | Challan and TDS working |
| By the 15th | EPF ECR and ESI contribution filed and paid under your codes | Godstone | ECR, TRRN, ESI challan and headcount reconciliation |
| State due dates | Professional tax and Labour Welfare Fund per State schedule | Godstone | Receipts filed in the monthly folder |
| Quarterly / yearly | Form 138 TDS returns (formerly 24Q); Form 130 certificates (formerly Form 16); bonus and annual returns | Godstone | Acknowledgements and employee certificates |
The Code on Wages requires monthly wages to be paid by the 7th of the following month, and dues on resignation, dismissal or retrenchment within two working days. Off-cycle runs for exits are part of the calendar, not an exception. For the full statutory filing map by State, see payroll and compliance services.
In-house team, payroll software or outsourced payroll?
Most employers we speak to already have payroll software. The question is who operates it, who checks it and who is accountable when a filing is late. An honest comparison:
| In-house team | Software, run by you | Outsourced payroll | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct cost | Salary of one or more processors plus software | Subscription, typically priced per employee per month | Per-employee-per-month fee; software usually included |
| Statutory knowledge | Depends on one person | Rules engine, but you interpret changes | Specialists who track Code and State rule changes |
| Continuity | Stops if the processor leaves in closing week | Same as in-house | Named processor plus a trained backup |
| Independent check | Rare in small teams | Only if you staff it | Maker-checker on every run |
| Accountability for late filing | Yours | Yours | Contractual, within the agreed scope |
| Best fit | Large, stable, single-State payroll | Simple payroll with in-house expertise | Multi-State, growing or high-churn workforces |
Outsourcing does not move the legal employer: your company stays the employer and the statutory registrations stay in your name. If you want the employment itself to move out of your entity, that is third-party payroll.
What drives the per-employee price
Payroll outsourcing in India is quoted per employee per month (PEPM). Published market ranges run roughly from ₹150–400 for processing only to ₹300–800 when statutory remittance and filings are included, with managed HR-plus-payroll higher still — treat these as indicative. Five things move your number within the range:
Volume on the register
Fixed effort (calendar, reviews, returns) is spread over more people, so PEPM falls as the register grows.
Number of States and establishments
Each State adds its own professional tax, Labour Welfare Fund, Shops & Establishments and minimum-wage schedule.
Pay components and variable pay
Shift allowances, incentives, arrears, piece rates and multiple pay cycles take more processing and more checking.
Processing only, or filings too
Remitting and filing PF, ESI, PT, LWF and TDS adds accountability — and is where most of the risk is removed.
Joiners, exits and off-cycle runs
High-churn workforces need more full and final settlements, each now due within two working days of exit.
Set-up and migration
Quoted separately: master data clean-up, year-to-date migration, parallel run and any statutory registration you still need.
GST at 18% applies to the service fee. Salaries and statutory dues are paid from your funds and are not part of the fee.
A three-week migration plan
The risk in switching is not the first run; it is year-to-date figures that do not match what has already been deposited. The plan is built around that reconciliation.
Data and access
Employee masters, salary structures, year-to-date earnings and TDS, PF/ESI/PT codes and portal access, bank formats and last three registers collected.
Structure check
Every salary structure tested against the Labour Code rule that wages (basic, DA, retaining allowance) must be at least 50% of remuneration; exceptions listed for your decision.
Parallel run
We process the month alongside your current provider or team and explain every line that differs before go-live.
Year-to-date reconciliation
Tax deducted and deposited so far is matched to the TDS returns already filed, so the annual Form 130 comes out as one consistent certificate.
Go-live
First live run on the standard calendar, with the old provider's final month filed and handed over.
Stabilise
Weekly review calls until two consecutive months close without a correction; then monthly.
What you can hold us to — and how your data is handled
Service levels are written into the agreement as targets we report against every month, alongside the data-protection terms that now matter under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
Accuracy
Target: no errors in the signed register attributable to our processing. Every correction is logged with a root cause in the monthly report.
Timeliness
Register for sign-off by the agreed date; statutory payments before due date on the funds you release in time.
Employee queries
Payslip and tax queries acknowledged within one working day; policy questions routed to your HR with our recommendation.
Exit settlements
Full and final computed off-cycle so you can pay within two working days of separation.
Your data, your control
You remain the data fiduciary; we process payroll data only on your instructions, under a written data-processing clause, with role-based access and an agreed retention and deletion schedule.
DPDP readiness
The DPDP Rules, 2025 are being phased in, with most notice, security and breach obligations applying from May 2027. We align access logs, breach notification and deletion with those rules now.
Questions buyers ask before signing
Answers we give in the first call, written down so you can compare vendors on the same terms.
Get a quote →How is payroll outsourcing priced?+
Per employee per month, on a falling slab — smaller registers pay more per head, and rates come down as headcount rises; the slabs are set out in the rate card. One-time setup and data migration are quoted separately, as is statutory registration if you need new codes.
Do you handle PF, ESI and TDS filings as well as processing?+
Yes. Processing without remittance leaves the exposure with you. We compute, remit and file EPF, ESI, Professional Tax, Labour Welfare Fund and TDS, and hand over the challans and receipts each month.
What is the monthly timeline?+
Inputs from you by the 25th, processed register and variance report for your sign-off by the 30th, bank file released for a credit date of the 7th or your contracted date, statutory remittance before the 15th.
Who answers employee payroll queries?+
We do, through a named query desk with a defined response window. Escalations that need a policy decision come to your HR team with our recommendation attached.
Can you take over mid-year without breaking Form 16 (now Form 130)?+
Yes. We migrate year-to-date earnings, deductions and TDS already deposited, reconcile against your existing returns, and issue a single consolidated Form 130 (the certificate that replaced Form 16 from tax year 2026-27) at year end.
What is the difference between payroll outsourcing and third-party payroll?+
In payroll outsourcing your company stays the legal employer: staff are on your rolls and PF, ESI and TDS are filed under your registrations. In third-party payroll the provider becomes the employer and bills you for the cost. Choose outsourcing if you only want the processing and filings done.
Do we need our own PF, ESI and professional tax registrations?+
Yes. Because the employees stay on your rolls, contributions and returns are filed under your codes. If a registration is missing for a State you have expanded into, we can file it as part of set-up.
Can you work on our existing HRMS or payroll software?+
Usually yes. We can operate your software with a user role you control, or process on ours and give you the outputs. The choice depends on where your attendance data already lives.
How do the Labour Codes change monthly payroll processing?+
The main changes are the uniform definition of wages with the 50% rule, which changes the base for PF, gratuity and bonus; full and final settlement within two working days of exit; gratuity for fixed-term employees after one year; and new formats for wage registers and wage slips under the Central rules notified in May 2026.
What happens to our employees' personal data?+
It is processed only for payroll on your written instructions, stored with role-based access, and returned or deleted at the end of the contract on an agreed schedule. You remain the data fiduciary under the DPDP Act, 2023.
Send us last month's payroll register
We will price the transition, flag what looks non-compliant and give you a monthly calendar you can hold us to.