Payroll & HR
Payroll Processing Support — Monthly Salary Computation, PF, ESI, TDS, and Payslips
TrustLedger handles your monthly payroll — salary computation, PF and ESI challans, TDS under Section 192, and payslip generation. Structured payroll that keeps you compliant.
What is Payroll Processing?
Payroll is the end-to-end process of calculating each employee's salary for a given period, deducting statutory contributions and taxes, and producing a record of net payment due. For any business with employees, it is a recurring monthly obligation that runs in parallel with GST returns, TDS filings, and statutory deposit deadlines.
Getting payroll right means more than writing the right salary into a bank transfer. Errors in TDS computation affect your employees' tax filings and can result in their 26AS mismatching their ITR. Wrong PF calculations lead to statutory defaults. Late PF deposits attract interest and can result in adverse observations during PF audits. And if the payroll-TDS computation doesn't align with the quarterly Form 24Q filing, the IT Department will notice.
Structured payroll eliminates these cascading errors by treating salary calculation, deduction, deposit, and compliance as one coordinated monthly workflow.
What Payroll Processing Covers
Monthly Computation
- Gross salary calculation based on pay structure (CTC to in-hand working)
- Attendance-linked adjustments — leaves, LOP (Loss of Pay), overtime
- One-time payments — bonus, arrears, reimbursements
- PF contribution — 12% employee contribution + 12% employer contribution (on basic + DA)
- ESI contribution — 0.75% employee + 3.25% employer (applicable for employees earning up to ₹21,000/month)
- Professional Tax deduction — state-specific slabs
- TDS computation on salary under Section 192 — projected annual liability divided over remaining months
- Net salary calculation — the final amount transferred to each employee
Statutory Deposit Coordination
- PF challan preparation for monthly deposit (due by 15th of following month)
- ESI challan preparation (due by 15th of following month)
- Professional Tax challan (due dates vary by state)
Payslip and Records
- Individual payslips in PDF format for each employee
- Consolidated salary register for the month
- Monthly TDS working aligned with quarterly Form 24Q filing
Our Process
Step 1 — Payroll Setup: We document your salary structures, CTC-to-net breakup, applicable statutory registrations (PF number, ESI code, Professional Tax registration), and monthly cut-off dates.
Step 2 — Monthly Input Collection: You share the month's attendance data, approved salary changes, one-time payments, and any new joiner or exit details by the agreed cut-off (typically 25th–28th).
Step 3 — Computation and Review: We run payroll computation and share a summary — employee-wise gross, deductions, net payable, and total statutory outflows — for your confirmation before processing.
Step 4 — Payslip Generation: We prepare individual payslips and share them in PDF format, ready for distribution to employees.
Step 5 — Challan and Compliance: We prepare PF, ESI, and PT payment challans. You deposit the amounts. We keep records aligned with quarterly TDS return and annual Form 16 preparation.
Statutory Deposit Deadlines
- PF deposit: By 15th of the following month
- ESI deposit: By 15th of the following month
- Professional Tax: Varies by state (Maharashtra: monthly by 31st; Karnataka: monthly; Tamil Nadu: half-yearly)
- Salary TDS deposit: By 7th of the following month (30 April for March deductions)
⚠ Late PF deposit attracts interest at 12% per annum and a penalty of ₹5 to ₹25 per day per employee under EPFO rules. Late ESI deposit attracts 12% per annum interest. These are in addition to any labour law consequences.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many employees do you handle payroll for?
We handle payroll for businesses from 2 employees to 200+ employees. The scope and fee are confirmed based on headcount, payroll complexity, and number of statutory registrations involved.
Is PF mandatory for all employees?
PF registration is mandatory if your establishment employs 20 or more persons. Once registered, PF contributions are mandatory for all employees drawing a basic salary up to ₹15,000 per month. Employees earning above ₹15,000 can choose to opt out of PF at the start of employment. Once a member, they cannot withdraw from PF until they leave the organisation.
What is ESI and who does it cover?
ESI (Employees' State Insurance) is a health and social security scheme for employees. It is mandatory for establishments with 10 or more employees (20 in some states) in specified industries. ESI covers employees drawing gross wages up to ₹21,000 per month. It provides medical benefit (cashless treatment), sickness benefit, maternity benefit, and disablement benefit to covered employees and their dependents.
How does payroll connect to TDS?
Salary TDS (Section 192) requires you to project each employee's full year income at the start of the year, estimate the likely tax liability, and spread the deduction across the remaining months of the year. If an employee's projected tax changes mid-year (due to a change in pay, a new deduction declaration, or income from other sources), the per-month TDS is adjusted. All TDS deducted from salaries must be deposited by the 7th of the following month and reported in the quarterly Form 24Q. Getting this right ensures the employee's Form 26AS matches their ITR and there is no mismatch notice.
Can we switch from our current payroll process to yours mid-year?
Yes. We review whatever records exist for the months already processed and take over from the current month. We reconcile prior-month TDS computations to ensure the quarterly return is consistent. A mid-year switch may require a one-time reconciliation exercise — we assess and confirm the scope before starting.
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