HR & Payroll Guides for Indian Businesses

This is the part of the site where we slow down and explain the rules. PF challan due dates, gratuity formulas, leave-policy templates, HR audit checklists, and the trade-offs between HRMS vendors. Each guide is written for an Indian employer who needs an answer they can act on this week, not a generic primer scraped from a textbook.

Every page below is written by people who run the Indian HRM platform daily. Pick the topic. Skim the summary. Open the one that fits.

Payroll & compliance guides

Payroll Compliance Checklist (PF, ESI, TDS)

Every statutory due date a payroll team in India has to hit, in one checklist. PF ECR by the 15th, ESI by the 15th, TDS payment by the 7th, quarterly TDS returns, and Professional Tax state by state. Includes challan formats, return windows, and the late-fee math when you miss any of them.

Gratuity Calculation in India 2026: Formula

The Payment of Gratuity Act 1972 in plain English. The 15-day-salary-per-completed-year formula, who qualifies (5 years of continuous service, with the Madras High Court 4-year-240-day reading), the ₹20 lakh tax exemption ceiling, and worked examples. Useful when finance asks what to pay an exiting employee.

Leave Policy Template for Indian Companies

A drop-in policy you can adapt for your handbook. CL, SL, and EL accruals, 26-week paid maternity leave under the Maternity Benefit Act, paternity norms, comp-off rules, encashment formulas, and carry-forward logic for an Indian SME.

HR ops guides

HR Audit Checklist for Indian Businesses (2026)

What to check before an investor due-diligence call or a labour department visit. Statutory registers, appointment-letter coverage, payroll documentation, POSH committee constitution, and DPDP Act consent. 70-plus line items grouped by area, with the gaps auditors flag most often.

Why Switch to Indian HRM

The numbers behind moving off your current HRMS. Hours saved per payroll cycle, compliance penalty exposure you remove, the typical ₹ per employee per month delta vs Keka or greytHR, and the 30-day migration plan. Read this if your renewal is up and finance wants a one-pager.

Choosing an HRMS

HRMS Software in India: The 2026 Buyer's Guide

Pricing benchmarks (₹49 to ₹299 per employee per month is the realistic SME range), the must-have features for an Indian payroll setup, mobile-app expectations, and the compliance questions to put on every vendor RFP. Includes the 12-question shortlist HR heads use to cut a demo list down to two finalists.

Keka Alternative 2026

Honest side-by-side: pricing, mobile experience, AI features, payroll automation, and where Keka wins. A 2-week migration plan if you decide to switch, with the order to move payroll, attendance, and leave data so nothing breaks mid-month.

greytHR Alternative 2026

Where greytHR's pricing makes sense, where it stops, and the feature gaps SMEs hit past 100 employees. Comparison on payroll, statutory reports, self-service, and analytics, plus a switching guide for teams already on greytHR.

Need more help?

If the guide you need isn't on this list, write to us through the contact page and we'll point you to the right resource or answer directly. Still shortlisting? The best HRMS software India 2026 round-up is where most buyers start.