What is the best payroll software for India in 2026?

Indian HRM is built specifically for Indian payroll compliance. Auto-calculates PF (12% + 12%), ESI (3.25% + 0.75%), TDS under both old and new tax regimes, Professional Tax, generates ECR files, Form 16, and bank NEFT/RTGS files. From ₹49 per employee per month.

How does Indian HRM automate PF, ESI, and TDS calculations?

The system reads each employee's salary structure, attendance, and tax regime selection, then applies the current statutory rates automatically.

Does your payroll software generate ECR files for EPFO?

Yes. Indian HRM generates the ECR (Electronic Challan cum Return) text file in the exact format EPFO accepts.

Can I switch from Keka, greytHR, or Zoho Payroll to Indian HRM?

Yes. We provide a free data migration service. Typically 3 to 5 business days with no payroll disruption.

Do you support both old and new income tax regimes?

Yes. Each employee can select their tax regime. Indian HRM auto-calculates TDS separately for both regimes.

How much does payroll software cost in India?

Indian HRM's Foundation plan starts at ₹49 per employee per month and includes complete payroll with PF/ESI/TDS compliance. No setup fees, no minimum user count.

Is payroll data secure?

Yes. Data is encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.3), with role-based access for payroll. SOC 2 aligned, with regular third-party security audits.

How long does it take to run payroll for the whole company?

Once salary structures are set, a monthly run takes a few minutes: lock attendance and leave, review the register, and approve. Payslips, the ECR file, the ESI return, and the bank transfer file generate together.

Does it handle arrears and mid-month salary revisions?

Yes. A revision dated mid-cycle creates the arrears automatically and shows them as a separate payslip line, with the correct PF and TDS impact.

Can I run payroll for multiple states and legal entities?

Yes. Professional Tax follows each employee's work state, and multiple legal entities run under one organisation, each with its own PF and ESI registration, signatory, and payslip branding.

What happens to payroll when an employee is on loss of pay?

Loss of pay is read from attendance and leave for the cycle and pro-rates the salary for those days, including the PF and ESI impact. The LOP days show on the payslip.

Payroll Software India 2026: Auto PF, ESI, TDS & Form 16

Indian HRM is built for the Indian payroll team that has to file ECR by the 15th, reconcile ESI by the 21st, and answer "where is my Form 16?" every April. Run salaries for the whole company in one click. PF, ESI, TDS, Professional Tax, gratuity, and bonus are all calculated against the latest 2026 statutory rates. Plans start at ₹49 per employee per month, and the first three months are free with no credit card.

Built around Indian statutory rules, not retrofitted

Most global payroll tools bolt on Indian compliance as an afterthought. We started here. The system applies a 12% employer plus 12% employee contribution for EPF, splits ESI at 3.25% and 0.75% for in-scope wages, and switches employees between the old and new tax regimes based on their declarations. State-wise Professional Tax slabs are pre-loaded for Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Gujarat, with admin overrides where local rules change.

Minimum wage and bonus

Each state's scheduled-employment minimum wage is flagged at runtime, so you never short-pay a worker by mistake. Statutory bonus under the Payment of Bonus Act is calculated against the ₹21,000 ceiling and the 8.33% to 20% range. Gratuity provisioning runs in the background for anyone past four years, eight months of service.

One-click salary run, with the audit trail

Pull attendance and leave from the same database. Lock the cycle. Hit run. The engine calculates gross, deductions, taxes, reimbursements, and net pay for every employee, then freezes the payslip as an immutable record. If a correction is needed, you raise an arrear in the next cycle. Payslips never silently change after the fact, which is what auditors and labour inspectors actually want to see.

Filing-ready outputs: ECR, ESI, TDS, Form 16

The system generates the EPFO ECR text file in the exact format the Unified Portal expects, ready to upload without reformatting in Excel. ESI contribution challans, Form 24Q quarterly TDS returns, Form 16 Part A and Part B, and Form 12BA for perquisites are all produced from the same payroll run. No copy-paste, no separate reconciliation file.

Bank disbursement files

Export NEFT and RTGS batch files in the formats HDFC, ICICI, SBI, Axis, Kotak, and Yes Bank accept. Upload to corporate net banking, get one approval, salaries land the same morning.

Pricing that works for Indian SMEs

Foundation is ₹49 per employee per month and covers payroll, payslips, statutory reports, and the employee app. Growth at ₹99 adds full HRM, GPS attendance, hiring, and performance. Enterprise is custom for groups above 500 staff or multi-entity setups. Every plan includes a three-month free trial with real data, not a demo sandbox.

Migrating from Excel, Keka, greytHR, or Zoho People

Free migration, typically three to five working days. Send us your last three salary sheets, the employee master, and your PF and ESI registrations. We map salary structures, opening balances, and YTD tax figures, then review the first run line by line with your team before the bank file goes out.

Mobile app for the people who actually get paid

Employees install the Android or iOS app, log in with biometrics, and see their payslip, tax declarations, leave balance, and reimbursement claims. GPS check-in works for field staff. The AI HR bot answers "what is my net pay" and "why did TDS go up" in plain language, so HR stops being a payslip helpdesk.

Why 150+ Indian companies run salaries on Indian HRM

We manage payroll for over 12,000 employees across factories in Pune, IT shops in Bangalore, schools in Hyderabad, and retail chains in Delhi NCR. The product is opinionated about Indian compliance because that is the work that breaks at month-end.