--- title: "Payroll Software for Small Teams in India | LekhaHR" description: "Payroll software for India where every payslip line says why: PF, ESI, PT and TDS with effective dates, a second approver and secure payslips." canonical: https://lekhahr.in/payroll-software/ last_updated: 2026-09-30 --- Payroll software for India · 19:45 IST, month close # Payroll where every line says why. LekhaHR is payroll software for small teams in India. Locked attendance becomes paid days. PF, ESI, professional tax and TDS are worked out on the rules in force that month, with the date each rule started. A second person approves, and every employee gets a payslip they can question line by line. [Request an invite](https://lekhahr.in/request-invite/) See how PF and ESI are worked out Included in LekhaHR Operations: ₹79 per employee per month on annual billing for the first 25, no minimum; GST extra. [See every band](https://lekhahr.in/pricing/) because since 21 Nov 2025 a wage slip is a legal duty under the Code on Wages, and every line on it should survive a question. 19:45 IST · No. 01 · month close --- because a payslip is only as right as the days under it, and those days were already approved by the people who saw them. ## Where does payroll get paid days from? Payroll reads paid days from attendance and leave after they lock, not from a spreadsheet someone keyed in. The salary month is the calendar month. Loss of pay comes from an attendance window you set, so a late absence is settled next month instead of guessed. ### Paid days from locked attendance Half days, regularised punches and approved leave arrive with their reasons. ### A window for loss of pay Absences after the cutoff move to next month's run, written as an adjustment. ### Salary structures per person Basic, allowances and their PF and ESI treatment are set once and reused. ### Joiners and leavers mid-month Paid on the days in the month they were with you. No. 02 Review --- because nobody should approve a total they cannot take apart. Calculated Sat 26 Sep 2026 · revision 1 ## Why this month is ₹30,580 more than last. Before anyone approves, the run explains its own change from last month, cause by cause. The biggest movements per person sit under it, each opening to the day or rule that caused it. No. 03 Statutory --- because a rate without its start date is a guess about which month it applies to. ## How does payroll software work out PF, ESI, PT and TDS? It applies the rules in force for the salary month: PF and ESI on wages as the Code defines them, professional tax on your state's slabs, and TDS on projected income for the tax year. In LekhaHR every rate and ceiling carries the date it took effect and its law, and a mid-month change splits the month. Work one month out yourself with the [PF calculator](https://lekhahr.in/tools/pf-calculator/) or the [ESI calculator](https://lekhahr.in/tools/esi-calculator/). The September split is explained in the [EPF wage ceiling guide](https://lekhahr.in/guides/epf-wage-ceiling-25000/), and the wages definition behind both in the [new labour codes checklist](https://lekhahr.in/guides/labour-codes-hr-checklist/). - **01Wages for PF and ESI**: Code wages because since 21 Nov 2025 wages are basic, DA and retaining allowance. Special allowance counts unless it is a listed exclusion. If HRA, conveyance and other exclusions pass half of total pay, the excess is added back. - **02EPF, employee and employer**: 12% each because PF is counted on PF wages up to ₹25,000 a month from 17 Sep 2026 (₹15,000 before). Of the employer's 12%, 8.33% of wages up to the ceiling goes to the pension scheme and the rest to the PF account. - **03ESI, employee and employer**: 0.75% · 3.25% because ESI covers people whose Code wages are up to ₹21,000 a month, and contributions are rounded up to the next rupee. - **04Professional tax**: by state because each state sets its own slabs. Karnataka charges nothing below ₹25,000 gross a month, and the Constitution caps PT at ₹2,500 a person a year. - **05Income tax (TDS)**: projected yearly because tax is projected for the year from each person's regime and their declarations on Form 124 (earlier Form 12BB). Where tax was deducted, the year-end Form 130 (earlier Form 16) is generated on TRACES. - **06Labour welfare fund**: where it applies because only some states collect it, on their own dates. Each rate shows its effective date and source in the product · checked by the LekhaHR team, reviewed 30 Sep 2026 No. 04 Approve and lock --- because the person who runs payroll is usually paid by it too. ## Who approves a payroll run? A second person. The one who runs payroll sends the month with notes on anything unusual; the approver sees the totals, the causes and the notes, then approves and locks. After the lock, a change is a new revision with its reason, and the old figures stay on record. ### Approve September 2026 salary Sent by Priya Menon, Operations Lead · to Meenal Joshi - **People paid**: 42 - **Change from August**: +₹30,580 because of 5 causes, each shown on the review - **Notes from the preparer**: 2 because Karthik Iyer's referral bonus is his first one-time payment, and one joiner's PAN is still pending - **Pay day**: Wed 30 Sep Approved and locked Tue 29 Sep · 18:12 IST by Meenal Joshi · revision 1 Payroll lockedSep 2026 · rev 1 **Priya Menon** prepares the run, adds notes, sends it **Meenal Joshi** approves and locks, or sends it back with a reason because the approver can be anyone you choose: a founder, a finance lead or your accountant, with access to payroll and nothing else. No. 05 Payslips --- because a payslip in an inbox attachment is a payslip anyone can forward. ## A link and a one-time code, never an attachment. On pay day each person gets an email with a link to their payslip in LekhaHR. Opening it asks for a one-time code. Every line opens to its reason, and a question on a line goes to payroll, not to the person's manager. No. 06 Full and final --- because the last payslip someone gets from you is the one they remember. ## F&F worked out in time for 2 working days. The Code on Wages asks for wages due on exit within 2 working days. LekhaHR freezes the facts on the last day (attendance, leave balance, claims, recoveries) and works out the settlement with a reason on every line, so it can be approved and paid in its own batch. The time limit, what sits outside it and a printable format are in the [full and final settlement guide](https://lekhahr.in/guides/full-and-final-settlement/). ### Sanjay Mishra · full and final Last day Fri 25 Sep 2026 · Accounts Executive - **Salary, 1–25 Sep**: ₹15,000 because 25 of 30 days at ₹18,000 a month - **Earned leave, 6 days**: ₹2,400 because Code wages ₹12,000 ÷ 30 × 6 days left in the balance - **EPF, 12%**: −₹1,200 because 12% of ₹10,000 PF wages for the 25 salary days; not on leave encashment - **ESI, 0.75%**: −₹75 because 0.75% of ₹10,000 Code wages for the salary days; not on leave encashment - **Professional tax, Karnataka**: ₹0 because his monthly gross is below ₹25,000 - **Net to pay**: ₹16,125 Due by Tue 29 Sep 2026 2 working days after the last day F&F approvedMon 28 Sep No. 07 Outputs --- because your accountant should get files, not a login to a black box. ## Files for the bank and your accountant. Once the month locks, LekhaHR makes the bank file and the reports from the locked register. You upload the bank file to your bank. You or your accountant file the returns and pay the dues. - Salary register XLSX · every person, every component, with the revision - Accounting journal CSV · mapped to your ledgers - PF contribution report Wages and shares per member, for the PF portal - ESI contribution report Code wages and shares per insured person - Professional tax summary By state, for the state's return - TDS working Monthly figures for Form 138 (earlier Form 24Q) - Form 130 (earlier Form 16) For each person with tax deducted; generated on TRACES from your Form 138 (earlier Form 24Q) returns. LekhaHR prepares the salary figures. What LekhaHR does not do LekhaHR does not file returns or deposit PF, ESI, PT or TDS, and it does not move money. It prepares the figures and files, with the working behind each one, for you or your accountant to file and pay. ## Is LekhaHR payroll right for you? No. 08 · Written for you if ### Payroll you can explain to the person being paid. - You pay from 2 to a few hundred people in India, in-house or with an accountant. - You want each payslip line to show the rule, the rate and the date behind it. - You want attendance and leave to feed payroll without re-keying. - Your accountant files the returns and wants clean reports from a locked month. No. 09 · An honest note ### When LekhaHR payroll isn't the right choice - You want your software to file returns or deposit PF, ESI or TDS for you. - You want an outsourced payroll service where someone else runs the month. - You pay people outside India or in another currency. No. 10 Questions --- because the questions people ask before switching payroll are mostly about who files what. ## Questions about payroll in LekhaHR Approved claims from [expense management](https://lekhahr.in/expense-management-software/) arrive on their own reimbursement line, and a signed review from [performance management](https://lekhahr.in/performance-management-system/) is one input to a salary revision. Comparing payroll tools first? See the [HRMS shortlist for small teams in India](https://lekhahr.in/best-hr-software-india/), and who makes LekhaHR on the [about page](https://lekhahr.in/about/). ### What is payroll software? Payroll software works out each employee's pay for the month from the salary structure, attendance and leave, applies deductions such as PF, ESI, professional tax and TDS, and produces payslips, bank files and statutory reports. In LekhaHR every line shows the rule and effective date behind it, and a second person approves the run. ### What should payroll software for a small business in India do? Look for four things: PF, ESI, PT and TDS worked out on the current rules with effective dates; paid days taken from attendance without re-typing; a second person approving before the month locks; and a price that fits your headcount. LekhaHR does all four for teams from two people. ### Does LekhaHR file PF, ESI, PT or TDS returns for us? No. LekhaHR calculates each contribution and deduction, shows why, and prepares the reports and files for PF, ESI, PT and TDS, including the figures for Form 138 (earlier Form 24Q). You or your accountant file the returns and make the payments on the government portals. ### How does LekhaHR handle the EPF wage ceiling rising to ₹25,000? The ceiling is ₹25,000 a month from 17 Sep 2026 (₹15,000 before). For September 2026 the ceiling is split by calendar days of the salary month: 1 to 16 Sep on ₹15,000 and 17 to 30 Sep on ₹25,000. Each person's PF line shows the split it used. ### Is ESI worked out on gross pay? No. Since 21 Nov 2025, ESI coverage and contributions use wages as the Code on Social Security defines them: basic, DA and retaining allowance, with excluded items such as HRA added back where they pass half of total pay. The ₹21,000 coverage ceiling is tested on that figure too. ### Where does loss of pay come from? From attendance and leave. You set an attendance window, for example 26 Aug to 25 Sep for September salary, and the locked days in that window become paid days and loss-of-pay days. The salary month itself stays the calendar month. ### How is full and final settlement handled? LekhaHR works out the F&F from the last day's facts: salary for the days worked, leave encashment, recoveries and statutory deductions, and shows the due date, 2 working days after the exit under the Code on Wages. Gratuity and PF follow their own timelines. ### How do employees get their payslips? Each person gets an email with a link to their payslip in LekhaHR, never the payslip as an attachment. Opening it asks for a one-time code. From the payslip they can raise a question on any line, and it goes to whoever runs payroll, not to their manager. No. 11 · Invitation ## By invitation. We open LekhaHR to a few teams at a time, from teams of two. Tell us how you run payroll today and we'll reply by email. [Request an invite](https://lekhahr.in/request-invite/) [See pricing](https://lekhahr.in/pricing/)