In today’s fast-paced business landscape, managing payroll operations in India has become cumbersome.
Fortunately, the advent of payroll software has revolutionized how things worked back then.
Today, all you need to do is supervise the entire process while the software does the heavy lifting for you. 🏋️
In this article, we will explore a selection of India’s top payroll software solutions, empowering businesses to streamline and optimize payroll operations.
What is Payroll Software?
Payroll software is a sophisticated tool meant to help organizations streamline and automate the complex payroll administration process, such as:
- Salary calculations
- Attendance monitoring
- Tax computations
- Invoice creation and distribution
And much more.
Additionally, businesses can ensure error-free and timely payments besides saving time and resources with the tool’s intuitive user interface and robust capabilities.
Payroll software cuts processing time while being less prone to errors and staying put to legal and tax compliance.
Benefits of Using Payroll Software
Time-Saving
Payroll software handles time-consuming tasks such as salary calculations, tax deductions, and pay stub generation. Automating these administrative processes frees up HR and payroll teams to concentrate on time-sensitive initiatives and activities necessary for organizational growth.
Accuracy and Compliance
These tools eliminate the risk of errors and compliance issues that generally occur in manual payroll calculations.
Payroll software can help businesses to automate calculations based on company rules and government tax regulations, ensuring accurate salary disbursements, tax deductions, and compliance with legal requirements.
Streamlined Reporting
Payroll software generates comprehensive reports that provide insights into payroll expenses, tax liabilities, and employee earnings.
These reports simplify financial reporting and facilitate accurate data analysis for strategic decision-making. Besides, the software helps you generate tax-ready reports, thereby making tax time a breeze.
Audit Trail and Historical Records
With payroll software, businesses can maintain a comprehensive audit trail of payroll activities. It tracks and documents:
- Employee record changes
- Salary adjustments
- Tax deductions
- Audits and inquiry reports
And much more, ensuring transparency and compliance.
However, when selecting payroll software in India, you must look for some key features.
Features To Look For When Choosing Payroll Software in India
#1. Automation
Make sure the software automates most of your administrative tasks, such as calculating salaries, tax deductions, bonuses, one-time deductions, leave, and attendance. Look for automation features to streamline payroll processing and reduce manual effort.
#2. Compliance with Indian Tax Laws
Check if the software functions in compliance with Indian tax regulations, such as TDS (Tax Deducted at Source), PF (Provident Fund), professional tax (PT), employee state insurance (ESI), and income tax.
Most payroll software automatically updates and reflects changes in Indian labor laws and tax regulations.
Moreover, most India payroll software supports tax filing requirements while generating necessary reports.
#3. Employee Self-Service Portal
The best global payroll solutions include ESS (Employee Self-Service) features. Using this, employees can rely on self-service portals or mobile applications to access payroll information, view pay deductions, and download tax documents hassle-free under one roof.
Besides, it enables employees to perform a host of payroll-related tasks independently, thereby saving the time & energy of running back and forth to the HR or admin office for every petty matter.
#4. Integrations
Firstly, check if the software is good enough to handle data transfer via Excel sheets or from any other software.
Next, it must have built-in integrations to other HR tools, like Quickbooks, time and attendance management systems, and more.
For instance, if you need to integrate it with your clock or Biometric machine, the task should be completed easily without taking much time.
You see, having seamless integrations to necessary tools and features makes the process a wholesome experience.
#5. Reporting and Analytics
Payroll software must have robust reporting capabilities to generate comprehensive payroll reports, financial summaries, and tax-ready documents.
Besides, the tool must incorporate advanced analytics to provide insights into payroll trends and help with strategic decision-making.
#6. Scalability and Customization
Ensure that your organization’s growth plans align with the software’s potential to scale. Oftentimes, scalability comes with high premium charges. So, choose software that scales with you without being heavy on your pockets.
Furthermore, look for customization options to tailor the software to your specific payroll requirements.
Here’s a list of some of the best India payroll software. Businesses can choose the software that best fits their needs and budget to streamline their payroll process and improve their HR operations.
Zoho Payroll
Zoho Payroll, India’s popular payroll software, is the one-stop solution for payroll administration.
Be it managing employees, tracking attendance, processing salaries, or ensuring compliance– Zoho Payroll has it all covered.
Key Features
- Run payroll with a few clicks and automatically generate online payslips, including taxes, allowances, and breakdown of deductions
- Transfer salaries directly to employees’ bank accounts, ensuring timely payments and providing bank advice
- Built-in integrations with Zoho People and Zoho Books for HR and accounting needs
- Handle statutory compliance for PF, PT, ESI, LWF, and IT, and simplify tax reporting for easy filling
- Enable seamless collaboration and reduce employee requests through employee self-service portals
- Enable role-based management to control access to critical information
Whether you’re a small or medium-sized business in India, Zoho Payroll is the ideal choice to simplify your payroll management hassle. The software is free to get started with and allows up to 10 employees.
RazorpayX Payroll
RazorpayX Payroll (formerly Opfin) is a cloud-based software offering a suite of features designed to simplify payroll management for businesses. The software is trusted by 5,000+ high-growth companies, including Inc42, Dukaan, Stoa, and more.
Key Features
- Streamline leave management with an easy application process for employees and centralized approval for admins via Slack
- One-click payroll processing and direct salary deposits to employee bank accounts
- From onboarding to exit, efficiently manage employees with tools like letter generation and CTC calculator
- Offers an intuitive dashboard for users to manage payslips, Form 16s, declare investment, and request payments
- Stay compliant with Indian labor laws and tax regulations by automating statutory compliances like TDS, PF, PT, ESIC, and fillings
RazorpayX Payroll is the most suitable for startups as it is extremely cost-effective and easy to use. It offers a free forever plan with no conditions. Meanwhile, you can also request customized plans suiting your business needs.
Keka
Keka offers an array of smart HR tools to streamline your workforce management process. One of its core products, Keka Payroll, eliminates the hassle of creating, managing, and disbursing payrolls.
Key Features
- Run a preview of the payroll period, compare changes, and review every aspect before finalizing and releasing
- Release payslips in various formats via mobile app, email, or SMS; bulk print payslips with a click
- Built-in payroll compliance with automatic calculations for PF, ESI, TDS, and more
- Enhance expense management system with tools like receipt scanning, mileage tracking, and creating custom policies for team spending
- Integrate Keka Payroll with QuickBooks and Tally accounting software for efficient and accurate data transfer and to streamline your payroll and financial management processes
Keka is trusted by over 6,500+, including some top brands like OnePlus, Hyundai, Oppo, eBay, and more. Additionally, you can kick off with a risk-free trial of the software.
greytHR
greytHR is a comprehensive payroll management software solution that offers faster processing and accurate payouts. It eliminates the cumbersome Excel sheets and payroll computation errors, ensuring 100% statutory compliance and on-time disbursement of salaries.
Key Features
- Manage employee loans efficiently, including tracking repayments and interest calculations
- Offers ESS (Employee Self-service) portals to deliver world-class employee experience, greater transparency, and reduced queries
- Direct-debit facility to transfer salaries and payments directly to employees’ bank accounts
- Streamline full and final settlement processes for departing employees; track arrears arising from salary revisions or adjustments
- Built-in payroll analytics for accurate and timely decision making
- Get ready-made MIS and compliance reports or create customized reports for statutory compliance, payroll statement, or ad-hoc queries
greytHR Payroll is trusted by over 20,000 businesses and 20 Lakh+ employees. The platform also offers a dedicated mobile app for employees to access necessary documents, raise support tickets, and apply for leaves.
Paybooks
Paybooks is an all-in-one HR & payroll software designed for businesses to manage payroll & compliance on the go. The platform comes with a self-service mobile app and robust automation capabilities to make pay time a breeze.
Key Features
- Calculate salaries quickly and transfer them directly to employees’ bank accounts.
- Automatically calculate tax and generate tax-ready reports for Provident Fund, Professional Tax, ESI, Income Tax, and more
- Configure advanced leave policies and enjoy seamless synchronization of leave and payroll data
- Enable auto sync with biometric devices to record attendance, overtime, and leaves in real-time for smooth payroll workings
- Seamlessly integrate with Zoho, QuickBooks, Oracle, Securax, and more for enhanced functionality.
Besides, Paybooks comes with an in-built tax planner that assists and educates employees with tax deductions and workings under the law. Paybooks have no free version. However, you can opt for its 30-day risk-free trial.
Empxtrack
Empxtrack’s easy-to-use payroll software simplifies payroll processing and tax filing for businesses of all sizes. The software comes with pre-configured options yet has multiple customizations and custom configuration options to set up and modify processes according to business workflow.
Key Features
- Ensure adherence to tax regulations by automatically calculating and deducting taxes, generating tax-ready reports, and filing tax returns.
- Streamline leave tracking, approvals, and calculations, including different leave types and accruals
- Track activities happening outside payroll boundaries like commission, rewards, incentives, and more; create purpose-specific reports for all payroll-related activities to maintain records
- Easily integrate with multiple HR and accounting applications using built-in API integration
Empxtrack offers a multi-level workflow, ensuring complete control over payroll calculations before final disbursement.
Loved by companies like WarnerBros, HCL, & 15,500+ more, Empxtrack’s payroll software can automate your payroll process, ensure compliance with statutory regulations, and save time and effort.
FactoHR
FactoHR is your go-to payroll software that ensures timely and accurate payroll processing. With its user-friendly interface and centralized data management, it simplifies the entire payroll process.
Key Features
- Configure payroll process with unlimited earning or deduction components for any type of salary structure
- Over 15+ payslip formats that have different layouts and sections, which you can choose as per your organization’s needs
- Built-in security features to ensure the confidentiality and protection of your payroll data
- Pre-built integrations to third-party tools like attendance management systems and accounting software.
Besides, FactoHR lets you gamify employees’ performance by linking their goals to certain incentives. You can also opt for add-ons such as face recognition, geo-fence, self-onboarding, and more to promote a self-serving culture.
Wave
Wave payroll software is built for small businesses, freelancers, and gig workers. The software makes tax time a breeze while integrating with Wave Accounting, Invoicing, and Payments tools to create a unified administrative environment.
Key Features
- Effortlessly calculate and process payroll for employees and contractors; pay directly into their bank accounts within a few clicks
- Automatically calculate, deduct, and file necessary taxes to stay compliant with tax regulations
- See a breakdown of your payroll expenses by employee, expense type, and more
- Empower your employees with access to their pay stubs and tax documents through the self-service portal.
- Takes care of tax filings, including year-end W-2 and 1099 forms, saving you time and effort.
With Wave Payroll, you can focus on growing your business while ensuring smooth and efficient payroll management. It offers a 30-day risk-free trial which you can avail of anytime.
PocketHRMS
PocketHRMS is an advanced intelligent payroll solution that simplifies payroll management by automating compliance handling.
Key Features
- Auto-calculate salaries, generate forms, and process payrolls; use customer payslip designer to create branded payslips
- Automatically handle statutory requirements like PF, ESI, PT, TDS, and more, reducing errors and minimizing penalties.
- Enable employees to view payslips and tax information and request leaves via mobile and desktop-based ESS portals
- Ensure the confidentiality and security of sensitive payroll data through robust security measures, user access controls, and data encryption.
- Over 100+ report templates and Super Data Wizard with pivots to generate custom reports
With PocketHRMS, processing F&F is a stress-free process. It handles smooth exit with automated gratuity calculations, leaves encashment, and asset recovery.
SumoPayroll
SumoPayroll is a modern-day payroll solution designed for small and mid-size companies. It’s an easy-to-use interface, and intuitive payroll processing helps you ensure a fully compliant payroll process in action.
Key Features
- In-built attendance and time management solution to keep track of employee engagement via working remotely or in-office
- Made it easy for employees to claim expenses, download payslips, and request time-offs via a self-service mobile app
- Get access to various reports for payroll tax liabilities, payment dispersed, employee information, and more
- Enhance workforce scheduling with customizable shift policies, ensuring optimized work schedules and eliminating scheduling conflicts for your employees
SumoPayroll is trusted by 100s of businesses across India. The best part is that it’s free if you have fewer than 10 employees.
HROne
HROne is India’s leading HR and payroll software that ensures 100% error-free and compliant payroll management.
Key Features
- Automatically create salary structure for new joiners; auto-copy CTC into payroll database from employee’s offer letter for error-free payments
- Auto-debit statutory deductions and generate challans for PF, ESI, Professional tax, and more in tax-ready formats
- Has a smart error algo that compares the differences in pay components and highlights them in the error list
- Employee self-service portals with personal loan assistance, easy EMIs, and quick view of documents
- Get real-time insights into monthly payout variations, CTC trends, and business liabilities under one roof
- Over 15+ integrations to financial platforms like SAP Business One, Microsoft Navision, Tally, Custom ERPs, and more
With HROn, you can experience intelligent, integrated, and simplified HR payroll processes, eliminating the risk of mistakes and minimizing effort loss.
Saral PayPack
Saral PayPack is a comprehensive payroll software with state-of-the-art security features and highly customizable options to adapt to the needs of businesses of any size, segment, and industry.
Key Feature
- Easily capture and manage employee database with over 400+ distinct pieces of information and self-service mobile app
- End-to-end salary management starting with defining salary structure to accurate salary calculations and payslip generation
- Customize salary structures to accommodate various allowances, deductions, and bonus components, catering to unique business requirements.
- Enable Saral Intelligent Assistant (SIA), an AI-powered chatbot, to request leaves, view payslips, do TDS calculations, and more
Be it accurate and timely salary processing or tracking employees’ attendance, Saral PayPack is the one-in-all HR and Payroll software for businesses to manage their payroll processing easily.
Final Thoughts
Choosing the right payroll software is crucial for smooth disbursements in India.
With these top India payroll software options, automating calculations, ensuring tax compliance, offering employee self-service, and providing robust reporting became simple and easy.
Embrace the convenience and efficiency of these top-notch payroll software solutions for a seamless payroll experience.
You may also explore some of the best global payroll solutions for your international remote employees.