Best Payroll Software for PF, ESI and TDS Compliance in India
By the TeamEzz team (Ascorp Technologies). Last updated: 2026-11-11.
What's the best payroll software for Indian PF, ESI and TDS compliance?
Good Indian payroll software calculates PF, ESI, TDS and professional tax from your salary structure, generates payslips, and exports statutory and bank files every month. Test it with your own salary structures on a free trial, since compliance depends on how correctly your real cases are handled.
Checklist and how TeamEzz fits
| What matters | What to check in any tool | TeamEzz |
|---|---|---|
| Provident Fund (PF) | Employee and employer share, wage ceiling handling, ECR file | PF calculated in payroll with statutory export |
| ESI | Eligibility by wage, contribution split, ESI return data | ESI calculated in payroll with statutory export |
| TDS on salary | Projected tax by regime, declarations, monthly TDS | TDS (Section 192) calculation in payroll |
| Professional tax | State-wise slabs for multi-state teams | Professional tax in payroll |
| Payslips and bank files | Branded payslips, bulk bank transfer file | Payslips and bank transfer files generated each month |
| Attendance link | Leave and attendance feed salary automatically (LOP) | Attendance and leave are in the same platform as payroll |
See current plan prices on the pricing page or compare tools on the comparison page. Every account starts with a free trial, no credit card.
How payroll compliance works each month
A payroll run in India is a chain. Attendance and leave decide the paid days. Paid days turn the salary structure into gross pay. Statutory deductions come off the gross: PF, ESI, professional tax and TDS. What remains is the net pay, which goes out as a payslip and a bank transfer. Then the money deducted, plus the employer's own share, has to be deposited with the right authority by the right date, and returns are filed.
Compliance software earns its price in two places: calculating each step correctly for your real salary structures, and giving you the files and figures you need for the deposits and returns without retyping anything.
A simple monthly compliance calendar
- By the 7th: deposit the TDS deducted from salaries in the previous month.
- By the 15th: deposit PF and ESI contributions for the previous month, along with the PF return (ECR) and ESI contribution data.
- Month end or as the state requires: professional tax, where your state levies it. Due dates and slabs vary by state.
- Quarterly: file the TDS return on salary (Form 24Q) for the quarter.
- Once a year: issue Form 16 to every employee, and collect investment declarations at the start of the financial year.
Due dates are revised from time to time. Use this as a list of what to track and confirm the current dates on the official portals.
Provident Fund: what to check
PF is calculated on the PF wage, usually the basic pay plus any allowances that are treated as part of it, up to the statutory wage ceiling unless the employer and employee choose to contribute on a higher amount. Both employee and employer pay a percentage of that wage, and the employer's share is split between the pension and provident fund accounts.
In software, check four things: you can choose which components count as PF wage, the ceiling is applied the way you intend, each employee can carry a UAN, and the monthly return file can be exported in the format the portal accepts.
ESI: the wage limit is where errors happen
ESI is paid on gross wages, with a smaller share from the employee and a larger one from the employer, and applies only to employees whose monthly wages are within the ESI limit. It works in contribution periods, so an employee whose pay rises above the limit part-way through a period generally stays covered until that period ends.
That is the case manual payroll gets wrong most often. Ask the vendor to show an employee crossing the limit and check the result against the rule.
TDS on salary and professional tax
TDS on salary under Section 192 means estimating each employee's tax for the year and deducting it in monthly parts. The software needs the employee's chosen tax regime, their declarations, any income from a previous employer and the joining date, and it must recalculate when any of those change.
Professional tax is a state levy, not a central one, so slabs and even whether it applies depend on the state. If you have employees in more than one state, check that each is assigned the right state rules.
Eight cases to run on a free trial
- A new joiner in the middle of the month, to check pro-rated pay and the first PF and ESI entries.
- An employee who leaves, with notice period, leave encashment and final settlement.
- An unpaid leave day, to check loss of pay.
- An employee whose pay sits just under the ESI limit, and one just over.
- A salary revision with arrears for earlier months.
- A bonus or incentive paid in one month, to see how TDS is spread.
- A loan or advance recovered in instalments.
- An employee who has declared investments and one who has not.
Where TeamEzz HRMS fits
TeamEzz HRMS payroll calculates PF, ESI, TDS and professional tax, generates payslips, and exports statutory and bank transfer files every month. Because attendance and leave live in the same platform, unpaid leave flows into payroll without anyone re-entering it. Every account starts with a free trial that does not ask for a credit card, which is enough time to run a full payroll month on your own data.
Questions
What should I test in payroll software before buying?
Run one full month with your real salary structures, including a new joiner, an exit and an employee with loss of pay. Check the PF, ESI, TDS and professional tax figures and the files it exports.
Does TeamEzz payroll support PF, ESI, TDS and professional tax?
Yes. TeamEzz payroll calculates Provident Fund, ESI, TDS and professional tax, generates payslips, and exports statutory and bank transfer files every month.
When are PF, ESI and TDS due each month?
TDS deducted from salaries is deposited by the 7th of the following month, and PF and ESI contributions by the 15th. TDS returns on salary (Form 24Q) are filed quarterly and Form 16 is issued once a year. Confirm the current due dates on the official portals, since they are revised from time to time.
What happens if an employee's salary crosses the ESI limit during the year?
ESI is applied by contribution period, so an employee who starts above the wage limit is not covered, while one who crosses it part-way through a period usually stays covered until that period ends. Good payroll software applies this on its own instead of leaving it to HR to remember.
Do I need to calculate TDS on salary by hand?
No. Payroll software should project the year's tax from salary and declarations, apply the regime the employee has chosen, and spread the deduction across months, then change it when the salary, declarations or joining date change.
How do I check that payroll software calculated compliance correctly?
Run one payroll month on a free trial with your own cases and compare the figures with a manual calculation. Include a new joiner, an exit, an unpaid leave day, an employee near the ESI limit and one with a salary revision.