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Payroll in India, Run for You End to End

A payroll month in India is a chain of deadlines: TDS deposited by the 7th, PF and ESIC challans by the 15th, professional tax on each state's own date, payslips out, registers updated, proof archived. We run that chain for your India team on our Bengaluru entity, so your involvement shrinks to approving one number and paying one USD invoice.

TDS by the 7th, PF and ESIC by the 15th, professional tax per state, payslips, registers, proof. We run the whole payroll chain for your India team under our entity.

Speak to sales EOR vs entity, in detail

G2 4.8 / 5 on G2, from companies employing teams in India through us.

Teams building in India. First hire to full team.

India payroll, city by city and topic by topic.

Statutory payroll obligations shift at every state border. These guides cover the cities our clients hire in most, plus the two topics buyers ask about before anything else.

Operating an India payroll desk yourself versus handing us the cycle.

Six operating burdens separate an in-house payroll desk from a managed one.

Payroll desk you staff

Payroll desk we staff

Who owns the challan calendar
Your team memorises four deadline families across central and state authorities, forever.
Our payroll desk works the calendar daily; you see receipts, not reminders.
Gross-to-net computation
Someone in-house must keep pace with PF ceilings, ESI eligibility bands, two income tax regimes and state PT slabs.
Computation runs on our checked templates, reviewed by a second pair of eyes each cycle.
Software and registers
Payroll tooling, attendance registers and statutory records need buying, configuring and maintaining.
Our stack, our registers, your read-only access whenever you want it.
When a rate changes mid-year
A missed notification quietly corrupts every subsequent payslip.
Rate revisions land in our monthly review and your numbers restate automatically.
Answering employee pay queries
Every payslip question interrupts whoever signed up to own payroll.
Employees write to our associates and get answers with the working shown.
What an error costs
Interest at 12% a year on late statutory amounts, with damages climbing to 25% while it sits unpaid.
Filing risk sits on our registration; a demand notice never carries your name.

Payroll desk you staff
Who owns the challan calendar Your team memorises four deadline families across central and state authorities, forever.
Gross-to-net computation Someone in-house must keep pace with PF ceilings, ESI eligibility bands, two income tax regimes and state PT slabs.
Software and registers Payroll tooling, attendance registers and statutory records need buying, configuring and maintaining.
When a rate changes mid-year A missed notification quietly corrupts every subsequent payslip.
Answering employee pay queries Every payslip question interrupts whoever signed up to own payroll.
What an error costs Interest at 12% a year on late statutory amounts, with damages climbing to 25% while it sits unpaid.

Payroll desk we staff
Who owns the challan calendar Our payroll desk works the calendar daily; you see receipts, not reminders.
Gross-to-net computation Computation runs on our checked templates, reviewed by a second pair of eyes each cycle.
Software and registers Our stack, our registers, your read-only access whenever you want it.
When a rate changes mid-year Rate revisions land in our monthly review and your numbers restate automatically.
Answering employee pay queries Employees write to our associates and get answers with the working shown.
What an error costs Filing risk sits on our registration; a demand notice never carries your name.
Month 1
Name approval and director paperwork begin
Month 2
MCA registers the company
Month 3
PAN, TAN and GST numbers issued
Month 4
PF and ESIC employer accounts opened
Month 5
Bank live, payroll software procured
Month 6
Your first compliant payroll can finally run

One skipped challan outgrows a year of payroll fees.

Miss a PF deposit date and the meter starts: 12% annual interest plus damages that scale to 25% of the amount for as long as it stays outstanding.

Under our model those deadlines belong to our registration, so the meter, and the letter that follows it, never reach you.

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How a single missed deposit compounds Interest and damages accruing together
₹6,200 Day 1
₹41,500 Day 30
₹1,84,000 Day 90
₹3,12,000 Day 180
Illustration assumes a small monthly wage bill and one lapse. Scale the payroll up and the curve steepens.
Where the recovery notice goes
Payroll on your registration You
Payroll on Versatile's registration Versatile

Payroll outsourcing alone still leaves employment on your books. Employ through us and both layers are covered by the same fee. Weigh a self-run payroll against ours in the EOR versus entity calculator with your actual salary bands.

The payroll month, split cleanly between your desk and ours.

You approve headcount and pay levels. We compute, remit, file and archive, then hand you the receipts every single month.

You run

  • Headcount, salaries and increments
  • Approvals on the monthly payroll summary
  • The work your team actually does

We handle

  • Gross-to-net for every employee
  • TDS, PF, ESIC and PT remittance on schedule
  • Payslips, Form 16 and statutory registers
  • Month-end proof pack to your inbox

You run
  • Set pay and raises
  • Approve one monthly summary
  • Direct the team's work
  • Keep every commercial call

We handle
  • Compute each payslip
  • Deposit TDS by the 7th
  • File PF and ESIC by the 15th
  • Track PT state by state
  • Issue payslips and Form 16
  • Archive proof for audit

When something happens in India, it is ours.
A challan query arrives from a department Our desk responds
A payslip figure looks wrong We rework and reissue
A statutory rate is notified mid-year We apply and restate

A named compliance manager owns your account. Not a queue, not a chatbot, one person who already knows your headcount and your last filing.

Account managerMedian first reply 4 to 6 hours
Recruitment coordinatorBrief to shortlist 9 days
Finance associateFilings on time 8 / 8

Payroll and employment in one layer.

Standalone payroll vendors process numbers but leave the employer of record problem with you. Our fee covers the legal employment, the payroll run and the filings as one service.

Proof arrives without being chased.

Challans, acknowledgements and payslips land in a monthly pack, unprompted. Your auditor gets a clean trail without a single follow-up email.

A second reviewer on every cycle.

No payroll leaves our desk on one person's say-so. A reviewer reworks the computation before anything is remitted or issued.

City pages below go deeper.

Karnataka professional tax is monthly, Tamil Nadu's is half-yearly, Delhi has none at all. The city guides linked on this page carry each state's specifics.

Payroll and employment in one layer.

Standalone payroll vendors process numbers but leave the employer of record problem with you. Our fee covers the legal employment, the payroll run and the filings as one service.

Half a solution still leaves you holding the liability.

Proof arrives without being chased.

Challans, acknowledgements and payslips land in a monthly pack, unprompted. Your auditor gets a clean trail without a single follow-up email.

A receipt you must request is a warning sign.

A second reviewer on every cycle.

No payroll leaves our desk on one person's say-so. A reviewer reworks the computation before anything is remitted or issued.

Most payroll errors die in review, so we always hold one.

Moving someone across

Move an existing India payroll to us without a gap.

Whether your team sits with another provider or on a struggling in-house desk, we take over mid-year with prior data reconciled, and no employee notices anything except that questions get answered.

Tenure Kept
Gratuity clock Kept
PF and UAN Continuous
Payroll gap 0 days

Our biggest takeover reconciled 200 payroll records into one clean cycle.

Supporting evidence

Check the entity that would run your payroll.

Payroll runs on Foo Falcon Technologies Pvt Ltd, a Bengaluru company registered in 2022.

  • Incorporation
  • GST
  • EPFO code
  • ESIC
  • Shops and Establishments
  • PAN and TAN
  • Udyam MSME
What we verify
  • Incorporation Ministry of Corporate Affairs
  • GST Goods and Services Tax
  • EPFO code Employees Provident Fund Organisation
  • ESIC Ministry of Labour and Employment
  • Shops and Establishments Government of Karnataka
  • PAN and TAN Income Tax Department
  • Udyam MSME Government of India

Request the incorporation certificate and the PDF arrives by email, no meeting attached.

200

payroll records taken over and reconciled into a single clean monthly cycle

33

consecutive monthly cycles delivered to one client without a disputed line

5 days

from signed offer to an employee sitting inside a live payroll

G2 4.8 / 5 on G2, from companies employing teams in India through us.

G2 4.8 / 5 on G2, from companies employing through us.

What clients say once payroll stops being their problem.

Teams that moved their India payroll onto our desk describe the change in their own words.

Video
Bharath Rasoi KS Rajeshwari Founder, Bharath Rasoi
Video
Open Theatre Anand Raj Founder, Open Theatre
Abid Hassan Verified client
Sensibull
“They moved fast and took the whole compliance side off my plate. For a founder making an early India hire, that is exactly what you want.”
Abid Hassan Founder and CEO, Sensibull
Via G2
Moonshot
“Every option was either 'set up your own entity' or a platform that quotes a great price then hits you with add-ons. Versatile was the one that actually made it simple. First payroll ran on time. No scramble.”
Angad S. Co-Founder, Moonshot
Via G2
Digital Marketing Agency
“Contracts, PF, ESI, TDS and payroll all in one place. Invoicing in USD meant zero exchange rate surprises. The compliance rigour is genuinely reassuring.”
Vedant T. Founder, Digital Marketing Agency
Via G2
Design Studio
“Setting up in a new country can get messy fast, but their India EOR made onboarding feel easy. The team is responsive, clear, and great to work with.”
Setu C. Studio Owner, Design Studio
Via G2
US Startup
“We used Versatile to hire our first employee in India after months of putting it off because the compliance side seemed like a mess. They walked us through it and now we don't think about it.”
Verified US Founder First-time Founder, US Startup
Via G2
Mid-Market Tech Co.
“Versatile consistently delivered work that was both strategically sharp and execution-ready. Their turnaround times are impressive, and they think about problems the way an in-house team would.”
Shivani K. Senior Manager, Tech TA
Via G2
Growth-stage Startup
“Their team was highly responsive, professional, and easy to work with. They made a complex process feel simple.”
Mukul S. Core Team, Growth-stage Startup

Case studies.

Largest food delivery app in India, decacorn View case study The world's largest professional network, part of Microsoft View case study Legacy US software company, publishing platforms View case study

Managed payroll priced inside one flat employment fee.

Payroll is not an add-on here. The $149 monthly employment fee carries the full payroll cycle, filings and proof. $129 past twenty heads. Recruitment optional at 12% of CTC.

Employer of Record

Payroll inside the fee
$149 /employee/mo

Employment, the monthly payroll cycle and every statutory filing sit inside one number. Cross twenty heads and each seat reprices to $129 on its own.

Start hiring
  • Employment contract via our Bengaluru company
  • Full monthly payroll cycle with review
  • TDS, PF, ESIC and PT remitted with proof
  • One USD invoice for the whole roster
  • Payroll live within five working days
  • Named compliance owner on your account
  • Payslip portal for every employee
  • Migration to your entity when ready
  • Employment contract via our Bengaluru company
  • Full monthly payroll cycle with review
  • TDS, PF, ESIC and PT remitted with proof
  • One USD invoice for the whole roster
Four more inclusions
  • Payroll live within five working days
  • Named compliance owner on your account
  • Payslip portal for every employee
  • Migration to your entity when ready

Bringing an existing payroll across? Sales will map the takeover on a call.

Recruitment

Optional sourcing arm
12% of annual CTC

Covers junior and mid-level searches, invoiced only on day ninety. Senior roles carry 15% and leadership mandates are quoted individually. Self-sourced hires cost nothing.

Send us a role
  • Shortlist delivered inside nine days
  • Compensation benchmarks per role
  • Interview loops run on your calendar
  • Invoice held until day ninety
  • Senior searches priced at 15%
  • Leadership roles scoped per mandate
  • Free onboarding of your own candidates
  • Placement on our entity or yours
  • Shortlist delivered inside nine days
  • Compensation benchmarks per role
  • Interview loops run on your calendar
  • Invoice held until day ninety
Four more details
  • Senior searches priced at 15%
  • Leadership roles scoped per mandate
  • Free onboarding of your own candidates
  • Placement on our entity or yours

Hiring for several seats? Sales will bundle the mandate.

Automatic past twenty

$149 $129 /employee/mo

The cycle your headcount reaches twenty-one, every seat moves to $129 without a conversation.

The payroll work inside $149

  • Compliant employment contract issued
  • Monthly gross-to-net with second review
  • TDS deposited by the 7th, every month
  • PF and ESIC challans by the 15th
  • Professional tax tracked per state
  • Payslips, Form 16 and registers
  • Monthly proof pack for your auditor
  • Exit computation and settlement

Twenty-one heads reprice the roster

$149 $129 /employee/mo

Old seats and new alike drop to $129 the same billing month, no amendment signed.

Inside the fee

  • Compliant employment contract issued
  • Monthly gross-to-net with second review
  • TDS deposited by the 7th, every month
  • PF and ESIC challans by the 15th
  • Professional tax tracked per state
  • Payslips, Form 16 and registers
  • Monthly proof pack for your auditor
  • Exit computation and settlement

Recruitment, when used, bills 12% of annual CTC on day ninety for junior and mid-senior roles. Salaries and employer contributions pass through at the exact rupee amounts remitted. Devices and workspace bill at usage through partners. Compare structures in the EOR versus entity calculator before deciding.

India payroll questions, answered from the desk that runs it.

Eight questions we field weekly about running payroll in India, answered plainly. The last covers when outsourcing payroll alone is the wrong buy.

What does payroll in India actually involve each month?

Collecting attendance and variable inputs, computing gross-to-net per employee, depositing TDS by the 7th of the following month, filing PF and ESIC challans by the 15th, remitting professional tax on each state's schedule, issuing payslips, and maintaining statutory registers. We run every step and send the proof.

What are the statutory deductions on an Indian salary?

Employee PF at 12% of basic wages matched by a 12% employer contribution, ESIC where gross pay is within the eligibility ceiling at 3.25% from the employer, income tax withheld as TDS under the regime the employee elects, and professional tax where the state levies one. Gratuity also accrues at roughly 4.81% of basic.

Can you run payroll for our India team without us opening an entity?

Yes, and that is precisely the model. Your team is employed by Foo Falcon Technologies Pvt Ltd in Bengaluru, payroll runs on our registration, and you direct the work through a service agreement. No Indian company, bank account or employer code needed on your side.

How is this different from a payroll outsourcing company?

A payroll processor computes and files but the employer obligations stay with your entity, which means you still need an entity. We are the employer of record, so the entity, the payroll desk and the statutory liability all sit on our side for one flat fee.

Does payroll differ between Indian states?

The central items, TDS, PF and ESIC, are uniform nationwide. Professional tax, labour welfare fund, shops and establishments registration and minimum wages are state subjects and genuinely differ. Our city guides for Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune walk through each state's rules.

What happens if a filing deadline is missed?

Late statutory deposits attract interest at 12% a year and damages that can reach 25% of the shortfall. Because your team is employed on our registration, that exposure and any recovery notice belong to us, not to your company.

How quickly can our India payroll be live with you?

Five working days for a new hire, from signed offer to salary accruing inside a live cycle. For takeovers of an existing payroll, we reconcile prior records and run the next scheduled cycle on our desk with no gap month.

When is a managed payroll the wrong purchase?

If you already operate an Indian subsidiary with a working finance team, a pure payroll processor may be all you need. If your engagement is shorter than three months, contractor terms beat employment. And past forty to fifty stable heads, building an in-house desk on your own entity starts to win. We will say so when your numbers get there.

Longer reading: Outsource payroll India · Pay employees in India · EOR India 2026

Tell us where you are on the decision.

A role you want to hire, a team you want moved, or just the two routes to compare. A named person replies in 4 to 6 hours.

A named person replies in 4 to 6 hours, not an autoresponder.

We use these details to respond to your enquiry.

A named person replies in 4 to 6 hours, not an autoresponder. We use these details to respond to your enquiry.

What the first call covers

30 minutes

A cost comparison for your headcount, on your numbers, both routes.

  • A written cost breakdown
  • Entity documents before the call
  • PF, ESI, TDS, termination law
  • No follow-up sequence
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