Run the same cycle every month. Before the first salary: give every employee an appointment letter (mandatory under the Labour Codes), register for PF once you have 20 or more employees (you can join earlier), for ESI once you have 10 or more in most states (it covers those earning up to Rs 21,000 a month), and for professional tax where your state levies it. Each month: close attendance and leave, compute pay with basic at least half of total pay, deduct the employee's 12% PF, ESI, professional tax (at most Rs 2,500 a year) and TDS under the regime each employee chose, pay salaries, then deposit PF on the EPFO portal, ESI on ESIC's, professional tax with your state and TDS with the tax department by their due dates, and file the returns. Each year: give every employee their TDS certificate. A spreadsheet and a CA work for a handful of people; past that, a payroll tool such as Zoho Payroll, RazorpayX Payroll, Keka or greytHR runs it for you.
Before you shop for a payroll provider, this tells you which compliance obligations that provider has to cover: PF at 20-plus employees, ESI at 10-plus (state-varying), TDS and Professional Tax, plus a monthly/quarterly/annual filing calendar. It is the buyer's checklist for choosing between RazorpayX Payroll, Zoho Payroll, or Keka, because the only payroll tool worth paying for is the one that files all of these on time.
PF kicks in at 20 employees and ESI at 10 (state-dependent), so your payroll tool must handle both thresholds automatically
Payroll and wages are the most audited and litigated area of Indian labour law, so timely PF/ESI/TDS filings matter more than any feature
Two offices in different states can carry very different obligations, which is a real reason to run one compliant payroll system rather than spreadsheets
This breaks down the four things you will run monthly (TDS under Section 192, PF via UAN, ESI for sub-21,000 wages, PT capped at 2,500 a year) and ties each to what a payroll provider actually automates, so you can decide what to hand to RazorpayX Payroll, Zoho, or Keka instead of filing 24Q by hand. It answers the exact 'do I need an HR hire yet' question: no, you need TAN, TRACES, and a payroll tool.
An employer's guide, from an Indian payroll company, to the four Labour Codes that took effect on 21 November 2025 and replaced 29 older laws, covering the new wage definition, fixed-term gratuity, appointment letters and gig-worker social security.
An April 2026 worked example, with a tax expert, of how the Labour Codes' uniform definition of wages (basic, DA and retaining allowance at least 50% of total pay) reshapes a Rs 6 lakh CTC and its PF and gratuity.
The official ESIC site for employer registration and monthly contributions, covering employees earning up to Rs 21,000 a month with medical and cash benefits.
