Zoho Payroll
A payroll system is only as right as the salary structures, the statutory settings and the attendance it is given.
Zoho Payroll calculates salaries, PF, ESI, professional tax, labour welfare fund and TDS, produces payslips, and gives employees a portal for declarations and proofs. We build your salary structures, set up statutory compliance for every state you employ people in, move your payroll history across, and connect it to Zoho People so loss-of-pay comes from attendance instead of a spreadsheet.
Last reviewed — prices, plan details and other figures on this page were checked then.
The parts of Zoho Payroll we configure
Zoho Payroll is free for up to 10 employees and every plan includes Indian statutory compliance. Higher plans add flexibility in how salaries are built and approved.
Salary structures
Basic, allowances, reimbursements and deductions built as components and templates, so a new joiner's salary is applied from a template rather than calculated by hand.
Statutory compliance
EPF, ESI, state-wise professional tax, labour welfare fund and income tax calculated for each employee, with the September 2026 EPF wage ceiling of ₹25,000 reflected in the setup.
TDS and tax declarations
Employees choose a tax regime and submit investment declarations and proofs in the portal. TDS is worked out from the projected annual tax and adjusted as proofs are approved.
Loss of pay from attendance
Unpaid leave and absence days come from Zoho People, so the pay run uses the same attendance HR approved. Loss-of-pay can be reversed if a correction comes in late.
Loans, bonuses and arrears
Salary advances recovered in instalments, statutory and performance bonuses, revisions with arrears, and off-cycle pay runs for joiners and leavers. Loans and statutory bonus start at the Standard plan.
Accounting entries
Each pay run can post its journal to Zoho Books, so salary expense, statutory liabilities and net pay land in the right ledgers without manual entries.
Which Zoho Payroll plan fits
Zoho Payroll is priced per organisation with a block of employees included, then per extra employee. Most small businesses fit Free or Standard; Professional matters once pay runs need approval before release.
| Plan | Per org / month | Employees | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | ₹0 | Up to 10 employees | Payroll run, payslips, EPF, ESI, PT, LWF and income-tax compliance, TDS worksheet, LOP, salary revisions and arrears, self-service portal, Zoho People and Zoho Books integration. |
| Standard | ₹1,000 | 25 included, then ₹40 each | Adds salary templates, loans and advances, custom salary components, Form 130 with digital signature, Form 138 and TDS challan recording, statutory bonus, roles and audit trail. |
| Professional | ₹3,000 | 50 included, then ₹60 each | Adds bonus and off-cycle pay runs, pay-run and revision approvals, formula-based salary components, salary hold and custom roles. |
| Premium | ₹4,000 | 50 included, then ₹80 each | Adds Zoho Payroll's own leave and attendance, advanced approvals, workflow rules, custom functions and webhooks, custom modules. |
Zoho India list price per organisation per month, billed annually, as of October 2026, excluding GST. Monthly billing costs more (₹1,250 / ₹3,750 / ₹5,000). Branches of one legal entity share a licence; separate legal entities need separate ones.
From salary sheet to a reconciled first pay run
The goal is a first Zoho Payroll run that matches your last manual one to the rupee, or differs only where we have agreed it should.
- 1
Salary and compliance review
We read your salary sheet, statutory registrations and state-wise employee count, and flag anything the labour codes or the new EPF ceiling now change.
- 2
Structures and settings
Salary components, templates, statutory settings per work location, pay schedule, approvals and roles are configured.
- 3
Migration
Employees, salary details, year-to-date figures, declarations and open loans are loaded so mid-year TDS stays correct.
- 4
Parallel pay run
One month is run in Zoho Payroll alongside your current method and reconciled line by line before employees see a Zoho payslip.
Six payroll setup mistakes we fix most often
Allowances structured to keep PF wages low, which the labour codes' wage definition now pulls back into PF wages.
The EPF wage ceiling still set to ₹15,000 after the September 2026 change to ₹25,000.
Professional tax set for the head-office state only, while staff in other states are taxed on the wrong slab.
Year-to-date income and TDS not loaded on a mid-year switch, so tax for the rest of the year is calculated as if the year had just begun.
Payroll switched on in the same month as attendance, so attendance errors become salary errors before anyone can catch them.
No approval step before pay runs are released, because the plan that adds approvals was not the one bought.
Zoho Payroll projects we have delivered
Published case studies, with client names and what was built.
- SWA DiamondsZoho People & Zoho PayrollMulti-store jewellery retailer, 215+ employees. Biometric attendance across stores, mobile check-in with GPS for field staff, department-wise shifts, loss-of-pay calculated from attendance, state-wise statutory compliance, and a custom Deluge function that expires unused compensatory leave automatically.
- Diya and Thomas CompanyZoho People & Zoho PayrollManual attendance, leave and salary calculation replaced with one system: employee records migrated into Zoho People, shift schedules and leave policies configured, salary structures built in Zoho Payroll, and a self-service portal for leave, attendance and payslips.
Zoho Payroll — common questions
How much does Zoho Payroll cost in India?
Zoho Payroll is free for up to 10 employees. Paid plans are priced per organisation: Standard ₹1,000 a month with 25 employees included, Professional ₹3,000 with 50, and Premium ₹4,000 with 50, billed annually and excluding GST (October 2026). Extra employees cost ₹40 to ₹80 each a month depending on the plan. Our implementation fee is separate and one-off.
Does Zoho Payroll handle PF, ESI and professional tax?
Yes. Every plan, including Free, calculates EPF, ESI, state-wise professional tax, labour welfare fund and income tax. Our statutory compliance page explains how each is set up and what changed in 2025 and 2026.
Do we need Zoho People to use Zoho Payroll?
No. Zoho Payroll runs on its own, and its Premium plan has basic leave and attendance. If you already track attendance in Zoho People, or need biometric devices and shifts, connect the two so loss-of-pay comes from Zoho People.
Can we switch to Zoho Payroll in the middle of the financial year?
Yes, as long as year-to-date earnings, TDS and statutory contributions are loaded so tax for the rest of the year is projected correctly. Starting at the beginning of a quarter keeps the reconciliation simpler. Our payroll migration page covers what to bring across.
Does Zoho Payroll post entries to Zoho Books?
Yes. The Zoho Books integration is available on every plan, so each pay run's salary expense, statutory liabilities and net pay can be posted as a journal instead of being entered by hand.
Does Zoho Payroll issue the annual TDS certificate?
Zoho Payroll's Standard plan generates Form 130 with a digital signature. Form 130 replaces Form 16 as the salary TDS certificate under the Income-tax Act, 2025, from the 2026-27 tax year; it also records Form 138 quarterly returns and TDS challans.
Related pages
- Statutory complianceEPF, ESI, professional tax, LWF and TDS in Zoho Payroll, current to October 2026.
- Payroll migrationMoving from Excel, Tally or another payroll system, including mid-year switches.
- Zoho People integrationHow attendance and leave become loss-of-pay in each pay run.
- Zoho PeopleHR records, leave, attendance and shifts — the input to payroll.
- Zoho BooksWhere payroll journals land, alongside the rest of your accounts.
- Zoho Partner in KeralaZoho Payroll rollouts across all 14 Kerala districts.
Talk to us about Zoho Payroll
Tell us how many employees you pay, in how many states, and how payroll is run today. We will tell you which plan fits and what the first pay run needs.
- Salary structures checked against the labour codes before setup
- Statutory settings for every state you employ people in
- Year-to-date figures loaded so mid-year TDS stays right
- A parallel pay run reconciled before employees see a payslip
We implement Zoho People and Zoho Payroll for businesses across India and the GCC, and for Kerala and its fourteen districts from our base in Malappuram.