Zoho People and Zoho Payroll Integration
HR decides who was present. Payroll decides what they are paid. The integration is where those two decisions have to agree.
Zoho People and Zoho Payroll are separate products that connect on every Zoho Payroll plan, including Free. Connected, unpaid leave and absences approved in Zoho People arrive in the pay run as loss-of-pay days, so nobody retypes attendance into a salary sheet. Most of the work is not the connection itself but agreeing the rules around it: cut-off dates, who approves what, and what happens when a correction arrives after the pay run.
Last reviewed — prices, plan details and other figures on this page were checked then.
From punches to payslips
This is the monthly cycle once both are connected. Each step has an owner, agreed before go-live.
- 1
Attendance and leave
Staff punch in and apply for leave in Zoho People; managers approve requests and regularisations through the month.
- 2
Cut-off and review
On the agreed cut-off date HR checks pending requests and missing punches, so the month's attendance is final.
- 3
Loss-of-pay to payroll
Unpaid days for the period reach Zoho Payroll, where they reduce salary for that pay run.
- 4
Pay run and approval
Payroll is calculated, reviewed and, on the Professional plan or above, approved before release.
Five decisions between HR and accounts
None of these are technical. All of them decide whether the first integrated pay run is right.
The attendance cut-off
Whether the pay period runs 1st to 30th or, say, 26th to 25th, and the date after which attendance for the month is frozen.
What counts as loss of pay
Unpaid leave, unapproved absence, half-days from late marks, and leave taken beyond the balance. Each is a rule, not a judgement call each month.
Late corrections
An approved regularisation after the pay run is handled as a loss-of-pay reversal in the next one, instead of reopening a closed month.
One employee ID
The same ID in Zoho People, Zoho Payroll and on the biometric device. Mismatched IDs are the most common reason attendance never reaches payroll.
Who can change what
HR owns attendance and leave; accounts owns salary. Neither should be able to quietly edit the other's numbers.
Zoho Payroll's own attendance, or Zoho People's
Zoho Payroll's Premium plan has its own leave and attendance. It suits a business that needs simple leave tracking and nothing else. Once you need biometric devices, shift rosters, regularisation requests or onboarding workflows, those live in Zoho People, and payroll should take attendance from there.
What we advise against is keeping attendance in both. Two sources of truth means two numbers at month-end and an argument about which one is right.
For SWA Diamonds, a 215+ person jewellery retailer, biometric devices at each store and mobile check-in for field staff feed Zoho People, and loss-of-pay flows from there into Zoho Payroll. The HR team no longer consolidates attendance by hand each month.
Five integration mistakes that cause wrong salaries
Attendance and payroll switched on in the same month, so nobody can tell which system caused a difference.
No attendance cut-off, so late approvals change a pay run that has already been calculated.
Employee IDs that differ between Zoho People, Zoho Payroll and the biometric device.
Loss-of-pay left as an ordinary leave type in Zoho People, so payroll never sees the unpaid days.
Attendance kept in Zoho Payroll and Zoho People at the same time.
Zoho People and Payroll, connected
- 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 People and Zoho Payroll Integration — common questions
Is the Zoho People integration included in Zoho Payroll?
Yes. The integration with Zoho People is available on every Zoho Payroll plan, including Free. You need both subscriptions; attendance and shift features in Zoho People need its Professional plan.
What data goes from Zoho People to Zoho Payroll?
Loss-of-pay days from unpaid leave and absence for each pay period, alongside the employee records both systems share. Salary, statutory deductions and tax stay in Zoho Payroll.
What if attendance is corrected after payroll has run?
The correction is applied as a loss-of-pay reversal in the next pay run. Zoho Payroll supports loss-of-pay reversal on every plan, so a closed month does not need to be reopened.
Should we set up Zoho People and Zoho Payroll at the same time?
Set them up together, but go live in sequence: attendance first, then payroll a month later. That way any difference in the first pay run can be traced to one system.
Is Zoho One a better way to get both?
Zoho One includes Zoho People and Zoho Payroll with CRM, Books and other apps. It is usually better value if most staff use several Zoho apps; for HR and payroll alone, separate subscriptions often cost less.
Related pages
- Zoho PeopleAttendance, leave and shifts — the payroll input.
- Zoho PayrollSalaries, statutory compliance and payslips.
- Biometric attendance integrationGetting device punches into Zoho People.
- Shift and leave managementThe rules that decide what counts as loss of pay.
- Payroll migrationBringing payroll across without breaking year-to-date tax.
- Zoho Partner in KeralaPeople and Payroll rollouts across all 14 Kerala districts.
Connect Zoho People and Zoho Payroll properly
Tell us how attendance is recorded today, your pay period, and who approves leave. We will set out the cut-off, the loss-of-pay rules and the go-live order.
- Cut-off dates and loss-of-pay rules agreed in writing
- One employee ID across People, Payroll and devices
- Attendance live a month before payroll depends on it
- Late corrections handled as reversals, not reopened months
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.