Payslip Studio FAQ
Questions and answers about the salary slip generator. Everything it does happens in your browser.
Last Updated: November 3, 2026
1. General Questions
Q1: What is Payslip Studio?
A1: A salary slip generator for Indian payroll that runs in your browser. You set up the company and each employee's salary once; every month you enter loss of pay, overtime or a bonus and download the payslips. PF, ESI, professional tax and income tax (TDS) are worked out for you. For the whole team there is a salary register, a bank transfer sheet and the PF ECR file.
Q2: How much does it cost?
A2: Nothing. It is free, with no registration, no watermark and no limit on companies, employees or payslips. Like every page on ZeroDataUpload, it is supported by advertising.
Q3: Who is it for?
A3: Small businesses, shops, clinics, start-ups and offices that make their own payslips, accountants who make them for clients, and anyone who needs a correct salary slip for one employee. Several companies can be kept side by side, each with its own employees, rules and design.
Q4: Do I need to install anything or create an account?
A4: No. Open the page in any modern browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari or Opera) on a computer, tablet or phone. Your companies and payslips are kept in that browser, so there is nothing to sign in to.
Q5: Does it send the salaries, PAN or bank details anywhere?
A5: No. The payslips, the register and every file are made in this browser, and nothing you type into the tool is sent to a server. The page itself loads the site's ads and analytics, as every page on the site does; the Privacy Policy explains those, and what you type is never part of them. The page title never changes to show a name you type.
2. Setting Up
Q6: What do I fill in for the company?
A6: The name, address and state, and if you like the phone, email, website, CIN or LLPIN, GSTIN, PAN, TAN, PF code and ESI code, who signs the payslips and their title, the logo, a signature and the company stamp. Only filled details appear on the payslip. A PAN, TAN or GSTIN that cannot be right is pointed out.
Q7: How do I set up an employee's salary?
A7: Type the gross pay a month and let the structure share it out: basic as a share of gross pay, HRA as a share of basic, and a special allowance that takes the rest. Each line can instead be a fixed amount. Add an earning adds DA, conveyance, medical, LTA, children's education, food, phone and internet, fuel and others. From CTC works out the gross pay from the annual cost to company.
Q8: What does From CTC do?
A8: It sets the gross pay so that twelve months of gross pay plus the employer's PF and ESI (and gratuity, if you count it under Payroll rules) add up to the annual cost to company you type. Variable pay and bonuses are not included; add those as one-off pay in the month they are paid.
Q9: Can a line be paid only in some months?
A9: Yes. A line's menu (the three dots) has Only in some months, for example an LTA paid once a year. The same menu says whether the line is taxed, counts as PF wages or ESI wages, and is cut for loss of pay, and moves or removes it.
Q10: Can I import my employees from Excel?
A10: Yes. Under Company, Employees, Import from Excel or CSV reads a spreadsheet with a Name column and any of Employee ID, Designation, Department, Date of joining, Date of birth, Gender, Work state, Location, PAN, UAN, PF number, ESI number, Bank, Account number, IFSC, Gross pay a month and Tax regime. Import template downloads a sheet with those columns. An employee with the same ID is updated, not added twice.
3. The Month
Q11: How is loss of pay worked out?
A11: Pay is cut in proportion to the unpaid days. A day's pay is the month's pay divided by the days in the month, by 30, or by 26, as set under Payroll rules. Half days are fine. Lines such as reimbursements and bonuses are not cut, and each line's menu can change that.
Q12: What if someone joins or leaves during the month?
A12: Fill in the date of joining or the date of leaving: the days before joining or after leaving are left unpaid, like loss of pay. In a month before joining or after leaving, the employee is not on the payroll and is left out of the Month view.
Q13: How is overtime paid?
A13: At twice the ordinary rate, as the Code on Wages says, unless you type a rate. The ordinary hourly rate is basic plus DA divided by 26 days of 8 hours. Type the hours in the month and the overtime line appears on the payslip.
Q14: How do I add a bonus or a deduction for one month?
A14: Add a one-off in the month: bonus, incentive, arrears, commission, leave encashment, a reimbursement (not taxed), or a deduction such as an advance recovery, a fine or canteen charges. It is for that month only. A bonus is taxed in the month it is paid.
Q15: How do leave balances work?
A15: Add the leave types (casual, sick, earned or your own) with the opening balance, the leave credited and the leave taken. The balance shows on the payslip, and next month starts from this month's balance.
Q16: How do loans and salary advances work?
A16: Add the loan with the amount lent, the EMI and the first month. The EMI is taken every month until it is repaid, and the balance shows on the payslip. Skip this month leaves the EMI out of one month.
4. PF and ESI
Q17: How is PF worked out?
A17: PF is 12% of PF wages from the employee and 12% from the employer. PF wages are basic, DA and retaining allowance, and under the Labour Codes the part of the other allowances above half of the pay. Of the employer's share, 8.33% of wages up to the ceiling goes to the pension scheme (EPS) and the rest to PF; the employer also pays 0.5% for EDLI and 0.5% admin charges.
Q18: What is the PF wage ceiling?
A18: It is 15,000 a month until 16 September 2026 and 25,000 from 17 September 2026, under notification S.O. 5109(E). September 2026 is worked out in two parts, 16 days at 15,000 and 14 days at 25,000, for a single ECR. By default PF is worked out on wages up to the ceiling; a company that pays PF on the full wages can choose that under Payroll rules.
Q19: When does the pension (EPS) share stop?
A19: At 58, worked out from the date of birth: from then on the employer's whole 12% goes to PF. For a member who is not in the pension scheme, for example someone who joined with wages above the ceiling, tick Not in the pension scheme.
Q20: What is the Labour Codes rule on wages?
A20: Under the Labour Codes, in force since 21 November 2025, allowances that are more than half of the total pay count as wages. When basic and DA are less than half of pay, PF is worked out on half of pay, and the notes say so. The rule can be turned off under Payroll rules if your adviser tells you to.
Q21: How is ESI worked out?
A21: ESI applies when the month's pay is up to 21,000 (25,000 for a person with a disability): 0.75% from the employee and 3.25% from the employer, rounded up to the next rupee. When average daily wages are 176 or less, only the employer pays. An employee covered in April or October stays covered until September or March, even if pay rises.
Q22: Can I turn PF or ESI off for an employee?
A22: Yes, for someone who is not a member. When the wages are within the ceiling or the limit, the notes say PF or ESI is normally compulsory for them. A company that is not registered with EPFO or ESIC can say so under Payroll rules.
5. Professional Tax
Q23: Which states are built in?
A23: The slabs of the 22 states and union territories that charge professional tax, including the February amount in Maharashtra and Karnataka and Maharashtra's slabs for women. Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and the others that charge none are marked as such. Chhattisgarh has no built-in rule: set a fixed amount for the employee or add the slabs yourself.
Q24: How are half-yearly and yearly states handled?
A24: Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry charge professional tax on half a year's pay; it is spread over six months, or taken in September and March if you choose that under Payroll rules. Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and other states charge it on a year's pay; it is spread over twelve months with the rest in March.
Q25: A slab has changed in my state. Can I correct it?
A25: Yes. Under Company, Professional tax rules, choose the state and change the slabs, the basis and the February amount. Your rule is used from then on; Back to the built-in rule undoes it. States and local bodies change their rules, so check against the latest notice.
6. Income Tax (TDS)
Q26: How is the income tax worked out each month?
A26: The tool works out the tax for the whole tax year 2026-27 in the employee's regime, takes off the tax already deducted in earlier months, and spreads the rest over the months left. Earlier months that were saved are used as they were; a month with no saved payslip counts as a normal month. A bonus is taxed in the month it is paid. The figures are for reference: check unusual cases with your accountant.
Q27: What are the rates for tax year 2026-27?
A27: In the new regime, the default: a 75,000 standard deduction, slabs of 4 lakh at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25%, and 30% above 24 lakh, with no tax up to 12 lakh of taxable income and marginal relief just above it. In the old regime: a 50,000 standard deduction, 2.5 lakh tax-free (3 lakh from 60, 5 lakh from 80), then 5, 20 and 30%, with no tax up to 5 lakh. Surcharge above 50 lakh and a 4% cess in both. Budget 2026 left these rates unchanged.
Q28: What is taken off in the old regime?
A28: The HRA exemption (from the rent paid), the professional tax, 80C (PF and other investments, up to 1.5 lakh), 80D health insurance, home loan interest up to 2 lakh, the employee's own NPS up to 50,000 under 80CCD(1B), and other deductions you type. From tax year 2026-27 the HRA exemption is up to half of basic and DA in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad, and 40% elsewhere.
Q29: Which regime is better for the employee?
A29: The tool works out both and, when the other regime would save 1,000 or more in the year, says so in the notes. The employee chooses the regime, usually at the start of the year.
Q30: Someone joined during the year from another job. What do I enter?
A30: Under Income tax, the taxable salary from the earlier employer this year and the tax that employer deducted. Both count towards the year, so the remaining tax is spread correctly.
Q31: Why does it warn when there is no PAN?
A31: When tax is due and the employee has no valid PAN, the law asks for tax to be deducted at 20% or the average rate, whichever is higher. The notes point this out; the amount itself is left as worked out, for you and your accountant to decide.
Q32: Why does it say more tax was deducted than the year's tax?
A32: When pay falls after tax was deducted, for example through loss of pay late in the year, the year's tax can end up lower than what was already deducted. Tax already deducted is not paid back in later months: the employee claims the difference in the income tax return.
7. Designs and Files
Q33: What designs are there?
A33: Six: Classic, a boxed table that banks and HR teams know; Modern, with a colour band and a large net pay; Minimal, with hairlines and space; Statement, one column with the full month, this month and year to date; Letterhead, with a footer at the bottom of the page; and Compact, on half an A4 sheet. Any colour, A4 or US Letter, and a choice of what the payslip shows.
Q34: Can I lock the PDF with a password?
A34: Yes. PDF with a password locks it with AES-256. The password can be the employee's PAN, the date of birth as DDMMYYYY, the first four letters of the name with the day and month of birth, or one of your own of at least six characters. Printing and copying the text stay allowed. In the Month view, Lock each PDF with locks every payslip in the zip with each employee's own password.
Q35: Which file should I send on WhatsApp?
A35: The PDF for an official copy, or the JPG picture, which opens straight in the chat. On a phone, Share sends the PDF to WhatsApp, email or any other app. Copy as text puts the payslip on the clipboard as a short message.
Q36: Can names be in Hindi or another Indian script?
A36: Not on the payslip itself: its font has Latin letters only, so the notes warn when a name or address has letters that would come out as boxes in the PDF. Type names in English letters.
Q37: What are the salary register and the bank sheet?
A37: Both are Excel files for the month. The register lists every employee with the days, every earning and deduction, gross pay, net pay and the employer's contributions, with totals. The bank sheet lists the name, account number, IFSC, bank and net pay of everyone paid by bank transfer, ready for your bank's bulk payment.
Q38: What is in the PF ECR file?
A38: The text file the EPFO employer portal takes for the monthly return, in the ECR 2.0 layout: one line per member with the UAN, the name, the gross wages, the EPF, pension and EDLI wages, the employee's contribution, the pension and PF shares of the employer, and the days without pay. Check that everyone has a UAN before uploading it.
8. Privacy and Data
Q39: What does Payslip Studio keep, and where?
A39: In this browser's storage on this device: your companies, employees, salary structures, saved payslips and pictures, so they are there next month. That storage is not encrypted, and anyone who uses this browser can open them. Nothing is kept on a server.
Q40: How do I delete what it keeps?
A40: Under Company, Backup and your data: Delete this company removes one company with its employees and payslips, and Delete everything removes every company, employee, payslip and picture that Payslip Studio keeps, leaving the rest of the site alone. Download a backup first if you may need any of it.
Q41: Can I move my payroll to another computer?
A41: Yes, with a backup file: Download a backup on this computer and Open a backup on the other one. Opening a backup replaces what is in that browser. There is no account and no sync, so nothing travels unless you send the file.
Still have a question?
The help page walks through every part of the tool. For anything else, use the contact form and say which browser and device you use.