School Payroll Software: Payroll. In one run.

School payroll software: questions schools ask.

• What is school payroll software?

  School payroll software works out every staff member's salary each month — pay for the days worked, PF, ESI and professional tax, advances and arrears — and keeps the payslips, payments and statutory files in one place. In Inkwelly, loss of pay comes straight from staff attendance, and staff see their payslips in the app.

• How does Inkwelly run the monthly payroll?

  Create the month's run and calculate it: every payslip fills in from the salary set-up and the month's attendance. Check the exceptions, hold or exclude anyone who shouldn't be paid now, approve, and after paying from your bank, record the payment date and each UTR.

• Does it cut salary for absent days?

  Yes — attendance-based loss of pay is on by default, and can be switched off for a month. Absent days, unpaid leave, half of each half day and late-mark penalties set as leave without pay become loss-of-pay days, and each earning is paid for the days paid only. A working day with no attendance marked counts as absent, so finish the month's attendance before you calculate.

• How are week-offs and holidays counted?

  Working days leave out each department's or person's week-offs — Sundays, or the 2nd and 4th Saturdays — and holidays on the school calendar declared for those staff. Paid leave counts as a paid day. A holiday only for students doesn't change staff pay.

• How is PF calculated?

  12% of PF wages comes from the staff member. The school's share is split into EPF and EPS (8.33%), with EDLI and admin charges at 0.5% each. PF wages are capped at ₹15,000 unless your school chooses actual wages, and EPS always stays on ₹15,000. Loss-of-pay days are reported as NCP days. PF is switched on per person.

• Does Inkwelly make the PF ECR file?

  Yes. Once a month's run is paid, Inkwelly makes the ECR text file — one line per member with UAN, wages, contributions and NCP days. You upload it on the EPFO portal, mark it uploaded, and record the challan or TRRN when you pay. Each file is kept in your media library.

• How does ESI work?

  Staff whose gross for the month stays within ₹21,000 pay 0.75% and the school 3.25%. Inkwelly makes the month's ESI challan from the paid runs; you pay on the ESIC portal and record the payment.

• Can it deduct professional tax for our state?

  Yes. Your state's professional tax slabs are set once, with a separate February amount where the state has one — Karnataka's ₹300, for example. PT comes off in the regular run only, once a month.

• Can staff see their payslips in the app?

  Yes. Once a run is approved, staff see the month's payslip in the Inkwelly app — take-home pay, working, paid and loss-of-pay days, earnings and deductions — along with their salary and any advance. If a payment is on hold, the app asks them to contact the school office.

• Can we print payslips?

  Yes. Every payslip opens in the portal as a salary slip — school name, paid days, earnings, deductions, net pay in words and PF details, with Aadhaar masked — and prints cleanly from the browser.

• Does Inkwelly transfer the salaries to the bank?

  No. You pay from your school's bank as you do today, then record the payment date and each person's UTR in Inkwelly. That marks the run as disbursed, and the Money Book shows the salaries as money out.

• Can we hold one person's salary?

  Yes. Hold keeps the salary earned and its PF and ESI filed, but leaves it out of the payment; you release it later with its own date and UTR. If no salary was due at all, exclude the person from the run instead.

• How are salary advances and loans recovered?

  Give a salary advance, festival advance, PF loan or personal loan with its EMIs, and each month's run takes the EMI when it's calculated. You can skip an EMI — it moves to the end — repay early, or write off what's left.

• How are arrears for a back-dated increment or DA hike paid?

  Record the arrears for the person: the difference in pay times the months it covers. Once approved, they're paid in an Arrears run for those staff — a regular run never pays them by accident.

• Can we pay a one-time bonus or make a one-time deduction?

  Yes. Add a one-off earning or deduction to a payslip for that month only — a Diwali bonus, an extra-class allowance or a canteen recovery. The salary itself doesn't change, and each item is recorded with the name of who added it.

• Does payroll show in our accounts?

  Yes. When a run is recorded as paid, its net pay appears in the Money Book as staff salaries — money out on the payment date.

• Does Inkwelly generate Form 16?

  Not today. Inkwelly keeps every month's salary, deductions and payments, and Inkwelly AI can make a financial year's salary sheet in Excel for your accountant to prepare Form 16 from.

• Who can run and approve payroll?

  You decide by role: salaries, pay runs, loans, arrears and the dashboard are separate permissions. Staff without them see only their own pay, in the app. Payroll screens work in English and Hindi.

• Can I ask Inkwelly AI about payroll?

  Yes, on the Premium plan. Ask “September ki salary sheet”, “kiska LOP kata?” or “how much have we paid this year?” in English, Hindi or Hinglish. It can also prepare changes — a salary revision, an advance, a hold — and nothing changes until you approve. Staff can ask only about their own pay.

• How much does Inkwelly's payroll software cost?

  Payroll comes with the Premium plan, at ₹199 per student per year (GST extra) — the plan with Inkwelly AI too. Plans run ₹49–₹199 per student per year, with ₹0 migration, training and setup.