Avani Business OS

Online Payroll Software — Run Cloud Payroll from Anywhere

Run payroll in the browser from anywhere. Auto-updated PF, ESI & TDS compliance, instant salary slips, ECR export. Online payroll for Indian SMBs.

At a glance

Features

Run Payroll from Any Browser, Anywhere

Avani's online payroll runs entirely in the browser — Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge on any laptop, desktop, or tablet. There is nothing to install, no licence key, and no office PC required. The HR manager can process payroll from home, from a client site, or while travelling — as long as there is internet access. For Indian SMBs with lean HR teams, this means payroll never gets blocked because the 'payroll computer' is unavailable.

Always-Updated Statutory Rates — Zero Manual Patching

PF at 12% of basic wages, ESI at 3.25% employer + 0.75% employee on gross wages up to ₹21,000/month, TDS under Section 192, and state-wise Professional Tax slabs are maintained in the cloud and updated the moment EPFO, ESIC, or the Income Tax Department issues a circular. You never download a patch or call support to update a rate. The EPFO ECR file format, ESIC challan format, and bank NEFT format are all kept current — your compliance filings always use the latest government-specified template.

Secure Cloud Storage for All Payroll Records

Every salary slip, payroll register, ECR file, and statutory challan generated through Avani is stored in encrypted cloud storage — AES-256 at rest, TLS 1.2+ in transit. Role-based access means only authorised HR and finance personnel can view or export payroll data. Employees access only their own salary slips through the self-service portal. All access events are logged with timestamp and IP address, providing a full audit trail that satisfies Indian IT Act Section 43A requirements for sensitive personal data.

Cloud PF & ESI Compliance — ECR and Challan Export

The online payroll engine auto-calculates PF at 12% of basic wages (employee) and the employer split — 3.67% to EPF, 8.33% to EPS (capped at ₹15,000 basic). ESI contributions at 0.75% + 3.25% are applied for all employees earning ≤ ₹21,000 gross per month. The EPFO ECR file and ESIC monthly contribution statement are generated in the exact portal-ready format. Download, upload to the government portal, and you are done — all from the browser, no desktop utility needed.

Instant Salary Slip PDF — Employee Self-Service in the Cloud

Once payroll is approved, salary slips are instantly available in every employee's cloud self-service portal — no HR needs to email or WhatsApp PDFs. Each slip includes the full earnings breakup (Basic, HRA, DA, Conveyance, Special Allowance), all statutory deductions (PF, ESI, TDS, Professional Tax), advance recovery, LOP, and net take-home vs CTC. Employees access their slips from the browser or mobile app — from anywhere in India, at any time.

One-Click Bank Disbursement File Download

After approving payroll in the browser, download the bank NEFT/RTGS bulk transfer file in formats supported by HDFC NetBanking, ICICI Corporate Banking, SBI CINB, Axis Business Banking, and Kotak Corporate Net Banking. The file contains employee name, verified bank account number, IFSC code, and net salary — pulled from the centrally stored employee records. Upload the file to your corporate banking portal and disburse salary in minutes.

Cloud Payroll That Scales Instantly

Adding 10 or 50 new employees? Cloud payroll scales without any IT intervention — no additional licences to purchase in advance, no server capacity planning, no database migrations. Onboard a new branch in a different city (each with its own state-specific Professional Tax — e.g., Maharashtra deducts PT, your Delhi branch does not), configure the salary structures, and the new employees are included in next month's payroll run automatically. No performance degradation as headcount grows.

Live Payroll Analytics — No Report Downloads Needed

The cloud payroll dashboard shows real-time data: total salary cost for the current month, PF liability outstanding, ESI challan due date, TDS payable, and a department-wise payroll cost breakdown. Because data lives in the cloud, these numbers are current to the second — not a report exported at 9 AM that is stale by 11 AM. Finance managers can check the payroll cost against budget from any browser tab without requesting an Excel export from the HR team.

Key benefits

How it works

  1. Open the Browser and Sign In — No installation, no setup wizard, no IT ticket. Open Avani in any browser, sign in with your work credentials, and the payroll module is ready. Import existing employee and salary data from Excel in minutes. Most companies are running live payroll within 3 to 5 days of signing up — with zero hardware procurement and zero IT involvement.
  2. Attendance Syncs Automatically to Payroll — Attendance data — daily punch records, approved leaves, LOP days, GPS check-ins from mobile, and biometric CSV imports — flows into the cloud payroll engine automatically. There is no manual cross-referencing. When you open the payroll run for the month, working days, LOP deductions, and leave encashment are already calculated for every employee.
  3. Approve Payroll and Download — All in One Browser Tab — Click 'Run Payroll' for the month. The cloud engine calculates gross salary, PF, ESI, TDS, Professional Tax, advance recovery, and net pay for every employee in seconds. Review the payroll register, make any corrections, and approve. Salary slips go live in employee self-service, the EPFO ECR file is ready to download, and the bank NEFT file is one click away — all without leaving the browser.

Frequently asked questions

What is online payroll software?

Online payroll software is a cloud-based application that runs in a web browser and handles the complete payroll process — salary calculation, statutory deductions (PF 12%, ESI up to ₹21,000 gross, TDS Section 192, state Professional Tax), salary slip generation, EPFO ECR file export, and bank disbursement file creation — without requiring any software installation on a local computer. Avani Business OS is an online payroll platform built for Indian SMBs, accessible from any browser with internet connectivity and always updated with the latest statutory rates from EPFO, ESIC, and the Income Tax Department.

How is online payroll software different from desktop payroll software?

Desktop payroll software is installed on a specific computer and must be manually updated whenever PF rates, ESI thresholds, TDS slabs, or ECR file formats change. Online payroll software lives in the cloud — rates and formats are updated centrally, so your payroll is always compliant without any manual patching. Online payroll is accessible from any device with a browser, whereas desktop software is tied to one machine. Cloud storage also means all payroll records are backed up automatically — there is no risk of losing years of salary data to a crashed hard drive.

Is cloud payroll data secure for Indian companies?

Yes. Avani Business OS uses AES-256 encryption for data at rest and TLS 1.2+ for data in transit — the same security standard used by Indian banks. Payroll data is stored in Indian data centres, supporting data localisation requirements. Role-based access controls ensure that only authorised HR and finance personnel can view or export salary data. Every login and data access event is logged with a timestamp and IP address, providing a complete audit trail. Employees access only their own salary slips — not data belonging to colleagues.

Can I run payroll remotely or while travelling?

Yes — that is the primary advantage of online payroll software. Because Avani runs in the browser, the HR or finance team member can process payroll from home, a co-working space, or while travelling anywhere in India. There is no VPN requirement, no remote desktop session, and no dependency on an office server. As long as you have a browser and internet access, you can run payroll, approve salary slips, download the EPFO ECR file, and export the bank disbursement file.

How does the cloud payroll engine handle PF and ESI compliance?

The cloud payroll engine calculates PF at 12% of basic wages for the employee contribution and splits the 12% employer contribution into 3.67% (EPF) and 8.33% (EPS, capped at ₹15,000 basic wages). ESI is computed at 0.75% (employee) + 3.25% (employer) on gross wages for all employees earning ≤ ₹21,000/month. The EPFO ECR file and ESIC monthly contribution statement are generated automatically in the current government-specified format — downloaded directly from the browser and uploaded to the respective portals.

What happens if EPFO changes the ECR file format?

Because Avani is cloud-based, format updates are deployed centrally by the Avani team the moment EPFO or ESIC publishes a new file specification. You do not need to download a software patch or call IT support. The next time you generate an ECR file after an update, you automatically get the new format. This is one of the most significant advantages of online payroll over desktop payroll software — compliance updates are invisible to you.

Does the online payroll software support TDS calculation under Section 192?

Yes. Avani calculates TDS under Section 192 by projecting annual taxable salary, applying declared deductions — 80C investments up to ₹1.5 lakh (EPF, ELSS, PPF, NSC, life insurance), 80D health insurance premium, HRA exemption under Section 10(13A), standard deduction of ₹50,000 — and distributing the annual tax liability equally across the remaining months of the financial year. Employees choose old or new tax regime at the start of the year. When salary is revised or new investment declarations are submitted, TDS is recalculated and redistributed automatically.

Can online payroll software handle multi-location companies across Indian states?

Yes. Avani supports multiple branches under one company account. Each branch is assigned a state and city, which determines the applicable Professional Tax slab — for example, a Mumbai branch deducts Maharashtra PT (₹200/month, ₹2,500 in February for salaries above ₹10,000) while a Delhi branch has zero PT. HRA metro/non-metro classification also follows the employee's work city. HR at the head office sees a consolidated payroll register and total statutory liability across all branches in the cloud dashboard.

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