Quick answer
Payroll runs move strictly forward through Draft → Review → Approved → Paid → Locked. Processing computes each employee's pay from their salary structure, leave (LOP) and tax settings; approving unlocks the bank and statutory exports; locking releases payslips to employees on the web and as branded PDFs.
The run lifecycle
Open Payroll → Runs and create a run for the month (one per month). Process payroll computes an item for every active employee: earnings from their salary structure, proration for mid-month joiners, loss-of-pay from approved LOP leave, PF/ESI/PT and TDS. The run moves to Review, where anomalies are flagged — missing salary structure, missing bank details, a negative net (which blocks approval), clamped LOP, or a net-pay swing of more than 25% versus last month. You can re-process as many times as needed.
Approve when the numbers are right, download the bank file, pay through your bank, then Mark paid and finally Lock & release payslips. Locking is the moment employees can see their payslips — each one gets an in-app notification and, if Slack is connected, a DM with their net pay. Payroll is restricted to HR Admins and Super Admins throughout.
Payslips for employees
Employees open My Payslips to see every payslip from locked runs, with a print-friendly web view and a Download PDF button. The PDF is generated on your company letterhead (the same branding as generated letters) and shows earnings and deductions side by side, paid days and LOP, employer contributions, and the net pay in words. It's computer-generated, so no signature is needed.
Income tax (TDS) declarations
Under Payroll → Tax, record each employee's income-tax declaration for the financial year: old or new regime, plus (for the old regime) Section 80C and 80D investments, annual rent and metro flag for HRA exemption, home-loan interest and other exemptions. Tax slabs, the standard deduction, the 87A rebate and cess are all editable per financial year and regime.
TDS then works in one of two modes (a per-company setting):
- Manual — you enter each employee's monthly TDS directly on the run while it's in draft or review.
- Auto — ASHR projects the annual tax from the declaration and slabs, subtracts TDS already deducted this year, and spreads the balance over the remaining months. Taxable one-off earnings feed into the projection. A manual override on the run always takes precedence.
A month-wise Form 16 helper export per employee is available from the Tax page.
One-off adjustments
Payroll → Adjustments handles one-time items: bonuses, reimbursements, arrears, loan recoveries and other earnings or deductions. Each adjustment is queued as pending, gets picked up by the next run you process, appears as its own labelled line on the payslip, and is marked applied when that run locks — so nothing is ever paid twice. Adjustments don't change PF/ESI bases, but taxable earnings do count toward auto-TDS. Pending adjustments can be cancelled; applied ones can't.
Bank and statutory exports
Once a run is approved (or paid/locked), the run page offers CSV exports:
- Bank file — employee ID, beneficiary name, account number, IFSC and net amount, ready for bulk transfer. Employees with missing bank details are excluded and flagged.
- PF, ESI, PT and TDS reports — filing aids with the month's wages and contributions per employee. ASHR prepares the numbers; filing itself happens on the government portals.
Frequently asked questions
- When can employees see their payslips?
- Only after the run is locked. Locking releases payslips under My Payslips, sends an in-app notification, and (if Slack is connected) a Slack DM with the net pay.
- What is the difference between manual and auto TDS?
- In manual mode you type each employee's monthly TDS on the run. In auto mode ASHR projects the annual tax from the employee's declaration and slabs, then spreads the remaining balance over the months left in the financial year. A manual override always wins.
- Can I add a one-time bonus or deduction?
- Yes. Add it under Payroll → Adjustments. It stays queued until the next run is processed, appears as its own payslip line, and is marked applied when that run locks — so it can never be paid twice.