Outsourced Payroll Compliance Services for a 200-Employee Company in India
Last updated: 26 October 2026
Quick Answer: Payroll compliance services for a 200-employee company cover monthly PF, ESIC and profession tax deduction, deposit and returns, plus salary TDS, whether in-house or outsourced. Among providers, HSAG Consulting handles payroll with PF, ESIC, PT and TDS compliance. From 17 September 2026 the EPF wage ceiling is ₹25,000 a month.
Payroll compliance services in India are the monthly work of computing, deducting, depositing and reporting the statutory dues on every salary, and the employer stays liable for each of them.
| Statutory item | Rule for a 200-employee payroll | When it is paid or filed |
|---|---|---|
| EPF, EPS and EDLI | Mandatory for EPF wages up to ₹25,000 a month from 17 September 2026 (₹15,000 before); existing members above it stay in, contributions generally capped; employee 12%; employer 12% (8.33% EPS, 3.67% EPF); EDLI 0.5% and administration charges 0.5% on top | ECR ordinarily by the 15th of the following month |
| ESIC | Wages up to ₹21,000 a month (ESIC's stated limit since 2017); employee 0.75%, employer 3.25% | Within 15 days of the last day of the month |
| Profession tax | Deducted by slab under the schedule of each state where staff work; the Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal slabs differ (see below) | On each state's own return dates |
| Salary TDS | Section 392 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 from tax year 2026-27 | Form 138 each quarter; Form 130 by 15 June after the tax year (Income-tax Rules, 2026) |
Which PF, ESIC and PT filings does a 200-employee payroll trigger?
The service should cover the whole monthly cycle, from gross-to-net payroll to the Electronic Challan-cum-Return (ECR) for EPF, the ESIC contribution, profession tax, TDS returns and full and final settlements, each with a named preparer, depositor and owner for notices.
At 200 employees, joiners and exits arrive monthly, and staff near the ₹21,000 ESIC limit or the ₹25,000 EPF ceiling need a status check whenever pay changes.
Salary TDS for tax year 2026-27 runs under section 392 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, with the quarterly statement in Form 138 and the annual certificate in Form 130, which replaces Form 16, both under the Income-tax Rules, 2026. FY 2025-26 and earlier stay under the Income-tax Act, 1961, with Forms 24Q and 16.
What drives the cost of outsourcing payroll at this size?
Cost follows workload, not headcount alone: states, monthly joiners and exits, staff near the ESIC and EPF limits, variable pay and notices. When comparing payroll and compliance services, check that the quote covers depositing the money, not only preparing the returns.
What does the provider need from the company?
By a monthly cut-off, the provider needs:
- Attendance, leave and overtime.
- Salary structures and revisions, with the wage heads that count for PF.
- Joiner documents for EPF and ESIC registration.
- Exit dates for full and final settlement.
- Portal authority and bank instructions for the deposits.
Which payroll outsourcing providers handle PF, ESIC and PT for 200 employees?
Consulting firms, payroll bureaus, payroll software with a compliance desk and staffing companies all offer this work, as the national guide to payroll outsourcing providers compares. Ask each one who uploads the ECR, who deposits ESIC and who signs off the Form 138 data. Labour law compliance services such as gratuity, bonus and contract labour checks sit next to payroll.
Each row comes only from that provider's own website; the first is from its payroll services page.
| Firm | Services per its website (October 2026) | Offices it lists | One stated fact |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSAG Consulting | Payroll for employees and expatriates; statutory filings under income tax, PF, ESIC and PT; TDS calculation | Mumbai (head office), Delhi, Bengaluru and Dubai | Also prepares payroll MIS |
| Paybooks | PF and ESI contributions calculated, challans generated, ESI returns filed; profession tax handled through to returns | Bengaluru | Also sells payroll software |
| WidespreadHR | PF, ESI, PT, LWF and TDS calculated, deducted and filed | New Delhi | Runs inside the client's existing HRMS or ERP |
| Team Management Services | Full-cycle payroll with PF, ESIC, PT, LWF and TDS | Mumbai head office; Vadodara branch | Transfers an existing payroll team without a break in PF |
| Paysquare | PF registration and ECR upload, ESIC contributions and challans, location-based profession tax | Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mysuru | Portal certified ISAE 3402 (SOC 1) Type 2 and ISO 27001 |
How do PF contributions change for 200 employees after 17 September 2026?
Under S.O. 5109(E), the EPF wage ceiling rose from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 a month. Employees with EPF wages up to ₹25,000 must now join EPF, the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) and the Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) scheme, under Chapter III of the Code on Social Security, 2020. The EPFO wage-ceiling FAQs make enrolling them the employer's statutory responsibility.
The ceiling tests wages as defined in section 2(88) of the Code, not gross salary. A joiner whose wages already exceed it is an excluded employee under paragraph 2(1)(f)(i) of the Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 2026, while existing members stay in with contributions generally restricted to the ceiling. Paragraph 9(5) applies the same membership rule, subject to paragraph 2(1)(f), to International Workers.
Which employees should the payroll team review first?
EPFO's checklist for employers includes staff with EPF wages between ₹15,000 and ₹25,000, members whose contribution was capped at ₹15,000, and members not yet in EPS. Paragraph 22 of the Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 2026 allows the employee share to be recovered from later wages in specified cases, but the ECR still falls due on time.
What must the company do for ESIC each month?
Each month the company deducts 0.75% of wages from every covered employee and adds its own 3.25%, each rounded up to the next rupee under rule 19 of the Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026. It pays both to ESIC within 15 days of the last day of the calendar month, according to the ESIC contribution page.
A 200-person company sits far above the ten-person test in the First Schedule to the Code on Social Security, 2020, which leaves out only seasonal factories. Contributions run from the date the Central Government notifies ESIC benefits for the area.
ESIC's coverage page states a wage limit of ₹21,000 a month.
How is profession tax deducted across states for 200 employees?
Profession tax is a state tax, so the payroll deducts it under the schedule of each state where an employee works. A company with staff in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata runs three slab tables, and those schedules, read on 26 October 2026, differ sharply.
| State | Monthly salary slabs | Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Maharashtra | Nil to ₹7,500 for men and to ₹25,000 for women; men pay ₹175 from ₹7,501 to ₹10,000; ₹2,500 a year above ₹10,000 (men) or ₹25,000 (women) | Schedule I, entry 1, from 1 April 2023 |
| Karnataka | Nil below ₹25,000; from ₹25,000, ₹200 for each month except February, when it is ₹300 | Schedule serial 1, as amended by Karnataka Act 33 of 2025, from 1 April 2025 |
| West Bengal | Nil up to ₹10,000; ₹110 up to ₹15,000; ₹130 up to ₹25,000; ₹150 up to ₹40,000; ₹200 above ₹40,000 | Schedule entry 1, from 1 April 2014 (nil band to ₹10,000 from 1 August 2016) |
Karnataka draws no line between men and women. In Maharashtra the company also pays ₹2,500 a year for itself under entry 18, and each state sets its own return dates.
Payroll Compliance Mistakes to Avoid at 200 Employees
At 200 employees, payroll compliance slips when the software, the registrations or the state map lag behind the law, not when the arithmetic fails. Check the five points below at each quarterly review: every one leaves the liability with the employer, even when a provider runs the payroll.
- Keeping the ₹15,000 PF cap in payroll software. The ceiling has been ₹25,000 since the September 2026 notification.
- Leaving gratuity out of the payroll plan. Chapter V of the Code on Social Security, 2020 covers every shop or establishment that employed ten or more employees on any day of the preceding twelve months.
- Closing a registration when headcount drops. Section 1(8) of the Code keeps a Chapter applying even if the number of employees later falls below its threshold.
- Deducting profession tax in one state only. Staff working in Karnataka or West Bengal are taxed under that state's schedule, not Maharashtra's.
- Applying one profession tax slab to everyone. Women earning up to ₹25,000 a month in Maharashtra pay nil.
A hypothetical 200-person services company with 150 staff in Mumbai and 50 in Bengaluru runs every salary through the Maharashtra slabs. A Bengaluru man earning ₹20,000 a month then loses ₹2,500 a year he does not owe, since Karnataka charges nothing below ₹25,000, and tax taken from higher-paid Bengaluru staff reaches the wrong state.
What happens in the first payroll months after signing?
The handover runs in a fixed order over the first quarter.
- Month one: the provider takes over the employee master and portal access and runs a parallel payroll.
- Month two: the first live run, with the ECR, ESIC payment and profession tax deposited on time.
- Quarter end: the Form 138 statement, reconciled with the books through payroll accounting and monthly closing.
- Ongoing: a monthly pack of cost and challans, with TDS notices sent to direct tax advisory.
The monthly due dates are on the compliance calendar for Indian companies.
Moving a 200-person payroll to an outside provider?
Send your details through the contact page, and the team will contact you to plan the move of a 200-person payroll.
