HR Software for Japan: Payroll, Social Insurance and Year-End Adjustment in One Platform
TankhaPay offers payroll, attendance, leaves and labour compliance services to companies in Japan, in Japanese and English languages, with social insurance, year-end adjustment and resident tax embedded in each and every payroll process. Any entity in India or any other country works on the same platform.
- Social insurance and year-end adjustment
- e-Gov electronic filing
- Zengin salary transfer files
- Japanese and English interface
See TankhaPay on your Japan setup
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- 1,000+Businesses on TankhaPay
- 2M+Employees served
- 26+Years in HR and payroll
- 10+Countries of presence
Trusted by 1,000+ organisations worldwide
How does Japan payroll work in TankhaPay?
Approved attendance becomes one payroll that calculates social insurance, withholding tax and resident tax, and pays employees through a Zengin transfer file. Follow a monthly cycle from start to end.
- 1Attendance closesOvertime compared to 36 Agreement limits
- 2Payroll runs in JPYBase pay, allowances and overtime premiums per employee
- 3Deduction calculationsSocial insurance, withholding tax, resident tax
- 4Zengin file and e-GovSalary transfer file for your bank, filings sent electronically
- 5Payslips issuedIn Japanese or in English on the given employee app
How is overtime pay calculated in Japan?
As set out in the Labour Standards Act, overtime pay is provided at 1.25 times the rate per hour, increasing to 1.5 times for overtime after 60 hours a month. Whilst night shift starts from 10 PM and ends at 5 AM, it receives an extra 25% and holiday pay is at 1.35 times. See calculation below.
The foregoing calculations are done under the assumption that the overtime premium is according to the Statutory Minimum Rates set out in the Labour Standards Act as follows; 25% for normal overtime, 50% for overtime exceeding 60 hours in one month, plus 25% for late night work and 35% for Statutory Holiday work.
What does TankhaPay look like for a company in Japan?
Pick an area to see how TankhaPay handles it for a team in Japan. Every area shares one employee record, so attendance, leave and year-end declarations all reach payroll.
Payroll that gets social insurance right
Basic salary, allowance, incentive for working overtime, social insurance, withholding tax and resident tax, all calculated in Japanese Yen, based on each employee’s standard monthly remuneration grade.
- Standard monthly remuneration grades and annual review
- Health, pension, nursing care and employment insurance
- Bonus payroll with social insurance on bonuses
- Zengin transfer file ready for your bank
Overtime tracked against your 36 Agreement
Hours, overtime, late-night and holiday work flow from attendance into payroll, with alerts before anyone reaches the limits in your 36 Agreement.
- 36 Agreement limits monitored per employee
- Late-night and holiday premiums applied automatically
- Objective working-time records from devices and the app
- Multi-level approvals for overtime and leave
Leave balances that follow the law
Paid annual leave shall be earned in relation to employment periods ranging from 10 days after six months to 20 days, with alerts for anyone at risk of missing the five-day rule.
- Annual paid leave from 10 to 20 days by service
- Five-day rule tracked for every eligible employee
- Special and company leave types configured your way
- Leave requests and approvals on mobile
Year-end adjustment without the paper chase
Employees submit their dependant, insurance and housing loan declarations online, and TankhaPay settles each person's annual tax with December payroll.
- Online declarations on the employee app
- Status tracking so HR can chase only who is late
- Refunds or extra tax settled in payroll
- Withholding slips issued and filed by 31 January
One platform in Japanese and English
HR teams, managers and employees choose Japanese or English for the interface and payslips, and support is available in Japanese during Japan business hours.
- Japanese or English interface per user
- Payslips in Japanese or English on mobile
- Support in Japanese during Japan business hours
- Global reports in English for regional leadership
Filings and finance connected
Social insurance filings go to e-Gov directly or as prepared files, and payroll results post to your ERP after every run.
- e-Gov filing direct, or files prepared for upload
- Built-in connectors for SAP, Oracle HCM and NetSuite
- Zengin transfer files for any Japanese bank
- An open API for any other system you use
Can you buy just one TankhaPay module?
Yes. Every TankhaPay module works on its own, so you can start with only performance management, knowledge transfer or payroll. Add more later, and they connect to the same employee record.
Pick the modules you need
- Your salary structuresbasic, housing, transport, and any allowance you pay, per grade and entity
- Your approval workflowWhatever layers you require, per team, site, job function, or quantity
- Your custom forms and fieldsGather the data about employees that your business requires, rather than any fixed form
- Your reportingCreate reports based on what management and auditors request, per legal entity or country
Can one platform run payroll for your entities in Japan and India?
Yes. TankhaPay runs Japan payroll alongside Indian payroll and compliance, so a Japanese company with operations in India manages both on one platform. About 1,434 Japanese companies are registered in India, with nearly 5,200 business establishments.
- Japan entitySocial insurance, tax and resident taxPayroll in JPY with year-end adjustment, e-Gov filing and Zengin transfers.
- India entityPF, ESIC, TDS and the Labour CodesPayroll and statutory compliance across all 28 Indian states, from 26+ years of work in India.
- Headquarter perspectiveReportingStaff headcount and payroll expenses for all entities in English and Japanese.
What are the key payroll dates in Japan?
The payroll deadlines in Japan follow a yearly calendar that starts from June resident tax revision to year-end adjustment in December.
- Every monthPayroll, social insurance, withholding tax and resident tax
- JuneNew resident tax amounts start for the year
- JulyStandard remuneration report filed (1 to 10 July)
- SeptemberNew standard monthly remuneration grades apply
- November and DecemberYear-end adjustment with December payroll
- By 31 JanuaryWithholding slips and payment reports filed
What else does TankhaPay run for HR teams in Japan?
The workforce planning, rosters, performance management, and learning all have the same system managing it. The same employee information is used in each step of the payroll process.
- Managing multiple entitiesManaging all the Japan and international entities from one accountExplore →
- Headcount planningHeadcount planning for the entity, budget and recruiting plan per entityExplore →
- Roster managementCreating one roster for reuse every week per siteExplore →
- Shifts and breaks managementPaid and unpaid breaks for each shift and overtimeExplore →
- Performance managementSetting objectives and appraisals and calibration in one cycleExplore →
- Knowledge transfer management Pre-transfer of captured knowledge prior to exit/moveExplore →
- Training and developmentTraining schedule, calendar management, and completionExplore →
- Leave managementAnnual paid leave with balancesExplore →
Do you have any entities outside of Japan?
As TankhaPay is a global HRMS system, your Japanese entity and entities from any other country will be running on one system with its individual policies and currency, while management will see everything in consolidated form.
- One employee record, wherever someone works
- Payroll processed in the appropriate currency of the company and consolidation of payroll reports
- There will be no re-onboarding process for employees that have been transferred between companies and countries
Is TankhaPay secure enough for employee data in Japan?
TankhaPay is run by Akal Information Systems, appraised at CMMI Maturity Level 5 and certified to ISO 27001, 9001, 20000 and 14001. Access is role-based, and every change is logged.
- Encryption at rest and in transitEncryption for data when at rest and in motion
- Role-based access controlIndividuals get access only to information allowed by their roles
- Accounting for all approvalsAll approvals and changes get accounted for 26 years in payroll started in 2000; over 1,000 businesses served
What should HR teams in Japan read next?
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Frequently Asked Questions About HR Software in Japan
Answers to the questions HR and finance teams in Japan ask most. Anything else, ask us on the strategy call.
The ideal HR solution for a Japanese business is the one that manages social insurance, withholding tax, year-end adjustment and resident tax from the payroll system, manages overtime under the 36 Agreement, and e-filing via e-Gov. The Japanese and English language versions are important for multilingual teams, and if your organisation operates in India or somewhere else, the single solution for all those entities is more efficient. TankhaPay fulfills all these needs.
Employers enrol staff in health insurance, employees' pension insurance and employment insurance, plus nursing care insurance for employees aged 40 to 64, with contributions based on standard monthly remuneration. Employers also pay workers' accident compensation insurance. From April 2026, the child and childrearing support levy of 0.23% is collected with health insurance and split between employer and employee.
End-of-year adjustment refers to the time at which the employer calculates the income tax for every employee in the year. The employees make the declarations for dependants, deductions for insurance and others, and the employer refunds the remaining or collects from December payroll. In TankhaPay, employees declare such information through the website.
Under special collection, each municipality informs the employer how much resident tax each employee owes for the year. The employer deducts it from salary in instalments from June to the following May and pays it to the municipality.
36 Agreement is the labour-management agreement that an employer should present to the Labour Standards Inspection Office prior to requiring employees to work overtime. The maximum allowable number is 45 hours per month and 360 hours annually. Special provisions permit additional hours within 720 hours annually, under 100 hours in a single month and an average of 80 hours for a period of 2 to 6 months.
Overtime is paid at a minimum of 1.25 times the hourly wage, and at 1.5 times once overtime passes 60 hours a month, a rule that has applied to SMEs since April 2023. Late-night work between 10pm and 5am adds 25%, and statutory holiday work is paid at 1.35 times. Try the overtime calculator above.
The worker will be entitled to 10 days per year for annual paid leave after six months of employment, with increments each year to reach 20 days in six-and-a-half years. From 2019 onwards, the employer should ensure that every worker who enjoys 10 or more days take five days per year.
Absolutely. HR personnel, managers, and employees can use TankhaPay in Japanese and English, the payslips are offered in both languages, and customer support is offered in Japanese during Japan’s business hours.
Yes. TankhaPay files social insurance documents through e-Gov directly or prepares the files for your team to upload and creates salary transfer files in the Zengin format for any Japanese bank.
Absolutely. TankhaPay is a worldwide HRMS system, which means that the entity located in Japan will be using the same platform as other entities in India and other parts of the world. The entities maintain their respective currencies and set of policies.
TankhaPay fees start from US$5 per person per month. The ultimate fee will depend on the modules that you want to select and the number of employees within your organisation. Set up a Strategy Call to receive a personalized quote.
See TankhaPay running on your Japan payroll
A product expert walks you through social insurance, year-end adjustment and e-Gov filing, configured for your Japan and India entities.
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- Response within 24 hours
- CMMI Level 5 appraised
- 26+ years of expertise