Calculate the variable pay linked to projects using the timesheet records that have been authorized, make expense claims using the same payroll system, ensure proper calculation of Professional Tax when your professionals perform their jobs from the client premises in different states, and pay contractors or freelancers through Section 194J without any spreadsheet existing between the timesheet and salary payments.
A consulting firm paying project completion bonuses from timesheet data, a CA practice with multi-city offices and article assistants, an ad agency with 30 freelancers on retainer - none of these are served by a payroll tool designed for a factory floor or a retail store.
Project completion bonuses, utilisation incentives, and retainer-linked variable pay all depend on approved timesheet hours. Reconciling that manually from a separate time tracking tool into payroll every month is exactly the kind of work that introduces errors and disputes.
Travel, accommodation, and client-related expenses flow through payroll as reimbursements. Most generic payroll tools treat these as an afterthought, with manual entry and incorrect tax treatment creating errors that affect both the employee's payslip and the firm's books.
The consultant, who is stationed at the client’s office in Mumbai for three months, then Pune and then Delhi, will trigger the PT provisions in each state. Most professional services companies only realize that by receiving a notice rather than doing it right from the beginning.
Freelance designers, referral attorneys, subject matter experts, and specialist contractors on project retainers need to be tracked separately from salaried employees, with the correct TDS rate and separate challans - not added as a makeshift line in the monthly salary run.
Senior consultants, partners, or account directors on performance-linked pay share a payroll platform with support staff on fixed CTC. Most generic tools force both into the same structure, producing errors for one or the other every month.
Professional service firms experience project exit, role exit, and exit mid-year. All these situations require proper handling of unsettled incentive compensation, expenses, notice pay, and leave entitlements – properly calculated, rather than manually chased.
Professional services firms run several distinct workforce categories at once - senior fee-earners, support staff, junior trainees, freelance specialists, and business development teams - each with a different pay structure and different compliance treatment. TankhaPay handles all of them from one login.
Lawyers, consultants, accountants, and account directors with timesheet-linked variable pay and performance incentives computed inside the regular cycle.
Timesheet + Variable PayFixed CTC with PF, TDS, and gratuity computed correctly on the same platform without interfering with the fee-earner pay track above.
Fixed CTC TrackSubject matter experts, referral professionals, and project specialists on retainer, managed under Section 194J on a separate payment track.
Section 194J TrackArticled assistants, junior associates, and management trainees on defined pay structures with correct statutory treatment from day one.
Trainee Pay StructureA fixed draw plus a profit share or performance component, configured correctly with the applicable TDS treatment for the partner remuneration structure.
Draw + Profit ShareCommission or incentive-linked pay for BD and sales professionals, computed from target achievement alongside fixed base salary.
Commission-Linked PayHandling payroll for a professional service company will involve reconciling the authorized number of hours to their corresponding wages, processing expense claims, and ensuring compliance in different states, as well as paying contractors.
The fee-earners, support workers, contractors, and trainees are all assigned to the right pay track according to their respective categories. The timesheet process and workflow are such that the hours worked will be automatically populated into the payroll process after approval.
Variable pay calculations happen using approved timesheet information. Expense claims that are filed and approved for the month get reimbursed through the same payroll process with appropriate taxation being done for every type of expense.
PF, TDS, and ESIC are computed correctly per each employee's pay track. PT is applied automatically per each professional's registered work state, with no manual lookup when a consultant moves to a different client location.
Employee salaries and expense reimbursements are credited in one run. Contractor fee payments go out with TDS deducted. PF ECR, TDS returns for salary and contractor payments, and PT remittances are all filed before the statutory deadline.
CMMI Level 5 is held by fewer than 1% of Indian tech companies. It means the quality standard your timesheet-linked payroll and statutory filings are processed under is the same standard trusted by the Government of India.
There is no other competitor for Indian payroll software that has such accreditation. It gives you another level of assurance of the way your payroll will be managed.
Approved timesheet data flows directly into variable pay computation. No export, no manual entry, no reconciliation between the time system and the payroll run.
We have processed payroll through every significant Indian labour and tax law change since 1998. Labour Code 2025 changes are the latest in a 26-year track record.
Run it in-house when your team has capacity. When you'd rather have a dedicated payroll team, switch to managed services on the same platform - no migration, no data loss.
From timesheet-linked incentives to multi-state PT for travelling professionals, every professional services requirement is handled by the system, not chased through a spreadsheet the week before disbursement.
Project-linked variable pay, utilisation bonuses, and completion incentives are computed directly from approved timesheet data in TankhaPay. The manual step of exporting hours from one tool and entering them into another is removed entirely, along with the errors it causes.
Professional expenses such as travel, lodging, and client expenses are submitted by the professionals themselves, authorized by the managers, and paid out through payroll deductions at the end of the month with appropriate taxes being deducted from each category of expenses.
Freelance specialists and project contractors paid under Section 194J are processed on a completely separate payment track from salaried employees, with the correct TDS rate, a separate challan, and separate Form 26Q filing - so the two are never confused in a single payroll file.
PT obligations follow where a professional works, not where the firm is headquartered. TankhaPay applies the correct PT slab automatically when a professional's registered work state changes, without HR tracking each deployment manually across multiple states.
Those who receive incentive-based remuneration, including fee-earners, and those on fixed CTC are segregated in two different pay structures within one common Payroll application software. The two pay structures have different elements and different calculation of Provident Fund and Tax Deduction at Source.
Four steps. No manual variable pay reconciliation. No expense-to-payroll export. No PT errors when a consultant changes location.
Hours approved on timesheets and expenses automatically go to payroll processing. There is no export and re-enter process involved.
Zero reconciliation effortVariable compensation, reimbursements, PF, TDS (salaried and contractual), and multistate PT are automatically calculated using prevailing rates.
Per employee, per track, per stateThe finance or HR head reviews and approves via the maker-checker. Anomalies flagged before disbursement, not after a professional queries their payslip.
Errors caught pre-runSalaries and contractor payments go out. PF, TDS (192 and 194J), and PT are all filed. Done before the statutory deadline.
Full compliance in one clickBuilt for consulting, agencies, legal, CA, and architecture firms - not generic payroll software with a briefcase icon in the header.
Project-linked bonuses and utilisation incentives computed directly from approved timesheet data.
Client expenses are approved for reimbursement and deducted from the payroll process itself.
Freelance and project contractors tracked on a separate payment track with correct TDS and separate Form 26Q.
PT auto-applied per each professional's work state, updating when location changes without manual tracking.
Fee-earners, support staff, partners, and trainees on separate, correctly configured pay tracks in one run.
Pending variable pay, expense settlements, notice recovery, and leave encashment were settled within the statutory window.
Payslips, expense claim status, and PF balance are on the mobile application for each individual professional irrespective of their location.
Each and every payroll entry, TDS calculation, and approval of expenses recorded with an immutable audit log.
Real-time labour cost by project, team, and cost centre - billable hours and payroll cost visible to the partner or CFO in one dashboard.
Updated for Labour Code 2025, new ESIC wage definitions, and PT notifications - before the notice, not after it.
Highlighted pills are professional services-specific payroll requirements that generic software tools frequently omit or handle incorrectly.
One payroll run. PT correct in every state. Variable pay from approved hours, not a spreadsheet.
Advice to HR/finance managers in consultancies, agencies, law firms, and CA offices who have to deal with payroll for their compliance-driven multi-track staff.
How approved digital timesheets integrate with payroll systems, and why professional services firms need timesheet-linked variable pay rather than manual reconciliation.
How CA practices and accounting firms use cloud payroll to eliminate timesheet reconciliation, manage article assistant payroll, and stay compliant across multi-city offices.
What consulting firms, agencies, and professional services companies should look for in an HRMS - timesheet integration, project billing, and multi-state compliance.
The questions HR and finance heads at consulting firms, agencies, legal practices, and CA offices ask before committing to a payroll system.
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