Why payroll goes wrong in a plant
Most payroll errors in a factory are not calculation errors. They happen earlier, when attendance from the gate is retyped into a payroll sheet: a missed punch becomes a full day, a night shift is split across two dates, overtime is copied from a supervisor's register, and contractor headcount is taken on trust.
Payroll software that only calculates salary cannot fix that, because the number it starts from is already wrong. The fix is to calculate pay from the attendance record itself, after the exceptions have been resolved. These are the leaks that show up most often:
- Night shifts that cross midnight, counted as two half days or as an absence
- Overtime claimed from a paper register rather than measured from punches
- Missed punches regularised over WhatsApp, with no record of who approved them
- Contractor invoices paid on the headcount the contractor declared, never checked against the gate
- Mid-month joiners, exits and arrears handled on a side spreadsheet
How a payroll cycle runs in Ankastra
- Punches arrive from the gate. Face recognition on a tablet or phone, or your existing ESSL, ZKTeco, Matrix COSEC, Hikvision or Suprema devices, feed one attendance record.
- Shift rules are applied. Day, night, rotating and split shifts, including punches that cross midnight, are resolved to the right working day.
- Exceptions are raised before payroll, not after. Late marks, missed punches and overtime breaches are flagged for a decision, and every regularisation carries a user, a timestamp and a reason.
- HR signs off attendance. Payroll reads only attendance that has been approved.
- Payroll runs with statutory deductions. Salary structures, arrears, mid-month joiners, loans and advances are calculated in the same run.
- Outputs are generated. The EPF ECR file, ESI return data, state-wise Professional Tax challans, payslips and Form 16.
Statutory coverage
| Component | What Ankastra produces |
|---|---|
| EPF | Employee and employer contributions per member, and the ECR file for upload to the EPFO portal |
| ESI | Employee and employer contributions for covered employees, and the data for the ESI return |
| Professional Tax | Deductions by state slab, with state-wise challans |
| TDS | Tax deducted on salary through the year, and Form 16 at year end |
| Gratuity and bonus | Computed on eligible service, not on a side spreadsheet |
| Full and final settlement | Notice recovery, leave encashment and pending claims in one statement |
The four Labour Codes came into force on 21 November 2025, and states are notifying their rules on different dates. Ask any payroll vendor, us included, how they are handling the transition in the states where you employ people.
What payroll costs
Statutory payroll is part of the Pro plan: ₹9,999 a month for 50 employees on monthly billing, or ₹8,499 a month billed annually. Each employee above 50 adds ₹79 a month. GST at 18% is charged on top.
| Employees | Monthly billing | Billed annually (per month) |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | ₹9,999 | ₹8,499 |
| 100 | ₹13,949 | ₹11,857 |
| 220 | ₹23,429 | ₹19,915 |
| 500 | ₹45,549 | ₹38,717 |
If you want to keep your current payroll process for now and fix attendance first, Basic covers attendance, leave and shifts with face recognition; Growth adds device integration; neither includes payroll. Moving to Pro later runs payroll on the same attendance data. The pricing calculator works out any headcount and term.
Who it fits, and who it does not
A good fit
- Plants, sites, hospitals and warehouses with 50 to a few thousand people on shifts
- Teams that mix permanent staff, contract labour and daily wage workers
- Businesses that already own biometric devices and do not want to replace them
- Several units or branches that need one payroll with unit-wise reporting
Probably not the right tool
- Office teams whose main need is performance reviews, OKRs or recruitment. Ankastra has no applicant tracking or appraisal module.
- Very small teams. Each plan's base price covers up to 50 employees, which is more than a 10 person office needs.
Questions people ask
Does Ankastra generate the EPF ECR file?
Yes. The Pro plan produces the ECR file from the same payroll run that calculates salary, along with ESI return data, state-wise Professional Tax challans, payslips and Form 16.
Can payroll use attendance from our existing biometric machines?
Yes. Ankastra reads punches from ESSL, ZKTeco, Matrix COSEC, Hikvision and Suprema devices, and from any other brand through CSV import, so pay is calculated from the punches your gate recorded. Device integration is included from the Growth plan.
How does Ankastra handle contract labour?
Contract workers sit on the same roster as permanent staff. Their attendance is reconciled against the contractor's bill, so you pay for days the gate verified rather than the headcount on the invoice.
Does it work with Tally or SAP?
Pro includes custom integrations into Tally and SAP, built and maintained by the Ankastra team. From Growth, the API can push verified attendance into other systems.
Is GST included in the prices?
No. Every published price excludes GST, which is charged at 18% on top and collected on the government's behalf.
Can we try it first?
Yes. Every plan has a 14 day free trial with no credit card, and there is no implementation charge.