Payroll Specialist

We are looking for an experienced Payroll Specialist to independently manage end-to-end payroll for 1,000+ employees across India. The role requires strong hands-on expertise in payroll processing, statutory compliance, payroll taxation, reconciliation, statutory filings, maintenance of mandatory registers, and payroll audits.

The ideal candidate should be capable of owning the complete payroll cycle—from validating employee inputs and attendance data to salary disbursement, statutory remittances, returns, reconciliation, and audit readiness—while ensuring accuracy, confidentiality, and compliance with applicable Indian labour and payroll regulations.

Key Responsibilities.

End-to-End Payroll Management

• Own and execute monthly payroll processing for 500+ employees with a strong focus on accuracy and timely closure.
• Validate payroll inputs including new joiners, exits, attendance, leave, LOP, salary revisions, promotions, incentives, bonuses, arrears, reimbursements, deductions and other variable components.
• Calculate monthly earnings and deductions including Basic, HRA, allowances, incentives, overtime, arrears, LOP and recoveries.
• Manage Full & Final (F&F) settlements, leave encashment, notice-period recovery/payments, gratuity and other separation-related payments.
• Perform pre-payroll and post-payroll validations and variance analysis before payroll sign-off.
• Prepare bank advice/payment files and coordinate timely salary disbursement.
• Generate and distribute payslips and other payroll-related employee documents.
• Maintain payroll calendars, checklists and maker-checker controls to ensure timely payroll closure.

Statutory & Payroll Compliance

• Ensure payroll complies with applicable Indian labour, employment, social-security and taxation requirements.
• Manage compliance relating to Provident Fund (PF/EPF), ESI, Professional Tax (PT), Labour Welfare Fund (LWF), TDS and other applicable payroll-related statutory requirements.
• Manage PF processes including UAN-related activities, ECR preparation, contribution reconciliation and statutory remittances.
• Manage ESI contributions, employee coverage changes, challans and reconciliations.
• Calculate and deduct Professional Tax based on applicable state requirements.
• Manage LWF deductions and contributions wherever applicable.
• Ensure statutory payments, challans, returns and filings are completed within prescribed timelines.
• Track changes in statutory requirements, wage definitions, contribution limits, tax rules and other payroll-related regulatory changes and implement them appropriately.
• Coordinate with Finance, HR, auditors, consultants and statutory authorities wherever required.

Income Tax & TDS

• Manage employee income-tax computation and monthly TDS deductions.
• Validate employee tax declarations and investment proofs.
• Handle tax regime selections and applicable payroll tax calculations.
• Reconcile payroll TDS with Finance records and statutory filings.
• Support quarterly TDS return processes and reconciliation of payroll-related tax data.
• Manage Form 16 preparation, reconciliation and issuance within statutory timelines.
• Handle employee tax queries and corrections relating to payroll taxation.

Statutory Registers & Documentation

• Maintain all applicable payroll, wage and statutory registers in the prescribed format, whether electronically or physically as required.
• Ensure maintenance of applicable records/registers relating to wages, deductions, fines, advances, overtime, attendance, leave, bonus and other employment/payroll records.
• Ensure registers and supporting documentation are updated accurately and retained for the prescribed period.
• Maintain employee-wise statutory contribution and deduction records.
• Ensure payroll documentation is readily available for internal audits, statutory inspections, due diligence and external audits.
• Maintain a compliance calendar covering all payroll-related filings, payments, returns and register requirements.

Payroll Reconciliation & Controls

• Perform monthly payroll reconciliation against the previous month's payroll and approved HR inputs.
• Reconcile gross salary, net salary, employee count, statutory deductions, employer contributions, TDS and bank payout amounts.
• Reconcile payroll outputs with Finance/General Ledger and resolve differences before closure.
• Maintain clear audit trails for all payroll adjustments and manual interventions.
• Identify payroll discrepancies, investigate root causes and implement corrective and preventive controls.
• Ensure appropriate segregation of duties, access controls and confidentiality of payroll information.

Audits & Compliance Management

• Act as the primary payroll point of contact for internal, statutory and external audits.
• Provide payroll registers, challans, returns, reconciliations and supporting documentation during audits and inspections.
• Track audit observations and ensure timely closure of payroll-related findings.
• Conduct periodic payroll compliance checks to identify potential gaps before statutory or internal audits.
• Coordinate with payroll vendors/consultants where applicable while retaining internal ownership of payroll accuracy and compliance.

Employee Lifecycle & Payroll Support

• Ensure accurate payroll setup for new employees.
• Process salary revisions, promotions, transfers and other compensation changes.
• Manage employee exits and timely Full & Final settlements.
• Respond to employee queries relating to salary, deductions, PF, ESI, tax, Form 16, F&F and other payroll matters.
• Maintain employee payroll data with a high degree of confidentiality and accuracy.

Required Experience & Skills

• 5–8 years of hands-on experience in Indian payroll and statutory compliance, preferably managing payroll for 500+ employees.
• Strong practical knowledge of Indian payroll processing and statutory compliance.
• Hands-on experience with PF/EPF, ESI, PT, LWF, TDS, gratuity, bonus and payroll taxation.
• Strong experience maintaining payroll and statutory registers and supporting compliance audits.
• Experience handling multi-state payroll and state-specific statutory requirements would be preferred.
• Strong understanding of salary structures, CTC, gross salary, taxable income, employer contributions and net-pay calculations.
• Strong knowledge of payroll reconciliations and payroll-to-GL processes.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including Pivot Tables, XLOOKUP/VLOOKUP, SUMIFS, reconciliation and large-data validation.
• Experience working with HRMS/payroll platforms.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to manage high-volume payroll within strict monthly deadlines.
• Ability to handle confidential employee and compensation information appropriately.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and stakeholder-management skills.

Education

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Human Resources, Commerce, Finance, Accounting or a related discipline.

Preferred Profile

We are specifically looking for a hands-on payroll professional, rather than someone whose experience is primarily limited to coordinating with an outsourced payroll vendor. The candidate should have personally managed payroll calculations, statutory deductions, reconciliations, compliance filings/registers, audits and payroll closure for a large Indian employee population.

Key Success Measures

• 100% on-time monthly payroll closure and salary disbursement
• High payroll accuracy with minimal corrections or reversals
• 100% on-time statutory remittances and applicable filings
• Accurate and up-to-date statutory registers and payroll documentation
• Zero material statutory non-compliance or penalties
• Timely and accurate Full & Final settlements
• Successful payroll/statutory audits with timely closure of observations
• Strong reconciliation between HRMS, payroll, bank payouts and Finance/GL records