Features
Solutions
Free tools
Resources

Finance & Administration

Payroll software for schools and colleges

Run payroll on the same platform as staff attendance, leave and the timetable. Salaries are worked out from each person’s pay structure and the days actually recorded, deductions are applied, and payslips reach staff in the app.

  • No credit card required
  • Free 30-day trial
  • Full feature access

See what payroll management changes at your institution

Before vs. after adding payroll to iVake

The Old Way Transform My Institution

Where you are today

Holding you back

  1. Guest faculty paid from a spreadsheet

    Someone counts the lectures taken, multiplies by a rate that differs by department, and sends the totals to accounts to type in again.

    Pain point

  2. Pay revisions applied one by one

    When a DA increase or pay revision is approved, each employee’s salary is recalculated and updated by hand.

    Pain point

  3. Attendance exported for loss of pay

    Biometric punches and leave registers are exported and matched in a spreadsheet to work out absences and loss of pay.

    Pain point

  4. Salary splits kept on the side

    Staff paid partly from a research project or a self-financing programme are tracked in a separate sheet that falls out of date.

    Pain point

  • 3+Sheets feeding one salary run
  • 2+Times attendance is re-entered
  • DaysTo close each month’s payroll

Your institution, transformed

Everything connected

  1. Lecture pay from the timetable

    Guest and visiting faculty are paid from the lectures recorded against them, at the rate set for the department.

    Solved

  2. Revisions applied once

    An approved DA or pay revision is entered once, with its effective date, and every affected salary follows.

    Solved

  3. Attendance and leave already there

    Check-ins, biometric punches and approved leave are recorded against payroll, so loss of pay is worked out, not keyed in.

    Solved

  4. Splits on the staff record

    Salary shares charged to projects, programmes or campuses sit on the record and post to the right account each month.

    Solved

  • 1Record per staff member
  • 0Attendance sheets re-keyed
  • 1App for payslips, leave and check-in

Ready to make the switch? See how it works for your institution.

Academic pay structures without spreadsheet workarounds

Teaching pay is rarely one number. Pay levels, allowances, extra duties and per-lecture rates for guest faculty all work from data already held on the staff record and the timetable.

  • Pay structures by level or grade, with a DA or pay revision applied once to everyone it affects
  • Guest and visiting faculty paid per lecture or per hour from the classes recorded against them
  • Extra duties, allowances and one-off payments added as earning lines with their own dates

Deductions that calculate themselves

When provident fund, ESI, professional tax and income tax all read from the same salary and the declarations staff make, the month-end check becomes a review rather than a rebuild.

  • PF and ESI worked out at the rates and wage limits you configure
  • Professional tax by state, and TDS from each employee’s tax regime and declarations
  • Loans, salary advances and other recoveries deducted on schedule until cleared

Salary costs charged to the right project, programme and campus

When a salary is shared between a sponsored project, a self-financing programme and the institution’s own budget, the split belongs on the staff record, not in the accounts officer’s spreadsheet.

  • Salary, employer contributions and allowances shared across funding heads by percentage, each posting to its own account
  • Project balances checked before the run, with shares that would overspend flagged for a decision
  • Cost by department, programme, project and campus after every run, with journals exported to Tally or Zoho Books

Payroll management features

Everything you need to manage payroll effectively

  • Pay components

    Basic pay, allowances, extra duties and per-lecture rates on each staff record.

  • Pay levels & revisions

    Pay levels or grades, with revisions and arrears applied from their effective date.

  • Appointment types

    Permanent, contract, guest and visiting staff, each paid on its own basis.

  • Bank transfer file

    Net pay exported as a bank advice for the salary account on file.

  • Payslips in the app

    Staff see payslips, leave and check-ins in the app, with an email when salary is credited.

  • Payroll reports

    Cost by department, programme and campus, with journals exported to Tally or Zoho Books.

  • Approval before payment

    Each run is checked, flagged and approved before a bank file is produced.

  • Audit trail

    Every change to pay, deductions and approvals logged with who made it and the previous value.

Frequently asked questions

Get answers to common questions about payroll

How are staff on fixed-term contracts paid when they join or leave mid-month?

Each appointment records its type, start and end dates and pay basis. A person who joins or leaves mid-month is paid for the days in service, and a contract that ends stops being paid without anyone having to remember to remove it. When a contract is renewed at a new rate, pay changes from the renewal date.

Can we pay permanent staff, contract staff and guest faculty on different bases?

Yes. Permanent staff can be paid monthly on a pay structure, contract staff a fixed monthly amount, and guest or visiting faculty per lecture or per hour from the classes recorded against them. Each group can have its own cut-off and payment date, and someone paid on two bases in a month sees both on one payslip.

What happens when a project that funds part of a salary ends mid-month?

Each funding share on the staff record has a start and end date. If a project ends on the 15th, its share covers the days up to then and the replacement head picks up the rest. If no replacement has been named, the employee is flagged in the pre-run review so the share is assigned before salaries are paid.

What reports are available for PF, ESI and income tax filing?

Each run produces the monthly contribution statements for PF and ESI, professional tax registers, and the TDS figures needed for quarterly returns and annual tax certificates for staff. The file formats for the way you file today are agreed during discovery.

How are arrears handled when a pay revision is approved late?

The revision is entered with the date it takes effect. iVake works out the difference for every month since then, recalculates deductions on it, and pays the arrears as a separate line on the next payslip. Where the salary was shared across funding heads, the arrears follow the same shares, and the accounts receive entries for the months they relate to.

What stops a payroll error before money leaves the bank?

Every run goes through a review before it can be approved. It flags pay that changed by more than the threshold you set, new joiners without bank or tax details, deductions that do not match the staff record, missing attendance, and funding shares that would overspend a project. After approval, a comparison with last month by department and pay head shows what moved.

Does payroll use attendance from biometric devices and the staff app?

Yes. Punches from biometric and RFID devices, and check-ins from the staff app, which are refused outside the campus boundary you draw, are recorded against payroll. Approved leave updates the attendance register, so loss of pay is worked out from the record rather than a separate sheet.

How do staff receive their payslips?

Payslips are available in the staff app, and an email tells each person when their salary has been credited. Staff see only their own payslips, and financial information is restricted separately from the rest of the record.

  • Cloud, hosted in your region
  • REST API & webhooks
  • SSO: Google, Microsoft & SAML
  • Encrypted, backed up daily
  • Built for the DPDP Act
  • Full security details

More in finance & administration

Explore other features in this category

Ready to transform your payroll?

See how iVake pays staff from the attendance, leave and timetable records you already keep.

Try it free for 30 days. No credit card required.