Track staff attendance and salary without a register

If you employ even a handful of people — in a shop, a workshop, a clinic or a small factory — the month-end salary calculation is a headache. You count present days from a register, subtract leaves, guess the overtime, and hope the maths is right. A digital attendance record removes most of that: mark attendance daily, and the monthly salary is worked out from what you marked.

What to track each day

Good attendance records come down to a few simple statuses per person, per day:

Present — a full working day.
Half-day — counts as half, for salary purposes.
Absent — no pay for the day (unless it’s paid leave).
Leave — decide in advance whether it is paid or unpaid.
Holiday / week-off — so you don’t accidentally dock pay.
Overtime hours — extra hours worked beyond the normal day.

Noting in and out times helps too: when a dispute about lateness or overtime comes up, a written time settles it.

Monthly salary or daily wage?

Most shop staff in India are paid a fixed monthly salary, with deductions for unpaid absences. Helpers, loaders and casual workers are often on a daily wage instead: they are paid only for the days they work. Be clear with each person which one applies, because it changes how every absence and holiday is counted.

30 days or actual days? The question that causes most disputes

To deduct for an absence, you need a per-day rate. There are two common ways to get it from a monthly salary:

Fixed 30-day basis: monthly salary ÷ 30, every month. An absent day costs the same in every month.
Actual-days basis: monthly salary ÷ the number of days in that month (28, 29, 30 or 31).

Pick one and use it every month. The trap with the 30-day method is multiplying it by present days in a 31-day month: a worker with no absences would “earn” 31 × ₹400 = ₹12,400 on a ₹12,000 salary. When you use the 30-day rate, start from the full salary and subtract the unpaid days instead.

Worked example (a 31-day month): Monthly salary ₹12,000. Four Sundays are weekly offs. The worker has 25 present days, 1 half-day and 1 unpaid absence (25 + 1 + 1 + 4 = 31). Unpaid time = 1 absence + half of the half-day = 1.5 days.
30-day basis: ₹12,000 ÷ 30 = ₹400 a day. Salary = ₹12,000 − (1.5 × ₹400) = ₹11,400.
Actual-days basis: ₹12,000 ÷ 31 = ₹387.10 a day. Payable days = 25 + 0.5 + 4 = 29.5. Salary = 29.5 × ₹387.10 = ₹11,419.
Small differences like this are exactly what workers notice, so tell them which method you use.

Half-days, week-offs and leave

Half-day: agree what it means — for example, leaving before lunch or arriving after it — and write the rule down.
Weekly off: for monthly-salaried staff, the weekly off is normally paid, so mark it as a week-off rather than leaving it blank. A blank day is easily read as an absence at month-end.
Festival holidays: list the closed days at the start of the year, so nobody argues later whether they were paid.
Paid leave: decide how many paid leave days each person gets a year; anything beyond that is marked absent.

Overtime, advances and deductions

Overtime needs an agreed rule before anyone works it: how many hours make a normal day, and what one extra hour is paid. A common approach is to work out an hourly rate (per-day rate ÷ normal working hours) and pay overtime hours at that rate or more. Record OT hours on the day, not as a lump sum at month-end.

Advances are the biggest source of month-end arguments. Record every advance the same day with its amount and date, and show it on the salary sheet when you deduct it. If a large advance is recovered over several months, note how much is left.

Other deductions (for a breakage, or a loan) should be agreed with the worker first and written down.

Minimum wages and the law

Minimum wages in India are notified by each state government (and by the Centre for some kinds of work), and they differ by state, by type of work and by skill level. They are also revised from time to time. Before fixing a salary, check the current notified rates on your state labour department’s website, or ask your accountant. Working hours, weekly holidays and overtime pay for shops are also covered by your state’s shops and establishments rules, which vary too.

Do it on your phone

Add your staff with their monthly salary, and set your shop’s weekly off day.
Mark attendance daily — present, half-day, absent, leave, holiday or week-off. One button marks everyone present; then change the exceptions.
Log overtime as it happens, along with in and out times if you track them.
Enter advances, bonuses and deductions on the date they are given.
Review the month’s salary sheet — payable days, overtime, advances and net pay for each person.
Send each worker their payslip on WhatsApp, and keep a printed or downloaded copy of the month.

Rozana — Staff Attendance & SalaryDaily attendance, overtime and monthly salary. Free. Open →

A few things to know about how Rozana calculates, so its numbers match what you expect. It uses the actual-days method: monthly salary ÷ days in that month. It pays present days, leave, holidays and week-offs, and half of each half-day — so if a leave is unpaid, mark that day as absent. Overtime is paid at the hourly rate of an 8-hour day (per-day rate ÷ 8); if you have agreed a different OT rate with someone, add the difference as a bonus entry. It is built around a monthly salary, so it suits salaried staff better than daily-wage workers. Staff can also check themselves in from their own phone with a selfie and location, if you turn that on.

Pay with a trail, and keep a signed record

Pay by UPI or bank transfer where you can. The transaction is a record of the date and amount that neither side has to remember. For cash, get each payment acknowledged.
Keep a monthly sheet showing days, overtime, advances and net pay for each person. Print it or download it, and ask each worker to sign against their line, or reply “OK” to the payslip on WhatsApp.
Store the records for a few years, not a few months.

Tips for fair, drama-free payroll

Mark attendance every day, not at month-end from memory — accuracy builds trust.
Agree the rules upfront: what counts as a half-day, how overtime is paid, leave policy.
Give each worker their salary sheet — showing the working removes disputes.

Frequently asked

Should the weekly off be paid?

For monthly-salaried staff it usually is: the monthly salary covers the whole month, including the weekly off. For daily-wage workers it usually isn’t. Whatever you decide, say it clearly when you hire, and check your state’s shops and establishments rules.

A worker joined on the 10th. How do I pay the first month?

Count only the days from the 10th onwards. With the actual-days method, that is the per-day rate × payable days from the joining date.