Statutory Compliance Audit Checklist
A payroll compliance audit you can actually evidence — each item verifiable against a challan, a return or a register, including the ESI-ceiling and PF-ceiling traps that are opposite to each other.
Free · No sign-up · Nothing leaves your browser · Figures reviewed 22 September 2026
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Ticking boxes here is for working through the list on screen — it is not saved anywhere, and it is not carried into the printed or downloaded copy, which always comes out blank.
Statutory compliance audit
A month-by-month verification, not a policy review. Each item is something you can evidence with a challan, a return or a register.
0 of 37 done
Provident fund
ESI
Professional tax
Income tax
Wages and registers
Reconciliation
A verification aid, not an assurance engagement. Findings should be confirmed against the underlying challans, returns and registers.
This is a verification exercise, not a policy review. Every item is something you can prove with a document, which is what an audit needs and what a checklist of good intentions cannot give you.
Two items are worth reading twice. Provident fund's ceiling is a cap; ESI's ceiling is a gate with no cap on contribution. They are opposite rules and they are the most frequently reversed pair in Indian payroll.
Frequently asked questions
- What does a payroll compliance audit check?
- That statutory deductions were computed on the right base, remitted by the due date, filed in the right returns, and that all four reconcile — payroll register to bank payments, deductions to challans, headcount to the statutory returns.
- What is the most common payroll compliance error in India?
- Capping ESI contribution at the ₹21,000 ceiling. The ceiling decides whether someone is covered; once they are, contribution is due on total wages with no cap. Provident fund is the opposite — there the ceiling genuinely is a cap.
- How often should a payroll compliance audit be run?
- The monthly reconciliation items every month, and the full audit annually. The expensive errors are the ones that repeat quietly for a year before anyone looks.
About this tool
Built by the ViniOffice team. Figures and rules last reviewed 22 September 2026 against the statutory reference this team maintains. Indian statutory rates are date-effective and change by notification — confirm against the current one before running payroll or filing. A verification aid, not an assurance engagement. Findings should be confirmed against the underlying challans, returns and registers.
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