Quick answer: Security agencies and facility-management firms pay large, rotating headcounts across many client sites, so they need site-wise attendance, statutory deductions and clean salary files. greytHR is a mature payroll-first HRMS with published pricing, Pocket HRMS is a lower-cost option with published plans, and TankhaPay leans towards payroll and compliance outsourcing for multi-state workforces. Compare statutory handling and site-wise reports in a live demo before buying.
What makes this payroll harder than a normal office
A security or housekeeping contractor runs a different payroll from a software company. Guards and cleaners are posted at client premises, shift patterns change, and a worker may be moved from one site to another in the middle of a month. The client pays you on a billing cycle, but your people expect wages on a fixed date, so any delay in attendance data lands directly on your cash flow.
Add statutory layers: provident fund, ESI, professional tax in states that levy it, bonus, and deductions for uniforms or advances. Rules differ by state. That is why the first question to ask any vendor is how it keeps statutory settings current, and the second is how attendance from many sites reaches the payroll run.
For general HR comparison beyond this niche, see our payroll software category.
A payroll month in a 300-guard agency
Picture the month-end week. Supervisors at forty client sites mark attendance. Someone at head office collects it, resolves absences and double-shifts, calculates overtime, and prepares the PF and ESI numbers. Then comes the bank file and payslips. Typical failure points are late site sheets, mismatched overtime and last-minute site transfers.
What you want from software is fewer hand-offs: attendance captured at the site, rolled up by site and client, sent to payroll with rules applied, and statutory outputs generated from the same data. How much of this a given product does varies, so compare against the features below.
greytHR: payroll-first with published prices
greytHR's website describes a platform covering recruitment and onboarding, payroll, attendance (biometric, GPS, GeoMark+ and VISAGE face recognition), leave, performance, expenses, exit management and an HR help desk. On payroll, it says it auto-computes PF, ESI, PT, LWF and TDS across all 28 states, applies automatic statutory updates, and supports one-click payroll closing and direct government portal filing. It says it serves 33,000+ companies across 30+ countries and mentions a 2 to 4 week go-live timeline for implementation.
Per the vendor's pricing page (checked October 2026), Essential costs ₹2,495 per month for a base of 50 employees plus ₹45 per additional employee, and Growth costs ₹4,495 per month for 50 employees plus ₹85 per additional employee. Attendance management is added at the Growth tier according to that page. Optional add-ons include GPS live tracking at ₹140 per user per month and expense management at ₹35 per user per month. Premium is quoted. The page also mentions a 7-day free trial.
Fit: an agency with a stable HR or accounts team that wants strong statutory automation and a mobile app for employees. Watch-out: GPS live tracking is a paid add-on, and at ₹140 per user it adds up if you apply it to every guard, so use it only for supervisors or roving staff.
Pocket HRMS: smaller teams, published slabs
Pocket HRMS lists HRMS, attendance with smart remote capture, leave, an employee self-service portal, 50+ built-in reports, payroll it calls "smHRt Payroll", expense reimbursement, full and final settlement automation, appraisals, recruitment and a multilingual mobile app. On compliance it says cloud-based updates incorporate changes to PF, ESI and tax rules. It says it serves "2,000+ companies".
Per the vendor's pricing page (checked October 2026), the Standard plan is ₹2,995 for up to 50 employees with ₹60 per additional employee, and the Professional plan is ₹4,495 for up to 50 employees with ₹90 per additional employee.
Fit: a growing local agency of 50 to 150 people that wants one tool for attendance, payroll and slips at a predictable price. The multilingual app can help when site supervisors are more comfortable in a regional language, but check which languages are supported. The vendor's website does not detail site-wise or client-wise grouping, so test that in the demo.
TankhaPay: payroll and compliance as a service
TankhaPay calls itself an "all-in-one HR infrastructure platform" combining HRMS, payroll, compliance, recruitment and employer-of-record services. Its site lists attendance with geofencing and facial recognition, leave and shift management, payroll, performance, self-service, an applicant tracking system, and payroll and compliance outsourcing covering PF, ESI, professional tax and TDS. It says it is trusted by 1,000+ businesses and names clients including DLF, Delhivery and Blue Dart. Pricing is not displayed on the vendor's website.
Fit: an agency that does not want to run compliance in-house, or that operates across several states and prefers to hand over statutory filings. Watch-out: outsourcing means you depend on the provider's turnaround at month end, so agree service levels in writing.
Comparison table
| greytHR | Pocket HRMS | TankhaPay | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Software, payroll-first | Software, small and mid teams | Software plus compliance outsourcing |
| Attendance options | Biometric, GPS, face recognition | Smart remote capture | Geofencing, facial recognition |
| Statutory | PF, ESI, PT, LWF, TDS (per vendor) | PF, ESI, tax updates | PF, ESI, PT, TDS services |
| Published price | From ₹2,495/month (50 staff) | From ₹2,995 (50 staff) | Not published |
What to check in a demo
- Site and client grouping. Can you see headcount and cost per client site, because that is how you bill?
- Transfers mid-month. Does a guard moved on the 14th get paid and counted correctly?
- Overtime and double shifts. Can you set rules that match your client contracts?
- Statutory outputs. Ask to see the PF and ESI files and the PT handling for the states you work in.
- Bank file. Confirm the format your bank accepts.
- Employee access. Payslips on a phone reduce "where is my slip" calls.
Do not rely on the vendor's statement alone; ask to see a sample file for a state you operate in. For wider reading, our guide to payroll software with pricing and the HRMS and payroll guide for logistics firms cover related workforces.
A simple rollout plan
Start with payroll for head-office staff for one month, since it is the least risky. In month two, add the largest client site and run attendance in parallel with your existing sheet. In month three, move all sites, switch off the old sheets and lock a cut-off date for site attendance, say the 25th, so payroll has time to close. Keep your accountant or compliance consultant in the loop for the first statutory filing.
Who should look elsewhere
If attendance is the weak link rather than payroll, add a dedicated tool from the attendance software category.
If you have fewer than ten employees, a spreadsheet plus a basic payroll tool may do. If your main need is purely guard tracking and patrol rounds, a dedicated guard-management tool will serve you better than an HRMS. And if you run a very large national workforce, a bigger platform such as PeopleStrong may suit better, though you should expect a quote-based sale.
Contract terms worth negotiating
Whichever vendor you pick, ask for the per-employee rate at your actual headcount including seasonal peaks, the cost of add-ons you will really use, and whether statutory updates are included in the subscription. Ask what happens to your data if you leave, and in what format you can export payslips and statutory records.
FAQs
Which payroll software is best for a security agency in India?
There is no single best. greytHR suits payroll-led agencies with published pricing, Pocket HRMS suits smaller teams on a tight budget, and TankhaPay suits agencies that want compliance handled for them. Shortlist two, run a month in parallel and compare.
Does payroll software handle PF and ESI automatically?
The vendors in this guide say it does. greytHR says it auto-computes PF, ESI, PT, LWF and TDS, and Pocket HRMS says statutory updates are applied through cloud releases. You should still review the first month's challans with your consultant.
Can I track guards across different client sites?
Attendance with GPS, geofencing or face recognition is listed by greytHR and TankhaPay. Whether reports group by client site depends on setup, so ask for a live demonstration of exactly that report.
How much does payroll software cost for 100 employees?
Using the vendor-published slabs, greytHR Essential works out to ₹2,495 plus 50 times ₹45, and Pocket HRMS Standard to ₹2,995 plus 50 times ₹60, per month, before taxes and add-ons. Check the current page before budgeting, as prices change.
Is TankhaPay software or a service?
Its site describes both, with HRMS and payroll software and also outsourced payroll, compliance and employer-of-record services. Ask which you are buying so that responsibilities are clear.
Next step: get a free matched shortlist, or compare more in payroll software.
