Questions and answers
Short answers to what owners and HR teams ask us most. For prices, see pricing.
About the product
Who is AntAI Payroll for?
Indian companies with about 10 to 150 employees that run payroll in Excel or Tally today, and owners who want salary data to stay in their office.
Does it need the internet?
No, not for daily work. Payroll, reports and payslips all work offline. The app goes online now and then for a short licence check, and to look for updates.
Does it handle the new tax regime?
Yes. TDS is worked out under both the old and the new regime, with 87A rebate, surcharge and cess. A report compares the two regimes for each employee.
Does it calculate ESI?
Not yet. The app stores whether ESI applies to an employee, but it does not calculate ESIC. If you have staff covered by ESI, AntAI Payroll is not the right fit yet.
Can my staff see payslips on their phone?
There is no employee app. Payslips are password-protected PDFs. The app prepares an e-mail in Outlook with the payslip attached, and you press Send. The PDF password is the first 5 letters of the employee's PAN plus their date of birth as DDMM.
Does it pay salaries or file returns?
No. It prepares the bank transfer file, PF ECR file, 24Q data and Form 16 Part B. You upload them to your bank, EPFO or the TDS portal.
Does it work with attendance machines?
Not directly. Enter attendance and LOP by hand, or upload them from Excel or CSV.
Can I bring in my existing employee list?
Yes. Import it from Excel. Payroll inputs such as LOP and bonuses can be uploaded from Excel or CSV too, with a red and amber preview before anything is saved.
Data and security
Where is my data kept?
On your PC, in a data folder you choose at setup. The database is encrypted with AES-256.
Can AntAI see my data?
No. Employee and salary data is never sent to us, and we have no way to decrypt it. See security and the privacy policy.
What if I forget my password?
On the sign-in screen, choose "Forgot password? Use recovery key" and set a new password. If you lose both your password and your recovery key, and no other user can sign in, the data cannot be recovered.
What if my laptop is stolen?
The database and backups are encrypted, so a thief cannot read them without a password or the recovery key. Turn on BitLocker too, because exported files are not encrypted by the app.
How do backups work?
An encrypted backup is made each day you sign in, and before locking a payroll month or importing data. Point backups to an external drive in Settings > Backup. Also keep a monthly copy of the whole data folder on an offline drive.
PCs and users
Can two HR people use it?
Yes, each person can have their own user and password on the PC. There are no user roles yet, so every user can see and change everything.
Can two PCs share the same data?
No. There is no network or shared-database mode. One PC should hold your payroll.
I run payroll for several companies. Is one licence enough?
No. Each licence covers one company.
How do I move to a new PC?
On the old PC, close the app and copy the whole data folder to an external drive. On the new PC, install AntAI Payroll, activate it for your company, and open the copied folder. Then use Settings > Subscription > Deactivate on the old PC to free its licence. If you need help, write to support.
Windows says "Windows protected your PC". Is that safe?
Our installer is not code-signed yet, so Windows shows this warning. If you downloaded it from this site, click More info, then Run anyway. You can check the file first with its SHA-256. See download.
How do I update?
The app checks for updates when it starts, and in Settings > Updates. A backup is taken first, and your data, licence and settings are kept.
Try it with your own employees
Install AntAI Payroll, import your employee list from Excel and run one full month. The trial is free for 10 days, with every feature. No card needed.