📚 Tutorial 1 of 8

Tutorial 1: Account Setup and First Employee - CrmLeaf HRMS

🎯 Outcome: CrmLeaf HRMS live with your first employee, salary structure, and payroll settings configured

6 steps24–45 minCrmLeaf HRMS Admin
✓ Your progress0/6 steps complete
1

Configure your organisation

▶ Action

Set your company name, PAN, registered address, and financial year settings in Organisation Settings.

Why this matters: The organisation configuration drives your compliance filings — the company PAN appears on all TDS documents, and the financial year determines your Form 24Q and Form 16 dates. Getting this right before the first payroll run prevents amendments.
  1. Go to Settings › Organisation
  2. Enter company name, PAN, and registered address
  3. Select financial year: April to March (standard India)
  4. Set the working week (Monday–Friday, Sunday–Thursday for GCC, or custom)
  5. Upload company logo (appears on payslips)
  6. Click Save Organisation Settings
CrmLeaf Settings › Organisation › [Your company name saved] ✓
✓
Done when: Organisation name, PAN, and financial year are saved and visible on the Settings page.
2

Configure statutory compliance settings

▶ Action

Set up PF, ESIC, PT, and TDS settings for your company.

Why this matters: Statutory settings determine which compliance filings are generated and at what rates. India-specific: PF wage ceiling choice (₹15,000 cap or uncapped), ESIC applicability threshold, PT states for your office locations.
  1. Go to Settings › Payroll › Statutory
  2. PF: toggle on, set wage ceiling preference (capped at ₹15,000 or actual Basic+DA)
  3. ESIC: toggle on, confirm ₹21,000 wage ceiling is set
  4. Professional Tax: add each state where you have employees. Select state, confirm slab (pre-loaded)
  5. TDS: confirm default regime is new regime (employees can override via ESS)
  6. Click Save Statutory Settings
Settings › Payroll › Statutory › [PF: ON ✓ | ESIC: ON ✓ | PT States: configured ✓]
✓
Done when: Statutory settings saved. PF, ESIC, and PT are visible in the Payroll › Statutory configuration screen.
3

Create your salary structure template

▶ Action

Build the salary component template that will be used for all or most employees.

Why this matters: Salary structures in CrmLeaf define which pay components exist, their calculation basis, tax treatment, and PF/ESIC applicability. Creating one master template per grade or designation saves configuration time when adding employees.
  1. Go to Settings › Payroll › Salary Structures
  2. Click + New Salary Structure
  3. Name it (e.g. "Standard Staff", "Management Grade")
  4. Add components: Basic (% of CTC or fixed), HRA (% of Basic), Special Allowance (balance), LTA (annual fixed)
  5. Set each component's: PF applicability (yes/no), ESIC applicability (yes/no), Tax treatment
  6. Click Save Structure
Payroll › Salary Structures › [Standard Staff: Basic 45% + HRA 22.5% + Special Allowance saved ✓]
✓
Done when: Salary structure saved and visible in the Salary Structures list. At least one structure with Basic, HRA, and Special Allowance configured.
4

Add your first employee

▶ Action

Create an employee profile with personal, employment, and payroll details.

Why this matters: The employee profile is the master record that drives payroll, compliance, ESS, and reporting. Personal details (PAN, bank account, date of joining) are required for PF registration, TDS computation, and salary disbursement. Incomplete profiles create compliance gaps.
  1. Go to HRMS › Employees › Add Employee
  2. Personal details: name, date of birth, PAN, gender, mobile, email
  3. Employment details: department, designation, date of joining, employment type (permanent/contract/intern)
  4. Payroll: assign salary structure, set CTC/gross salary, set PF preference, add bank account (account number, IFSC, bank name)
  5. PF & ESIC: enter existing UAN if available; if new employee, CrmLeaf will flag UAN generation
  6. Click Save Employee
HRMS › Employees › [Employee name shown with status: Active ✓ | Onboarding checklist: UAN pending if new joiner]
✓
Done when: Employee profile saved. The employee appears in the Employees list. UAN generation reminder is visible in the onboarding checklist if UAN was not provided.
5

Activate Employee Self-Service for the employee

▶ Action

Send the ESS portal login to the new employee so they can access payslips, leave, and documents.

Why this matters: ESS activation gives the employee self-service access to their payslips, leave balance, attendance history, and IT declaration submission. Activating ESS immediately reduces future HR helpdesk queries from this employee.
  1. Open the employee profile
  2. Click Invite to Employee Self-Service
  3. Confirm the employee email address
  4. CrmLeaf sends a welcome email with login link and temporary password
  5. Employee logs in, changes password, and can access their portal immediately
Employee Profile › ESS Status: Active ✓ | Welcome email sent to [employee@email.com]
✓
Done when: Employee receives a welcome email with ESS portal login. The employee profile shows ESS status: Active.
6

Run a test calculation (optional but recommended)

▶ Action

Preview the payroll calculation for this employee before the first official payroll run.

Why this matters: Running a test calculation before the live payroll run lets you verify that salary components, PF/ESIC deductions, TDS, and net pay are all computing correctly for this employee profile.
  1. Go to Payroll › Payroll Runs › Preview
  2. Select the employee (or all employees if you have imported multiple)
  3. Select the payroll month
  4. Click Calculate Preview
  5. Review: Gross salary, PF employee + employer, ESIC employee + employer, TDS, PT, net pay
  6. If all figures match your expectation, the salary structure is correctly configured
Payroll › Preview › [Employee: ₹38,500 gross | PF: ₹4,800 | TDS: ₹1,250 | Net: ₹32,450 ✓]
✓
Done when: Preview payroll shows the correct gross salary, all statutory deductions, and net pay for the employee. No errors shown in the exceptions panel.

✓ Tutorial 1 complete!

You have completed this tutorial. Your next step: Tutorial 2: Run your first India payroll

Next Tutorial →
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Tutorial 2
Run your first India payroll
Complete first payroll with PF ECR, ESIC challan, TDS, and Tally sync
Tutorial 3
Set up shift roster and attendance
Shift templates, employee assignments, and daily attendance tracking live
Tutorial 4
File PF and ESIC challans
PF ECR downloaded and ESIC challan uploaded to statutory portals
Steps

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