Travel agencies
Payroll software for travel companies and tour operators
Pay the booking counter, the drivers on your rolls and the escorts hired for the season from one monthly run, with days on tour counted, advances recovered and payslips on every phone.
In short
SimpleERP is payroll software for travel companies in India. Attendance and leave feed a monthly run that pro-rates seasonal tour escorts, recovers salary advances, deducts PF and professional tax and posts salaries to the books.
Illustration of a payslip with Basic, HRA, provident fund and professional tax lines and net pay of ₹27,660.
A payroll day at Vaigai Holidays
Vaigai Holidays has nine people on the rolls all year: four at the booking counter taking every enquiry and hotel booking, two in accounts and three drivers for its own tempo traveller and two Innovas. Between October and January it adds three tour escorts who travel with pilgrimage groups and are let go when the season ends.
An escort who joins on 12 October and spends nine days on a Sabarimala tour still has to be paid correctly for a part month. One driver took a ₹15,000 advance for his daughter's school fees, to be recovered at ₹2,500 a month. Salary day is the 7th, and the owner wants it done in an afternoon.
Salary structure
What goes into a travel company's salary structure?
Most agencies use a short structure: Basic, HRA and an allowance, with PF and professional tax where they apply. A daily tour allowance for escorts on the road can be its own component, added to the payslip for the days they travelled.
| Component | Counter executive | Tour escort (seasonal) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | ₹12,000 | ₹9,000 |
| HRA | ₹4,800 | ₹3,600 |
| Tour allowance | None | Added per run for days on tour |
| PF (employee share) | Deducted where it applies | Deducted where it applies |
| Professional tax (Tamil Nadu) | As per the slab | As per the slab |
Illustration of a payslip with Basic, HRA, provident fund and professional tax lines and net pay of ₹27,660.
Attendance
How are days away on a tour counted?
An escort on a pilgrimage tour is working, not absent. Mark those days present or work from home on the daily sheet, or let the escort check in from the phone on the road; payroll then counts them as paid days without anyone keeping a separate register.
- Check in from the phone through employee self-service, wherever the group is.
- Half days and leave counted at the right fraction in the run.
- Night shifts that cross midnight stay on the day they started.
Illustration of the daily attendance sheet on a phone with a Mark all present button.
Seasonal staff
How do we pay escorts who join mid-month and leave after the season?
Add the escort with a joining date and the run pro-rates their first month automatically. When the season ends, record the termination date on the employee; the record, payslips and attendance stay on file for next year.
- Joining mid-month pro-rated by paid days over working days.
- Salary advance recovered in fixed monthly amounts until settled.
- Bonus or arrears added to a payslip before you approve the run.
- Payroll journal posting salaries, PF and PT payable to the ledger.
One system
Where payroll connects
Attendance and leave feed the run; the approved run posts salaries and statutory dues to the ledger, and drivers' fuel and toll claims come through expenses.
Travel agencies
Enquiries to quotations, SAC-coded package invoices, advances held on account and hotel payables in one ledger.
See howAccounting for travel agencies
Customer advances, hotel and transporter payables, commission income and the month-end checks on one ledger.
See howGST billing for travel agencies
Tour package and booking fee invoices with SAC codes, the 5% or 18% option, and advances applied to the bill.
See howPayroll
Salary structures, monthly runs and payslips with PF, PT and TDS, posted to the books.
See how
Honest limits
What payroll for travel agencies leaves out
- Income tax (TDS) is not computed; you set the deduction per employee
- No preset ESI or gratuity; add them as components where they apply
- No biometric device integration: attendance is marked on the phone or entered by HR
- No per-trip or per-tour pay calculation: a tour allowance is entered on the run, not worked out from bookings
- No GPS or route tracking for drivers and escorts
Getting started
Start with payroll
Sign up with your phone
Name, phone number and a password. No card for the seven-day trial, and email is optional.
Tell us about the business
Type your GSTIN and the state fills itself. Accounts, GST rates, units, roles and numbering are seeded for you.
Add your people
Add the counter team, drivers and seasonal tour escorts with their joining dates and salary structures, and invite them to self-service by phone.
Run the first payroll
Attendance and leave feed the run; payslips post to the books and staff see them on their phones.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Can a tour escort see their own payslip?
Yes. Invite them to employee self-service by phone. They see their own attendance, leave, payslips and claims and nothing else in the business.
How do drivers claim fuel and toll money spent on a tour?
They submit an expense claim from their phone with a receipt photo. It goes from submit to approve to reimburse, and each step posts to the books separately from salary.
Do we have to deduct PF for a three-month escort?
That depends on your establishment's PF coverage and the escort's wages, so confirm with your CA. In SimpleERP PF is a component you include or leave out per salary structure.
Can we pay an escort a tour allowance only for the months they travelled?
Yes. Add the allowance on the payslip in that month's run before you approve it, as a bonus line. Months without a tour simply leave it out.
Related
Keep reading
Travel agencies
Enquiries to quotations, SAC-coded package invoices, advances held on account and hotel payables in one ledger.
Read moreAccounting for travel agencies
Customer advances, hotel and transporter payables, commission income and the month-end checks on one ledger.
Read moreGST billing for travel agencies
Tour package and booking fee invoices with SAC codes, the 5% or 18% option, and advances applied to the bill.
Read more
See how payroll works in SimpleERP for travel agencies
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