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Read pay the same way everywhere: CTC, gross pay, deductions and take-home

GrowthPPL uses four pay terms on every screen, payslip and letter, and always says whether a figure is monthly or annual. Here is what each one means, how they fit together, and a worked example.

Who can do thisAnyone who reads or sets pay. Changing how your workspace agrees pay, or how a CTC is typed, needs compensation or payroll rights.

On this page
  1. Before you start
  2. Steps
  3. Know the four terms
  4. Read the ladder
  5. Work through the Kerala example
  6. Choose how your workspace agrees pay
  7. Let the wrong-period check help you
  8. What to check
  9. Rule versions
  10. Related guides

Before you start

  • Every figure is stored and worked out a month. Monthly or Annual only changes how it is typed and shown, and a figure is never labelled just CTC: it is always Monthly CTC or Annual CTC.
  • Your workspace decides how pay is agreed (gross pay or CTC) and how a CTC is typed (monthly or annual). Both are under Compensation, on the Salary structure tab.

Steps

  1. Know the four terms

    CTC (cost to company) is gross pay plus what the company pays on top: employer PF, employer ESIC, employer LWF, and the gratuity provision when your workspace counts it in CTC. It is always shown as Monthly CTC or Annual CTC.

    Gross pay is everything the employee earns before deductions: Basic, HRA and every allowance. Deductions are employee PF, ESIC, professional tax, LWF, income tax (TDS), and salary advances or other recoveries.

    Take-home pay is what reaches the bank each month: gross pay minus deductions. Where income tax isn't worked out, it says before income tax.

  2. Read the ladder

    Wherever pay is entered or reviewed, the three figures appear as a ladder: Annual CTC (and Monthly CTC) → Monthly gross pay → Monthly take-home. They come from the same statutory rules a pay run uses, never from a separate calculation.

    Tap Monthly or Annual on the ladder, or beside any CTC, to switch. The figures convert in place, and GrowthPPL remembers your choice on your device. The workspace's own setting stays the default for everyone else.

  3. Work through the Kerala example

    All figures are in rupees. Gross pay is 50,000 a month, split Basic 50%, HRA 20%, Special 20%, Conveyance 10%; the site is in Kerala. PF is 3,000 from the employee and 3,000 from the employer. ESIC is 0, because the gross is above the ESI limit. Professional tax is 208, and LWF is 50 from each side.

    Monthly take-home is 50,000 − 3,000 − 208 − 50 = 46,742, before income tax. Monthly CTC is 50,000 + 3,000 + 50 = 53,050, so Annual CTC is 6,36,600.

    If your workspace counts the gratuity provision in CTC, 4.81% of Basic is added on the employer side. PF administration and EDLI charges are paid by the employer too, but they sit outside the CTC.

  4. Choose how your workspace agrees pay

    In How you agree pay, choose Gross pay or CTC (cost to company). Each pay screen and the salary sheet say which one your workspace uses in a one-line banner.

    In Type CTC as, choose Monthly or Annual. New workspaces in India start on Annual, because offers there are agreed as a yearly CTC. Changing it moves nobody's pay, and the change is recorded in the audit log.

  5. Let the wrong-period check help you

    If you type a figure about 12 times someone's current pay into a monthly field, or more than 10 lakh rupees a month, GrowthPPL asks whether you meant an annual figure. One click switches it. It never blocks you.

    In the bulk salary sheet, a row whose new figure is about 12 times the pay now, or about a twelfth of it in an annual column, is left out until you fix it or confirm it on the row.

What to check

  • No figure on a screen, payslip or letter is labelled just CTC: each one says Monthly CTC or Annual CTC.
  • Payslips show an Employer contributions section leading to CTC, and the ladder line prints both Monthly and Annual CTC.
  • Hover over or focus the ⓘ beside any term to read its one-line definition.

Rule versions

This guide follows the India rules in force today, read from the same rule pack payroll uses (pack IN-2026.10.3). Each pay run records the version it used.

SchemeRule versionEffective fromLast checkedStatus
Employees' Provident Fund
IN-PF-2026.09

Code on Social Security 2020 s.2(89): wage ceiling ₹25,000 a month for Chapter III (EPF, EPS, EDLI) by Notification S.O. 5109(E) of 17 Sep 2026, Ministry of Labour and Employment, F. No. R-12025/01/2026-SS-II (Gazette of India Extraordinary No. 4918), superseding S.O. 2702(E) of 29 May 2026. EPS 8.33% and EDLI 0.5% on wages up to ₹25,000 and rates unchanged per the EPFO FAQ (secondary quotes). Priced by the period's last day, so all of September 2026 is on ₹25,000 — the FAQ splits the month at the 17th.

17 Sep 202612 Oct 2026Source checked
Employees' State Insurance
IN-ESI-2019.07

ESI (Central) Amendment Rules 2019, G.S.R. 423(E); wage limit Rule 50 as amended 2016 (w.e.f. 1 Jan 2017)

01 Jul 201906 Sep 2026Source checked
  • Professional tax: a rule for each of 22 states, last checked 12 Oct 2026. Review pending 16 are marked for review.
  • Labour welfare fund: a rule for each of 16 states, last checked 12 Oct 2026. Review pending 6 are marked for review.

See every state's rule version on the India payroll page

Last reviewed

Try it on the demo workspace

We walk you through it on a workspace with fictional people, then set up yours with you.

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