Why a proper attendance register matters
Attendance decides how much each employee is paid, how much leave they have left and, at exit, how much leave is encashed. It is also a statutory record: state Shops and Establishments Acts and the labour codes expect employers to keep registers of attendance, leave and wages and to produce them on inspection. A clear monthly register that ties into payroll saves arguments at month-end and at audit.
How the register works
Choose the month and the sheet fills in the dates and weekdays. Weekly offs (one or two days a week, as you set) and the holidays on your list are greyed out and counted automatically, so you only mark working days. The codes are P (present), A (absent – loss of pay), HD (half day – half a day's loss of pay), CL, SL and EL (paid leave) and OD (on duty or working from home).
For each employee the register counts every code and the unmarked working days, which are highlighted so nothing is missed. Paid days are the days in the month less absent days and half of the half days; weekly offs, holidays and paid leave are all paid.
Leave entitlement and carry forward
Leave rules come from your state's Shops and Establishments Act or the factory rules, and from your own policy – so the entitlements for casual, sick and earned leave are inputs. Under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, workers who have worked 180 days in a year earn one day of annual leave for every 20 days worked, can carry forward up to 30 days, and can encash accumulated leave on leaving. The Pro edition tracks balances through the year and shows the carry-forward and encashable earned leave for each employee.
Feeding payroll
The Month Summary gives LOP days and paid days per employee – exactly what the Salary Sheet & Payroll Register template needs. Copy the LOP days across, and the payroll pro-rates pay automatically.
Before you run payroll, check two things in the summary: the 'Unmarked' column should be zero for everyone, and each employee's days should add up to the days in the month – the summary flags any row that doesn't. Fixing a missed day before salaries are paid is far easier than recovering an overpayment later.
Free vs Pro
The free edition is a complete monthly register you can reuse by changing the month. The Pro edition holds the whole financial year – twelve monthly sheets from April to March – with a leave balance that updates as leave is marked and a year summary of paid days and loss of pay for every employee.
Written by Prakash Bagchi, finance professional and founder of PB Lab. Last reviewed .