Advances are where it goes wrong
A staff member takes two thousand on the eighth and fifteen hundred on the twentieth, both from the counter, both agreed verbally. At month end one person remembers three and a half thousand and the other remembers two. Recording an advance when it is given takes seconds and means the monthly salary already accounts for it, with both amounts and their dates printed on the slip. That single habit removes most salary disputes in a small shop.
Built from attendance
Present days, absences, half days and any overtime come from the attendance record rather than being recalled. The monthly figure is calculated from the agreed salary and those days, with advances and deductions applied. Because the same record produced both sides, there is nothing to reconcile — the staff member is looking at exactly the days you are.
A slip that shows the working
The slip lists the monthly salary, days present and absent, advances with their dates, deductions and the net payable. Handing that over instead of an amount changes the conversation, because it can be checked. It also gives you a record of what was paid and when, which matters more than shops expect the day somebody leaves and disputes their final month.
Where it stops
There is no PF or ESI calculation, no statutory return and no complex CTC structure, because a five-person hardware shop does not have those and adding them would only make the software harder. Agreed salary, attendance, advances, deductions, slip. For shops that do need statutory payroll, your CA works from these figures.
Full and final settlement
The month that actually causes trouble is the last one. Somebody leaves, and both sides have a different figure in mind because an advance from four months ago was never adjusted or a notice period was assumed rather than agreed. Running the final salary from the same record — days worked, advances outstanding, deductions — produces a slip that shows the whole working, and handing that over settles almost every case on the spot. Keep the record after they have gone; the dispute that arrives six months later is answered from it.