Attendance Register Format for Small Businesses (2026): Columns, Codes and Salary Calculation

Every business with employees needs an attendance record. For many small businesses — shops, workshops, clinics, schools, factories — that's still a paper register at the entrance or an Excel sheet on the accountant's computer. It's simple and familiar. But an attendance register isn't just a habit: it's the basis for salary, the evidence in any dispute, and a record that labour inspectors can ask to see.

This guide shows you the format of a good attendance register, the columns to include, how to calculate paid days and salary from it, the mistakes that cost money, and when it's time to move from a register to attendance software.

General guidance as of 30 September 2026. Prescribed register formats vary by state and law — check the requirements that apply to your establishment.

The short answer

• A good attendance register records, for each employee and each day: present, absent, leave (type), half day, weekly off or holiday — and ideally in and out times.
• At month-end, it gives you paid days and loss-of-pay days, which decide salary.
• Keep it consistent — the same codes, filled in daily, signed or verified by a supervisor.
• Labour laws require attendance and wage records to be maintained; the labour codes allow them to be kept electronically.
• Move to software once you have more than 15–20 employees, multiple locations or a biometric machine.

A standard attendance register format

A monthly register usually has one row per employee and one column per day.

Header: establishment name, month and year, department (optional).

Employee columns:

Column	Example
S. No.	1
Employee code	EMP-014
Name	Ramesh Kumar
Designation	Machine operator
Days 1 to 31	P, A, CL, SL, EL, HD, WO, H, LOP
Total present	22
Paid leave	2
Weekly offs and holidays	5
Loss-of-pay days	1
Paid days	29
Supervisor's initials

Attendance codes to use

Code	Meaning	Paid?
P	Present	Yes
A	Absent without leave	No (as per policy)
HD	Half day	Half
CL	Casual leave	Yes, if balance available
SL	Sick leave	Yes, if balance available
EL	Earned / privilege leave	Yes, if balance available
LOP	Leave without pay	No
WO	Weekly off	Yes
H	Holiday	Yes
CO	Comp off	Yes
OD	On duty (client visit, travel)	Yes

Stick to the same codes every month and write them at the bottom of the register.

Adding in and out times

For factories, shops and anywhere with fixed hours, add check-in and check-out times — either in the same register (two small columns per day) or a separate daily register. Times let you:

• Identify late arrivals and early exits.
• Calculate hours worked, which you'll need for overtime.
• Resolve disputes about whether someone was present.

How to calculate paid days and salary

Paid days = days in the month − loss-of-pay days − absent days (if unpaid under your policy) − half the half days (if unpaid)

Salary for the month = monthly salary × paid days ÷ days in the month

(Some companies divide by 26 or 30; follow your policy consistently.)

Worked example

Ramesh earns ₹18,000 a month. In September (30 days), his register shows:

• 22 P, 1 HD, 2 CL (with balance), 4 WO, 1 A

Paid days = 30 − 1 (absent) − 0.5 (half day) = 28.5 Salary = ₹18,000 × 28.5 ÷ 30 = ₹17,100

Then apply PF on basic earned, ESI on gross earned (he's covered at ₹18,000), and any other deductions.

Common attendance register mistakes

1. Filled in at month-end from memory instead of daily.
2. Inconsistent codes — "L", "Lv", "CL" and "leave" all used for the same thing.
3. Leave marked without a balance check, so an employee is paid for leave they didn't have.
4. No in and out times, so late marks and overtime can't be proven.
5. Corrections without a record — overwriting instead of noting who corrected what and why.
6. Register and payroll don't match, because someone retyped the totals wrongly.
7. Registers lost or damaged — paper doesn't survive well in workshops.

Paper register vs Excel vs software

	Paper register	Excel sheet	Attendance software
Cost	Very low	Free	Per employee per month
Daily effort	Manual entry	Manual entry	Automatic from biometric or mobile check-in
In and out times	Handwritten	Typed	Recorded automatically
Leave balances	Separate notebook	Separate sheet	Linked and checked automatically
Corrections	Overwriting	Editing cells	Regularisation requests with approval
Salary calculation	By hand	Formulas	Paid days flow into payroll
Multiple locations	One register each	Files emailed around	One system
Records and inspections	Physical storage	Files	Stored and searchable

When to move from a register to software

• More than 15–20 employees.
• More than one location, or staff who work in the field.
• You already have a biometric machine.
• Salary calculation takes more than a few hours.
• Leave balances are disputed.
• You need in and out times for late marks or overtime.

How PeopleVio replaces the attendance register

• Biometric machines (ZKTeco, eSSL and similar) push punches directly — no manual entry.
• Geofenced mobile check-in for field and branch staff, from the phone browser.
• Rules for office timings, grace minutes, late-mark allowance, weekly offs and holidays.
• Leave with balances and manager approvals; comp off for extra days worked.
• Regularisation requests for missed punches, approved by an admin, with a record.
• An attendance grid — the digital version of your register — for the whole team and month.
• An hours report you can export as CSV.
• Payroll that reads paid and unpaid days directly, with PF and ESI calculated.

Active employees	Monthly billing	Yearly billing (per month)
15	₹885	₹735
30	₹1,470	₹1,230
60	₹2,940	₹2,460

Prices exclude GST; attendance, leave, payroll, PF, ESI and TDS included. See the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the format of an attendance register? One row per employee, one column per day of the month, with codes for present, absent, leave types, half day, weekly off and holiday, and totals for paid and unpaid days.

Is it mandatory to maintain an attendance register? Employers are required to maintain attendance and wage records under labour laws; the prescribed format depends on your state and the laws that apply. The labour codes allow electronic records.

Can I maintain the attendance register in Excel? Yes, but make sure it's filled in daily, uses consistent codes and is backed up. Software is more reliable as you grow.

How do I calculate salary from attendance? Salary = monthly salary × paid days ÷ days in the month (or 26/30, per your policy), where paid days exclude loss-of-pay and unpaid absences.

Can attendance software replace the physical register? Yes. Electronic attendance records are accepted, and software records times automatically.

The bottom line

An attendance register is the foundation of payroll. Keep it daily, consistent and verifiable — and once you have more than a handful of employees or a biometric machine, let software keep it for you and feed payroll directly.

See PeopleVio's pricing or book a demo.

Related reading: Attendance regularization · Attendance and payroll integration · Biometric attendance machine price · HRMS for Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities