India compliance for educational trusts —
built into your ERP
TDS on salaries and vendor payments. PF and ESI for every staff member. A clean audit trail for your CA. All from the same system where fees are collected and staff are paid.
No exports to a separate compliance tool. No reconciling two systems at month-end.
TDS computed at source — Form 16 generated automatically
Every school deducts TDS — on teacher salaries, contractor bills, auditor fees, and rent payments. Unity computes the deduction when the transaction happens, so by quarter-end there is nothing left to calculate.
- Section 192 — salary TDS computed during payroll with IT declaration capture
- Section 194C — TDS on contractor payments at invoice booking
- Section 194J — TDS on professional fees (CA, consultant, visiting faculty)
- Section 194H — TDS on commission payments
- Section 194I — TDS on rent paid by the trust
- Form 16 generated for every employee at year-end
- Form 16A generated for vendors and contractors
- TDS Register: month-wise, section-wise, deductee-wise
ECR challan and ESIC register — generated from payroll
Schools with 20 or more employees must file monthly PF challans. Those with 10 or more must maintain the ESIC register. Unity computes both from the same payroll run that produces salary slips.
- EPF contribution per employee — 12% employee + 12% employer split across EPF/EPS
- EPS (8.33%) and EDLI (0.5%) computed correctly per component
- ECR challan generated monthly — ready to upload on EPFO portal
- UAN recorded and tracked per employee
- New joiner and exit month contributions handled automatically
- ESI contribution computed at 0.75% (employee) and 3.25% (employer)
- ESIC monthly register with IP number per employee
- Gross salary components mapped to PF-applicable wages correctly
Every change logged — your CA gets answers, not shrugs
When a statutory auditor asks who changed that fee entry on the 14th, and why, you should be able to pull up the answer in 30 seconds. Unity logs every edit to every financial record — automatically, permanently.
- Every edit to a financial entry logged with user ID and exact timestamp
- Before and after values captured at the field level
- Deletions blocked — entries can only be cancelled, never removed
- Log cannot be edited or deleted by any user, including administrators
- Audit log export for statutory auditors and internal audit teams
- Filter by date range, user, document type, or specific entry
- Role-based access controls — who can post, amend, or cancel entries
On the Roadmap
24Q and 26Q TDS returns
Quarterly TDS return files ready to upload on TRACES — compiled directly from the TDS register, no manual preparation.
TRACES TDS reconciliation
Auto-reconcile TDS deducted in Unity against the TRACES 26AS statement — mismatches flagged before they become notices.
12A / 80G trust compliance
Form 10BD (annual donation statement), Form 10BE (donor certificates), and income application tracking for 12A registered trusts.
FCRA — foreign contribution register
Separate FCRA bank account tracking, foreign donation register, and FC-4 annual return support for trusts receiving international funding.
Professional Tax
State-wise PT slab configuration and monthly PT computation from payroll — currently managed outside Unity for most institutions.
ITR-7 working
Trust surplus/deficit computation, Section 11 accumulation (Form 9A/10), and ITR-7 preparation support for charitable institution filings.
GST — when it applies to your trust
Core school education is largely GST-exempt under Notification 12/2017. But many trusts also run activities that attract GST — hostels charging above ₹750/day, coaching programmes, renting out auditoriums, or canteen services managed by a contractor.
If your trust is GST-registered, Unity handles returns from the same accounts data — no second system.
What Unity handles
- GSTR-1: outward supplies auto-populated from taxable invoices
- GSTR-3B: monthly summary with ITC computation
- e-Invoice / IRN generation for applicable turnover thresholds
- HSN/SAC codes mapped to fee heads and service items
- Input Tax Credit tracked per vendor invoice
- GSTR-2B purchase reconciliation — books vs GSTN portal
Common taxable activities
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a school registered as a charitable trust need to deduct TDS?
Yes. Charitable trusts and societies are required to deduct TDS on salaries (Section 192), contractor payments (194C), professional fees (194J), rent (194I), and other specified payments — regardless of their 12A/12AB income tax exemption status. Unity computes TDS at the point of transaction and generates Form 16 for employees and Form 16A for vendors.
Is PF and ESI mandatory for school staff?
Yes. The Employees Provident Fund Act applies to establishments with 20 or more employees, and the ESI Act applies to those with 10 or more employees — both of which include schools. Unity computes EPF, EPS, and EDLI contributions per employee, generates the monthly ECR challan, and maintains the ESIC register.
Do schools need to register for GST?
Core educational services up to higher secondary level are largely exempt under GST Notification 12/2017. However, schools and trusts with ancillary taxable activities — such as hostels charging above ₹750 per day, coaching programmes, renting out auditoriums, or canteen services run by contractors — may need GST registration once their taxable turnover crosses the threshold. Unity handles GST computation and returns for those that are registered.
What is the audit trail requirement for school accounts?
While the MCA audit trail mandate under Rule 11(g) applies formally to companies, statutory and internal auditors of trusts and societies also expect a complete record of who changed what in the accounts and when. Unity logs every edit to financial entries — user, timestamp, before and after values — making audit responses straightforward.
Can Unity handle compliance for a trust running multiple schools?
Yes. Unity's multi-entity architecture allows each school to be managed as a separate entity with its own TAN, GSTIN (if applicable), and PF establishment number — all under one installation, with a consolidated compliance dashboard for the trust management.
Is FCRA compliance handled in Unity?
FCRA compliance — including the separate FCRA bank account, foreign donation register, and FC-4 annual return — is on the Unity roadmap but not yet available. Trusts receiving foreign contributions will need to manage FCRA obligations separately for now.
Related Features
One system. All your trust’s compliance obligations.
TDS, PF, ESI, and audit trail — handled from the same platform where you run payroll, collect fees, and manage your school.