For growing businesses and the people who run HR and payroll
All Your People.
All Your Payroll.
One Place.
Less chasing for approvals, no salary paid on one person's word, and one clear view of every employee in every company of the group.
Athena HRMS by eWards is HR, attendance and payroll software for growing businesses in India.
No new hardware and no app to install. We set it up with you on your own policies and employee data.
Why teams switch
As the team grows, HR spreads out. Control shouldn't.
More outlets, more people, more approvals. These are the four problems we hear from every growing company, and what changes with Athena.
Registers, biometric machines and WhatsApp messages, all totalled by hand.
Everyone checks in on their phone, and late marks follow your rules.
Leave, claims and advances wait in someone's inbox until HR chases.
Every request reaches the right approver, who approves from the email.
One person edits the payroll sheet, and nobody can show who approved it.
The CEO approves every payroll run, and every change to pay is on record.
The accountant types salaries into Tally and the bank portal again, every month.
The approved run gives finance the Tally, bank and tax files.
By role
Everyone sees their part. You see the whole group.
Control without doing the work.
Nothing big happens without you, and you don't have to log in to stay on top of it.
- One login across every company and brand, with a founder dashboard for the whole group.
- Payroll, loans and advances come to you by email. Payroll arrives with an AI summary of what changed.
- A 5 PM email of the day's sensitive changes, to approve or flag.
Less chasing, fewer "can you send me…" messages.
Requests route themselves, and employees help themselves.
- Leave, attendance and late marks applied by your policy, the same way every time.
- Hiring with AI that reads CVs and summarises interview feedback.
- Letters in one click: offer, appointment, increment, experience and more.
Close payroll without retyping it.
Attendance, loans and claims arrive in the run. You review, and the files are ready.
- TDS on the new regime and professional tax, worked out every month.
- Tally, bank upload and salary sheet from the approved run, plus Google Sheets sync.
- Holds, arrears and adjustments, each with a note and on record.
Everything they need, on their phone.
No app to install. Athena opens in the phone's browser and sits on the home screen.
- Check in and out with one button at the outlet.
- Leave, claims, loans and advances requested in a minute, with the status always visible.
- Payslips, policies and a helpdesk without messaging HR.
How it works
Check-ins in, approvals done, salaries out
Employees check in and ask.
They check in on their phone at the outlet's QR code. Leave, claims, loans and advances are requested from the same place.
Approvers approve from email.
Each request reaches the right person by email. They approve with a one-time code, or hand approvals to a delegate while they're away.
Payroll builds itself.
Attendance, loss of pay, loan EMIs, claims and advances flow into the month's run, ready for review.
One month's payroll, start to finish
Month closes
Attendance, leave and loss of pay are final. Loan EMIs and approved claims are picked up.
Finance reviews
Adjustments and arrears are added with a note. A salary can be held and released later.
CEO approves
The CEO gets the run by email with an AI summary of what changed, and approves with a one-time code.
Paid and filed
Payslips are emailed to every employee, and finance downloads:
Fits how you already work
Works with your books, your bank and your spreadsheets
Tally
Salary vouchers from every approved run.
Your bank
A salary upload file for the bank's portal.
Google Sheets
Salary tracker, professional tax and TDS sheets kept in sync.
Biometric machines
Import punch records from the machines you already have.
API & webhooks
Connect your other systems with API keys and webhooks.
Bring your Excel.
We import your employee list and past payroll history, and set up your leave, attendance and salary rules with you.
Features
Attendance, leave, payroll, claims, hiring and more
See every module, and the things only Athena does, with a look at each screen.
FAQ
Questions we get asked before a demo
Do employees need to install an app?
No. Athena opens in any phone's browser, and employees can add it to their home screen so it opens like an app.
What hardware do we need?
For phone check-in, one tablet at each outlet to show the QR code. If you already have biometric machines, you can import their punch records instead.
What if an approver is travelling or on leave?
Approvals arrive by email, so they can approve from their phone anywhere. A manager can also hand their approvals to a delegate while they're away.
Can we run several companies or brands?
Yes. Each company and brand runs side by side under one login, and the founder dashboard adds them all up.
How do we move our data across?
Send us your employee list and past payroll in Excel, and we import them. We set up your leave, attendance and salary rules with you before your first payroll.
How is our data kept safe?
Each person sees only what their role allows, approvals are confirmed with one-time codes, sensitive changes are logged, and data is backed up every night. Face matching runs on our own servers. More on security.
How is Athena priced?
Pricing depends on the size of your team. Book a demo and we'll share pricing for your company.
Who makes Athena HRMS?
Athena HRMS is built by eWards (eWards Engagement Pvt Ltd, Kolkata, India), the CRM and loyalty platform for retail and F&B brands. eWards is part of Arjava Group.
Is Athena HRMS the same as other HR tools called Athena?
No. Athena HRMS by eWards is not connected to other products with a similar name. It is HR, attendance and payroll software for growing businesses in India: phone check-in, leave, claims, loans and payroll, with every approval on record and exports to Tally and your bank.
Book a demo
See Athena with your own team
Tell us how to reach you and we'll call to fix a time. In the demo, we'll cover:
- Athena set up with your own leave and attendance policies
- A month of payroll, from check-in to Tally file
- How switching from Excel works for your company