Keka vs Artha-IQ:
Your HR System Doesn't Understand Your Salary

What Your Payslip Doesn't Show

Every month you get a payslip from your HR system. Keka (or Darwinbox, or Zoho Payroll) generated it. It shows:

• Basic salary
• HRA, DA, allowances
• Deductions (PF, TDS)
• Net pay

What it doesn't show: whether that salary is fair, whether you're on the right tax regime, what it actually means for your retirement, whether you're leaving money on the table.

Keka is built for employers. Artha-IQ is built for employees. They solve for opposite sides of the paycheck.

What Keka Does (HR's Perspective)

Keka is an HRIS + Payroll system designed to help companies:

• Manage employee leave, attendance, compliance
• Process payroll correctly and on time
• Ensure statutory deductions (PF, TDS) are accurate
• Generate Form 16 and other compliance documents
• Manage benefits enrollment and reimbursements

Keka excels at its job: it ensures employees are paid accurately and on time, and that compliance happens.

But from the employee's perspective, it answers zero financial questions about that payslip.

What Artha-IQ Does (Employee's Perspective)

Artha-IQ is a personal financial intelligence platform that answers the employee questions that Keka ignores:

• Salary Benchmarking: "Is my ₹18 lakh salary market rate for my role and experience?" (Answer: probably not — GCC roles often have 15-25% pay gaps)
• Tax Optimization: "Am I on the right regime?" (Answer: most salaried employees on old regime could save ₹18,000-50,000 by switching)
• Real Take-Home: "After optimal tax planning, what's my real monthly take-home?" (Answer: 20-30% more than your current one)
• FIRE Corpus: "At this salary and savings rate, when can I retire?" (Answer: usually 10-15 years earlier than people think if optimized)
• True Debt Cost: "What does my home loan/car EMI actually cost me in real terms?" (Answer: 50-80% more than the monthly EMI suggests)

Why Both Matter (And Why They're Different)

Keka = ensuring the system works accurately

Payroll is processed, compliance is met, employee gets paid on time.

Artha-IQ = ensuring the employee benefits from the salary

Tax is optimized, salary is benchmarked, leaks are plugged, FIRE plan is clear.

A company needs Keka. An employee needs Artha-IQ. Neither replaces the other — they're for different stakeholders.

The Salary Negotiation Angle

Here's where this matters most: your company uses Keka to decide your salary (based on market data, role, location). You should use Artha-IQ to know if that salary is fair.

Most employees during appraisal conversations have no data on whether they're earning market rate. Artha-IQ's Salary Benchmarking shows you against 200+ comparable roles in your city, company type, and experience level. Armed with that data, you negotiate informed. Without it, you're negotiating blind.

Keka ensures your company is processing payroll correctly. Artha-IQ ensures you're negotiating payroll correctly.

The Bottom Line

Your HR team uses Keka to manage payroll. You should use Artha-IQ to manage your salary. Keka is about compliance. Artha-IQ is about optimization. Both are essential, but they're not competing — they're complementary.

When you get a payslip from Keka, you know the amount is accurate. When you run Artha-IQ, you know if that amount is optimal — and whether you should be earning more.