How EPF is calculated
The Employees' Provident Fund is a statutory retirement scheme for establishments with 20 or more employees. Both you and your employer contribute 12% of basic wages every month, and the accumulated balance earns compound interest declared annually by the EPFO.
Step 1 — Identify PF wages
PF wages are basic pay plus dearness allowance (and retaining allowance, if any). The statutory wage ceiling is ₹15,000, but most employers contribute on actual basic pay when it is higher.
Step 2 — Split the employer share
Your entire 12% goes into EPF. Of the employer's 12%, 8.33% is diverted to the Employees' Pension Scheme (calculated on the ₹15,000 ceiling) and only 3.67% is credited to your EPF account, which is why this calculator uses 3.67% for corpus growth.
Step 3 — Apply interest annually
The EPFO credits interest once a year on the running monthly balance. This calculator applies the declared rate to the opening balance plus half of the year's contributions, closely approximating the monthly-balance method.
Step 4 — Grow the wage each year
Annual increments raise your PF wage, so contributions compound faster in later years. Adjust the growth slider to match your appraisal history; each extra percentage point of growth adds meaningfully to the final corpus.