Download and Prepare Automatic Form 16 in Excel for 50 Employees (FY

Issuing Form 16 can feel like packing 50 lunches at once, because one missing item slows everything down. Still, you can finish on time if you follow a repeatable flow. First, remember the common deadline: employers typically issue Form 16 by June 15 of the next financial year (so June 15, 2026, for FY 2025-26).

Next, separate what must come from the tax portal versus what you can prepare internally. TRACES generates the official certificate details in Part A, so you should download that without edits. However, Excel helps you organise Part B calculations and employee-wise working papers, especially when payroll data sits in multiple places.

Therefore, this guide keeps it simple: download Part A in bulk, build an Excel-based Part B for up to 50 employees, and verify totals against payroll and Form 26AS. Finally, you’ll have a process you can reuse every year.

Table of Contents

What changed for Form 16 reporting for FY 2025-26, and what you must collect before you start

Form 16 has two parts, and each part has a different job. Part A works like an official receipt: it shows your employer’s TAN, the employee’s PAN, the quarter-wise TDS deposited, and the certificate number. Part B, on the other hand, reads like a salary statement: it shows salary breakup, exemptions, deductions, taxable income, and total tax.

For FY 2025-26, teams often notice a clearer split between exempt pay vs taxable pay, plus more line-level detail for allowances and perquisites. Also, the employee’s tax regime choice (old vs new) must stay consistent with payroll, because a mismatch creates confusion during ITR filing.

At the same time, keep compliance basics tight. Many employers now add a checkpoint for PAN-Aadhaar linkage status during onboarding and year-end proof collection, because PAN issues can block clean reporting later. In addition, recent reporting reminders have pushed high-value spend disclosures into focus, such as foreign travel above INR 2 lakh and electricity spend above INR 1 lakh, since these can trigger filing requirements for employees.

If you want a plain-English refresher on what Form 16 includes and why employees need it, see this guide on Form 16 meaning and Part A vs Part B.

If your inputs aren’t clean, automation won’t save time. It will only repeat the same mistake 50 times.

Quick data checklist for 50 employees, so Excel does not break later

Capture these fields early, and then freeze the format so every row stays consistent:

Employee ID (unique key), Name (as per PAN), PAN, Aadhaar (optional in file, but verify linkage), Address
Employment period (start date, end date if resigned), Work location (for HRA rules)
Salary structure: basic, HRA, allowances, bonus, arrears, perquisites
Exemptions: HRA inputs, LTA claims, other exemptions with proof dates
Deductions: 80C, 80D, housing loan interest, and other eligible sections as used in payroll
TDS by month and quarter, challan mapping reference from payroll or TDS software

Additionally, watch three common data quality issues:

PAN typos: validate PAN format in Excel, then cross-check once before TRACES requests.
Regime mismatch: payroll may run “new regime” by default, while the employee expects old regime. Confirm early, Part B totals won’t match.
Missing proof dates: employees submit proofs late; meanwhile, payroll may close. Set a proof cutoff date and track exceptions in Notes.

Download Part A from TRACES in bulk, then convert and sign it the right way

Start with TRACES because Part A must come from the portal. First, log in as the deductor, then choose FY 2025-26 and select the Form 16 request option. Next, request certificates for the relevant PAN list. After that, wait for the file to be available, which often takes 24 to 48 hours depending on processing load.

Once TRACES generates the file, download it, then use the portal’s converter utility to create readable PDFs. After that, apply the digital signature of the authorised signatory, because unsigned certificates create employee follow-ups and rework later.

Keep Part A untouched. In other words, don’t “fix” names or figures inside Part A by editing the PDF. Instead, correct the source (payroll or TDS filings), then regenerate if needed.

For a step-by-step view of the TRACES download flow, including common prerequisites like statement processing status, refer to how to download Form 16 from TRACES.

Now, when you handle 50 employees, organisation matters as much as the download. So use a predictable file naming pattern (for example, EmpID_PAN_FY2025-26_PartA.pdf). Also, create folders by function: 01_Request, 02_Download, 03_Converted, 04_Signed, 05_Shared. As a result, anyone on the HR or payroll team can pick up the work without guessing.

Build a simple tracking dashboard in Excel to manage 50 downloads without confusion

Use a one-sheet tracker. Then, update it daily during issuance week, tasks get lost in inbox threads.

Here’s a clean layout that works for small and mid-size employers:

Employee ID	Name	PAN	Request Date	Download Date	Status	Sign Status	Share Date	Notes
E001	Priya Shah	ABCPS1234D	2026-05-20	2026-05-22	Downloaded	Pending		Awaiting DSC slot

Set Status as a drop-down (Requested, Downloaded, Converted, Signed, Shared). Also set Sign Status (Pending, Done). As a result, you see bottlenecks fast. Otherwise, you may sign duplicates and miss one employee entirely.

Create an automatic Form 16 Part B in Excel for 50 employees, then reconcile before you issue

Excel should support your Part B and working papers, not replace TRACES Part A. First, decide your workbook structure, then lock it. After that, load employee inputs in a standard template, because consistent columns make formulas reliable.

A practical workbook for FY 2025-26 looks like this:

Setup: FY, employer details, tax regime option used in payroll, and reference slab settings used internally
Employee Master: Employee ID, PAN, dates, location, regime, bank and address fields used for print
Salary Details (Monthly): earnings and deductions by month
Exemptions: HRA, LTA, other exemptions with proof of status
Deductions: 80C, 80D, interest, and other sections you allow through payroll
Perquisites: taxable benefits and values used in payroll
TDS Summary: month-wise and quarter-wise TDS, plus totals
Part B Print: a clean print view that pulls all numbers by Employee ID

Then, use Excel Tables so ranges expand automatically when you add employees. Next, use XLOOKUP to pull employee fields into the print view, and use SUMIFS to total earnings, exemptions, deductions, and TDS by Employee ID. Still, keep one rule: never hard-code figures in the print sheet.

After that, protect the workbook. Lock formula cells, unlock only input cells, and protect sheets with a password your team controls. On the other hand, don’t overcomplicate it with macros if your team won’t maintain them.

Now reconcile before you issue anything:

Match Total TDS in Excel to payroll records.
Then match quarter-wise TDS to Part A numbers.
Finally, ask employees to verify credits later with Form 26AS, and do your own spot checks early to catch mismatches.

As a forward-looking note, the government has announced form renumbering after March 31, 2026, so Form 16 becomes Form 130, and Form 26AS becomes Form 168. That change affects naming, not your core steps. For context, see this summary of Form 16 renaming to Form 130.

A repeatable workbook layout that scales from 5 to 50 employees

Keep the minimum sheets listed above, and tie everything to the Employee ID as the single key. Then you can filter, audit, and print without copy-paste.

Use a simple print routine: filter Employee ID, refresh totals, then export the Part B print sheet to PDF. Next, save it as EmpID_PAN_FY2025-26_PartB.pdf. In contrast, if you copy one employee’s sheet into another, small formula shifts can snowball into the wrong taxable income.

Final checks before you share Form 16 with employees

Before sharing, verify the basics fast:

PAN and name spelling
Regime choice (old vs new) as per payroll declaration
Taxable income and deductions totals
Quarter-wise TDS in Part A vs your TDS Summary
Employer TAN, address, and authorised sign status

If Part A and Excel totals don’t match, pause. When that happens, reconcile payroll, challans, and filed statements first. Instead of patching numbers in Excel, correct the source, then regenerate Part A if needed. Finally, sign and share only after totals align.

Conclusion

First, collect clean employee inputs, because accuracy starts there. Next, download Form 16 Part A from TRACES in bulk, convert it, and sign it the right way. Then prepare Part B in Excel using a consistent Employee ID-based workbook, and reconcile totals with payroll and Form 26AS before release. After that, share signed PDFs and keep your tracker updated so nothing slips past June 15.

Save your workbook as an FY 2025-26 template, so next year feels familiar. Start the tracker today, then run a two-employee test batch this week, and you’ll issue all 50 with a lot less stress.