Help centre · Payroll
Running your first payroll
Set up employees, pay elements and payment accounts, then run, approve and pay your first month.
Updated
This walks you through your first month in the Payroll module. Ghana’s PAYE bands, SSNIT schemes and statutory returns are already set up for you.
1. Add your employees
Open People → Employees. If you also have the HR module, your employees are already here. Otherwise add them, or bring them in with the Pay records import.
For each employee, check their basic salary, start date, and their tax profile (any reliefs they claim) and statutory memberships (SSNIT number and Tier 2 scheme).
2. Set up how they are paid
Under People → Payment accounts, add each employee’s bank account or mobile money wallet. Banks & providers lists the banks and mobile money providers, and the payment file formats they accept.
3. Set up earnings and deductions
Under Pay elements:
- Earnings are allowances and other payments, such as transport or rent allowance. Each earning type has a tax treatment: taxable, exempt, overtime, bonus or benefit in kind.
- Deductions are anything taken from pay other than tax and SSNIT, such as union dues or a staff welfare contribution.
Assign them to employees one by one, or import them with the Allowances and earnings and Deductions templates.
If you are starting part-way through the year, import opening year-to-date totals so the bonus limit and year-end figures are right.
4. Run payroll
Open Pay runs → Payroll runs and start a run for the month. Payroll works out gross pay, SSNIT, PAYE and net pay for everyone. Open any employee to see exactly how their tax was worked out, band by band.
Check the run against last month and look into any big changes before you go on.
5. Approve
Send the run for approval. Approval steps are set under Settings → Approval workflows.
6. Pay and publish payslips
Once approved, export the payment file for your bank, and publish payslips. Employees see them from their own login and can raise a query on a payslip if something looks wrong.
7. File your returns
Under Statutory → Returns, the month’s DT 0107 and SSNIT returns are prepared from the run, each with its due date.
