Running payroll in Ghana: a monthly checklist

Payroll goes wrong in the same few places every month: a change nobody passed on, an overtime claim that arrived late, a return filed a day after its deadline. This checklist goes through the month in order.

Before the pay run

1. Collect the changes. New starters, leavers, promotions, salary changes, and anyone moving department. Each one changes pay, tax or SSNIT.
2. Check new starters’ details. You need their Ghana Card number, SSNIT number, Tier 2 scheme, bank or mobile money account, and any reliefs they’re claiming with the supporting documents.
3. Gather the variable pay. Overtime, commission, bonuses, allowances and expense claims for the month, approved by the right manager.
4. Record unpaid leave and absences that reduce pay.
5. Update loan and advance recoveries, so the right amount comes off each person.

Running payroll

6. Work out gross pay for each employee: basic plus allowances, overtime and bonus.
7. Take off SSNIT at 5.5% of basic, up to the GH₵69,000 monthly ceiling for 2026.
8. Work out PAYE on the correct table for the pay period. From 1 September 2026, that’s the Act 1178 table. Remember the separate final taxes on qualifying overtime and on bonus up to 15% of annual basic. Our PAYE guide has the bands and a worked example.
9. Apply other deductions: loan recoveries, union dues, Tier 3 contributions and anything else agreed in writing.
10. Compare with last month. Look for anyone whose net pay moved by more than you would expect, and find out why before you pay.

Approving and paying

11. Get the pay run approved by someone other than the person who prepared it.
12. Pay staff by bank transfer or mobile money on the agreed date.
13. Send payslips. Each employee should be able to see their gross pay, each deduction and their net pay.

After payday

14. Pay PAYE to the GRA and file the DT 0107 return with its employee schedule within 15 days after the end of the month. Report employees who joined or left on the DT 0107B and DT 0107C schedules.
15. Pay SSNIT and file the contribution report within 14 days after the end of the month, and pay Tier 2 to your trustee.
16. Post payroll to your accounts: salaries, employer SSNIT, PAYE and SSNIT payable, and net pay.
17. File everything in one place: the pay run, approvals, returns and payment receipts.

Once a year

• File the annual employer PAYE schedule with the GRA.
• Give each employee a year-end tax certificate.
• Check the year’s bonuses against the 15% limit.
• Watch for new GRA tax bands and the new SSNIT ceiling, usually published in January.

Doing it in Achabs

Achabs’s Payroll module covers every step on this list. Changes made in HR flow into payroll, overtime and expense claims come in through approvals, the pay run compares each person with last month, payslips go to employees’ own logins, the bank or mobile money payment file is exported for you, and the DT 0107 and SSNIT returns are prepared with their due dates. With the Accounting module, approved pay runs post to the ledger too.