Part 1
Before you run payroll
- Freeze attendance and leave for the month and resolve pending approvals.
- Record joiners, leavers, salary revisions, and one-time items such as bonuses or reimbursements.
- Apply loss-of-pay days for unpaid leave and absences.
Part 2
Run and review
- Process the payroll and compare totals with last month - investigate large variances.
- Spot-check a few payslips from different salary bands and from new joiners and leavers.
- Confirm statutory deductions and contributions that apply where you operate, such as income-tax withholding, social-security or pension contributions, and any local levies.
Part 3
Pay and publish
- Approve the payroll and release the bank transfer file on or before the committed pay date.
- Publish payslips so employees can view them themselves.
- Keep the approval trail - who reviewed and approved, and when.
Part 4
After payroll
- File and pay statutory contributions by their due dates.
- Update the books with the payroll journal.
- Log any corrections to be applied next month.
Part 5
Year-end
Collect any tax declarations early in the year, reconcile tax withholding on your local schedule, and issue each employee’s annual tax statement after the tax year closes. A tidy monthly cycle makes year-end routine rather than stressful.