Monthly Payroll Template

Our aim with this template is to provide a simple monthly payroll solution which is suitable for businesses with less than 50 employees and which includes sufficient flexibility to be an appropriate solution in most of the more than 100 countries where we have customers. We have designed this template to be as easy to use as practically possible but mainly to include sufficient complexity in order to provide for calculations that are automated, accurate & practical. The template produces comprehensive automated reports that enable users to review the accuracy & completeness of their monthly payroll data and to summarise data in such a way that it makes it easy to allocate entries for accounting purposes and to determine the correct monthly payment totals.

Before we get into the guidance on the template functionality, please note the following important points regarding the suitability of the template to user requirements:

• This template has been designed as a monthly payroll template and is only suitable for employees that are paid on a monthly basis. We can also not customize the template to incorporate employees that are paid based on any other payment interval.
• The template has been designed for a 12-month period from the beginning to the end of the appropriate tax year. After the completion of the first tax year, a new version of the template needs to be saved for the next tax year and all rates & values that are subject to regulatory changes on an annual basis needs to be updated.
• We have designed the template with as much flexibility as practically possible in order to be suitable for most of our customers in more than 100 countries. We do not however provide tax consulting services and cannot provide support for enquiries relating to the appropriate rates that need to be used for specific tax deductions, company contributions or fringe benefits. Please only contact us if you need technical guidance on how to include defined rates or values in the template.
• The flexible design of the template ensures that you should be able to use the template for multiple tax years. If the taxation or other regulatory requirements in your country changes in a way which is not provided for in the template design, you may need to purchase a new version of the template once the template design has been adapted & the new version released.
• The purchase price of the template is once-off and does not include any annual updates. Our aim with the design of the template is to include sufficient flexibility so that customers are able to use the template for multiple years without having to purchase a new version annually. If regulations change in a way that the template design cannot accommodate, you would need to purchase a new version of the template if one has been released which can accommodate the regulatory changes. We will not provide a free update under these circumstances.
• Please review these instructions carefully and only change or customize the template in accordance with the guidance provided in this document. Do not change any of the formulas, delete rows or columns in a way which is not provided for in the template design and only enter values in the yellow input cells or columns with yellow column headings otherwise the template calculations may become inaccurate. If you make changes outside of the scope of what is provided for in the template design, you will need to revert back to the downloaded version of the template!
• Disclaimer: It is the responsibility of the user to check the accuracy of all monthly payroll calculations and to ensure that all payroll related payments are accurate. We recommend that all payroll payments are reviewed & recalculated before payments are processed. This template has been designed in such a way that the rates & values that are defined by the user has a significant influence on the accuracy of payments. We therefore do not accept any responsibility for payroll calculation errors.

The template consists of the following sheets:
Setup - all the business & payroll settings for the template needs to be included on this sheet. This includes the business details, tax year dates, income tax rates, medical tax credit rates, list of earnings, list of salary deductions, list of company contributions, list of fringe benefits and the list of departments. A column & row matrix which highlights incorrect column or row counts is also included at the bottom of the sheet.
Emp - add a unique employee code for each employee and enter data into all the employee information columns (columns B to K). Each employee needs to be linked to an income tax table and income tax rebate code which is used in the automated income tax calculations. The number of medical aid members is used in the automated medical tax credit calculations. The deduction rate columns on this sheet can be used to override the rates on the Setup sheet for a particular employee. The fringe benefit values are used in the automated fringe benefit calculations. There is no limit on the number of employees that can be added to the template but the template has been designed for businesses with 50 or less monthly paid employees and due to the complexity of the calculations, the calculation speed of the template could slow down considerably if more than 50 employees are added.
Payroll - add all the active employees to this sheet for each monthly pay period. Only the columns with yellow column headings require user input - all the columns with light or dark blue column headings contain formulas which are automatically copied when you add new rows to the table on this sheet. Only the payment run date, employee code and earnings values therefore need to be entered - all the other amounts are automatically calculated based on the data on the Setup, Emp and Override sheets.
Override - override any of the automatically calculated income tax, medical tax credits, salary deductions, company contributions or fringe benefit values for any employee by adding the appropriate values to this sheet. You can override values for a single month or you can set the override end date in order to override values for multiple months or until the end of the tax year.
PaySlip - this sheet contains an automated monthly pay slip. All the calculations on this sheet are automated and you only need to select the appropriate pay slip number in cell G3 in order to view the appropriate pay slip.
Summary - this sheet contains a summary of all the monthly payroll data that have been entered on the Payroll sheet. The sheet requires no user input and the data can even be filtered by department or individual employee by selecting the appropriate entries from the yellow cells at the top of the sheet.
MonthEmp - this sheet contains a monthly summary of payroll data by employee. All the calculations are based on the data that has been entered on the Payroll sheet and the sheet requires no user input. The appropriate measurement on which the calculations should be based can be selected from the yellow cell at the top of the sheet. Available measurements include gross pay, income tax, total deductions, net pay, total company contributions, total deductions & company contributions and total cost to company.
MonthDept - this sheet contains a monthly summary of payroll data by department. All the calculations are based on the data that has been entered on the Payroll sheet and the sheet requires no user input. The appropriate measurement on which the calculations should be based can be selected from the yellow cell at the top of the sheet. Available measurements include gross pay, income tax, total deductions, net pay, total company contributions, total deductions & company contributions and total cost to company.
Recon - This sheet contains a reconciliation between the monthly payroll calculations and monthly payments which need to be entered on the Payments sheet. The sheet has 3 sections which display net pay (only differences), salary deductions and company contributions separately. All the calculations on the sheet are automated and the user is only required to select the month and basis at the top of the sheet. The basis can be monthly or year-to-date.
Payment - all payroll related payments can be added to this sheet in order to reconcile payroll calculations and payments on a monthly basis. Net pay totals for each employee can be copied from the MonthEmp sheet (select the Net Pay measurement) and deduction & company contribution totals can be copied from either the Summary or Recon sheets.

Setup

The Setup sheet contains all the information & values which need to be set up on a business or company level. All input cells contain yellow cell backgrounds while the cells with light blue cell background contain formulas which should not be changed.

The input section at the top of the Setup sheet contains input cells for some general business information like the business name, address, registration number, contact telephone number and contact e-mail. Most of this information is only included on the PaySlip sheet but the business name is also used as a heading on all the other sheets.

The tax period end and the tax year needs to be selected from cells C10 and C12 respectively. The data in these two cells are combined in order to determine the current & prior tax year end dates and the current template start date.

Note: This template has been designed to incorporate a 12-month tax period. After the end of the period, you need to save a new version of the template, change the date settings on this sheet & update the income tax and other rates that may have changed for the appropriate new tax year.

The pay slip start number in cell C14 on the Setup sheet is used to populate the first payslip number in column A on the Payroll sheet.

Income Tax Rates & Rebates

The template uses sliding scale tax tables for income tax calculation purposes and there are two separate income tax tables (A & B) which can be used if necessary. Each tax table contains 7 income tax brackets. At the beginning of each tax year, the user needs to update the bracket values in column C and the income tax rates in column D for both income tax tables.

If you require more than 7 income tax brackets, you can insert the required number of additional rows anywhere in the middle of the table and then copy one of the existing rows before editing the tax bracket value & percentage for the new row. The bracket values in column A, equivalent values in column E and the effective rates in column F for all the tax brackets will be updated automatically.

If you require less than 7 tax brackets, simple delete one of the existing rows from the middle of the table and adjust the bracket values & income tax rates in columns C and D accordingly.

Each employee who is added to the Emp sheet needs to be linked to either income tax table A or B and it is this link which determines which income tax rates (which table) will be applied to the particular employee. You can also enter a percentage on the Emp sheet if you want the income tax for a specific employee to be calculated based on a fixed income tax percentage.

Note: If all your income tax calculations need to be based on a single income tax scale, you do not need to delete table B. Simply ensure that the income tax rates in column D are all set to nil values. You can also use any tax bracket value structure because no employees will be linked to table B and no income tax will be calculated if the income tax rates are set to nil.

The template also makes provision for the inclusion of a list of income tax rebates. The default rebates list contains 4 entries but you can add additional entries by selecting the "End of list" cell and inserting a new row. You then need to enter a new code in column A, a description in column B and a rebate value in column C.

Column D contains a formula which calculates the total rebate value for the appropriate rebate code. In our default template design, the first 3 rebate codes are cumulative in nature and we have therefore added them together in the total column. The 4th rebate code is however a zero-rebate code and we have therefore used a different formula for this rebate code.

Note: If you make changes to the income tax rebate codes, it is important that you include the correct rebate formula in column D because this is the value which will be included in the income tax calculations. The appropriate income tax rebate value is deducted from the income tax which is calculated based on the appropriate income tax table above. The rebate therefore represents an after-tax adjustment to the income tax calculation.

Note: Each employee that is added to the Emp sheet also needs to be linked to the appropriate income tax rebate code as per the Income Tax Rebate table on the Setup sheet. This link will determine which rebate value is deducted in the income tax calculation.

Medical Tax Credits

The template makes provision for the deduction of medical tax credits in the calculation of monthly income tax. The calculated amounts are not deducted from taxable income as a salary deduction but from the income tax that is calculated and is based on a rate which is determined based on the number of medical aid members and a variable medical tax credit amount per member.

The appropriate tax credit value per member needs to be entered in column B of the table and the cumulative monthly tax credit value is automatically calculated in column C. In the unlikely event that you need to include more than 10 medical aid members, you can insert the appropriate number of required rows above the "End of list" row, copy the formulas from the last row and enter the appropriate tax credit values in column B.

Note: If medical tax credits are not applicable in your country, we suggest entering zero values for all the medical tax credit values in column B. This will effectively result in no medical tax credits being taken into account in the income tax calculations. Do not delete the table - if you do so, some of the formulas on the other sheets in this template could result in errors!

The rates per dependent for calculation purposes is determined by the medical tax credit values that are entered on the Setup sheet but the number of dependents that are linked to each employee needs to be entered in column O on the Emp sheet (referred to as the number of medical aid members).

If the number of medical aid members changes during the year, you can use the Override features to include the updated number in the calculation - refer to the Override section of these instructions for guidance on how to update the number of medical aid members.

Note: The tables and lists on the Setup sheet need to be customized based on your requirements (if necessary) before you start including data on the Payroll sheet. Once the first pay period has been paid, you can still add new items to the lists but you should not change any of the rates that are included on the Setup sheet. If you do change any of the rates, it will also affect past pay periods which would then create differences between the payroll calculations and the amounts that have been paid for the elapsed months. If any of the rates on the Setup sheet need to be amended during the tax year, you need to use the Override feature to affect the required changes.

Earnings

An earnings code needs to be created for each type of earning which is paid to employees. These earnings codes need to be added to the Earnings list on the Setup sheet. The earnings list includes 5 user input fields - the following information is required in each of these fields for each type of earning:
Code - you need to enter a code for each type of earning. We highly recommend sticking to the default template convention of using a single letter to represent each type of earning. Once you have linked an earning to a specific letter and you have entered data on the Payroll sheet, you should not change the letter.
Description - enter a description for each earning. The earning description will be included on all employee pay slips.
Short Name - enter a short name for the earning. The short name should not be more than 15 characters in length and is used as a column heading above the earnings columns that are included on the other sheets in the template. Use a short name that will make it easy to identify the type of earning that it refers to.
Taxable % - if the earning type is not fully taxable, enter the percentage of the earning which is taxable. The default taxable % is 100% - if the earning is fully taxable, you do not need to enter anything.
Basis - select whether the earning is payable on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. This selection is important especially for income tax calculation purposes. If no value is selected, the earning basis will be deemed to be monthly.

Note: If none of your earnings are taxable, you can simply specify 0% as the taxable percentage. A 0% taxable percentage will also be applicable to earnings items such as loans or advances or reimbursements which are usually not taxable. An example of an earning which is usually only partially taxable is a travel allowance where in some countries only 20% of the allowance is taxable.

The earnings list does not include any earnings values or calculation basis selections. This is because monthly earnings values need to be entered or copied into the Earnings columns on the Payroll sheet. Monthly earnings values per employee are therefore subject to user input and not automatically calculated.

The default earnings list includes 10 earnings codes. You can customize this list by replacing the default earnings data with your own. The sequence in which earning types are included in the list is important because the same sequence is used on the other sheets in this template. If user input values are entered in the earnings columns on one of the other sheets (as required on the Payroll sheet) and you change the sequence of earning types, the user input values will not align to the correct earning types and the earnings calculations will in all probability become inaccurate. We therefore do not recommend that you change the sequence of earnings after you have entered data on the Payroll sheet. New earning codes can however still be added to the end of the list.

Adding or removing list items

The default list includes 10 items which can be customized by replacing the default template data with your own. If you require less than 10 earnings codes, you can delete the rows that are not required. If you require more than 10 earnings codes, additional earnings codes can be added to the list by inserting the required number of new rows above the "End of list" entry and entering the required information into each user input field.

Note: If you add more entries to the list than the default number of entries, you also need to manually insert additional columns or rows on some of the other sheets in this template. Refer to the Column / Row Matrix section of these instructions for guidance on the steps that need to be completed - this is very important because if you add more than the default number of entries to the list and you do not complete these steps, the template calculations will not be accurate!

Salary Deductions

A salary deduction code needs to be created for each type of salary deduction which will be deducted from employee salaries. These salary deduction codes need to be added to the Salary Deductions list on the Setup sheet. The salary deductions list includes 10 user input fields - the following information is required in each of these fields for each type of salary deduction:
Code - enter a code for each salary deduction and use a unique code which will make it easy to identify the appropriate salary deduction and to distinguish between the different types of salary deductions. The salary deduction codes are included above the column headings of all the sections on other sheets in this template where salary deductions are included.
Description - enter a description for each salary deduction. The descriptions that are entered in this part of the salary deductions list are included on the monthly salary pay slips on the PaySlip sheet and on the Recon sheet.
Rate - enter the rate that needs to be used in the salary deduction calculation. The rate can be a value or percentage depending on the basis on which the deduction is calculated.
Basis - enter the basis on which the salary deduction needs to be calculated. There are three options - gross, fixed or linking the salary deduction to the earnings code of the appropriate single earning type on which the deduction needs to be based. If nothing is entered in this field, the salary deduction will be calculated based on gross income.
Fringe Inclusion - select the basis for including fringe benefits in the salary deduction calculation. There are 3 options - full value if the full value of all fringe benefits need to be included, taxable if the taxable value of all fringe benefits need to be included and none if no fringe benefits should be added in the salary deduction calculation. The default option is none which results in no fringe benefits being added in the salary deduction calculations.
Earnings Inclusion - select the basis for including earnings in the salary deduction calculation. There are 2 options - full value if the full value of all earnings need to be included and taxable if only the taxable value of earnings need to be included in the salary deduction calculation. The default option is full value which results in the full value of all the appropriate earning types being included in the salary deduction calculations.
Earn Exclusion - enter the earnings codes of all earnings types which need to be excluded from the salary deduction calculation. The appropriate letters of the earnings codes need to be included in this section without any spaces or special characters in between.
Earnings Max - if there is an annual ceiling (maximum) value which needs to be applied in the salary deduction calculation, this annual maximum earnings value needs to be entered in this field. All the values that are entered in this field therefore needs to be annual equivalents. The gross income which is used in the salary deduction calculation will then be limited to this amount.
Tax % - enter the % of the salary deduction amount which is deductible for income tax purposes. If no percentage is specified, the salary deduction is assumed not to be deductible for income tax purposes.
Annual Tax Limit - if the tax deductibility of the salary deduction is limited to a maximum annual limit (ceiling value), this maximum value needs to be entered in this field. If no value if entered, no limit is set for the tax deduction value. For example, pension fund contributions may be limited to say 350,000 per annum and this value therefore needs to be included for the pension fund salary deduction.

The default salary deductions list includes 10 codes. You can customize this list by replacing the default data with your own. The sequence in which salary deductions are included in the list is important because the same sequence is used on the other sheets in this template. If user input values are entered in the Salary Deduction columns on one of the other sheets (as required on the Emp sheet) and you change the sequence of salary deductions, the user input values will not align to the correct salary deduction and the salary deduction calculations will in all probability become inaccurate. We therefore do not recommend that you change the sequence of salary deductions after you have entered data on the Emp sheet. New salary deduction codes can however still be added to the end of the list.

Salary Deduction Rate, Basis & Earning Exclusions

The salary deduction rates that are specified on the Setup sheet relate to the business as a whole and are not employee specific. These rates can however be overridden by the deduction rates that are specified on the Emp sheet (in the section from column P onwards). We therefore suggest that the rates that you include for each deduction in the Rate input field of the Salary Deductions List are rates that are applicable to most of your employees. Where some employees are subject to a different rate of deduction, these rates can then be added for the specific employees on the Emp sheet and will replace the business rates that are specified on the Setup sheet.

Example: If your business has 20 employees and only 2 of them contribute 10% of their salaries to a pension fund, you should enter a rate of 0% in the Rate input field of the pension fund deduction in the Salary Deductions List (on the Setup sheet) and then add the 10% value only for the 2 employees in the appropriate pension fund salary deduction column on the Emp sheet.

The type of rate that you specify on either the Setup or Emp sheet is also largely dependent on the basis that you specify in the next user input field. If the basis is "Gross", the rate would typically be a percentage which needs to be entered as a decimal value in the Rate user input field (for example 0.02 for 2%). If the basis is "Fixed", the rate would typically be an amount - for example a rate of 50.00 would result in an amount of 50.00 being deducted in the appropriate salary deduction calculation.

If an earnings code has been entered as the basis for a salary deduction, the rate that needs to be specified is usually a percentage of the appropriate earning.

Example: If say 1% of only the basic salary earning needs to be deducted from all employees' salaries, the salary deduction can be set up by entering a rate of 0.01 and then entering the earnings code for basic salaries ("A" in our standard template) in the Basis user input field. The salary deduction calculation will then be based on 1% of only earnings code A.

The template has been designed with such flexibility that it is even possible to base a salary deduction on only say two or three earnings codes - simply select the "Gross" basis in order to base the salary deduction calculation on gross income (total of all earnings codes) and then exclude all but the required earnings codes in the Earn Exclusion input field (column I).

Example: If we want to base a salary deduction calculation only on the basic salary (earnings code A) and leave pay (earnings code C) of employees, we can exclude all other earnings codes in column I. The entry in the Earn Exclusion input field would therefore be "BDEFGHIJ" and would result in the salary deduction only being calculated on earnings codes A and C.

Example: The unemployment insurance fund (UIF) salary deduction calculation needs to exclude commissions. If the earnings code for commissions is "B", this letter needs to be included as the Earn Exclusion and the basis set to "Gross". The commission amounts that are included in gross income are then deducted when calculating the value of the salary deduction.

Taxable Values

Some salary deductions may not require the full values of earnings to be included in the calculation of the appropriate salary deduction. We have therefore added functionality to the template in order to include the taxable values of earnings instead of the full values for tax calculation purposes.

You can use taxable values of earnings instead of full values by selecting the "Taxable" option for the affected salary deductions in the Earn Inclusion input field (column H). Note that this setting will be applied to all earnings if the "Gross" basis is selected and to the individual earning if an earning code has been specified as the basis.

Even though the taxable value setting is applied to all earnings, it may not affect all earning codes. Where no taxable % or a taxable % of 100% has been specified for a particular earning, the full value and taxable value for the earning will be the same. Setting the Earn Inclusion field to "Taxable" therefore only affects earnings which are not fully taxable. If an earning is not taxable (taxable % of 0%), setting the Earn Inclusion to "Taxable" effectively excludes the particular earning for the salary deduction calculation.

Example: If the unemployment insurance fund (UIF) salary deduction calculation only needs to include a taxable % of 20% of the Travel Allowance earning type, you will need to set the UIF salary deduction to the taxable earnings setting (Earn Inclusion set to "Taxable"). Only 20% of travel allowances will then be included in the UIF calculation but the activation of the setting will also result in all earning types that are 0% taxable being excluded. This means that reimbursive travel allowances and loans / advances which are not taxable (taxable % of 0%) will also not be included in the UIF calculation.

The template also makes provision for the inclusion of fringe benefits in salary deduction calculations. You can either elect to include the full value or the taxable value of fringe benefits for calculation purposes by selecting the "Full Value" or "Taxable" option from the Fringe Inclusion input field (column G). If fringe benefits should not be included in the calculation, the "None" option can be selected (this is also the default option for fringe benefit inclusion).

Example: If some employees have company cars and only the taxable value of this fringe benefit should be included in the UIF salary deduction calculation, the "Taxable" option needs to be selected in the Fringe Inclusion field for the UIF salary deduction. This will result in only the taxable value (say 20%) of the fringe benefit value being included in the calculation. Note that selecting the "Taxable" setting results the setting being applied to all fringe benefits but if a fringe benefit is 100% taxable, there is no difference between the taxable and full value options.

The tax % and annual tax limit settings in column K and L does not affect the salary deduction calculations and only affect how the salary deductions are included in the calculation of the monthly income tax salary deduction. If a salary deduction should not be deducted in the income tax calculations, a tax % of 0% needs to be specified. The default tax percentage is also 0% which means that salary deductions are not deductible for income tax purposes if a tax % is not entered in column K. For salary deductions that are fully deductible for income tax purposes, a setting of 100% needs to be entered in column K.

Adding or removing list items

The default list includes 10 items which can be customized by replacing the default template data with your own. If you require less than 10 salary deduction codes, you can delete the rows that are not required. If you require more than 10 salary deduction codes, additional codes can be added to the list by inserting the required number of new rows above the "End of list" entry and entering the required information into each user input field.

Note: If you add more entries to the list than the default number of entries, you also need to manually insert additional columns or rows on some of the other sheets in this template. Refer to the Column / Row Matrix section of these instructions for guidance on the steps that need to be completed - this is very important because if you add more than the default number of entries to the list and you do not complete these steps, the template calculations will not be accurate!

Company Contributions

A company contribution code needs to be created for each type of company contribution which the employer contributes on behalf of employees. These company contribution codes need to be added to the Company Contributions List on the Setup sheet. The company contribution List includes 8 user input fields - the following information is required in each of these fields for each type of company contribution:
Code - enter a code for each company contribution and use a unique code which will make it easy to identify the appropriate company contribution and to distinguish between the different types of company contributions. The company contribution codes are included above the column headings of all the sections on other sheets in this template where company contributions are included.
Description - enter a description for each company contribution. The descriptions that are entered in this part of the company contributions list are included on the Recon sheet.
Rate - enter the rate that needs to be used in the company contribution calculation. The rate can be a value or percentage depending on the basis on which the contribution is calculated.
Basis - enter the basis on which the company contribution needs to be calculated. There are three options - gross, fixed or linking the company contribution to the salary deduction code of the appropriate single salary deduction on which the company contribution calculation needs to be based. If nothing is entered in this field, the company contribution will be calculated based on gross income.
Fringe Inclusion - select the basis for including fringe benefits in the company contribution calculation. There are 3 options - full value if the full value of all fringe benefits needs to be included, taxable if the taxable value of all fringe benefits needs to be included and none if no fringe benefits should be added in the company contribution calculation. The default option is none which results in no fringe benefits being added in the company contribution calculations.
Earnings Inclusion - select the basis for including earnings in the company contribution calculation. There are 2 options - full value if the full value of all earnings need to be included and taxable if only the taxable value of earnings need to be included in the company contribution calculation. The default option is full value which results in the full value of all the appropriate earning types being included in the company contribution calculations.
Earn Exclusion - enter the earnings codes of all earnings types which need to be excluded from the company contribution calculations. The appropriate letters of the earnings codes need to be included in this section without any spaces or special characters in between.
Earnings Max - if there is an annual ceiling (maximum) value which needs to be applied in the company contribution calculation, this annual maximum earnings value needs to be entered in this field. All the values that are entered in this field therefore needs to be annual equivalents. The gross income which is used in the company contribution calculation will then be limited to this amount.

The default company contribution list includes 5 company contribution codes. You can customize this list by replacing the default data in the template with your own data.

Company Contribution Rate, Basis & Earning Exclusions

The company contribution rates that are specified on the Setup sheet relate to the business as a whole and are not employee specific. Where the contribution rates only need to be applied to specific employees, you will need to link the company contribution basis to the appropriate salary deduction code in order to use the salary deduction rates which have been specified on an employee level on the Emp sheet. The company contribution rate which is entered for the particular contribution can be used to adjust the salary deduction rates on the Emp sheet.

If the contribution rates and salary deduction rates are not a consistent percentage, the Override feature needs to be used in order to apply the correct company contribution values for the affected employees. Refer to the Override section of the instructions for more guidance on this feature.

The type of rate that you specify on the Setup sheet is largely dependent on the basis that you specify in the next user input field. If the basis is "Gross", the rate would typically be a percentage which needs to be entered as a decimal value in the Rate user input field (for example 0.02 for 2%). If the basis is "Fixed", the rate would typically be an amount - for example a rate of 50.00 would result in an amount of 50.00 being contributed in the appropriate company contribution calculation.

If a salary deduction code has been entered as the basis for a company contribution, the rate that needs to be specified is usually a percentage of the appropriate salary deduction.

Example: If a company contribution is related to a salary deduction and the contribution and deduction values are based on the same percentage of gross income with the same calculation parameters (which means that the salary deduction and company contribution will always be equal), the company contribution can be set up by entering a rate of 1 (or 100%) and then entering the salary deduction code of the salary deduction in the Basis user input field. The company contribution calculation will then be based on 100% of only the linked salary deduction.

The template has been designed with such flexibility that it is even possible to base a company contribution on only say one, two or three earnings codes - simply select the "Gross" basis in order to base the company contribution calculation on gross income (total of all earnings codes) and then exclude all but the required earnings codes in the Earn Exclusion input field (column I).

Example: If we want to base a company contribution calculation only on the basic salary (earnings code A) of employees, we can exclude all other earnings codes in column I. The entry in the Earn Exclusion input field would therefore be "BCDEFGHIJ" and would result in the company contribution only being calculated on earnings code A which in our default template data is for basic salary only.

Example: The unemployment insurance fund (UIF) company contribution calculation needs to exclude commissions. If the earnings code for commissions is "B", this letter needs to be included as the Earn Exclusion and the basis set to "Gross". The commission amounts that are included in gross income are then deducted when calculating the value of the company contribution. Alternatively, you can link the UIF company contribution to the UIF salary deduction and enter a rate of 100% if the salary deduction and company contribution values need to be equal.

Taxable Values

Some company contributions may not require the full values of earnings to be included in the calculation of the appropriate company contribution. We have therefore added functionality to the template in order to include the taxable values of earnings instead of the full values for tax calculation purposes.

You can use taxable values of earnings instead of full values by selecting the "Taxable" option for the affected company contributions in the Earn Inclusion input field (column H). Note that this setting will be applied to all earnings if the "Gross" basis is selected (excluded earnings will however be deducted).

Even though the taxable value setting is applied to all earnings, it may not affect all earnings codes. Where no taxable % or a taxable % of 100% has been specified for a particular earning, the full value and taxable value for the earning will be the same. Setting the Earn Inclusion field to "Taxable" therefore only affects earnings which are not fully taxable. If an earning is not taxable (taxable % of 0%), setting the Earn Inclusion to "Taxable" effectively excludes the particular earning from the company contribution calculation.

Example: If the unemployment insurance fund (UIF) company contribution calculation only needs to include a taxable % of 20% of the Travel Allowance earning type, you will need to set the UIF company contribution to the taxable earnings setting (Earn Inclusion set to "Taxable"). Only 20% of travel allowances will then be included in the UIF calculation but the activation of the setting will also result in all earning types that are 0% taxable being excluded. This means that reimbursive travel allowances and loans / advances which are not taxable (taxable % of 0%) will also not be included in the UIF calculation.

The template also makes provision for the inclusion of fringe benefits in company contribution calculations. You can either elect to include the full value or the taxable value of fringe benefits for company contribution calculation purposes by selecting the "Full Value" or "Taxable" option from the Fringe Inclusion input field (column G). If fringe benefits should not be included in the calculation, the "None" option can be selected (this is also the default option for fringe benefit inclusion).

Example: If some employees have company cars and only the taxable value of this fringe benefit should be included in the UIF company contribution calculation, the "Taxable" option needs to be selected in the Fringe Inclusion field for the UIF company contribution. This will result in only the taxable value (say 20%) of the fringe benefit value being included in the calculation. Note that selecting the "Taxable" setting results the setting being applied to all fringe benefits but if a fringe benefit is 100% taxable, there is no difference between the taxable and full value options.

Example: If a company contribution has been linked to a salary deduction, it is not necessary to specify values for any of the other user input settings aside from the rate and basis. If we link our company contribution for UIF to the salary deduction for UIF, we do not need to enter anything in the fringe inclusion, earn inclusion, earn exclusion and earnings max input fields.

Adding or removing list items

The default list includes 5 items which can be customized by replacing the default template data with your own. If you require less than 5 company contribution codes, you can delete the rows that are not required. If you require more than 5 company contribution codes, additional codes can be added to the list by inserting the required number of new rows above the "End of list" entry and entering the required information into each user input field.

Note: If you add more entries to the list than the default number of entries, you also need to manually insert additional columns or rows on some of the other sheets in this template. Refer to the Column / Row Matrix section of these instructions for guidance on the steps that need to be completed - this is very important because if you add more than the default number of entries to the list and you do not complete these steps, the template calculations will not be accurate!

Fringe Benefits

A fringe benefit code needs to be created for each type of fringe benefit that the company offers. These fringe benefit codes need to be added to the Fringe Benefits List on the Setup sheet. The Fringe Benefit List includes 5 user input fields - the following information is required in each of these fields:
Code - enter a code for each fringe benefit and use a unique code which will make it easy to identify the appropriate fringe benefit and to distinguish between the different types of fringe benefits. The fringe benefit codes are included above the column headings of all the sections on other sheets where fringe benefits are included.
Description - enter a description for each fringe benefit. The descriptions that are entered in this part of the fringe benefits list are included on the monthly salary pay slips on the PaySlip sheet.
Rate - enter the rate that needs to be used in the fringe benefit calculation. The fringe benefit calculation consists of the rate (which is usually a percentage) that is entered in this field and a value which needs to be entered on the Emp sheet for all the participating employees. If the appropriate fringe benefit only consists of a fixed value, a percentage of 100% should be used as the rate in this field.
Basis - enter the basis on which the fringe benefit needs to be calculated. There are two options - value or linking the fringe benefit to the company contribution code of the appropriate single company contribution on which the fringe benefit calculation needs to be based. If nothing is entered in this field, the fringe benefit will be calculated based on the value option.
Tax % - enter the % of the fringe benefit amount which is taxable for income tax purposes.

The default fringe benefit list includes 5 codes. You can customize this list by replacing the default data with your own. The sequence in which fringe benefits are included in the list is important because the same sequence is used on the other sheets in this template. If user input values are entered in the Fringe Benefit columns on one of the other sheets (as required on the Emp sheet) and you change the sequence of fringe benefits, the user input values will not align to the correct fringe benefit and the fringe benefit calculations will in all probability become inaccurate. We therefore do not recommend that you change the sequence of fringe benefits after you have entered data on the Emp sheet. New fringe benefit codes can however still be added to the end of the list.

Fringe Benefit Rate & Basis

The fringe benefit rates that are specified on the Setup sheet relate to the business as a whole and are not employee specific but the fringe benefit calculation consists of a rate and value portion which means that if no value is specified for a particular employee on the Emp sheet, no fringe benefit is calculated. This is different from how salary deductions are calculated - salary deduction values on the Emp sheet effectively override the rates on the Setup sheet. With fringe benefits, there is no override because both the rate on the Setup sheet and the value on the Emp sheet is used in the calculations.

As we pointed out in the Basis input field, you have the option of calculating fringe benefits based on a value per employee multiplied by the rate on the Setup sheet or by linking the fringe benefit calculation to a company contribution calculation by entering the company contribution code in the Basis input field. If no basis is entered, the value option will be used.

Example: If the monthly company car contribution fringe benefit needs to be calculated based on a monthly rate of say 3.5% multiplied by the value of the car, the 3.5% should be specified as the rate on the Setup sheet and the value of the car should be entered for each employee who uses a company car on the Emp sheet in the company car fringe benefit column.

Example: If the company contributes to employees' medical aid payments (which is a fringe benefit), the fringe benefit code can be linked to the company contribution by entering the company contribution code for medical aid in the Basis column. The rate can then be specified as 1 (or 100%) in order to include the full medical aid contribution value as a fringe benefit.

Taxable Values

Some fringe benefits may not be fully taxable and the tax % of each fringe benefit therefore needs to be specified in the Tax % input field. If no tax % is specified, the default value is 100% which means that it is assumed that the fringe benefit will be fully taxable.

Example: Only 20% of company car fringe benefits may be taxable and a tax % of 20% therefore needs to be specified for this particular fringe benefit. The tax % which is specified is therefore an inclusion percentage and not an actual taxation %.

The salary deductions and company contributions lists contain a user input field for fringe benefit inclusion. If fringe benefit values need to be included in the calculation of a particular salary deduction or company contribution, the "Full Value" or "Taxable" options need to be selected in these user input fields. These values will only differ if a tax % has been specified for the appropriate fringe benefit in the Fringe Benefits list (input field in column G).

Adding or removing list items

The default list includes 5 items which can be customized by replacing the default template data with your own. If you require less than 5 fringe benefit codes, you can delete the rows that are not required. If you require more than 5 fringe benefit codes, additional codes can be added to the list by inserting the required number of new rows above the "End of list" entry and entering the required information into each user input field.

Note: If you add more entries to the list than the default number of entries, you also need to manually insert additional columns or rows on some of the other sheets in this template. Refer to the Column / Row Matrix section of these instructions for guidance on the steps that need to be completed - this is very important because if you add more than the default number of entries to the list and you do not complete these steps, the template calculations will not be accurate!

Departments

Employees can be linked to departments in order to calculate departmental payroll costs which can be used to allocate payroll entries for accounting purposes. The department code is linked to individual employees in column C on the Emp sheet and only the department codes which have been included in the Departments list on the Setup sheet will be available for selection. The following information is required in the department list:
Code - enter a unique code for each department which will make it easy to identify the appropriate department and to distinguish between different departments.
Description - enter a description for each department.
Cost Centre - enter the general ledger code which should be used for allocation of costs to departments.

Note: The default template only includes 3 departments but you can add additional departments by inserting the required number of rows above the "End of list" row and adding a department code, description and cost centre for each of the new departments.

Note: A summary of payroll costs by department is included on the MonthDept sheet. All the calculations that are included on this sheet are automated and the only user input which is required on this sheet is selecting the appropriate payroll cost measurement at the top of the sheet.

Column & Row Matrix

The Column & Row Matrix at the bottom of the Setup sheet indicates whether the rows or columns on the other sheets in this template are consistent with the number of items which have been added to the lists on the Setup sheet. If rows or columns need to be added on any of the other sheets, the Status column in the matrix will be highlighted in red. If all the cells in the Status column are highlighted in green, it means that there are no inconsistencies and no additional rows or columns need to be added to the other sheets in the template.

Note: If you do not add additional items to the lists on the Setup sheet, all the cells in the Status column will automatically contain green highlighting and you do not need to pay any further attention to the matrix. The matrix therefore only needs to be used if you add additional list items.

Adding list items

None of the lists on the Setup sheet are limited to the default number of entries which means that you can add as many additional items as required. When you add items to a list, you need to insert the required number of rows (one per additional list item) above the "End of list" entry and complete the user input in all the columns that form part of the list for all the new items.

If the total number of list items are more than the number of default items that are provided for, the matrix at the bottom of the Setup sheet will indicate where on the other sheets in this template new rows or columns need to be inserted. The inconsistency between list items and columns is indicated by red highlighting in the Status column of the Column & Row Matrix.

The Sheet & Section text in column A of the matrix indicates which sheet and which section of the sheet requires additional rows or columns to be inserted. The starting row or column indicates in which row or column the section starts and the difference between the sheet count and the list count indicates how many new rows or columns need to be inserted.

You then need to go to the appropriate sheet and section and insert the required number of rows or columns in order to resolve the inconsistency. Note that if there are row or column inconsistencies, the template calculations may be inaccurate and it is therefore imperative that all of these errors are resolved!

Inserting new rows or columns

If any of the status cells in the matrix is highlighted in red, the start row or column text will indicate whether rows or columns need to be inserted in order to resolve the error. If the text contains letters, columns need to be inserted and if the text contains numbers, rows need to be inserted. The column or row number also indicates where on the appropriate sheet the section starts.

If you need to insert columns, you need to go to the starting column of the appropriate section and select the first dark blue cell in the column heading at the end of the section. The section starts at the indicated column which will have a dark blue cell as the column heading followed by a number of light blue column headings which are then followed by a dark blue column heading. You therefore need to select the first column heading cell with a dark blue column heading at the end of the appropriate section and then insert the required number of columns.

After you have inserted the required number of columns, you may need to change the column heading numbering so that the column heading names are consistent with the other columns in the section. This is not critical but may make it easier to determine which columns are part of the same section.

You then need to copy & paste all the cells above the column headings of the new columns from one of the existing columns. Always copy from the left - the section ends where you inserted the new columns and you therefore need to copy the formulas from the left in order to ensure that the same formulas are applied to the new columns that you just inserted.

Once you have done so, the last step is to copy the formulas from the section below the column headings in order to add calculations to the new columns. You should again copy from the left and you only need to copy & paste the formulas into the first cell below the column headings. The formulas will automatically be extended for all the other rows that form part of the new columns.

Note: If you need to add columns to a sheet and the column headings are yellow instead of light blue, you do not need to copy the formulas below the column headings because the section of the sheet requires user input and there are therefore no formulas in these columns. The user input columns that may need adjustment are the Deduction section on the Emp sheet, the Fringe Benefit section on the Emp sheet and the Earnings section on the Payroll sheet. All the other column sections contain formulas that need to be copied.

If you need to insert rows instead of columns, you only need to insert the new rows at the end of the appropriate section and copy the formulas from the last row that forms part of that section (which will be above the new rows). You may then also need to change some of the border formatting but there are no dark blue row headings that need to be taken into account.

After making your row or column adjustments, you need to check whether the red highlighting in the Status column of the matrix on the Setup sheet has been replaced by green highlighting. If so, you have applied the changes correctly. If the Status cell is still highlighted in red, the error has not been resolved and you need to revisit the steps that you needed to take. If you fail to resolve the error, contact us for assistance.

Deleting rows or columns

If you do not use some of the list items that are included in each of the lists on the Setup sheet, you can delete the appropriate rows from the list in order to reduce the number of earnings, salary deductions, company contributions or fringe benefits.

The number of columns which have been included on the Emp, Payroll and Summary sheets have been determined based on the default number of list items that we have included on the Setup sheet. If you therefore remove some of the list items, some of these columns can also be deleted.

Note: We recommend rather retaining unused columns instead of deleting them. If you delete the wrong columns it could result in errors. Only therefore delete columns if you are absolutely sure that the columns are not being used in any calculations.

Only columns that have light blue column headings and which have the text "Not Used" in the row directly above the column heading can be deleted. No other columns should ever be deleted otherwise the template calculations may result in errors! Unused columns can also only be deleted from the Emp, Payroll and Summary sheets - you should not delete columns from any other sheet!

Employees

All employees need to be added to the Emp sheet by adding a unique employee number in column A and entering employee data into all the user input columns on this sheet. The following columns require user input data:
Employee Number - enter a unique employee number for each individual employee. We recommend using employee numbers which consist of a combination of letters and numbers.
Employee Name - enter the name of the employee. You can use full names or surname & initials. The name as entered in this field will be included on the other sheets in the template including on the pay slip.
Dept - select the appropriate department. Only departments which have been added to the department list on the Setup sheet will be available for selection.
Date Employed - enter the date on which the employee commenced employment.
1st Payment Date - enter the date of the first payroll run which the employee should be included in. If the employee is added to a payroll run in any month which falls before the first day of the month in which this date falls, all payroll amounts will be set to nil values. The number of pay periods is also determined based on this date and an incorrect date can therefore lead to calculation inaccuracies. It is therefore imperative that the first payment dates of all employees are recorded accurately.
Date Terminated - if the employee has left the employment of the company, enter the date of termination in this column. The employee will only be able to receive payment on a payroll run date up to the end of the month in which this date falls. If the employee is added to a pay run dated after the end of the appropriate month, all payment amounts will be set to nil values.
Pay Period Override - select the "Yes" option if the employee pay periods need to be replaced by the business pay periods. This setting only has an effect if an employee has joined the company during the current tax year. See below for an example.
Job Title - enter the employee job title (included on pay slip).
ID Number - enter the employee identification or ID number (included on pay slip).
Income Tax Number - enter the employee income tax number (included on pay slip).
Residential Address - enter the residential address of the employee (included on pay slip).
Current Leave Days - enter the outstanding leave days of the employee for the current pay period.
IT Rebate Code - enter the appropriate income tax rebate code for the employee. Refer to the income tax rebate list on the Setup sheet for the available rebate codes. It is important that the correct rebate codes are entered for each employee otherwise their income tax calculations may not be accurate.
Income Tax Rate - select the appropriate income tax table code for the employee. There are two income tax tables on the Setup sheet - select A for the first table and B for the second table. You can also enter a percentage in this field if the income tax calculations for the employee need to be based on a fixed income tax percentage.
Medical Aid Members - enter the number of medical aid members. The medical tax credits are based on the number of medical aid members and the rates that are specified in the Medical Tax Credits table on the Setup sheet.
Deduction Rates - this section includes 10 columns, one for each of the 10 default items that are included in the Salary Deductions List on the Setup sheet. The rate field on the Setup sheet which is set up on a business level can be overridden by entering a rate for a particular employee in the appropriate salary deduction column in this section of the Emp sheet. The salary deduction code of each column is included above the column heading.
Fringe Benefit Values - this section includes 5 columns, one for each of the 5 default items that are included in the Fringe Benefits List on the Setup sheet. The value of a fringe benefit is calculated by multiplying the rate on the Setup sheet by the value which is entered in the appropriate fringe benefit column on the Emp sheet. The fringe benefit code of each column is included above the column heading.
Recon Status - this is the only column on the sheet which contains a formula and is used in the display of net pay differences on the Recon sheet. The formula will be copied automatically when you add new employee codes to the sheet and the table which contains all employee data on this sheet is extended.

Note: All the columns on the Emp sheet have been included in an Excel table. This feature is extremely useful when entering data in a table format because the table extends automatically when you enter data in the first blank row below the table. New employees should therefore be added to the sheet by entering an employee code in the first blank cell in column A.

Note: The rates & values in the Deduction and Fringe Benefit sections of the Emp sheet need to be customized before you start including data on the Payroll sheet. Once the first pay period has been paid, you should not change any of the existing rates that are included in these sections. If you do change any of the rates or values, it will also affect past pay periods which would then create differences between the payroll calculations and the amounts that have been paid for the elapsed months. If any of these rates or values need to be amended during the tax year, you need to use the Override feature to affect the required changes.

Pay Periods

When an employee joins the company during the tax year and is therefore only employed for part of the year, the employee's pay periods are determined based on the date that the employee joined in order for the income tax calculations to be accurate based on the assumption that the employee had been employed elsewhere before joining the company.

You can override this default calculation by selecting the "Yes" option in the Pay Period Override column on this sheet. The company pay periods are then used instead of the employee pay periods. This setting has no effect on employees who are employed for the full tax year.

Example: If an employee joins the company in month 7 of the tax year, the employee pay period in month 7 will be 1 because it is the employee's first month of employment. This means that if the employee has a gross pay of 10,000 per month, the salary deductions (including income tax) will be calculated based on an annual gross remuneration of 120,000 (10,000 / 1 x 12).

The effect of this default calculation is that for example income tax will be calculated & deducted from the employee's salary based on annual earnings of 120,000 therefore assuming that the employee was employed elsewhere at a similar remuneration level for the part of the tax year before joining the company. If this was indeed the case, the employee's annual income tax deductions should be similar to what will be included on the employee's tax return at the end of the tax year.

If the employee was not employed during the part of the tax year that elapsed before joining the company, the above calculation method would result in an over deduction of income tax because the calculation is based on a full 12-month employment period. If you want to override this default calculation in order to calculate salary deductions like income tax based on only the part of the tax year that the employee was employed by the company, you simply need to select the "Yes" option for the particular employee in the Pay Period Override column.

The income tax calculation will then be based on the company pay periods which in the above example will result in the deductions being based on an annual gross remuneration of 60,000 by the end of the tax year. Under the default rule, the employee would have had to pay a lot more income tax on a monthly basis and only have been able to claim the tax back at the end of the tax year. With the override activated, the income tax deduction would be a lot less and would be accurate by the end of the tax year with no need to claim any tax back.

Leave Balances

The leave balances that need to be recorded on the Emp sheet are for the current pay period only and the only purpose for including the balances on this sheet is to include the balances on the employee pay slips. You therefore need to update the balances on a monthly basis before pay slips are printed / sent to employees.

If you do not want to include leave balances on pay slips, you do not have to enter any leave balances on the Emp sheet. The leave field on the pay slips will then not be displayed.

Note: If you use our Annual Leave template, you will be able to simply copy the appropriate leave balances from this template and paste them into the column on the Emp sheet. It will therefore be very easy to include leave balances on your pay slips so that employees are always aware of how many leave days they have available.

Deduction & Fringe Benefit Sections

The rates that are specified in the 10 columns which are included in the Deduction section effectively override the rates that are specified in the Salary Deductions List on the Setup sheet. The salary deduction rate which is used on the Payroll sheet for the specific employee is therefore included from the Emp sheet and if no rate has been included for the particular salary deduction for the particular employee, the rate on the Setup sheet will be included instead. You therefore only need to include a rate on the Emp sheet if you want to override the company rate on the Setup sheet for some of the employees.

The values that are specified in the 5 columns that are included in the Fringe Benefit section do not function in the same way as the deduction rates. These values do not override any values on the Setup sheet but rather form part of the fringe benefit calculations. Fringe benefits are typically not applicable to all employees and it is therefore only required to enter values in the appropriate fringe benefit column if the fringe benefit applies to the specific employee. If no value is entered for an employee, no fringe benefit will be calculated.

The Deduction section includes 10 columns which is the default number of list items in the Salary Deductions List on the Setup sheet and the Fringe Benefit section includes 5 columns which is the default number of list items in the Fringe Benefits List on the Setup sheet. If you add items to these lists on the Setup sheet, you also need to add columns at the end of these sections on the Emp sheet.

The columns should be added by selecting the dark blue column heading (after the end of the section) and inserting the required number of columns. You then also need to copy the formula above the column heading from one of the other cells in the section in order to display the deduction or fringe benefit code above the column headings of the new columns. You may also need to rename the column headings if the default names in the new column headings are not consistent with the other column names in the section.

Note: As we stated earlier on in these instructions, the sequence of the items in the lists on the Setup sheet should not be changed once you have added data to the Payroll sheet. If the sequence of the items in the Salary Deduction List or the Fringe Benefit List is changed, the rates or values that have been added to the Emp sheet also needs to be changed to ensure that the correct rates or values are included in the correct columns.

Payroll

All monthly payroll entries need to be added to the Payroll sheet. The sheet requires limited user input in the columns with yellow column headings and contain automated calculations in the columns with light & dark blue column headings. You therefore need to take care not to enter or copy values in the columns which contain formulas (with the light & dark blue column headings).

Note: The area above the column headings also contain formulas which should not be edited, replaced or deleted otherwise the template calculations will not be accurate.

Note: All the data on the Payroll sheet have been included in an Excel table. This feature is extremely useful when entering data in a table format because the table extends automatically when you enter data in the first blank row below the table. Payroll entries can therefore be added to the sheet by simply entering or copying data into the first blank row below the table. The formulas in the calculated columns are then also extended automatically.

The most efficient technique of adding entries to the Payroll sheet is by copying the data from the user input columns for the previous payroll period and pasting the data into the first blank row below the table. You can then simply change the earnings values for the new period and add or delete rows for new or terminated employees.

The Payroll sheet contains the following user input columns which have yellow column headings:
Payment Run Date - enter the date of the payroll run.
Employee Number - select the appropriate employee number from the list box. All employee codes that have been added to the Emp sheet will be available for selection.
Earnings Section - the earnings section includes the 10 default earning types which have been added to the Earnings List on the Setup sheet. Enter the monthly earnings amount for each employee in the appropriate earnings columns. You can also copy these amounts from the previous payroll period and simply edit the amounts by changing them to the amounts that are applicable to the new pay period.

Note: The sequence of the items in the Earnings list on the Setup sheet should not be changed once you have added data to the Payroll sheet. If the sequence of the items in the Earnings List is changed, the columns in which the earnings values have been added on the Payroll sheet also needs to be changed to ensure that the correct earnings values are included in the correct columns.

Note: If have added earnings items to the Earnings List on the Setup sheet, you also need to insert new columns for these new earnings list items on the Payroll sheet. Select the column heading of the Gross Pay column and insert the required number of columns. You may also need to edit the column heading text so that it is consistent with the other column headings. You also need to copy the formulas above the column headings from one of the existing earnings columns.

These are the only user input columns on the Payroll sheet. All the other columns contain light or dark blue column headings and these columns all contain formulas which automate all the payroll calculations. It is therefore imperative that you do not replace these formulas with values or make any changes to the formulas.

The columns with formulas contain the following data or calculations:
Pay Slip Number - the first payslip number which has been specified on the Setup sheet is included in the first cell in this column. All subsequent pay slip numbers will increase in increments of 1. The data on the Payroll sheet should therefore never be sorted - if you change the sequence of entries on the sheet, the pay slip numbers will also change. If you do want to sort data, you should change this column to a user input column by replacing all the formulas in the column with values and then entering new pay slip numbers when you add new entries to the sheet.
Employee Name - the employee name is determined by the employee code which is selected in the previous column based on the employee information on the Emp sheet.
Dept - the department is determined based on the department code which has been linked to the employee on the Emp sheet.
Status - the status of all employees which have not been terminated on or before then end of the appropriate pay month (based on the payroll run date) will be "Active". If an employee has been terminated and included on the Payroll sheet for a payment date after the month of termination, the status will be displayed as "Terminated" and all the calculated values for the employee will be nil values.
Gross Pay - this is the total of all the values that have been entered in the earnings section.
Income Tax (PAYE) - this is the monthly income tax amount which is deducted from the appropriate employee's pay. Income tax is calculated based on the employee's annual taxable income and the income tax rates that have been specified on the Setup sheet. Each employee is linked to an income tax table and an income tax rebate code on the Emp sheet.
Deduction Section 1 - this section includes all the salary deduction values of the salary deductions which have been added to the Salary Deduction List on the Setup sheet. All of these amounts are calculated based on the rates that have been defined on the Setup sheet or overridden on an individual employee level on the Emp sheet. Refer to the Setup section of the instructions for guidance on how the salary deduction calculations are defined.
Total Deductions - this is the sum of all the salary deductions in Deduction Section 1.
Net Pay - this is the difference between the gross pay and the total salary deductions (including income tax).
Co-Contribution Section 1 - this section includes the monthly company contribution values for all the list items that have been included in the Company Contributions List on the Setup sheet. All of these amounts are calculated based on the rates that have been defined on the Setup sheet - refer to the Setup section of the instructions for guidance on how the rates are defined.
Total Co Contributions - this is the sum of all the company contributions in Company Contribution Section 1.
Total Cost To Company - this is the sum of the gross pay and total company contribution amounts.
Deductions & Co-Contrib - this is the sum of the total salary deductions and total company contribution amounts.
Employee Pay Period - this is the employee pay period. The employee pay period will only differ from the business pay period if the employee commenced employment during the current tax year. The employee pay period is used in most of the payroll calculations on this sheet.
Business Pay Period - this is the business pay period which is based on the number of months which have elapsed since the start of the tax year. The business pay period is only used in the quarterly & bi-annual earnings calculations and if the pay period override of an employee has been activated on the Emp sheet.
Unique Pay Date - the unique dates in this column have been calculated by combining the payroll run date and the row number of the entries in order to ensure that no two dates can be exactly the same (this only really has a purpose if more than one payment for the same employee is added on the same date which is very unlikely).
1st Pay Period - this is the first pay period of the employee which is defined on the Emp sheet.
Last Payment Date - the is the last date on which a payment has been made to the employee.
Pay Period Override - this column will reflect a "Yes" if the pay period override for the employee has been selected on the Emp sheet.
PaySlip Status - this column will contain a value of 1 if the pay slip number in column A is currently selected on the PaySlip sheet.
Medical Aid Members - this is the number of medical aid members which have been linked to the employee on the Emp sheet.
MedTaxCredit Monthly - the monthly value of the medical tax credit which is deducted in the income tax calculation. This medical tax credit is calculated by multiplying the medical aid members by the appropriate rate which is defined on the Setup sheet.
MedTaxCredit Annual - the annual value of the medical tax credit which is deducted in the income tax calculation.
IT Rebate Code - this is the income tax rebate code which has been linked to the employee on the Emp sheet. The default rebate code is "A".
IT Rebate Value - this is the income tax rebate value for the employee which is calculated based on the income tax rebate code and the rates which are included on the Setup sheet.
IT Rate - this is the income tax rate table which has been linked to the employee on the Emp sheet. The default income tax table is table A.
Fringe Benefit Monthly Section - the columns in this section (5 default columns) contain the fringe benefit calculations which are based on the rates specified on the Setup sheet and the values on the Emp sheet. All of these calculations represent monthly values before taxation. If you add more than 5 entries to the fringe benefit list, you need to insert the appropriate number of new columns at the end of this section.
Fringe Benefit Month Total - this column contains the total of the monthly fringe benefit section.
Annual Gross Tax Income - this column contains a calculation of the annual gross taxable income before salary deductions and fringe benefits are taken into account. This is the first column in a series of columns which are used to calculate the monthly income tax deduction values and is based on the amounts in the Earnings section.
Fringe Benefit Annual Section - all the income tax calculations are based on annual equivalents and this section includes the annual equivalents of the fringe benefits monthly section after taxation. These values are added to the annual gross taxable income in the previous column. If you add more than 5 entries to the fringe benefit list, you need to insert the appropriate number of new columns at the end of this section.
Annual Tax Deduct Section - this section contains columns (default of 10) for each salary deduction. The annual taxable salary deduction amounts are calculated in these columns which is then deducted from the annual gross taxable income & fringe benefit totals. If you add more than 10 entries to the Salary Deductions List on the Setup sheet, you need to insert the appropriate number of columns at the end of this section.
Annual Taxable Income - this column contains a calculation of the annual taxable income which is used in the calculation of the monthly income tax deductions. The annual taxable income is calculated by deducting the annual equivalents of the salary deductions from the sum of the annual fringe benefits and the annual gross taxable income (which is based on the amounts in the Earnings section).
Tax & Fringe Monthly EQV - this column represents the start of the calculation of income tax which is only applicable to earnings which are paid on a monthly basis. The amounts in this column reflect the total of gross annual taxable income plus annual fringe benefit equivalents. The reference to "monthly" in the column headings is because the calculations are only based on earnings which are paid on a monthly basis (no quarterly, bi-annual or annual) but the amounts calculated in fact represent annual equivalents.
Monthly EQV Deduct Section - this section contains columns (default of 10) for each salary deduction. Only earnings that are paid on a monthly basis are included in the calculation of these salary deductions which is the difference between the salary deduction calculations in this section and the previous salary deduction section which included all earnings in the calculation. If you added more than 10 salary deduction items to the Salary Deductions List on the Setup sheet, you need to also add the required number of columns at the end of this section.
Taxable Income Monthly EQV - this column contains the calculation of annual taxable income which is based on income which is only based on earnings which are paid on a monthly basis. The calculation includes the tax & fringe benefit equivalent and then deducts the amounts in the salary deduction section.
Taxable Income Non-Monthly - the total annual taxable income less the annual taxable income which is based only on earnings that are paid on a monthly basis is calculated in this column. This column therefore reflects the annual taxable income which is based on earnings that are not paid on a monthly basis (earnings paid on a quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis).
Total Annual Taxation - this column reflects the total annual taxation based on all earnings and after taking rebates and medical tax credits into account.
Tax On Monthly Income - this column reflects the total annual taxation based only on earnings which are paid on a monthly basis
Tax On Non-Monthly Inc - this column reflects the total annual taxation based only on earnings which are not paid on a monthly basis (quarterly, bi-annual or annual).
Earnings % Month - this column reflects the percentage of earnings which is paid on a monthly basis.
Earnings % Quarter - this column reflects the percentage of earnings which is paid on a quarterly basis.
Earnings % Bi-Annual - this column reflects the percentage of earnings which is paid on a bi-annual basis.
Earnings % Annual - this column reflects the percentage of earnings which is paid on an annual basis.
Earnings Total Amount - this column reflects the annual equivalent of all earnings.
Fringe Annual Tax Total - the total of all the fringe benefit columns in the Fringe Benefit Annual Section is included in this column.

Note: All of the columns with dark blue column headings on the Payroll sheet are essential for the template calculations and should therefore not be deleted. If you do delete any of these columns, some of the template calculations may result in errors and you would need to revert back to the downloaded version of the template.

Adding or deleting columns

When you add more than the default number of entries to the lists on the Setup sheet, it is essential that you also add the required number of columns to the other sheets in this template. The Payroll sheet contains multiple sections for earnings, salary deductions, company contributions and fringe benefits.

Note: We strongly suggest that you use the Column & Row Matrix which has been included at the bottom of the Setup sheet when you have added more than the default list items to any of the lists on the Setup sheet. The matrix will indicate into which sections of the Payroll sheet additional columns need to be inserted by highlighting the appropriate Status cells in red and also contains the starting column or row numbers of each section.

Note: You may also need to insert new columns into multiple sections on the Payroll sheet. There is only one section relating to Earnings and Company Contributions on the Payroll sheet but Fringe Benefits relate to two sections and Salary Deductions relate to 3 sections (which means that new columns need to be inserted into 3 different column sections when adding more than the default number of list items to the Setup sheet).

When you add new columns to the Payroll sheet, it is imperative that you also copy the formulas above & below the column headings from one of the existing columns in the appropriate section otherwise the template calculations may not be accurate.

Override

The Override sheet can be used to override any of the monthly calculated values for an employee. You can choose to override a single value, values for a range of multiple months or all monthly calculations until the end of the tax year. The override feature is available for income tax deductions, other salary deductions, company contributions, fringe benefits and medical tax credits (medical aid member count).

Note: If you override only one monthly value, most of the formulas which are used in this template (on the Payroll sheet) will automatically correct the override value in the subsequent month thereby reversing the effect of the override value. This is because most calculations on the Payroll sheet are based on annual equivalents.

Note: All the data on the Override sheet have been included in an Excel table. This feature is extremely useful when entering data in a table format because the table extends automatically when you enter data in the first blank row below the table. Override entries can therefore be added to the sheet by simply entering or copying data into the first blank row below the table. The formulas in the calculated columns are then also extended automatically.

If you enter multiple override values which affect the same monthly period, the entries will be added together. You can extend the override entry for multiple periods by simply specifying an override end date. If the override value should be applied to the remaining periods in the tax year, use an override end date of the last day of the tax year.

The following columns on the Override sheet require user input:
Override Date - enter the start date of the override entry. The override entry will replace the default calculation for the specified item and employee on the Payroll sheet from the first calendar month into which this date falls. If you do not enter an override end date in column I, the override will only be applied to a single monthly period.
Employee Number - select the employee number of the employee for which the override needs to be applied. If you do not select a valid employee number, the override entry will have no effect. Only employee codes which have been added to the Emp sheet will be available for selection.
Income Tax Code - select "TAX" from the list box if the override entry should be applied to the income tax salary deduction. If this item is selected, the calculated salary deduction value for income tax will be replaced by the override value in column H.
Medical Tax Credit Code - select "MED" from the list box if the override entry should be applied to the medical aid members which have been recorded on the Emp sheet. The calculation of medical tax credits (which are taken into account when calculating the monthly income tax deductions) consists of the employee's medical aid members which is multiplied by the medical tax credit rates on the Setup sheet. The medical override is therefore usually recorded when the number of medical aid members changes during the tax year.
Deduction Code - select the appropriate salary deduction to override. All the salary deductions which have been added to the Salary Deductions List on the Setup sheet will be available for selection. The calculated salary deduction value for the selected employee on the Payroll sheet will be replaced by the override value in column H.
Co-Contrib Code - select the appropriate company contribution to override. All the contributions which have been added to the Company Contributions List on the Setup sheet will be available for selection. The company contribution value for the selected employee on the Payroll sheet will be replaced by the override value in column H.
Fringe Benefit Code - select the appropriate fringe benefit to override. All the fringe benefits which have been added to the Fringe Benefits List on the Setup sheet will be available for selection. The fringe benefit value for the selected employee on the Payroll sheet will be replaced by the override value in column H.
Override Value - enter the override value. This value will replace the appropriate calculated value for the selected employee in the month which the override date relates to.
Override End Date - if you want the override to be applied to multiple periods, you need to specify an override end date. If this column is left blank, the override will only be effected for the month in which the override date in column A falls into. If you want to affect the override value in multiple months, enter the month end date of the last month that you want the override to be applied to in this column. If you want the override to be applied until the end of the tax year, enter the tax year end date in this column.

Note: If you select more than one code in columns C to G, the override value will be applied to all of the codes that you have selected in these columns.

Pay Slips

The employee pay slip that is included on the PaySlip sheet is automatically populated based on the user input & calculations on the Emp and Payroll sheets. The only user input that is required on the PaySlip sheet is to select the pay slip number in cell G3. The pay slip numbers are assigned in column A on the Payroll sheet and all pay slip numbers that are included on this sheet will be available for selection.

The business details at the top of the sheet are populated based on the user input on the Setup sheet and the information in the Employee Details section is populated based on the user input on the Emp sheet. The earnings & salary deductions values are populated based on the calculations on the Payroll sheet and displayed on a monthly and year-to-date basis.

Note: Only earnings & deductions codes which have year-to-date totals for the selected employee will be included on the pay slip. If an earning or deduction is therefore not applicable to the particular employee, such an earning or deduction will not be included on the pay slip.

The net pay is calculated as the difference between the total earnings and total salary deductions. The month-to-date (MTD) and year-to-date (YTD) company contribution and fringe benefits totals are included based on the calculations on the Payroll sheet. Company contributions are reflected as a total for all company contributions but fringe benefits are included individually. The value of the fringe benefits are the values before taxation.

If medical tax credits are applicable to the particular employee, the total medical tax credits which have been included in the income tax deduction calculations will be displayed. If no medical tax credits have been applied, the item will not be included on the pay slip.

Similarly, if leave balances have been recorded on the Emp sheet, the leave balances will be included on the pay slip but if no leave balances have been recorded, the item will not be included on the pay slip.

Note: The PaySlip sheet includes only one individual pay slip. You therefore need to select individual pay slip numbers at the top of the sheet in order to view or print a pay slip.

Monthly Payroll Summary

A monthly summary of payroll calculation totals is included on the Summary sheet. All the calculations on this sheet are automated and based on the detailed calculations on the Payroll sheet. No user input is therefore required on the Summary sheet.

Note: The reporting periods on the Summary sheet are based on the tax period and tax year settings which are specified on the Setup sheet. When you roll the template forward for a new tax year, you therefore need to change the tax year setting on the Setup sheet in order to view the calculations for the new tax year.

The sheet can also be filtered based on an employee number in order to reflect totals for a specific employee or by department in order to reflect totals per department. These filters can be applied by selecting the appropriate employee code or department code from cells D2 or E2. The content of the filter selection cell can then simply be cleared (select and press the Delete key on the keyboard) in order to reflect the total for all employees.

The Summary sheet contains an earnings section, a salary deductions section and a company contributions section which each comprise multiple columns. The earnings & salary deductions sections contain 10 columns and the company contributions section 5 columns. The number of columns are equal to the number of default list items which are included in the lists on the Setup sheet.

Note: If you therefore add more list items to the appropriate list than what has been provided for in the default template design, you need to manually insert the required number of additional columns after the end of the appropriate section, copy the formulas above the column headings from one of the existing columns in the section and copy the formulas in the first row below the column heading from one of the existing columns in the section.

The fringe benefit totals before & after taxation are also included on the Summary sheet. These columns contain totals of all individual fringe benefits and you therefore do not need to make any changes to the Summary sheet as a result of changes to the Fringe Benefits List on the Setup sheet.

The purpose of the last three columns on the Summary sheet is to sum salary deductions & company contributions which need to be paid to the same supplier. In order to calculate these totals, the appropriate salary deduction and company contribution needs to be created with the same code which is then entered in the cell with the yellow cell background above the column heading. The formulas in these columns will then add the salary deduction and company contribution with the specified code together in order to calculate the consolidated monthly total.

Monthly Employee Data

A monthly analysis of payroll data per employee has been included on the MonthEmp sheet. Aside from selecting the appropriate measurement on which the calculations on this sheet need to be based, the sheet requires no user input. The sheet provides for 50 employees but can be extended to an unlimited number of employees by simply copying the formulas from the last row into the required number of additional rows.

Note: The sequence of the employee codes on the MonthEmp sheet is based on the sequence of the employee codes that have been added to the Emp sheet and the monthly periods that are included on the sheet are determined based on the tax period and tax year settings on the Setup sheet.

The following measurements are available for selection:
Gross Pay - the total of all the columns in the earnings section.
Income Tax - the total income tax deduction.
Total Deductions - the total of all salary deductions including income tax.
Net Pay - gross pay less total deductions.
Total Co-Contributions - the total of all the columns in the company contributions section.
Deductions & Co-Contrib - total deductions plus total company contributions.
Cost To Company - gross pay plus total company contributions.

Note: If no measurement is selected, the "Net Pay" measurement is used.

Monthly Payroll Data By Department

A monthly analysis of payroll data by department has been included on the MonthDept sheet. Aside from selecting the appropriate measurement on which the calculations on this sheet need to be based, the sheet requires no user input. The sheet provides for 15 departments but can be extended to an unlimited number of departments by simply copying the formulas from the last row into the required number of additional rows.

Note: The sequence of the department codes on the MonthDept sheet is based on the sequence of the department codes that have been added to the Setup sheet in the Departments section and the monthly periods that are included on the sheet are determined based on the tax period and tax year settings on the Setup sheet.

The following measurements are available for selection:
Gross Pay - the total of all the columns in the earnings section.
Income Tax - the total income tax deduction.
Total Deductions - the total of all salary deductions including income tax.
Net Pay - gross pay less total deductions.
Total Co-Contributions - the total of all the columns in the company contributions section.
Deductions & Co-Contrib - total deductions plus total company contributions.
Cost To Company - gross pay plus total company contributions.

Note: If no measurement is selected, the "Cost to Company" measurement is used.

Payroll Reconciliation

The Recon sheet includes a reconciliation between the monthly payroll amounts and the total of all payments or general ledger journals which need to be added to the Payment sheet. All of the calculations on the Recon sheet are automated and you only need to select the basis and month at the top of the sheet to update the calculations.

The calculations in the Payroll section are based on the detailed calculations on the Payroll sheet and the calculations in the Payment section are based on the data that is captured on the Payment sheet. If the totals at the top of the sheet differ substantially, it means that the payments that have been made differ from the payroll calculations. This could point to an error with the payments for the period or to a rate or value which has been amended since the payments for the affected period have been made.

Note: Payment amounts will usually include only two decimals while some of the payroll calculations may include more than two decimals. Rounding differences of a few cents can therefore be expected in the reconciliations and can safely be ignored.

The totals at the top of the sheet consist of two line items - the amounts paid to employees and the amounts paid as a result of salary deductions and company contributions. When employees are paid, it is the net pay after all salary deductions which is paid to the employee. The net pay of each employee for each monthly period can be displayed on the MonthEmp sheet by selecting the Net Pay Measurement.

If there are differences between the net pay calculation on the MonthEmp sheet and the net pay which has been paid to individual employees for the selected monthly period, the first 15 net pay differences will be listed in the section of the recon below the totals.

The next section of the Recon sheet contains a complete list of salary deductions and displays the salary deduction code, description, total payroll amount for the month, total payment amount for the month and the difference. The amounts that are calculated in this section should agree to the amounts that have been paid and included on the Payment sheet. All differences should therefore be investigated and resolved.

If a salary deduction and company contribution are paid to the same supplier, the list items should be given the same code in the lists on the Setup sheet. The calculations in the salary deduction section on the Recon sheet will then add the company contribution to the salary deduction total and include the combined total in the salary deduction section so that it can more easily be matched to the total which has been paid to the supplier. The description of the company contribution in the next section will also then indicate that the company contribution has been included in the salary deduction section.

The fact that related salary deductions & company contributions are added together on the Recon sheet makes the totals that are calculated on this sheet suitable to be used as a calculation of payments to the appropriate suppliers which needs to be recorded on the Payment sheet. You can therefore use the amounts in the Payroll calculations columns as a list of payments that need to be made to suppliers as a result of salary deductions & company contributions. You can also use the totals on the Summary sheet for this purpose (use the last three columns on the sheet to add salary deductions & company contributions together).

Note: Some payroll calculations totals may not require a payment to be made but require a general ledger entry instead. These totals also need to be recorded on the Payment sheet and simply indicated as journal entries instead of payments otherwise the journal entries will be reflected as reconciliation differences on the Recon sheet.

Note: If you add more salary deductions or company contributions to the lists on the Setup sheet than what is provided for on the Recon sheet (14 items for salary deductions and 5 items for company contributions), you need to add the appropriate number of items as new rows to the appropriate section of the Recon sheet. Simply insert the required number of new rows at the bottom of the appropriate section and copy the formulas from one of the existing rows in the section.

The calculations on the Recon sheet can be displayed on a monthly or year-to-date basis by simply selecting the appropriate basis from the list box in cell C2 at the top of the sheet. The periods which are available for selection from the Month list box in cell D2 are based on the tax period and tax year that are specified on the Setup sheet.

As we've pointed out in this section of the instructions, the total monthly payroll payment values can be distinguished into two broad categories - the net pay that needs to be paid to each employee (as per the MonthEmp sheet) and the salary deductions & company contributions which need to be paid to third parties (or allocated as journal entries in some cases) and are calculated on the Recon or Summary sheets.

We've also previously mentioned that if you inadvertently change rates on the Setup or Emp sheets, it may affect past periods and therefore result in differences between the Payroll calculations and the Payment calculations on the Recon sheet. We therefore strongly recommend using the functionality which is provided for in the template to reconcile payroll calculations and payments otherwise it may be difficult to find the reasons for differences between the template calculations and actual payroll payments.

We also strongly recommend printing & filing at least the Summary, MonthEmp, MonthDept and Recon sheets after calculating your monthly payroll payment amounts. This will ensure that you have hard copies of the payroll calculations to refer back to if any subsequent reconciliation differences occur.

Payroll Payments

All monthly payroll payments can be recorded on the Payment sheet in order to make it easy to reconcile the paid amounts to the payroll calculations in this template. The Payment sheet contains the following user input columns:
Payroll Run Date - enter the date of the payroll run. This date should be the same as the dates that are entered in column B on the Payroll sheet in order to ensure that the payroll calculation and payment dates are the same. Some salary deductions and/or company contributions may only need to be paid after the appropriate month end and if the actual payment dates are therefore used, the dates for the purpose of the Recon sheet may not match.
Reference - enter a reference for the payment. For payments to employees, the employee code should be used. For payments of salary deductions or company contributions, the appropriate salary deduction or company contribution code needs to be used. If incorrect references are entered, the payroll calculations and actual payments (on the Recon sheet) will not reconcile.
Paid To - enter the name of the employee or the name of the third-party supplier who has been paid.
Description - enter a description of the payment.
Payment Amount - enter the payment amount.
Payment Type - this column contains a formula which displays "EMP" if the payment can be matched to an employee or alternatively "DC" which in effect means that the payment cannot be matched to an employee and probably relates to a third-party payment.

Note: All the data on the Payment sheet has been included in an Excel table. This feature is extremely useful when entering data in a table format because the table extends automatically when you enter data in the first blank row below the table. Payment entries can therefore be added to the sheet by simply entering or copying data into the first blank row below the table.

Payment totals for the monthly payments which need to be made to individual employees can be also be copied & pasted from the MonthEmp sheet after selecting the Net Pay measurement at the top of the sheet. Payment amounts for third parties based on salary deductions or company contributions can be copied & pasted from either the Summary or Recon sheets.

Roll Forward for Subsequent Tax Periods

This template has been designed to incorporate a single tax year. Once you reach the end of the tax year, you can roll the template forward for the next tax year by saving a new copy of the template, changing the tax year entry on the Setup sheet and removing the user input data relating to the previous year which has been included on the Payroll, Override & Payment sheets.

Note: You also probably need to update some if not all of the tables & lists on the Setup sheet and the data on the Emp sheet. If any of these rates or values are not correctly updated, the template calculations may not be accurate!