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SikaBooks
Payroll · Guide 5

Calculation

When you click Calculate on a draft or calculated pay run, the system processes every eligible employee and computes their full pay breakdown. How Calculation Works For each active...

When you click Calculate on a draft or calculated pay run, the system processes every eligible employee and computes their full pay breakdown.

How Calculation Works

For each active (and optionally on-hold) employee:

  1. Gather components — collect all assigned and enabled earning/deduction/employer contribution components
  2. Compute gross — sum all earning components (fixed amounts or percentage of base salary)
  3. Apply deductions — subtract all deduction components (including loan installments)
  4. Calculate pension contributions on the capped pensionable base:
    • SSNIT Tier 1 Employee: 5.5% of pensionable earnings (capped at GHS 61,000/month)
    • SSNIT Tier 1 Employer: 13% of pensionable earnings (capped at GHS 61,000/month)
    • Tier 2 Occupational Pension: 5% employer contribution (capped at GHS 61,000/month)
    • Tier 3 Voluntary Pension: Per-employee rates (combined max 16.5% of basic salary)
  5. Apply tax reliefs — deduct monthly relief amounts (annual ÷ 12) from taxable income
  6. Calculate PAYE — apply the progressive tax bands to chargeable income (after SSNIT and relief deductions):
Monthly Chargeable Income (GHS) Tax Rate
0 – 490 0%
491 – 1,200 5%
1,201 – 2,000 10%
2,001 – 3,400 17.5%
3,401 – 50,000 25%
Above 50,000 35%
  1. Apply special tax rules (if applicable):
    • Non-resident employees: Flat 25% tax on all income
    • Casual workers: Flat 5% tax
    • Bonus: First 15% of annual basic salary taxed at special rate (5% for residents, 20% for non-residents)
    • Overtime: Special rate for junior employees (basic < GHS 18,000/year)
  2. Compute statutory total — PAYE + employee SSNIT + employee Tier 2 + employee Tier 3
  3. Compute employer cost — gross + employer SSNIT + employer Tier 2 + employer Tier 3 + employer contributions
  4. Compute net pay — gross minus deductions minus statutory deductions

Minimum Wage Check

The system validates each employee's effective daily rate against the national minimum wage (currently GHS 21.77/day for 2026). If an employee's gross pay divided by 22 working days falls below the minimum wage, a warning is flagged during calculation.

Delta Comparison

The system automatically compares each employee's net pay against their net in the most recent prior run. If the change exceeds 10%, a warning is flagged for review. This catches data entry errors, missing components, or unexpected salary changes.

Recalculation

You can recalculate at any time before posting:

  • Full recalculation — recalculates all employees in the run
  • Individual recalculation — recalculates a single employee (useful after editing their profile or components)
  • Bulk recalculation — select multiple rows and recalculate them together

Recalculation uses the latest employee data and statutory rates. If you update an employee's salary or components, recalculate to see the updated figures.