> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bumara.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Running payroll

> Preview, process, approve, pay and reconcile — the monthly pay run from start to lock.

The pay run is the moment everything comes together: employee records, pay elements, monthly
inputs and statutory rates. Do it in the right order and it takes twenty minutes.

## Before you start

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="All monthly inputs are in">
    Past the cutoff day, with any late items dealt with deliberately. See
    [Monthly inputs](/payroll/monthly-inputs).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="New joiners are added">
    With correct hire dates, regulatory numbers and bank details.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Leavers are handled">
    Included in this run if they were paid this month; marked inactive only after it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Salary changes are recorded">
    With the correct effective dates.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Allowance and deduction dates are right">
    New ones started, expired ones ended.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Step 1 — Preview

Always preview. It costs nothing and saves everything.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Payroll and choose Preview payroll">
    Select the period, for example 2026-05.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review the totals">
    Total gross, total deductions, total net, employee count. Compare against last month — a large
    swing needs explaining before you proceed.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review each employee">
    Gross pay, each statutory deduction, loan instalments, other deductions, net pay.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Investigate anything unexpected">
    See the checklist below.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Correct at source and preview again">
    Fix the employee record, the pay element or the monthly input — never patch a number.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Nothing is saved during preview. You can run it as many times as you like.

### What to look at

| Check                               | Usual cause if wrong                                     |
| ----------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| Employee count                      | A joiner missed, or a leaver not removed                 |
| Anyone with zero net pay            | Deductions have consumed the whole salary                |
| Anyone whose net jumped sharply     | An input error, or an allowance that should have ended   |
| Anyone whose net dropped sharply    | Absence entered wrongly, or a new deduction              |
| Total PAYE                          | Compare as a proportion of gross against last month      |
| Total NAPSA                         | Should be roughly 5.5% of gross, less the ceiling effect |
| Total NHIMA                         | Should be roughly 1% of total basic — not of gross       |
| Total net against your bank balance | Can you actually pay this?                               |

## Step 2 — Process

<Steps>
  <Step title="Choose Process payroll">
    Confirm the period.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Bumara calculates and saves">
    In order: daily rate, basic pay adjusted for absence, allowances, overtime, then NHIMA at 1% of
    basic, NAPSA at 5.5% of gross up to the ceiling, and PAYE across the progressive bands. Then
    employee deductions and loan instalments.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Payslips are generated">
    One per employee.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The run enters Draft">
    Calculated and saved, but not yet authorised for payment.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Step 3 — Approve

Approval should be done by someone other than the person who processed the run. That separation is
the main control in payroll.

<Steps>
  <Step title="The approver reviews the run">
    Totals, and a sample of individual payslips.
  </Step>

  <Step title="They check the total against the budget">
    And against last month.
  </Step>

  <Step title="They approve">
    Status moves to **Approved**, authorised for payment.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Step 4 — Pay

<Steps>
  <Step title="Produce the payment list">
    Export the run with employee bank details and net amounts.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Make the transfers">
    Through your bank, as a batch file or individually.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Mark the run as Paid">
    Once the transfers are made.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pay the statutory amounts">
    PAYE, NAPSA and NHIMA are separate payments to separate bodies, on their own deadlines. Paying
    staff is not the end of the month.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  Employees' net pay and the statutory deductions are two different payments. The PAYE, NAPSA and
  NHIMA you deducted is not your money — it is held on behalf of the employee and the regulator.
  Do not spend it.
</Warning>

## Step 5 — Distribute payslips

From the pay run detail page:

| Action                 | Use                              |
| ---------------------- | -------------------------------- |
| **Email individual**   | The email icon on a payslip row  |
| **Email all payslips** | Sends to every employee at once  |
| **Download PDF**       | Individual or bulk, for printing |

See [Payslips](/payroll/payslips).

## Step 6 — File the statutory returns

<Steps>
  <Step title="PAYE, by the 10th">
    Pre-fill the PAYE filing from this run. See [PAYE returns](/regulators/zra/paye).
  </Step>

  <Step title="NAPSA and NHIMA">
    Download the return files from the pay run and lodge them. See
    [NAPSA and NHIMA](/regulators/napsa-and-nhima).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Attach the payroll summary">
    It satisfies the required document on the PAYE filing.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Step 7 — Reconcile and lock

<Steps>
  <Step title="Match against your bank statement">
    Every transfer out should match a net pay figure.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Investigate differences">
    A failed transfer, a wrong account number, a payment made twice.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Mark as Reconciled">
    Once everything matches.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The run locks">
    Permanently sealed. This is what makes your payroll history reliable.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## If something is wrong after processing

| Stage                    | What to do                                              |
| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Draft**                | Correct at source and re-run. Nothing has been paid     |
| **Approved, not paid**   | Reverse the approval, correct, re-run                   |
| **Paid**                 | Adjust in the following month. Do not unwind a paid run |
| **Reconciled or locked** | Adjust in the following month                           |

<Warning>
  Reversing a paid run affects payslips already sent, statutory returns possibly already filed, and
  your bank reconciliation. Correcting forward is almost always the right answer — and be explicit
  with the employee about what is being adjusted and why.
</Warning>

## The monthly rhythm

| When                     | What                                               |
| ------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------- |
| Through the month        | Add joiners, record leavers, record salary changes |
| A few days before cutoff | Remind managers to submit inputs                   |
| Cutoff day               | Close inputs                                       |
| Cutoff plus one          | Preview, correct, preview again                    |
| Cutoff plus two          | Process and approve                                |
| Payment day              | Pay staff, distribute payslips                     |
| By the 10th              | File PAYE                                          |
| Per their schedules      | File NAPSA and NHIMA                               |
| Month end                | Reconcile and lock                                 |

<Note>
  Next: [Payslips](/payroll/payslips) and [Statutory returns](/payroll/statutory-returns).
</Note>