Bonus and 13th month planner

What the bonus and 13th month planner does

A bonus is easy to promise and hard to fund. List each employee, the months of basic pay you plan to pay and any performance bonus, and the workbook adds up the bonus pool, the employer's Housing Levy on it and the total cost, then compares it with the budget you set aside.

Who it is for

Employers and HR officers planning year-end payments, and owners who want to know in advance whether the business can afford a bonus.

How to use the workbook

1. Check the employer Housing Levy rate on the Rates sheet.
2. Type your bonus budget at the top of the Bonuses sheet.
3. List each employee, their monthly basic pay and the months of pay you intend to give.
4. Add any performance bonus and read the total cost and the budget left.
5. Save a copy under a new name for each month or year, so earlier records stay as they were.

What is inside

• Bonus as a number of months of basic pay
• Extra performance bonus for each person
• Employer Housing Levy on the bonus
• Total cost against your budget
• Budget left shown at the top

The workbook has these sheets: Instructions, Bonuses, Rates. The main table has the columns Employee; Monthly basic pay; Months of pay as bonus; Performance bonus; Total bonus; Employer Housing Levy; Cost to employer. Yellow cells are for you to fill in and grey cells calculate by themselves, so leave the grey cells alone. The example rows show how it works; type over them with your own entries.

Tips for getting it right

• Remember a bonus is taxed with the month's pay, so staff receive less than the gross figure.
• Check the contract: a 13th month may be a right if the contract says so.
• Pay through payroll so PAYE and other deductions are done correctly.
• Keep the approved list with your payroll records for the year.

Why keep this record

Staff records go wrong in small, repeated ways: a figure typed twice, a deadline forgotten, a promise that nobody wrote down. A tidy workbook that everyone uses the same way removes most of those problems. It also gives you something to show an employee, an auditor or a labour officer when a question comes up months later, and it makes the next payroll quicker because the facts are already in one place.

Questions people ask

Do I need to know Excel formulas? No. Type into the yellow cells and the rest is worked out for you. The formulas are visible if you want to see how a figure is reached.

Can I add rows or change the layout? You can add your own columns to the right and your own notes. If you insert rows inside a table, copy the grey formula cells down so the new rows calculate too.

Will it work on my phone or in Google Sheets? Yes for viewing and typing, but dropdown lists and the charts look best in desktop Excel or LibreOffice.

Keeping it safe and up to date

Payroll records are personal data and tax records at once, so keep the file somewhere only the people who need it can open, and keep each month's copy for at least five years. Statutory rates such as NSSF limits and the Housing Levy change, so check the Rates sheet against the official source before you rely on a figure.

Read how to run payroll for a small business for the wider picture. Free calculators that go with it: Bonus tax calculator, Paye calculator, Housing levy calculator. See more payroll templates or ask us for a custom one.

The workbook works in Microsoft Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets. It is a tool to help you work out and record figures, not tax, legal or accounting advice, and it is not affiliated with the Kenya Revenue Authority. If something does not work as described, contact us and we will put it right.

Related guides, calculators and templates

• Free calculator: Bonus, Overtime and Commission Tax Calculator
• Free calculator: PAYE Calculator
• Free calculator: Housing Levy Calculator
• Guide: Tax for Kenyans working remotely for foreign employers
• Guide: Per diem and staff meals exemptions raised: what employers should know
• Guide: Penalty and interest rates for late tax returns and payments: the current table
• Another template: Monthly payroll workbook (up to 50 employees)
• Another template: Sales commission calculator and tracker
• Another template: Annual PAYE and payroll summary

Need something different? Request a custom template, browse all guides or see every Excel template.