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KenyaTax

Payroll

Employee cost to company calculator

See what each employee really costs you in a month and a year: pay, allowances, employer NSSF, Housing Levy and benefits.

Employee cost to company calculator template

Salary is only part of what an employee costs. This workbook adds allowances, the employer's NSSF and Housing Levy and any benefits such as medical cover, then shows the monthly and yearly cost of each person, the cost per working hour and the total for the business, so hiring and pay decisions use the real figure.

Business owners deciding whether they can afford a new hire, HR officers preparing a salary offer, and accountants budgeting staff costs for the year.

What is included

  • Employer Housing Levy worked out for you
  • Monthly and yearly cost to company for each person
  • Cost per working hour
  • Average cost per employee and total payroll cost
  • Summary of cost by role with a chart

Screenshots

  • Employee cost to company of Employee cost to company calculator
  • Monthly cost by role of Employee cost to company calculator

How to use it

  1. Check the Rates sheet: the employer Housing Levy rate and the standard monthly hours.
  2. List each employee with their role, basic pay and allowances.
  3. Enter the employer's NSSF contribution and any other monthly benefits you pay.
  4. Read the monthly cost, the yearly cost and the cost per hour for each person.

Templates are tools to help with your own records. They are not tax or legal advice. Check the figures against official sources before filing or paying.

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What the employee cost to company calculator does

Salary is only part of what an employee costs. This workbook adds allowances, the employer's NSSF and Housing Levy and any benefits such as medical cover, then shows the monthly and yearly cost of each person, the cost per working hour and the total for the business, so hiring and pay decisions use the real figure.

Who it is for

Business owners deciding whether they can afford a new hire, HR officers preparing a salary offer, and accountants budgeting staff costs for the year.

How to use the workbook

  1. Check the Rates sheet: the employer Housing Levy rate and the standard monthly hours.
  2. List each employee with their role, basic pay and allowances.
  3. Enter the employer's NSSF contribution and any other monthly benefits you pay.
  4. Read the monthly cost, the yearly cost and the cost per hour for each person.
  5. Save a copy under a new name for each month or year, so earlier records stay as they were.

What is inside

  • Employer Housing Levy worked out for you
  • Monthly and yearly cost to company for each person
  • Cost per working hour
  • Average cost per employee and total payroll cost
  • Summary of cost by role with a chart

The workbook has these sheets: Instructions, Employees, By role, Rates. The main table has the columns Employee; Role; Monthly basic pay; Allowances; Employer NSSF; Employer Housing Levy; Other benefits; Monthly cost. 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

  • Take the employer NSSF figure from the NSSF calculator for each salary.
  • Include every regular benefit, such as medical cover or a transport allowance.
  • Add recruitment, training and equipment separately if you want a first-year cost.
  • Update the sheet whenever a salary changes and keep a dated copy.

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: Net to gross salary calculator, Nssf 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.

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