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Payroll

Payroll cost allocation by department

Allocate each employee's pay and employer costs to a department and see what each department costs and its share of payroll.

Payroll cost allocation by department template

Knowing the total payroll is not enough; managers need to know what each team costs. List each employee with their department, gross pay and the employer's statutory costs, and the workbook adds the total cost of each person, each department's share of the payroll and the cost per head, ready to post to cost centres or to review in a budget meeting.

Finance managers and owners who report payroll by department, and bookkeepers who post payroll to cost centres.

What is included

  • Gross pay and employer costs for each employee
  • Total cost of each person
  • Each person's share of total payroll
  • Total payroll cost at the top
  • Cost by department with a chart

Screenshots

  • Payroll by department of Payroll cost allocation by department
  • Payroll cost by department of Payroll cost allocation by department

How to use it

  1. List each employee and choose their department.
  2. Enter their gross pay and the employer's NSSF and Housing Levy cost.
  3. Read the total cost and the share of payroll.
  4. Use the summary to post the cost to each department.

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 payroll cost allocation by department does

Knowing the total payroll is not enough; managers need to know what each team costs. List each employee with their department, gross pay and the employer's statutory costs, and the workbook adds the total cost of each person, each department's share of the payroll and the cost per head, ready to post to cost centres or to review in a budget meeting.

Who it is for

Finance managers and owners who report payroll by department, and bookkeepers who post payroll to cost centres.

How to use the workbook

  1. List each employee and choose their department.
  2. Enter their gross pay and the employer's NSSF and Housing Levy cost.
  3. Read the total cost and the share of payroll.
  4. Use the summary to post the cost to each department.
  5. Save a copy under a new name for each month or year, so earlier records stay as they were.

What is inside

  • Gross pay and employer costs for each employee
  • Total cost of each person
  • Each person's share of total payroll
  • Total payroll cost at the top
  • Cost by department with a chart

The workbook has these sheets: Instructions, Allocation, By department. The main table has the columns Employee; Department; Gross pay; Employer costs; Total cost; Share of payroll. 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

  • Use the same department names as in your accounts.
  • Allocate shared roles in agreed percentages.
  • Reconcile the total to your payroll journal.
  • Review each department's cost against its budget.

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: Housing levy calculator, Nssf 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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