Salary advance and staff loan tracker

What the salary advance and staff loan tracker does

Salary advances and staff loans are easy to give and easy to lose track of. This tracker lists every advance with its date, amount and the monthly amount you will recover from pay, then shows how much has been recovered and what is still outstanding for each person and in total.

Who it is for

Small employers, shop owners and office managers who help staff with advances and want a clear record that both sides can check, and a total they can read before running payroll.

How to use the workbook

1. Enter the employee, the date and the amount of each advance or loan.
2. Set the monthly recovery amount to deduct from pay.
3. Each month, add what was actually recovered in the recovered column.
4. Read the outstanding balance for each person and the total at the top.
5. Save a copy under a new name for each month or year, so earlier records stay as they were.

What is inside

• One row per advance or loan with the agreed monthly recovery
• Outstanding balance and months left worked out for you
• Totals for advanced, recovered and outstanding
• A status that shows what is cleared
• A summary sheet with a chart by employee

The workbook has these sheets: Instructions, Advances, Summary. The main table has the columns Employee; Date given; Reason; Amount given; Monthly recovery; Recovered so far; Outstanding; Months left. 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

• Agree the recovery amount in writing before you hand over the money.
• Check the deduction is lawful and does not leave the employee with too little pay.
• Record recoveries in the same month you make the payroll deduction.
• Close an advance only when the balance reaches zero.

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. 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

• Guide: How to run payroll for a small business in Kenya
• Guide: How PAYE is calculated in Kenya, step by step
• Guide: NSSF contributions explained: tiers, limits and what you pay
• Another template: Annual PAYE and payroll summary
• Another template: Annual leave planner and register
• Another template: Benefits and allowances register

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