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Payroll

Severance and terminal dues workbook

Work out what a departing employee is owed: severance, notice pay, unused leave and unpaid salary, for every leaver in one sheet.

Severance and terminal dues workbook template

When employment ends, several amounts may be due at once, and getting one wrong creates a dispute. This workbook takes each leaver's pay, dates and reason for leaving, and works out years of service, severance where it applies, notice pay, pay for unused leave and unpaid salary, with a total for each person and for the business.

Employers and HR officers handling redundancies, resignations, dismissals and the end of contracts, and accountants who must provide for the cost of an exit and check a final payment.

What is included

  • Years of service worked out from the dates
  • Severance only where the reason is redundancy
  • Notice pay, leave pay and unpaid salary
  • Total dues per person and in total
  • Rates sheet for severance days and the leave day rate

Screenshots

  • Severance and terminal dues of Severance and terminal dues workbook

How to use it

  1. Check the Rates sheet: the severance days per year and the days in a month used for daily pay.
  2. Enter each leaver, the reason, monthly basic pay, the dates joined and left.
  3. Enter notice months to be paid, unused leave days and any unpaid salary.
  4. Read the total dues for each person and the grand total.

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 severance and terminal dues workbook does

When employment ends, several amounts may be due at once, and getting one wrong creates a dispute. This workbook takes each leaver's pay, dates and reason for leaving, and works out years of service, severance where it applies, notice pay, pay for unused leave and unpaid salary, with a total for each person and for the business.

Who it is for

Employers and HR officers handling redundancies, resignations, dismissals and the end of contracts, and accountants who must provide for the cost of an exit and check a final payment.

How to use the workbook

  1. Check the Rates sheet: the severance days per year and the days in a month used for daily pay.
  2. Enter each leaver, the reason, monthly basic pay, the dates joined and left.
  3. Enter notice months to be paid, unused leave days and any unpaid salary.
  4. Read the total dues for each person and the grand total.
  5. Save a copy under a new name for each month or year, so earlier records stay as they were.

What is inside

  • Years of service worked out from the dates
  • Severance only where the reason is redundancy
  • Notice pay, leave pay and unpaid salary
  • Total dues per person and in total
  • Rates sheet for severance days and the leave day rate

The workbook has these sheets: Instructions, Dues, Rates. The main table has the columns Employee; Reason for leaving; Monthly basic pay; Date joined; Date left; Years served; Severance pay; Notice months paid. 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

  • Confirm the severance rule and any contract terms before paying.
  • Pay the final dues on time and keep a signed acknowledgement.
  • Use the same daily-rate rule for leave as your contracts state.
  • Remember that some termination payments are taxable; use the terminal dues tax calculator.

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: Terminal dues tax calculator, Severance pay 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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