Earnings and deductions

Earnings and deductions are recurring lines on an employee’s payroll profile, on top of the basic salary. They are included every month the profile version is in force.

Statutory deductions — PAYE, NSSF, SHIF and the Housing Levy — are calculated automatically. Do not add them as lines. See Statutory rules.

Earnings

Go to Payroll → Extra income.

The tab lists allowances, bonuses, benefits and other earnings on profiles that are Effective now. The cards show the number of Employees, Assignments and the total Monthly amount. Use Search assignments to find an employee, code or description.

Assign income to an employee

1. Choose the Employee.
2. Select Assign income. TillPoint opens a new version of that employee’s profile on the Components step, with a blank line added.
3. Fill in the line. See The fields on each line.
4. Select Continue, check the summary, then select Save employee.
5. Ask a second person to confirm the new profile version.

The new version starts on the 1st of next month by default. You can change Effective from on the Employment step.

You can also add lines directly while adding an employee or creating a new version, with Add extra income.

Deductions

Go to Payroll → Deductions.

The tab lists recurring non-statutory deductions on profiles that are Effective now — for example a salary advance, a SACCO contribution or a staff loan repayment. Assign one the same way: choose the Employee, select Assign deduction, fill in the line and save a new profile version.

A deduction reduces net pay. TillPoint refuses to calculate a payslip where employee deductions are more than the cash earnings.

The fields on each line

Field	Notes
Code	A short code saved in capitals, such as HOUSE_ALLOW. Each code can be used once per employee. Codes starting with PAYE, NSSF_, SHIF_ or AHL_ are reserved for statutory lines.
Description	As it should appear on the payslip.
Category	Earning, Allowance, Taxable benefit, Deduction or Employer contribution.
Amount (KES)	The monthly amount in Ksh.

Earning, Allowance and Taxable benefit appear on the payslip under Earnings & benefits. An Employer contribution is a cost to the business: it is added to the employer cost and does not reduce the employee’s net pay. Employer contributions do not appear on either tab.

Tickboxes

The tickboxes decide how TillPoint treats the line in the calculation.

Tickbox	Effect
Taxable	Adds the amount to taxable pay for PAYE.
Cash earning	Adds the amount to gross cash pay. Untick it for a non-cash benefit; if Taxable stays ticked, the amount is taxed but not paid out.
PAYE deductible	On a deduction, reduces taxable pay — but only for the codes listed below.
Pensionable income	Adds the amount to the base used for the pension deduction limit. Earnings and benefits only.
NSSF applicable	Adds the amount to the NSSF base.
Housing levy applicable	Adds the amount to the Housing Levy base.
SHIF applicable	Adds the amount to the SHIF base.

A new income line starts with Taxable and Cash earning ticked and everything else unticked. A new deduction starts with everything unticked.

Basic salary always counts towards PAYE, NSSF, the Housing Levy, SHIF and pensionable income. Extra lines count only where you tick the box.

Deductions that reduce PAYE

PAYE deductible has an effect only on a Deduction line with one of these codes:

Code	Treatment
REGISTERED_PENSION	Allowable pension contribution, within the limits in the rule version.
POST_RETIREMENT_MEDICAL_FUND	Allowable, up to the monthly cap in the rule version.
MORTGAGE_INTEREST	Allowable, up to the monthly cap in the rule version.
INSURANCE_PREMIUM	Gives insurance relief to tax residents, at the rate and cap in the rule version.

Any other deduction is taken from net pay but does not reduce tax, even if PAYE deductible is ticked. The limits are listed on Statutory rules.

Caution

Whether an allowance counts towards NSSF, SHIF or the Housing Levy, and whether a benefit is taxable, is a judgement for your accountant. The person who confirms each profile version should check every tickbox against that advice.