Payroll software in Zambia
Payroll software in Zambia
PayrollMaster Africa is payroll software for Zambian employers. It calculates PAYE, NAPSA, NHIMA and the Skills Development Levy on every payslip, produces the monthly returns for the Zambia Revenue Authority and the bank payment file in kwacha. Zambian companies use it to run compliant payroll without tracking a ceiling that moves every January.
Compliance
What must a Zambian employer deduct from every payslip?
5 statutory items, collected by 4 different bodies. PayrollMaster calculates PAYE, NAPSA, NHIMA and SDL on the payslip; the rest are listed so you can account for them alongside it.
Zambian employers pay monthly. One cost that is not a deduction but hits every payroll budget: employees on fixed-term contracts are entitled by law to gratuity of at least 25% of the basic pay earned over the contract, payable when it ends. Fixed-term contracts are common, so this is a real part of the cost of employing someone in Zambia.
| Deduction | Authority | Paid by | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| PAYE Pay As You Earn | Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) | Employee | Monthly: nil up to K5,100; 20% on 5,101–7,100; 30% on 7,101–9,200; 37% above K9,200 Source · in force from 2025-01-01 Commonly misreported. Several third-party salary calculators circulate a different, incorrect table (25% and 37.5% marginal rates). The bands above are corroborated by PwC and PKF Zambia, and they reconcile exactly against the published annual thresholds — 5,100 × 12 = 61,200, 7,100 × 12 = 85,200, 9,200 × 12 = 110,400. |
| NAPSA National Pension Scheme Authority contribution | National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) | Employer + employee | 5% employee + 5% employer of gross earnings, capped at an insurable-earnings ceiling of K37,236/month — a maximum of K1,861.80 each Source · in force from 2026-01-01 Commonly misreported. NAPSA’s own website still shows a stale ceiling of K28,920.30. The current figure is K37,236 for 2026, and NAPSA revises it every January — it is set at four times the national average earnings, which checks out exactly for both 2025 and 2026. This is precisely the kind of number you should not be maintaining by hand. |
| NHIMA National Health Insurance Scheme contribution | National Health Insurance Management Authority (NHIMA) | Employer + employee | 1% employee + 1% employer of basic salary, with no ceiling Source · in force from 2019-09-19 Commonly misreported. The base is BASIC salary, not gross earnings — read directly from the Third Schedule of the gazetted National Health Insurance (General) Regulations 2019 (SI No. 63 of 2019). Several secondary sources say gross; they are wrong, and getting this wrong overstates the deduction for every employee with allowances. |
| SDL Skills Development Levy | Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) | Employer | 0.5% of gross emoluments, employer-paid. Employers with annual turnover below K800,000 are exempt. Source · in force from 2017-01-01 Commonly misreported. From the 2026 charge year, SDL became deductible against corporate income tax. That changes its tax treatment, not the 0.5% rate. It is not charged on gratuities or redundancy payments. |
| WCFCB Workers’ Compensation Fund assessment | Workers’ Compensation Fund Control Board (WCFCB) | Employer | Not yet verified The Workers’ Compensation Act fixes no single universal percentage — the Board sets rates per industry risk class by Gazette notice. WCFCB’s own site was unreachable throughout our research, and the figures circulating in secondary sources (anywhere from 0.5% to nearly 7%) are mutually inconsistent and untraceable. We will not print a number we cannot stand behind. Confirm your industry’s rate directly with the Board. |
Rates last reviewed 2026-07-14 against Zambia Revenue Authority and other official sources. Where a figure is widely misreported elsewhere, we say so above rather than leave you to find the contradiction yourself. Where authorities genuinely conflict, both readings are shown rather than resolved. Statutory rates change with every finance act — confirm current figures with a local practitioner before relying on them. PayrollMaster applies the current rates centrally, so your payroll run does not depend on this table being fresh.
What we solve
What PayrollMaster does for Zambian payroll teams
Compliance is table stakes. What makes Zambian teams switch is everything around it — the casual workers, the staff loans, the leave, and the questions that land on HR every payday.
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Multi-country payroll
One account, one process, and each market’s statutory rules kept current for you.
For Zambia, that means PAYE, NAPSA, NHIMA, SDL applied on every payslip, with the returns ready to file with the ZRA.
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Casual & gig workforce
Casuals paid correctly and compliantly, on the same run as everyone else.
Zambian casual workers are checked against local minimum-wage floors, with sub-monthly PAYE and any withholding tax handled automatically.
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Payroll for accounting firms
Every client’s payroll in one place, switchable in a click, visible at a glance.
Manage Zambia clients alongside the rest of your book, each on Zambia’s own statutory rules.
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Statutory compliance
When the law changes, you do nothing — your next run is already right.
In Zambia, PayrollMaster tracks PAYE, NAPSA, NHIMA, SDL, WCFCB and the ZRA filing calendar for you.
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Staff loans & advances
Loans issued, deducted and tracked to zero without a side spreadsheet.
Deductions run on the Zambia payroll cycle and show on each employee’s Zambia payslip.
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Employee self-service
The payroll questions stop reaching your inbox.
Zambian employees see their statutory deductions itemised, on the phone they already own.
What we have
Everything in the Zambia payroll platform
Fifteen areas, one system, for Zambia. Not a feature list bolted on — the platform a payroll team actually runs on.
Payroll
Run a pay cycle end to end, at any size.
Payroll engine
A full pay run, calculated in one click.
Pay components
Any earning, deduction or contribution, your way.
Payslips
Payslips your way, delivered for you.
Approvals
One inbox for every sign-off.
Compliance
Statutory rules, returns and reports that hold up to an audit.
Statutory compliance
Statutory rules that update themselves.
In Zambia, PayrollMaster applies PAYE, NAPSA, NHIMA, SDL and produces the returns the ZRA expects.
Reports & analytics
The numbers your accountant asks for.
People
The whole employee record, leave and self-service.
Employee management
The whole employee record, in one place.
Leave & holidays
Leave balances that count themselves.
Employee self-service
The questions stop reaching your inbox.
Flexible workforce
Casual and gig payroll, loans and advances.
Casual & gig payroll
Casual and gig workers on the same platform.
Zambian casual workers are paid against local minimum-wage floors, with sub-monthly PAYE handled correctly.
Loans & advances
Staff loans that reconcile themselves.
Platform
Integrations, agencies, security and the things that scale.
Accounting integrations
Payroll lands in the system you already run.
Multi-company & agencies
Run payroll for every client from one account.
Security & access
The most sensitive data you hold, treated that way.
Platform
Localised, branded and built to grow into.
Pricing in Zambia
What does payroll software cost in Zambia?
PayrollMaster costs KES 100 per employee per month on Starter and KES 150 on Professional, quoted and charged in Kenyan shillings — payroll itself runs in kwacha (ZMW). There is no setup fee, and statutory filing with Zambia Revenue Authority is included rather than charged per submission.
See all plansIs PayrollMaster compliant with the Zambia Revenue Authority?
Yes. PayrollMaster calculates PAYE using ZRA’s current graduated bands and produces the monthly return, with the Skills Development Levy declared on the same return. NAPSA and NHIMA contributions are calculated on the same payslip and remitted by the 10th of the following month.
Does PayrollMaster apply the NAPSA earnings ceiling correctly?
Yes. NAPSA contributions are capped at an insurable-earnings ceiling that NAPSA revises every January, tied to national average earnings. PayrollMaster applies the current ceiling automatically, so high earners are not over-deducted — and you are not maintaining a number that changes annually.
How much does payroll software cost in Zambia?
PayrollMaster charges KES 100 per employee per month on Starter and KES 150 on Professional, quoted and charged in Kenyan shillings, while the payroll itself runs in kwacha. Statutory filing is included rather than charged per submission, there is no setup fee, and Enterprise is priced on request.
Can PayrollMaster pay Zambian employees in kwacha?
It prepares the payment; your bank or mobile-money provider moves the money. PayrollMaster calculates net pay in kwacha and records each employee’s payment method — bank, mobile money, cash or cheque, with multiple accounts and salary splits — then produces the bank payment file and tracks the status of every payment on the run. Payslips are generated and emailed in bulk, and no run is final without an authorised approval.
Zambia
Where next for payroll in Zambia?
Run Zambian payroll without the spreadsheet
Start free and run one real Zambia month — the deductions, the payslips, and the filing that comes out of it. Compare it against whatever you use today before you switch anything.