openPayroll

openPayroll is a complete payroll management system built for Zambian businesses by Essence IT Consulting Limited. It helps you:

• Maintain employee records
• Define and assign allowances (housing, transport, phone, overtime, etc.)
• Track salary advances and their monthly repayments
• Run payroll with statutory deductions calculated automatically (PAYE, NHIMA, NAPSA)
• Produce print-ready payslips
• Generate statutory reports and export them to Excel or CSV
• Lock payroll periods to prevent accidental changes
• Communicate with Essence IT support through the built-in support ticket system

All money values are displayed in your company's selected currency (e.g., ZMW).

To use openPayroll you need:

• A license key issued by Essence IT Consulting Limited (a 16-character key in the format XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX).
• An internet connection and a modern web browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari).

Accessing the system

Open your browser and go to https://zedpayroll.space. You will see the openPayroll home page.

Create Your Company

1. On the home page, click Register.
2. Fill in the Create your company form:
   • License Key — the key issued by Essence IT (uppercase, e.g. ABCD-EFGH-IJKL-MNOP).
   • Company Name — your organisation's name.
   • Company Email — (optional) a general company email address.
   • Your Name — the name of the person registering.
   • Email — a valid, unique email address (this is your login).
   • Password / Confirm Password — at least 6 characters.
3. Click Create Company & Register.

On success you are automatically logged in and taken to your Dashboard. Your company is created, your license is activated, and your default roles are set up. The account you register with is given the Admin role.

Logging In

1. Go to https://zedpayroll.space/login.
2. Enter your Email and Password (tick Remember me to stay logged in).
3. Click Login.

Logging Out

Use the Logout option in the sidebar menu.

Each company has three default roles:

What each role can do

The sidebar menu adjusts automatically to show only the features your role can access.

Where: Sidebar → Settings (Owner/Admin only)

The settings page lets you manage your company profile and brand.

Company Details

• Company Name
• Email, Phone, Tax Number, Address
• Currency — the currency shown throughout the app (e.g., ZMW)
• Logo — upload a PNG, JPG, JPEG or SVG image up to 2 MB (used on payslips)
• Theme Color — the accent colour for your sidebar and buttons (default dark navy #0b1b3f)
• Theme Mode — Light or Dark

Click Save Settings to apply changes.

Your License Card

This card shows your License Key, its Status (Active / Expired / Revoked), Activated and Expires dates, Max Users, and how many Users you have used.

To request a renewal: click Request License Renewal. Essence IT Consulting will review and approve it. While pending, you will see "Renewal request pending review."

Where: Sidebar → Users (Owner/Admin only)

Create a User

1. Enter Name and Email.
2. Enter and confirm a Password (at least 6 characters).
3. Choose a Role: Owner, Admin, or HR / Payroll.
4. Click Create User.

Change a User's Role

1. In the Users table, click the Role button for the user.
2. Select the new role and click Save.

Delete a User

Click the trash icon next to a user. You cannot delete yourself.

Where: Sidebar → Employees

Employee Summary

The Employees page shows three summary cards: Total, Active, and Terminated employees. You can search by name, employee number, NRC or email, and filter by status (Active / Terminated).

Register an Employee

1. Click Register Employee.
2. Fill in the form in three sections:
   • Personal Details: Employee No, First Name, Last Name, NRC, TPIN, Phone, Email
   • Employment Details: Position, Department, Employment Type (Permanent / Contract), Join Date, Status (Active / Terminated)
   • Compensation & Bank: Basic Salary (required), Bank Name, Bank Account
3. Click Save Employee.

Edit an Employee

Click the Edit (pen) button, update the fields, and click Update Employee.

Delete an Employee

Click the trash icon and confirm.

Allowance Types (categories)

Where: Sidebar → Allowance Types (Owner/Admin only)

Define the allowance categories your company pays — Housing, Transport, Phone, Car, Overtime, etc. For each type you can set:

• Name (e.g., Housing, Transport)
• Description
• Default Amount
• Taxable — whether the allowance is subject to tax (PAYE/NHI/NAPSA)

You can add, edit, or delete allowance types.

Assign Allowances to Employees

Where: Sidebar → Allowances

1. In the Add Allowance form, choose:
   • Employee (active employees only)
   • Allowance Type
   • Amount
   • Type:
     • Monthly (every month) — this amount is paid every pay period
     • Single month only — choose a specific Month; this amount applies only to that month's payroll (ideal for overtime or one-off bonuses)
2. Click Add Allowance.

To view allowances, use the View allowances for dropdown. You will see the employee's Total Monthly Allowances and a table of their allowances, where you can remove individual entries.

Where: Sidebar → Advances

A salary advance is money given to an employee before payday, repaid through fixed monthly deductions from their payroll.

Record an Advance

1. Click New Advance.
2. Complete the form:
   • Employee (active employees only)
   • Advance Date
   • Advance Amount
   • Monthly Deduction — the amount deducted from each month's payroll until fully recovered
   • Notes (optional)
3. Click Record Advance.

Advance Statuses & Actions

• To cancel an active advance, click the Cancel (ban) button. The remaining balance is written off.
• To delete a record that is fully deducted or cancelled, click the trash icon.

Where: Sidebar → Payroll

Step 1 — Pick a Pay Period

1. On the Payroll page, select the Pay Period (month) you want to run.
2. Click Preview Payroll.

Existing periods appear as clickable badges under Existing Periods for easy access.

Step 2 — Preview

The preview shows each active employee with:

A Totals row shows the summary across all employees.

Step 3 — Generate

Click Generate Payroll (or Regenerate Payroll if a draft already exists).

Generating payroll:

• Creates a draft payroll run for the period
• Calculates PAYE, NHI and NAPSA automatically from your compliance settings
• Applies advance deductions to each employee's pay and reduces their advance balances
• Redirects you to the payroll run detail page

Statutory deductions explained

These values are managed centrally by Essence IT Consulting and are read-only for your company (see Compliance).

Where: On a payroll run, click the Payslip button for an employee.

The payslip shows:

• Company logo / name, address, phone and email
• Pay period and pay date
• Employee details (name, employee no, position, department, NRC, TPIN)
• Earnings: Basic Salary, Allowances, Gross Pay
• Deductions: PAYE, NHI, NAPSA, Advance Repayment, Total Deductions
• Net Pay (prominently displayed)

Click Print for a clean, paper-friendly layout. The sidebar and navigation are hidden when printing.

Mark an Employee as Paid

On the payroll run page, click Mark Paid for each employee once payment is made. The employee's status changes to Paid.

Where: Sidebar → History

The History page lists every payroll run with its Period, number of Employees, Gross, Deductions, Net, Status, when it was Generated, and a View action.

Run Detail Page

Each run shows summary cards (Gross, Deductions, Net Pay, Employees) and the list of employees with their pay and payment status.

Locking a Period (Owner/Admin only)

Locking prevents further runs from being created for a pay period, protecting the final figures.

• Lock Payroll: click Lock Payroll on the run page and confirm. The period is marked Locked.
• Unlock Payroll: if you need to re-open a period, click Unlock and confirm. This lets you create a new run for that period.

Where: Sidebar → Reports

The Statutory Reports page provides the statutory figures needed for tax and social security submissions.

Summary Cards

• Gross Pay
• PAYE
• NHI
• NAPSA

These show the totals for your current filter selection.

Filtering

You can filter by a single period (from the dropdown), or a From / To month range. Click Apply to refresh. Use Reset to clear the filters.

The Report Table

For each employee and period, the table shows Gross Pay, PAYE, NHI, NAPSA, Total Statutory, and Net Pay, with a totals row at the bottom.

Exporting

Use the Export Excel or Export CSV buttons to download the report. The export respects your current filters.

• Excel: statutory-report.xlsx
• CSV: statutory-report.csv

The file includes the same columns plus a totals row, and is formatted with a bold header.

Where: Sidebar → Compliance (Owner/Admin only)

The Compliance page is read-only. It shows the statutory values that Essence IT Consulting manages centrally and which apply to all companies:

• PAYE Tax Bands (from / to amounts and rates)
• NHIMA (NHI) Rate — percentage of basic salary
• NAPSA Rate — percentage of gross salary
• NAPSA Monthly Ceiling

Where: Sidebar → Support (available to all logged-in company users)

Need help with something, or found an issue? Use the built-in support ticket system to contact Essence IT Consulting Limited directly — no need to open a separate email ticket.

Creating a Ticket

1. In the sidebar, click Support.
2. Click New Ticket.
3. Enter a Subject (a short summary of your issue).
4. Enter your Message describing the problem or question in detail.
5. Click Submit Ticket.

Your ticket is created with an Open status and sent to the Essence IT support team.

Viewing & Replying

The Support page lists all of your tickets showing their Subject, Status (Open / Resolved), number of Replies, and when they were Last Updated.

• Click View on any ticket to open the conversation thread.
• Company messages appear as green bubbles on the right; Essence IT replies appear as light bubbles on the left.
• To add to a conversation, type in the Reply box and click Send Reply.

Resolved Tickets

When Essence IT marks a ticket as Resolved, it is shown with a green Resolved badge. If you still need help, simply reply to the ticket and it will be reopened for the support team automatically.

Where: Sidebar → Change Password (available to all logged-in users)

1. Enter your Current Password.
2. Enter a New Password (at least 6 characters) and confirm it.
3. Click Save.

You will be asked to re-confirm your current password if it does not match.

The global admin logs in at the same login page and is redirected to the Admin Panel automatically.

Overview

The Overview page shows system-wide statistics: Companies (registered), Active Licenses, Unused Keys, and Total Users.

License Management

• Generate License Key — create a new key for a customer. You can set an optional Max Users and Expiry Date (leave empty for no expiry).
• Unused License Keys — view and delete keys that have not yet been claimed.
• Pending Renewals — approve customer renewal requests. Approving sets the license to active for a further one year.

Registered Companies & Licenses

The table lists each company, its license key, status, and expiry. Use the Manage button to update a license's expiry date and status (Active / Expired / Revoked), and the Status button to Activate or Suspend a company.

Statutory Settings

Where: Admin Panel → Statutory

Manage the central statutory values that apply to all companies:

• PAYE Tax Bands — add or remove tax bands (From, To, Rate %)
• NHIMA (NHI) — set the rate as a percentage of basic salary (default 1%)
• NAPSA — set the rate as a percentage of gross salary (default 5%) and the monthly ceiling (default K 1,708.20)

When you save, these values take effect immediately for every company's payroll.

Support Ticket Management

Where: Admin Panel → Support

Review and respond to support tickets raised by companies:

• The Support Tickets page shows summary counts (Total, Open, Resolved), an Open / Resolved status filter, and a list of all tickets with their company, status, and reply count.
• Click View on a ticket to read the full conversation.
• Respond to the company using the Reply to Company box and click Send Reply. Your reply appears to the company as an Essence IT message.
• Use Mark Resolved to close a ticket once the issue is handled. Use Reopen to reopen it if needed.

When a company adds a new message to a resolved ticket, it is automatically reopened so it does not get missed.