User Guide: HR Manager

For: HR Managers, Payroll Officers, and General Managers Role: HR & Payroll Last Updated: January 27, 2026

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Table of Contents

1. Role Overview
2. Staff Management
3. Duktaan (Loan) Management
4. Monthly Payroll Process
5. Reporting & Compliance
6. Troubleshooting

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Role Overview

As an HR Manager, you oversee the lifecycle of hotel employees. Your critical responsibilities include managing Staff Profiles, processing the Monthly Payroll, and ensuring all advances/loans ("Duktaan") are recovered automatically from salaries.

Key Responsibilities

• Onboarding: Creating Staff profiles and setting salaries.
• Payroll: Generating, Approving, and Paying monthly salaries.
• Credit: Managing staff loans and ensuring repayment compliance.
• Compliance: Filing taxes (PAYE) and social security (NSSF).

Module Access

• ✅ HR & Payroll - Full access.
• ✅ Staff - Full access to profiles.
• ✅ Accounting - View Payroll Journals.

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Staff Management

Adding a New Employee

1. Navigate to HR > Staff.
2. Click + Add Staff.
3. Personal Details: Name, Phone (Required for SMS), Email, Address.
4. Employment Details:
   • Position: Job Title (e.g., "Chef").
   • Department: (e.g., "Kitchen").
   • Join Date: Start of contract.
   • Basic Salary: The gross monthly wage.
5. Bank Details: Account Number for transfers.
6. Credit Rules:
   • Creditable?: Check if allowed to take ad-hoc loans.
   • Credit Limit: Max outstanding balance (e.g., $500).
7. Save.

Status Changes

• Promotion: Update "Position" and "Basic Salary". Note: Affects next payroll run.
• Termination: Set Status to Inactive. Warning: Inactive staff are excluded from future payroll runs.

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Duktaan (Loan) Management

Staff often request advances or consume hotel services (Store, Restaurant) on credit.

1. Issuing a Loan (Cash Advance)

1. Navigate to Staff Profile > Credit.
2. Click + Issue Credit.
3. Amount: Enter value (e.g., $100).
4. Repayment Plan:
   • Fixed Deduction: Amount to deduct per month (e.g., $50).
5. Approve:
   • System: Debits "Employee Advances (Asset)" and Credits "Cash".
   • Staff Balance increases.

2. Monitoring Balances

• Outstanding Balance: Total amount owed.
• Repayment History: View all automatic payroll deductions.

3. Forgiving a Loan (Write-off)

1. In Credit History, click Forgive.
2. Reason: "End of Year Bonus" or "Hardship".
3. System: Writes off balance to "Employee Benefits Expense".

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Monthly Payroll Process

The payroll cycle is a 4-step workflow: Draft -> Generate -> Approve -> Pay.

Step 1: Create Draft Run

1. Navigate to HR > Payroll.
2. Click + New Run.
3. Select Period: (e.g., February 2026).
4. Click Create.

Step 2: Generate Lines & Review

1. Click Generate Lines.
   • System Logic:
     • Calculates Gross Pay.
     • Calculates PAYE & NSSF Taxes.
     • Auto-Recovers Loans: Deducts min(FixedAmount, Balance) from Net Pay.
2. Review Grid:
   • Check Net Pay column.
   • Verify Loan Deductions are present for staff with debt.
3. Adjustments:
   • Click Edit on a specific staff line.
   • Add Bonus or Overtime (Earnings).
   • Adjust Tax (if manual override needed).
   • Save.
   • Important: Click Recalculate to update totals.

Step 3: Approval

User: Finance Manager / GM.

1. Review Totals (Total Gross, Total Net, Total Taxes).
2. Click Approve Run.
   • System Action:
     1. Locks the run (Read-Only).
     2. Accounting: Posts Liability Journal (Dr Salary Exp, Cr Salary Payable).
     3. Loans: Updates Staff Credit balances (reduces debt).

Step 4: Payout

User: Cashier / Accountant.

1. Ensure bank transfers are done.
2. Click Record Payment.
3. Select Source Account (e.g., Bank - Main).
4. Confirm.
   • System Action:
     1. Posts Payment Journal (Dr Salary Payable, Cr Bank).
     2. Sends Payslip SMS/Email to all staff.

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Reporting & Compliance

Payslips

• Individual: Open Staff Profile > Payroll History > Print.
• Bulk: Open Payroll Run > Print All Payslips (PDF).

Statutory Reports

1. Open Payroll Run.
2. Click Export Summary.
3. Use "PAYE" and "NSSF" columns to file returns with the Revenue Authority.

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Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Staff Missing	Check if Staff Status is "Active". Inactive staff are skipped.
Loan Not Deducting	Check "Fixed Deduction Amount" in Staff Profile. If $0, system deducts nothing.
Wrong Salary	Update Basic Salary in Profile, then click Regenerate Line in the Payroll Draft.
Already Paid	If you approved by mistake, you cannot Undo. You must post a Manual Journal Entry to reverse it.

TIP

Loan Safety: The system will never deduct more than the Net Pay. If a staff earns $500 but owes $600 with a $600 deduction, the system creates a deduction of $500 (Net $0) or less depending on policy.