openPayroll is a complete payroll management system built for Zambian businesses by Essence IT Consulting Limited. It helps you:
All money values are displayed in your company's selected currency (e.g., ZMW).
To use openPayroll you need:
XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX).Open your browser and go to https://zedpayroll.space. You will see the openPayroll home page.
ABCD-EFGH-IJKL-MNOP).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.
Use the Logout option in the sidebar menu.
Each company has three default roles:
| Role | Description |
|---|---|
| Owner | Full access to everything in the company |
| Admin | Full access to everything in the company |
| HR / Payroll | Day-to-day operations — no user, settings, or compliance management |
| Action | Owner | Admin | HR / Payroll |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manage company users | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Manage employees | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Assign allowances to employees | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Define allowance categories | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Record salary advances | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Preview & generate payroll | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Lock / unlock payroll periods | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| View compliance (read-only) | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Edit company settings | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
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.
ZMW)#0b1b3f)Click Save Settings to apply changes.
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)
Click the trash icon next to a user. You cannot delete yourself.
Where: Sidebar → Employees
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).
Click the Edit (pen) button, update the fields, and click Update Employee.
Click the trash icon and confirm.
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:
You can add, edit, or delete allowance types.
Where: Sidebar → Allowances
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.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active | Being repaid |
| Fully Deducted | Fully repaid via payroll |
| Cancelled | Written off |
Where: Sidebar → Payroll
Existing periods appear as clickable badges under Existing Periods for easy access.
The preview shows each active employee with:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Basic | Basic salary |
| Allowances | Allowances for the period |
| Gross | Basic + Allowances |
| PAYE | Income tax |
| NHI | NHIMA deduction (1% of basic) |
| NAPSA | Pension deduction (5% of gross, capped) |
| Advance | Monthly advance repayment |
| Deductions | Total of all deductions |
| Net | Gross − Deductions |
A Totals row shows the summary across all employees.
Click Generate Payroll (or Regenerate Payroll if a draft already exists).
Generating payroll:
| Deduction | How it is calculated |
|---|---|
| PAYE | Progressive tax using the national tax bands |
| NHIMA (NHI) | 1% of basic salary only |
| NAPSA | 5% of gross pay, capped at the monthly ceiling (K 1,708.20) |
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:
Click Print for a clean, paper-friendly layout. The sidebar and navigation are hidden when printing.
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.
Each run shows summary cards (Gross, Deductions, Net Pay, Employees) and the list of employees with their pay and payment status.
Locking prevents further runs from being created for a pay period, protecting the final figures.
Where: Sidebar → Reports
The Statutory Reports page provides the statutory figures needed for tax and social security submissions.
These show the totals for your current filter selection.
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.
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.
Use the Export Excel or Export CSV buttons to download the report. The export respects your current filters.
statutory-report.xlsxstatutory-report.csvThe 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:
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.
Your ticket is created with an Open status and sent to the Essence IT support team.
The Support page lists all of your tickets showing their Subject, Status (Open / Resolved), number of Replies, and when they were Last Updated.
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)
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.
The Overview page shows system-wide statistics: Companies (registered), Active Licenses, Unused Keys, and Total Users.
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.
Where: Admin Panel → Statutory
Manage the central statutory values that apply to all companies:
When you save, these values take effect immediately for every company's payroll.
Where: Admin Panel → Support
Review and respond to support tickets raised by companies:
When a company adds a new message to a resolved ticket, it is automatically reopened so it does not get missed.
Q: How do I get a license key?
A: Contact Essence IT Consulting Limited. Registration requires a valid, unused key.
Q: I can't log in.
A: Check your email and password. If your company license is inactive or expired, you will be blocked — contact Essence IT Consulting.
Q: Why is NHI only on my basic salary?
A: By Zambian regulation, NHIMA is calculated on basic salary (1%), excluding allowances. This is applied automatically.
Q: Why was my NAPSA capped?
A: NAPSA is capped at the statutory monthly ceiling (K 1,708.20). This is applied automatically.
Q: What happens if I regenerate a payroll period?
A: The existing draft run for that period is replaced, and advance deductions are applied again. Regenerating is not possible once a period is locked.
Q: How do I correct a locked payroll period?
A: Unlock it from the run detail page (Owner/Admin), make your changes, then re-lock it.
Q: How do I produce reports for NAPSA/NHIMA/PAYE?
A: Use Reports, filter to the period(s), and export to Excel or CSV.
Q: Can my company change tax bands or rates?
A: No. These are managed centrally by Essence IT Consulting and shown to you as read-only under Compliance.
Q: How do I contact support or report a bug?
A: Use the Support section in the sidebar to create a ticket. Your message goes straight to the Essence IT team, and you can follow the conversation and replies on the same page.
End of manual. For support, contact Essence IT Consulting Limited.