How it works
From first conversation to first payslip, usually inside three weeks.
No long implementation, no software to buy, no minimum headcount. Here is exactly what happens and what it costs.
The five stages
Scope
You tell us how many people, where they are, what they earn and whether you have a South African entity. We come back with the structure, the cost and the timetable, in writing.
Agreement
One service agreement. For employer of record work it sets out that we are the legal employer, what you direct, who carries which risk, and how funds move. Nothing starts until it is signed.
Onboarding
Employment contracts issued, tax numbers confirmed, revenue and labour registrations checked, banking details verified directly with each employee rather than taken from an email.
The monthly cycle
Payroll run and checked, you approve, funds cleared, salaries paid on the agreed day, payslips issued, and the statutory filing made before the deadline, not on it. In South Africa that is the EMP201 by the 7th.
Reporting and year end
Monthly payroll register and a cost summary you can post straight to your ledger, in your reporting currency. In South Africa, EMP501 reconciliations in October and May and IRP5 certificates to every employee.
Fees
Agreed in writing before you commit.
Employer of record work is charged as a percentage of the salaries we run. Payroll bureau and accounting work is charged on a monthly fee agreed up front. Either way you know the number before you engage us, and it does not move without a conversation. You contract with a UK company and can be invoiced in sterling, euro or rand.
For employer of record clients, salary funds and our fee are payable in cleared funds before the payroll runs. That is standard in this industry for a good reason: we are the legal employer, and the salaries must be paid on the day whether or not the money has arrived.
Questions
What clients ask before moving.
Do I need a company in the country?
Not with employer of record. We are the legal employer, so there is no incorporation, no revenue registration and no resident director to appoint. If you already have an entity, we run the payroll inside it instead.
Who is the employer, legally?
For employer of record work, we are. The employment contract is between the employee and ALPAYE (Pty) Ltd. You direct the day to day work. The service agreement sets out exactly where each responsibility sits before anyone signs anything.
What happens if a filing is late?
It is not. That is the service. SARS penalises late EMP201 submissions at ten percent and late EMP501 reconciliations on a scale that rises with employer size. The penalty lands on the employer, not the adviser, which is precisely why the calendar belongs with someone whose job it is.
How do payments work across currencies?
You fund in your currency, we convert and pay salaries in rand. Invoices state the rand amount, and we agree in advance who carries the exchange movement between invoice and receipt so there is no argument later.
Can my people get a payslip a bank will accept?
Yes. Every payslip meets the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, carries a unique reference, and we will confirm authenticity directly to a lender or letting agent on request. That matters more to your staff than almost anything else we do.
Are you registered for VAT?
Yes, VAT registration number 4180315840. Services exported to a non-resident are zero rated under section 11(2)(l) of the Value-Added Tax Act 89 of 1991, and we set out the treatment on every invoice.
Which countries can you actually cover?
South Africa end to end today, employer of record included. Senegal is being established next. Across Togo, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ghana, Sierra Leone and the Gambia we provide payroll, accounting and compliance support now, with employer of record following as each country is established. Ask about a specific one and you will get a straight answer about this month, not a brochure.
Is West Africa not one market?
No, and it is worth understanding why. Eight of those countries are OHADA members, so company law and the SYSCOHADA accounting framework are harmonised and apply directly, ahead of national law. That part is portable. But the OHADA Uniform Act on Labour Law was never adopted, so employment contracts, payroll, social security and termination remain national in each one. Ghana, Sierra Leone and the Gambia sit outside OHADA entirely. Accounting travels across the bloc. Employment does not.
What we commit to
Seven undertakings you can hold us to.
These go in the service agreement, not just on a website. If we cannot meet one for your country, we tell you before you sign rather than after.
The payroll reaches you before it reaches anyone else
The run is prepared and sent to you for approval, with the register and the cost summary, in good time before payday. Nothing is paid without your sign off.
Filings go in before the deadline, not on it
A return filed on the last afternoon is a return with no room for a system outage or a query. We work to our own internal date, which sits earlier than the statutory one.
Your people are paid on the day, every time
Payslips issued the same day, meeting the law of the country they work in, carrying a unique reference, and we will confirm authenticity to a lender or a landlord on request.
Salary funds are kept separate
Money you send to cover salaries is held for that purpose and used for nothing else. It is your people's wages, not our working capital.
You get the compliance position in writing first
Before you engage us for any country, you receive a written note of what is required there, what we do, what remains yours, and anything we cannot cover.
One point of contact who answers
The same person from the first conversation to the year end file. Not a ticket number, not a chatbot, not a different name on every email.
We tell you when we cannot do something
A straight no about a country, a deadline or a structure is worth more to you than a yes we cannot deliver. It is the whole reason the country list on this site is staged rather than a wall of flags.
The company
Who you are contracting with.
In South Africa
ALPAYE (Pty) Ltd, registration 2022/391421/07, VAT registration 4180315840, office at 155 West Street, Sandton, Johannesburg. This is the entity that employs, where we act as employer of record.
For UK and European clients
Contracting runs through Al Dunya Ltd, registration 15244792, registered in England and Wales. Your supplier is a UK company even though your people are not, and you can be invoiced in sterling, euro or rand.
Languages
English and French throughout, in correspondence, contracts and payslips. On this continent that is not a convenience, it is the difference between serving eight countries and serving three.
Three sentences is enough to start.
Where your people are, how many, and whether you have an entity. We will come back with the structure and the cost.