Payroll for Zoho People companies in Egypt

Zoho Payroll has no Egypt edition, and Zoho People hands payroll to integrations. Here is how Egyptian payroll fits on top of Zoho People.

By Mostafa Wanas, founder, Wanas Apps

Published: 2026-10-22 | Updated: 2026-10-22 | 6 min read

Figures verified on 22 Oct 2026

Zoho People is a strong HR system: employee records, attendance, leave, shifts, performance. Many Egyptian companies run it, often as part of Zoho One. Then month-end arrives and the question is where the salaries get calculated. This guide explains why Zoho People alone does not answer that for Egypt, and how a local payroll layer fits on top of it.

Why Zoho People needs a local payroll

Zoho People manages the HR record and leaves payroll calculation to other products and integrations. Zoho's own payroll product is sold only in selected countries, and as of 2026 it has no Egypt edition. There is no Egyptian social insurance, Law 7/2024 income tax, UHI, martyrs' fund or ETA tax coding in it to switch on.

That leaves Egyptian employers with three bad options: calculate in Excel from a Zoho export, re-key data into a separate system, or pay for a custom build. The good option is a payroll product that reads what is already in Zoho People and handles the Egyptian rules.

What Egyptian payroll needs from Zoho People

• Employee records, including the custom fields you keep for national ID, insurance number, hire date, job title and department.
• Attendance: check-ins and check-outs, late arrivals, absences and shift assignments, so the pay run reflects what happened.
• Leave: approved paid and unpaid leave, so deductions and leave pay are right.
• Holidays: the holiday calendar, so public holidays and rest days are treated correctly.

How Wanas Payroll works with Zoho People

Wanas Payroll signs in through Zoho and asks for one read-only consent. It reads employees, custom fields, attendance, leave and holidays from Zoho People, and the organization and users from Zoho Directory to identify your Super Admin. It does not edit your Zoho records. Your HR team keeps working in Zoho People exactly as before.

On top of that data you add salary packages, insurance and tax details. The pay run then calculates social insurance under Law 148/2019, UHI, income tax under Law 7/2024 and the martyrs' fund, using versioned rule sets. Each earning and deduction carries its ETA treatment code. You review exceptions, send the run for approval, download the bank file and release bilingual payslips.

Steps to start

1. A Zoho People Admin signs in with Zoho on payroll.wanasapps.com and connects the organization. Only Admins can create it; payroll officers and employees are invited afterwards.
2. Sync employees. Employees, attendance, leave and holidays come across from Zoho People. Fix any employee whose national ID or insurance number is missing in Zoho.
3. Set salaries and insurance details. Add each salary package, the insurance status and the tax details, or import them in bulk.
4. Run the first month in parallel. Calculate the pay run next to your current method and compare line by line. Ask your accountant to review it.
5. Approve, pay and send payslips. Approve the run, download the bank file for your bank, and release the payslips in Arabic, English or both.

What a normal month looks like

Once the set-up is done, the monthly routine is short. Your HR team keeps recording attendance and approving leave in Zoho People, as they already do. Before the cut-off date, the payroll officer syncs and opens the new pay run. The run lists warnings first: an employee with no salary yet, a salary below the minimum wage, a missing national ID. You fix those, calculate, and compare the result with the previous month to spot anything unusual.

Then the run goes for approval according to your own rules. After approval you download the bank file, release the payslips, and, if you use it, post the journal to Zoho Books. At the end of the month the numbers match the attendance and leave your team already recorded, because both come from the same place.

What it costs, and the Zoho partner tag

Wanas Payroll is priced as a flat EGP amount per company by active employees. If your company tags Wanas Apps as its Zoho partner, the Free plan covers up to 10 employees; the tag is checked monthly. Starter is EGP 1,500 a month up to 100 employees, with larger plans up to 2,000, annual billing gives two months free, and there is a 3-month free trial with no card. The tag also takes 10% off paid plans. Full details are on the pricing page.

If you use Zoho Books, an add-on posts a balanced payroll journal after each run, with undo and redo.

Limits worth knowing

• It needs Zoho People as its data source. It is not a standalone HR system.
• Direct submission to the ETA payroll system is not available yet. The ETA codes are on every line, and the monthly file is on our roadmap.
• Bank file layouts are editable defaults. Confirm them with your bank before the first transfer.
• End-of-service settlements under Labour Law 14/2025 are pending a lawyer and accountant review.

No Zoho People yet?

You can start with Zoho People first. Wanas Apps is a Zoho Premium Partner and can set it up, then add payroll when you are ready. If you are still comparing options, our guide to choosing payroll software in Egypt lists what to check, and the salary calculator lets you test the numbers before you commit.

To see how the rules turn into a payslip, read how to calculate social insurance and income tax in Egypt in 2026.

Questions people ask

Does Zoho Payroll work in Egypt?

No. As of October 2026 Zoho Payroll has no Egypt edition. Zoho offers its payroll product in a limited set of countries, including India, the United States, Canada and the Gulf states, and Egypt is not among them, so there is no Egyptian social insurance, Law 7/2024 income tax, Universal Health Insurance, martyrs' fund or Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) coding to switch on. Zoho People, the HR product, does work in Egypt for employee records, attendance and leave, but it hands payroll calculation to other products. Egyptian companies on Zoho People therefore add a local payroll layer on top of it. Wanas Payroll is one: it reads employees, attendance, leave and holidays from Zoho People (read-only), calculates Egyptian social insurance and income tax, and produces Arabic and English payslips and bank files. Zoho can add countries at any time, so check Zoho's own payroll page before you decide. We last checked it on 22 October 2026.

What is the best payroll software for companies using Zoho People in Egypt?

If you already run Zoho People in Egypt, the best fit is a payroll product that reads Zoho People directly and applies Egyptian rules, because Zoho's own payroll has no Egypt edition. The alternatives are weaker for this case: a spreadsheet goes stale when the January limits change, a regional HR suite or an ERP means re-keying into a second system, and a custom build is costly to maintain. Wanas Payroll is built for exactly this setup. It syncs employees, attendance and leave from Zoho People, calculates social insurance (Law 148/2019), Universal Health Insurance, income tax (Law 7/2024) and the martyrs' fund, and gives bilingual payslips, bank files, approvals and an audit log. Prices are flat in EGP: Free up to 10 employees with the Zoho partner tag, then from EGP 1,500 a month, with a 3-month free trial. Its limits: it needs Zoho People, and direct ETA submission is not available yet. We make it, so test it against the checklist in our buyer's guide.

Does Wanas Payroll change anything in Zoho People?

No. The connection is read-only, so Wanas Payroll cannot edit, add or delete anything in your Zoho organization. If a name or a national ID is wrong, you correct it in Zoho People and sync again.

Do we need Zoho One, or is Zoho People enough?

You need a Zoho People organization. It can be a standalone Zoho People subscription or part of Zoho One. Who signs in matters more: an Admin of that organization creates the payroll organization, and then invites payroll officers and employees.

Can our accountant use Wanas Payroll?

Yes. Invite the accountant as a payroll officer. Accounting firms that run payroll for several clients can also manage them from one bureau console, and every client keeps its own separate data.

Sources

Primary sources behind the figures and claims on this page. Statutory values change, so check them there before you rely on them.

• Zoho Payroll: the countries where Zoho offers its payroll product. Egypt is not listed (checked on 22 Oct 2026).
• Zoho People help: payroll integrations: how Zoho People hands payroll to a payroll product.
• Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA), payroll tax guide: the unified payroll tax calculation system, its forms and due dates (Arabic site).
• National Organization for Social Insurance (NOSI): social insurance rules, insurable wage limits and employer forms (Arabic site).
• Laws, cited by number: Social Insurance and Pensions Law No. 148 of 2019; income tax Law No. 7 of 2024; Labour Law No. 14 of 2025; Personal Data Protection Law No. 151 of 2020. Read the full texts in the Official Gazette; we do not link a text we could not verify.

Figures verified on 22 Oct 2026.