xow User Guide
Everything you need to know, from first login to year-end submission.
Getting Started
xow is a browser-based payroll system. There is nothing to install. Open the link you were given, log in, and you are running. Everything saves automatically to the cloud.
Importing an existing company (EMP501 CSV)
If your company already files with SARS, this is the fastest way to get started. You will have everything up and running in under two minutes.
Export your EMP501 from e@syFile or eFiling
Open your current payroll or e@syFile. Export the reconciliation file for the current tax year. You want the CSV format — the same file you would submit to SARS.
Go to Company → Import EMP501
In xow, open the Company screen and click the Import EMP501 button. This imports both the company details and all employees in one go.
Choose your CSV file and click Import
xow reads the 2010 record (employer details) and creates the company, then reads every 3010 record and creates each employee with their year-to-date figures already loaded.
Review and run your first payroll
Check the employee list. Add any details the EMP501 did not carry (salary, allowances). Then go to Do Pay and run your first payroll normally.
The YTD figures imported from your EMP501 are seed values only. From your first payrun in xow, live YTD is calculated from actual paysheets. The imported YTD is used for the remaining months of that tax year to ensure your EMP501 at year-end reconciles correctly.
Setting up a company manually
If you are starting fresh (new company, or new tax year), go to Company Profile and fill in:
- Registered name and trading name
- PAYE reference number (10 digits)
- SDL reference number (if applicable)
- UIF reference number
- Physical address (this appears on employee IRP5s as the work address)
- Contact person details for the EMP501 header record
Then add employees one by one via the Employees screen, or import them from an EMP501 as described above.
Employees
The Employees screen is the master record for every person on the payroll. It is divided into collapsible sections. Click any section heading to expand it.
Personal & SARS details
| Field | SARS Code | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First name / Last name | 3040 / 3030 | As per ID document |
| ID Number | 3060 | SA 13-digit ID. Drives date of birth automatically. |
| Passport number | 3070 | For foreign nationals. Requires country of issue. |
| Tax number | 3100 | Required for IRP5. IT3(a) employees may leave blank. |
| Date of birth | 3080 | Auto-filled from SA ID number. |
| Nature of person | 3020 | A = employee, C = company, M = asylum seeker, N = trust, etc. |
| Employee number | 3160 | Your internal payroll number. Must be unique. |
Payment & deductions
These values feed every payrun automatically. You can override any of them during the actual payrun for once-off adjustments.
| Field | SARS Code | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | 3601 | Gross monthly (or per-period) salary |
| Pay frequency | — | Monthly, weekly, or fortnightly |
| Travel allowance | 3701 | Taxable portion. Set separately from reimbursive travel. |
| Retirement contribution | 4001 | Employee pension fund deduction |
| Medical aid fringe benefit | 3810 | Employer's medical aid contribution |
| Override PAYE | — | Fixed PAYE amount (e.g. directors on a fixed deduction) |
Banking details
Select the SARS Bank Type (code 3240). This tells SARS how the employee is paid.
| Code | Meaning | Bank details required? |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Not paid by electronic bank transfer (cash) | No |
| 1 | Cheque / Current account | Yes |
| 2 | Savings / Transmission account | Yes |
| 3 | Credit card account | Yes |
| 4 | Home loan account | Yes |
| 5 | Bond account | Yes |
| 6 | Subscription share account | Yes |
| 7 | Foreign bank account | No |
When a type requiring bank details is selected (1–6), fields for account number, branch code, bank name, branch name, account holder, and relationship (own / joint / third party) become mandatory and highlighted red if empty.
Leave & shifts
Set the annual leave entitlement in days. xow automatically accrues leave per pay period based on the frequency (monthly = entitlement ÷ 12, weekly = ÷ 52, fortnightly = ÷ 26). The current balance is shown and updated every time a payrun is finalised.
Running Payroll
The payroll run
Go to Do Pay
Select the pay frequency and enter the pay date. xow loads every active employee for that frequency.
Review each employee
Click an employee row to expand their detail. All standard values are pre-filled from the employee master. Add any once-off items: overtime, bonus, commission, leave pay, loan repayment, union deduction.
Finalise the period
When you are satisfied, Select your new paydate and then click Finalise Period. Xow saves the paysheet and the run is locked. YTD figures update automatically.
You can run a payroll, review the numbers, and leave without finalising. Nothing is committed until you click Finalise. Come back later and the draft is still there.
Payslips
After finalising, click the print icon on any employee row to open the payslip. You can print it directly or email it. The payslip prints cleanly without navigation bars (the nav is hidden automatically in print mode).
Resignations
On the payroll run screen, click the resign button on an employee's row. Enter the resignation date and reason code. xow calculates the pro-rata salary, outstanding leave pay, and final net pay. The employee is marked as Resigned and excluded from future payruns automatically.
Monthly Returns
EMP201
After each payrun, go to EMP201. This screen shows the total PAYE, SDL, and UIF liability for the selected period. These are the figures to enter on your SARS eFiling EMP201 submission. xow does not submit to SARS directly — you enter the totals on eFiling yourself.
UIF Export
Go to UIF and select the month. Click Download UIF File. The file is in the U-filing format required by the Department of Labour. Upload it directly to the U-filing portal at ufiling.labour.gov.za.
The UIF figure on the EMP501 (code 4141) represents both the employee and employer contribution combined, as required by SARS. The UIF export file for the Department of Labour uses the employee-only figure.
EMP501 Reconciliation
The EMP501 is the annual (or interim) reconciliation you submit to SARS. xow builds it from your actual paysheets — no manual totalling.
Validating before you export
Go to EMP501 Recon. Before exporting, run the validation. Issues are colour-coded:
- Error Will cause SARS to reject the file. Must be fixed.
- Warning May cause a query from SARS. Review and decide.
- Info Advisory only. No action required.
Common errors to fix before submitting:
- Missing tax number on an IRP5 employee (PAYE > 0 but no tax number)
- Bank type not selected (code 3240 missing)
- Missing bank details for account types 1–6
- Residential address incomplete
- Employee with positive SDL amount but no company SDL number
You can edit employee details directly on the EMP501 Recon screen without going back to the employee master. Changes made here save globally to the employee record.
Exporting the CSV
Once validation is clean (or you have reviewed and accepted any warnings), click Export CSV. The downloaded file is formatted to the SARS BRS V25 specification, with the correct CRLF line endings and comma-delimited structure that e@syFile requires. Import it into e@syFile to do your final submission to SARS.
You can export an interim EMP501 (period 08, covering March–August) at any time without affecting the annual submission. Change the Tax Period on the recon screen before exporting.
Admin & Bureau
Managing multiple companies
xow is built for payroll bureaus managing many companies. Your login gives you access to all companies in your portfolio. Switch between them using the company selector in the top navigation. Each company's payroll data, employees, and tax tables are completely separate.
To add a new company to your portfolio, go to Client Management and click Add Company. You can then import an EMP501 or set the company up manually.
Backup & Restore
Go to Backup / Restore at any time to download a full JSON backup of the selected company. This includes all employee records, paysheets, and company details. Keep a copy before major changes or at year-end.
To restore, upload the backup file on the same screen. Restoring overwrites the current data for that company — use with care.
xow runs on Cloudflare's global infrastructure with automatic redundancy. The backup feature is a belt-and-braces safety net, not a substitute for the platform's own reliability.