Every mainland UAE employer must pay salaries through the Wage Protection System (WPS): salaries go via a bank or exchange house with a Salary Information File (SIF) that MOHRE validates. Do it late or wrong and you face fines and blocked work permits. Here's how ERPNext makes WPS a non-event.
UAE salary structures in ERPNext
UAE payslips are built from basic salary plus allowances: housing, transport, and others. In ERPNext each is a salary component, so gratuity and leave calculations (which depend on basic) are always correct. Deductions, loans and unpaid leave integrate automatically.
Generating the SIF file
After each payroll run, ERPNext generates the SIF exactly to specification: employer ID (MOHRE establishment number), employee records with Emirates ID-linked labour card numbers, IBAN or agent details, salary period, and fixed/variable pay split. Upload it to your bank portal and you're done. No manual Excel massaging, no rejected files.
Gratuity: stop being surprised by it
End-of-service gratuity is a real liability that most SMEs discover only when someone resigns. ERPNext accrues it monthly per employee (21 days' basic per year for the first five years, 30 days after), so your balance sheet always shows the true liability, which also matters for Corporate Tax provisioning.
Leave, air tickets and document expiry
- Annual leave (30 calendar days), sick-leave tiers and public holidays configured per UAE Labour Law.
- Air-ticket allowance accruals for eligible staff.
- Expiry alerts for visas, Emirates IDs, labour cards and passports, before the fine, not after.
Payroll meets accounting, automatically
Because payroll lives inside the same system as your books, each payroll run posts to the ledger: salary expense by department or cost centre, gratuity accrual, and WPS bank clearing. Month-end stops involving copy-paste between HR spreadsheets and the accountant.
Free zones and WPS
Free zones run their own variants (JAFZA and DMCC have specific requirements). We configure the correct format for your jurisdiction during implementation: Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Sharjah.
Want your next payroll run to take 30 minutes? Book a free demo and we'll process a sample month with your real salary structure.