Salary Structuring in Tally for UAE Employees

The entire business landscape in the UAE has drastically changed compared to what it was even a few years ago. With technology constantly reshaping operations, hybrid work is becoming the new normal, while the stricter compliance structure is pushing companies to rethink how to manage their finances, and payroll remains at the core of it all.

Research reveals that around 73% of UAE businesses are now focusing on payroll & HR process automation to reduce errors and stay compliant with the Wage Protection System (WPS). Manual spreadsheets and traditional calculations are no longer able to keep up with the speed and precision the market demands.

That’s exactly why today we’re talking about TallyPrime, the latest evolution of Tally. It steps in as your all-in-one solution, simplifying salary setup for every business, designed with flexibility and UAE-specific compliance in mind.

What is TallyPrime

TallyPrime is more than just your accounting software. With payroll enabled, it becomes a framework where you define every payroll component, basic salary, allowances, deductions, and have the system compute net pay, generate payslips, and provide you with reports you can trust.

How TallyPrime Contributes to Your Salary Structuring?

It brings consistency: Once you define a salary template, you reduce the risk of ad hoc mistakes across employees.

It speeds things up:Tally Software auto-computes components, letting you run salary cycles faster.

It organizes data: All employee masters, pay heads, and historical changes stay in one system.

It gives visibility: You can pull detailed reports when needed.

Employee management

Before salary structuring, you need your employee roster in place. Tally allows you to group employees, helping you define shared salary structures. Besides, in Tally Cloud, each employee has a master record: name, joining date, visa/ID, bank details, etc.

Salary processing

You can easily define fixed or variable pay components like basic, overtime, and bonuses, using Tally. Overall, that flow frees you from doing manual summations, cross-checks, or error corrections.

Deduction management

Deductions often make your entire salary process messy, as there are loan repayments, fines, advances, penalties, etc. But Tally in UAE keeps the process simple by handling everything automatically.

Generate payslips

Once salary is processed, employees expect payslips that explain everything, including net pay, earnings, and deductions. Tally helps you to generate bilingual and customized payslips, understanding that these are your proof, especially if labour inspection or audit demands you show a detailed breakdown.

Define Salary Structure for Employees and Employee Groups in TallyPrime

Here’s how you actually configure the pay structure.

1. Open the Salary Definition Screen

• Go to the Gateway of Tally.

• Press Alter and select “Define Salary”.

Or

• Click  Alt+G.

• Choose Alter Master and select Define Salary.

2. Select the Employee

• From the List of “Groups/Employees”, choose the employee whose salary you want to define.

• Now enter the Effective From date.

3. Choose How to Start

• In the Pay Head column, you’ll see three options under the Start Type list:

• Copy From Employee

• Copy From Parent Value

• Start Afresh

Tip:

• If Allow Copy From Employee is not enabled, press F12 (Configure) and set it to Yes.

4. Define or Modify Pay Heads

• If you choose Start Afresh, select the required Pay Heads from the list and enter their values manually.

• Now press Ctrl + A to accept and save the screen.

Salary Details Configuration

You can customize the way your salary details should be displayed using Tally in Dubai.

To access configuration options:

• Open the Gateway of Tally.

• Go to Alter and then Define Salary.

• Choose the required Employee/ Employee Group and press F12 (Configure).

Here’s what each option means:

• Override Slab Percentage: Set yes for this option if you want to modify slab rates directly.

• Allow Copy From Employee: Enable this option if you want to copy salary structures from employees in other groups.

• Show Calculation Type: Tap yes to show how each pay head is calculated.

• Show Computed On: Select yes to display the computation base.

• After reviewing all entries, press Ctrl + A to save the screen.

For Employee Group, the process is almost similar: pick the group and define the pay heads applicable to that group.

A Few Things to be Careful about in the UAE Context

• If your company pays allowances that must follow local rules, ensure definitions align with your HR policy.

• Any deduction or benefit tied to absence, overtime, or visa/insurance needs a clear logic or manual override.

• Changes mid-year (salary hike, grade change) should be entered as a new “Effective From” date; historical structure must remain intact.

So, if you are still managing payroll by hand, you may survive at a small scale, but lose control as the complexity rises. Defining salary structure properly with Tally Customization turns payroll into an asset that is consistent, auditable, and, of course, scalable.

FAQs

1. Why should UAE businesses switch from manual payroll to TallyPrime?

Honestly, manual payroll works only when your team is tiny. Once you start working with multiple employees, overtime, bonuses, deductions, or different allowances, it becomes impossible. TallyPrime handles all of that automatically, so you don’t spend hours crunching numbers or worrying about mistakes.

2. Does Tally generate payslips that my employees can use?

Yes, it generates detailed payslips showing your employee’s gross pay, deductions, and net salary. Besides, it can provide bilingual payslips (Arabic & English), which is crucial for compliance and transparency.

3. How does Tally Software help with compliance in the UAE?

Tally ties allowances and deductions tied to insurance or overtime. It reduces errors and ensures your payroll meets WPS and local labour regulations.

4. Can I manage complicated employee setups in Tally?

Yes, easily. You can group employees, define shared structures, or set up unique pay for each employee. Each person has a master record with everything you need: bank details, visa info, joining date, and more.