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Product Documentation

Dar Payroll

A practical handbook for features, workflows, tips, scenarios, licensing, backups, and responsible use.

Overview

What Dar Payroll Does

Dar Payroll is a licensed payroll and employment administration workspace for Malta household employers. It brings employee records, payroll calculations, payslips, FS5 tracking, leave, overtime, expenses, documents, reminders, and reports into one local-first tool.

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Purpose And Audience

Dar Payroll is built for small household employers who need a professional way to run recurring payroll without adopting a large HR platform. The product favours clear records, repeatable steps, and exportable information over heavy enterprise configuration.

Best fitPrivate household employers managing one or more domestic employees in Malta.
Main jobKeep employee, pay, leave, compliance, and supporting records in one workspace.
Operating styleLocal-first records with manual review before official submissions or payroll decisions.
Support modelLicensed access, documentation, comments, and contact-based support for private issues.
The app helps organise payroll work, but it does not replace legal, tax, or employment advice. Figures and records should be reviewed before they are used for official submissions.

Quick Start Workflow

Use this sequence when setting up a new payroll file or running Dar Payroll for the first time.

  1. Create the first employee and fill in identity, contact, employment, pay, tax, permit, and employer details.
  2. Open Settings and confirm yearly rates, tax status, working hours, pay date preferences, and rate lock behaviour.
  3. Use Dashboard to review the current month, gross pay, net pay, FS5 due amount, reminders, leave position, and recent activity.
  4. Record monthly inputs such as leave, overtime, extras, expenses, advances, TOIL, notes, and document updates.
  5. Generate the payslip, check employee and employer totals, then save or print the output.
  6. Review FS5, mark tracker status, and keep a backup after each completed payroll cycle.

Dashboard

The Dashboard is the command centre. It summarises the active employee and the current payroll period, then provides quick actions for the most common monthly tasks.

Monthly KPIsGross pay, net pay, FS5 due, total employer cost, and pay-date context.
Annual overviewMonth-by-month payroll rows for gross, bonus, tax, net pay, FS5 due, and status.
RemindersUpcoming permit, probation, FS5, and custom reminders surface without needing to open every module.
ActivityRecent payroll journal events help you see what changed and when.

Tip

Start every payroll run from the Dashboard. If the Dashboard looks wrong, fix the underlying employee, rate, leave, or overtime data before generating a payslip.

Employee Records

Employee records are the base for every calculation. A weak employee profile creates weak payroll output, so this area deserves careful setup.

Employee ProfilePersonal details, nationality, date of birth, ID, social security number, tax status, contact details, emergency contact, permit dates, IBAN, notes, and employment summary.
Contract DetailsStart date, contract type, weekly hours, hourly rate, probation, salary history, employer details, address, sector, and leave entitlement.
All EmployeesManage more than one active employee, switch between records, and review all-employee payroll cost summaries.
Status AwarenessActive, permit-related, probation, and termination state affect what needs attention before a payroll run.

Helpful practice

Update employee details before you calculate the month. Rate changes, permit dates, tax status, and weekly hours should be corrected first because they affect multiple screens.

Payroll And Payslips

The payroll modules turn employee setup and monthly inputs into a structured pay result. They are meant to support review, printing, and record keeping.

Payslip GeneratorCreates the monthly payslip view, including earnings, leave pay, overtime, allowances, statutory bonus, deductions, net pay, and employer cost notes.
Overtime & ExtrasRecords additional hours, public holiday work, Sunday work, custom bonuses, and notes that feed into payroll output.
Pay HistoryStores generated pay periods so past payroll can be reviewed instead of recalculated from memory.
Payroll JournalMaintains an audit trail of payroll events, rate changes, payslips, leave, overtime, FS5 submissions, and system notes.

Review checklist

  • Confirm the active employee is correct before printing or saving.
  • Check period, hours, leave taken, overtime, allowances, bonuses, deductions, net pay, and employer cost.
  • Keep the pay history and journal aligned with what was actually paid.

FS5, Tax, And Annual Summaries

Dar Payroll includes tools for tax-related review and monthly FS5 tracking. These screens support payroll administration, but the employer remains responsible for checking official obligations.

FS5 Monthly ReturnShows the monthly return context and totals based on the active payroll data.
FS5 TrackerTracks whether each monthly FS5 has been prepared, submitted, paid, or still pending.
Annual SummaryConsolidates the year to support year-end review, employee summaries, and cross-checking.
Tax CalculatorProvides a focused way to review tax status and salary assumptions without disturbing the rest of the workflow.
Use these tools as an internal control point. Before submitting official forms or relying on tax treatment, check the current official guidance or a qualified advisor.

HR Records

The HR modules hold the employment history around payroll: leave, notes, performance, advances, TOIL, termination, and reminders.

Leave TrackerRecords annual leave, sick leave, and balances. Leave entries can affect payslip presentation and year-to-date review.
HR NotesStores dated notes for meetings, incidents, agreements, updates, or private administrative reminders.
PerformanceCaptures performance reviews and development observations for the employee file.
Expenses & AdvancesTracks reimbursable expenses, paid items, and employee advances so they are visible during payroll review.
TOILRecords time off in lieu where overtime or extra work is compensated with time instead of pay.
TerminationSupports offboarding information, checklist items, final records, and termination-specific review.
RemindersCreates follow-ups for permit expiry, probation, FS5, document renewals, and custom employer tasks.
TimelineEmployee history and journal data help reconstruct what happened without digging through every screen.

Documents

The Documents area is for organising employment records and keeping track of supporting paperwork. It is especially useful when employee records need ID, permit, contract, FS4, payroll, or termination support.

Document listKeep a structured list of files and references tied to the active employee.
Permit contextSingle permit and expiry details can be surfaced in employee and reminder workflows.
Audit supportUse document notes alongside the payroll journal to explain why a pay period changed.
Backup disciplineDocument metadata is only as safe as the browser storage and exported backup file.

Reports

Reports are built for review, budgeting, and handover. They help answer "what happened?", "what did it cost?", and "what needs to be submitted?".

Payroll JournalChronological activity trail for payslips, rate changes, leave, overtime, FS5, and system events.
Cost ReportFull employer cost breakdown, including gross pay, employer contributions, and other cost elements.
Payroll SummaryConsolidated payroll view across employees for a selected pay period, with print and CSV export support.
Annual OverviewDashboard and annual summary views support full-year cross-checking.

Tip

Use the Cost Report for budgeting and the Payroll Summary for period handover. Use the Journal when you need to explain how a number changed.

Settings, Rates, And Compliance Checks

Settings control the assumptions behind calculations and reminders. Treat this area as configuration, not casual data entry.

Rate tablesYearly payroll rates and thresholds are used by payroll calculations and compliance checks.
Tax statusEmployee tax status influences payroll deductions and tax calculator output.
NMW checksDashboard compliance widgets help identify when a rate needs attention against the configured minimum wage values.
Theme and printLight or dark UI can be used day-to-day, while print actions create payroll outputs for record keeping.
When official rates change, review the configured rates before running future payroll. A correct interface cannot rescue stale assumptions.

Data, Backup, And Privacy

Dar Payroll is local-first. Payroll records are stored in the browser using localStorage and IndexedDB auto-save. Internet access is mainly used for license checks and website functions.

Local recordsEmployee, payroll, leave, HR, document, reminder, and report data lives in browser storage.
Auto-saveIndexedDB support helps restore data if localStorage is empty, but it is still browser-local storage.
Manual backupThe Data button exports a JSON backup that should be kept after important payroll runs.
RestoreBackup files can restore employee data, documents metadata, preferences, and related payroll records.

Backup rhythm

Export a backup after setup, after each monthly payroll run, before clearing browser data, before switching devices, and before any major employee status change.

Licensing

Dar Payroll is a license-gated product. Choose a subscription or lifetime licence, then activate the app with the checkout email and licence key shown after payment.

Product codeDar Payroll uses the DAR-PAY product identity for license validation.
Stored accessThe browser can store the license email, license key, and random device ID for smoother repeat validation.
Device contextThe device ID is random browser-local data, not hardware fingerprinting.
SupportLicense questions should include the checkout email and order reference.

Common Scenarios

These examples show how the modules work together in real usage.

New employee setup

Create the employee, complete identity and employment fields, confirm rates and tax status, add permit expiry reminders, then export a baseline backup.

Monthly payroll run

Review Dashboard, add leave/overtime/expenses, generate payslip, verify totals, update pay history, mark FS5 tracker status, and export a backup.

Overtime month

Enter overtime by date and type, check payslip earnings rows, confirm whether time is paid or tracked as TOIL, and add a journal note if needed.

Employee termination

Review leave, pay history, expenses, TOIL, documents, and final payslip. Use the termination checklist to avoid missing return-of-document or final-record tasks.

FS5 review

Generate monthly payroll, review FS5 Monthly Return, check previous tracker statuses, then mark the month according to the actual submission and payment state.

Audit or handover

Use payroll summary, cost report, annual summary, documents, and journal together. Export backups before handing data to another device or advisor.

Helpful Tips

  • Do not wait until payroll day to update employee details. Keep records current through the month.
  • Use reminders for permit dates, probation dates, document renewals, and FS5 deadlines.
  • Keep a short HR note when a payroll input needs context later.
  • Export backups regularly and store them somewhere separate from the browser.
  • Use reports for review, not just printing. They are a fast way to catch missing entries.
  • When a figure feels surprising, trace it back through employee setup, settings, leave, overtime, allowances, and bonuses before overriding anything.
Back up Review before print Keep notes Track FS5 Check settings