A salary in Syria is not one number multiplied by days worked. There are two currencies, several payment methods, an insured wage that can differ from the actual salary, a salary tax with brackets, and absences and overtime coming from the fingerprint devices. That is why many companies stay on Excel, redo the same calculations by hand every month, and worry that one wrong cell changes someone's pay.
This guide explains what payroll software has to do to fit a company in Syria, and, point by point, how Diwan does it.
1. SYP and USD, and sometimes both
In Syrian companies some employees are paid in Syrian pounds, some in US dollars, and some have a split salary: part in SYP and part in USD. The right software knows the currency of every pay component and produces net pay and reports in both currencies, without manual conversion and rounding mistakes.
In Diwan every employee has their own pay arrangement: SYP, USD or split. Payslips and reports come out in both currencies.
2. A payment method per employee
Bank, cash or Sham Cash. Each method needs its own sheet: the bank needs a list of accounts and amounts, cash needs a handover sheet, and the wallet needs a list of numbers. If the software does not know how each employee is paid, you will be sorting the sheet by hand every month.
In Diwan the payment method lives in each employee's file, and the payroll report is split by payment method and by currency.
3. Tax and insurance by the law, not by memory
Salary tax has an exempt threshold and progressive brackets. Social insurance has an employee share, an employer share, and a minimum and maximum insured wage. These values change by decree and circular, and if the software hard-codes the rates, every change becomes a project.
In Diwan the legal rules are separate from the software: every rule has a source (the decree or circular) and an effective date, and when a change is issued it updates in the system automatically from that date. The details are in salary tax explained and the social insurance guide.
One point many systems miss: the wage registered with social insurance is not always the actual salary. Diwan supports full or partial insurance per employee and computes the shares on the registered wage.
4. Attendance flows into payroll on its own
If absences, lateness and overtime are tracked in a separate notebook, attendance and payroll will drift apart, and employees will be the first to notice. Payroll should take the attendance results directly: days absent without leave, lateness by your policy, and approved overtime hours.
In Diwan attendance and fingerprint devices are part of the same system, and lateness and overtime flow into payroll automatically. Read more about attendance with mobile check-in and fingerprint devices.
5. A payroll that explains itself before you approve it
The hardest question at month end is "why is my salary lower?". Good software answers before anyone asks. In Diwan you can tap any number on a payslip to see where it came from, and the “What changed? Why? All set?” engine shows the difference from last month, whose pay changed and why, and runs checks before closing.
Approval happens in stages: HR prepares, finance reviews, and the manager approves. Every stage sees the same numbers and their sources, so nobody keeps a "second Excel copy".
6. Reports for the accountant, payslips for the employee
At month end the accountant needs the payroll report, the insurance report and the tax report, by payment method and in both currencies. Diwan produces them in Arabic or English, as Excel or PDF, across all branches.
Employees see their payslip and leave balance on their phone, without asking HR every month.
7. On our cloud or on your server
Payroll data is among the most sensitive data a company holds. Some companies are happy to run on a cloud with no servers or IT team; others have a policy that data never leaves the building. Diwan works both ways: on our cloud with a monthly subscription, or on your company's server with a licence and annual support. Either way, everyone sees only what concerns them, and every change is logged: who changed what, and when.
8. Moving off Excel without the headache
The biggest worry when switching payroll software is the first month. So we start with a visit to understand how you work, then prepare your data with you: employees, their pay arrangements, payment methods and registered insured wages. You get a dated plan up to the first payroll, which we close together. Our advice: run the first month both ways and compare net pay employee by employee before you approve.
A quick checklist before choosing payroll software
- Does it handle SYP, USD and split salaries?
- Does it produce a sheet per payment method: bank, cash, Sham Cash?
- Do tax and insurance rules have a source and an effective date, and update without code changes?
- Does it support an insured wage that differs from the actual salary?
- Is it connected to attendance and fingerprint devices without manual transfer?
- Does it explain the change from last month before approval, with staged approval?
- Arabic first, with English reports when needed?
- Does it run on the cloud or on your own server, as your policy requires?
To see this on your own company's data, request a visit or demo. Or browse all Diwan features and plans.
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. For your company’s specific case, check with your accountant or the competent official body.
