Accounting and payroll
Books, payroll and filings, in English
We keep the books of your Rwandan company under IFRS for SMEs, run payroll, file VAT, PAYE, RSSB and withholding tax every month, and prepare the annual accounts and tax return. You receive one monthly report in English and a calendar that does not surprise you. Local filings go through our licensed partners in Kigali.
The rhythm
What one month looks like
A Rwandan company lives on a monthly cycle that ends on the 15th. Almost everything that matters to the tax authority is declared and paid by that date for the month before.
Most founders who come to Rwanda from Europe are used to a quarterly rhythm. Rwanda works monthly. Payroll tax umusoro (tax) on salaries, social security contributions to the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB), withholding tax on payments to suppliers and, for larger businesses, value added tax all fall due on the 15th of the following month. A company with three employees and one foreign consultant therefore files something every single month, even in a quiet month with no sales.
That rhythm sets the way we work. In the first days of a month we collect bank statements, supplier invoices and the payroll inputs for the month just ended. Between the 5th and the 10th we post, reconcile and prepare the declarations. You approve the payroll and the payments. Our partners in Kigali submit the declarations through the Rwanda Revenue Authority's online system before the 15th, and you receive a short report in English with the figures, the payments made and anything that needs your decision.
The year-end adds three further moments: the annual corporate tax return within three months, the annual accounts filed with the Office of the Registrar General within seven months, and the annual return in the month allocated to your company. The compliance calendar lays these out for any financial year-end.
The month that goes wrong is usually the first one. A company is registered, a salary is paid in week two, and nobody remembers that PAYE and RSSB for that partial month are due by the 15th of the next. We put the first payroll date in the onboarding plan before the first salary is paid.
Bookkeeping
Books kept under IFRS for SMEs
Which standard applies
Rwanda has adopted International Financial Reporting Standards. Companies of public interest, such as banks, insurers and listed companies, apply full IFRS. Most privately held companies, including the subsidiaries and start-ups that foreign founders set up, use IFRS for SMEs. For a European group this is convenient: the language of the accounts, the structure of the balance sheet and the treatment of most transactions will look familiar to your auditors at home.
IFRS for SMEs is shorter and simpler than full IFRS. It still requires accrual accounting, a cash flow statement, notes, and judgement on items such as revenue recognition, impairment and provisions. If your group reports under full IFRS or under a local GAAP such as HGB or the Plan General Contable, we keep a reconciliation so the Rwandan figures can be consolidated without rework.
Functional currency and foreign exchange
The books are kept in Rwandan francs amafaranga (money; also francs). Under BNR Regulation 42/2022 on foreign exchange operations, as amended by Regulation 89/2025, domestic transactions are settled in RWF and pricing in foreign currency needs authorisation. A company can hold foreign currency accounts and receive capital and pay abroad through authorised channels, so the books usually carry both RWF and USD or EUR bank accounts.
Every foreign currency balance is revalued at period end and exchange differences are booked. For a holding or an exporter whose income is in dollars, these differences can be large. We show them separately in the monthly report so that a weak or strong franc does not look like an operating result.
Sources: IFRS Foundation, jurisdiction profile Rwanda; BNR Regulation 42/2022 as amended by Regulation 89/2025 of 30/05/2025 (PKF East Africa summary, 2025).
What we post every month
- Sales invoices issued through the Electronic Billing Machine (EBM) system, matched to customer receipts.
- Purchase invoices, checked for a valid EBM invoice with your company's TIN so that input VAT can be recovered.
- Import documents from customs, where goods arrive by the Northern Corridor from Mombasa or the Central Corridor from Dar es Salaam, with the import VAT and duties paid.
- Payroll journals, the employer contributions and the liabilities to RRA and RSSB.
- Withholding tax deducted from payments to service providers, and the liability to remit it.
- Bank and mobile money reconciliations, foreign exchange revaluation and accruals for costs not yet invoiced.
- Fixed assets and depreciation, including any accelerated first-year allowance your investment certificate gives you.
Records and their language
Books and records must be kept for ten years. The Law on tax procedures counts this period from 1 January after the tax period concerned, and the company law keeps company records for at least ten years as well. Records may be kept in Kinyarwanda, English or French and may be shared electronically. We keep a complete digital archive for you, organised by month, so that a tax audit five years later finds every invoice where it should be.
Sources: Law N° 020/2023 on tax procedures, Art. 15 (EY Tax News, 2023); Law N° 019/2023 amending the company law, Art. 4 (CDH); PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Rwanda, reviewed September 2026.
Systems
The two systems every company uses
Rwanda's tax administration is digital. Two systems carry almost everything: the online declaration platform and the electronic invoicing system.
E-Tax (MyRRA): declarations and payments
Declarations for VAT, PAYE, withholding tax and corporate income tax are filed online on the Rwanda Revenue Authority's E-Tax platform, accessed through MyRRA. The company logs in with its TIN, which it receives together with its registration certificate from the Office of the Registrar General.
For payroll, RRA offers a unified declaration that combines PAYE with the RSSB contributions in one return, with the exception of the voluntary pension scheme. RRA recommends the unified declaration for new declarants; registration for it is done through the RRA call centre or an RRA office. The older route of separate declarations for PAYE and each RSSB scheme still exists. We set up the unified declaration in the first month.
EBM: every taxable sale gets an electronic invoice
The Electronic Billing Machine is RRA's invoicing system. RRA states that every person carrying out taxable activities, whether registered for VAT or not, should request and use EBM and issue an EBM invoice on every transaction. The legal basis listed by RRA is Law N° 020/2023 on tax procedures together with Ministerial Order N° 008/16/10/TC of 01/11/2016.
A purchase invoice that is not an EBM invoice is a problem for the buyer, too: the input VAT on it is at risk. Under the Law on tax procedures, intentionally issuing an incorrect VAT invoice carries a fine of 100% of the VAT payable.
Sources: RRA, "Declare Employment tax (PAYE)" and "About EBM", rra.gov.rw (accessed October 2026); Law N° 020/2023, Art. 87 (EY Tax News, 2023).
| EBM solution | Who it suits | What you need |
|---|---|---|
| EBM 2.1 for Windows computer or tablet | Most trading and service companies with a computer at the till or in the office | Windows 10 or later |
| EBM 2.1 for Android smartphone | Taxpayers not registered for VAT, and micro or small newly registered taxpayers | Android 8.1 or later |
| Online EBM | Service businesses issuing no more than 10 invoices a month, such as consultants, landlords and transport providers | A web browser; no device |
| Virtual Sales Data Controller (VSDC) | Companies with their own ERP or invoicing software | Integration certified by RRA |
Source: RRA, "About EBM", rra.gov.rw (accessed October 2026). EBM does not run on macOS or iOS.
Groups that invoice from an ERP at headquarters often discover late that their Rwandan invoices need to pass through a certified VSDC integration. Certification takes paperwork, including RRA and RSSB clearance certificates. For the first months we use Online EBM or EBM 2.1 and plan the integration in parallel.
Payroll
From gross salary to net pay
Every employee umukozi (employee) on a Rwandan payroll goes through the same five steps. The employer umukoresha (employer) deducts, adds and remits.
- Step 1
Gross pay
Basic salary plus taxable allowances and benefits in kind for the month, in RWF.
- Step 2
PAYE
Income tax under the monthly bands of Law N° 027/2022: 0%, 10%, 20% and 30%.
- Step 3
RSSB
Employee pension and maternity deductions; employer pension, maternity and occupational hazards on top.
- Step 4
CBHI and net
Community health insurance at 0.5% of net pay, then the net salary paid to the employee.
| Monthly taxable income | Rate | Tax on the band |
|---|---|---|
| RWF 0 – 60,000 | 0% | RWF 0 |
| RWF 60,001 – 100,000 | 10% | up to RWF 4,000 |
| RWF 100,001 – 200,000 | 20% | up to RWF 20,000 |
| Above RWF 200,000 | 30% | on the excess |
Source: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Rwanda, individual taxes on personal income, reviewed 2026; Law N° 027/2022 of 20/10/2022 establishing taxes on income.
PAYE is progressive and calculated month by month. There are no local or municipal income taxes in Rwanda, so an employee working at a site in Bugesera, a lodge in Musanze or a warehouse in Kicukiro is taxed exactly like a colleague in an office in Gasabo. Where the employee lives or works does not change the payroll.
Benefits in kind and allowances change the taxable base. A housing allowance, a car put at the employee's disposal or school fees paid by the employer need to be valued and added. This is where payroll for expatriates becomes careful work, and where the calculator below stops being exact.
A worked example
One salary of RWF 1,000,000
| Line | 2026 rates | 2027 rates |
|---|---|---|
| Gross monthly salary | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 |
| PAYE (0 + 4,000 + 20,000 + 240,000) | 264,000 | 264,000 |
| Pension, employee (6% / 7%) | 60,000 | 70,000 |
| Maternity, employee (0.3%) | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| CBHI (0.5% of net before CBHI) | 3,365 | 3,315 |
| Net pay to the employee | 669,635 | 659,685 |
| Employer pension, maternity, occupational hazards | 83,000 | 93,000 |
| Total employer cost | 1,083,000 | 1,093,000 |
All figures in RWF. Calculated on the bands of Law N° 027/2022, RSSB rates per Presidential Order N° 086/01 of 12/12/2024 and the PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries (2026). Illustration without allowances or benefits in kind.
Two things stand out. First, at this salary level most of the pay falls into the 30% band, so the effective PAYE rate is a little over 26%. Second, the employer cost is only about 8% above gross in 2026 and rises with the pension path. A founder budgeting a five-year plan should model the pension increases now, because they apply to every salary on the payroll.
Social security
RSSB contributions and the pension path to 2030
| Contribution | Employer | Employee | Base |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pension, from 1 January 2025 | 6% | 6% | Gross salary |
| Pension, from 1 January 2027 | 7% | 7% | Gross salary |
| Pension, following steps to 2030 | 8% → 10% | 8% → 10% | Gross salary |
| Occupational hazards | 2% | — | Gross salary |
| Maternity | 0.3% | 0.3% | Gross salary |
| Community-based health insurance (CBHI) | — | 0.5% | Net pay |
Sources: Presidential Order N° 086/01 of 12/12/2024; PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Rwanda, other taxes, reviewed 2026. Pension rises from 6% + 6% in 2025 to 7% + 7% in 2027, then in steps of 8%, 9% and 10% each by 2030.
Foreign employees pay in, too
Foreign employees on a Rwandan payroll contribute on the same basis as Rwandan staff. There is no automatic exemption for expatriates, and we check whether any social security arrangement applies before anyone assumes one does. Groups that second staff from Europe should check this before they set the salary package, because a seconded engineer who stays on a home payroll and also works in Kigali can create two sets of contributions.
What the contributions pay for
The pension scheme funds old-age, invalidity and survivors' benefits. The occupational hazards scheme covers work accidents and occupational diseases. The maternity contribution funds maternity leave benefits through RSSB, which is why it is shared between employer and employee. CBHI, the community-based health insurance, is collected through the payroll at 0.5% of the employee's net pay.
Registration with RSSB is issued with the company registration, so there is no separate application to file. What does get missed is the enrolment of each new employee before the first declaration. We add every hire to RSSB in the month they start.
Employment law
The labour law points that affect payroll
Law N° 66/2018 of 30/08/2018 regulating labour in Rwanda, amended by Law N° 027/2023 of 18/05/2023, governs employment in the private sector. These are the provisions we apply every month.
- Written or unwritten contracts, with a 90-day limitAn employment contract amasezerano (agreement, contract) may be written or unwritten, but an unwritten contract cannot exceed 90 consecutive days (Art. 11). We use written contracts for every employee from day one.
- Foreign employees always get a written contractA foreign employee working in Rwanda receives a written employment contract. Work permits are governed by immigration law (Art. 12).
- Probation of up to three monthsProbation cannot exceed three months. After a written evaluation, the employer may extend it once by up to three months. A person re-employed by the same employer for the same position does not serve probation again (Art. 13).
- Notice on terminationFor an open-ended contract, notice is 15 days for service under one year and one month for longer service. Notice is given in writing with reasons; it is not required on mutual agreement, gross misconduct or during probation (Arts. 24–30).
- Terminal benefits on economic dismissalAfter at least one year of service, dismissal for economic or technological reasons or sickness gives a benefit of two to seven months' average salary depending on length of service, paid within seven working days (Arts. 31–32).
- Annual leaveEighteen working days a year, accruing at 1.5 working days a month, plus one day for every three years of continuous service up to 21 days. Pay in lieu is allowed only on termination (Arts. 46–50).
- Maternity and paternity leaveMothers are entitled to maternity leave and fathers to paternity leave; the number of days is set by order of the minister in charge of labour (Art. 56 as replaced in 2023).
- Working hoursSet by order of the minister in charge of labour (Art. 43 as replaced in 2023). We apply the order in force when we set up your payroll.
Sources: Law N° 66/2018 of 30/08/2018, Arts. 11–13 (Official Gazette, minijust.gov.rw); Law N° 027/2023 of 18/05/2023 amending Arts. 43, 45 and 56 (minijust.gov.rw); WageIndicator Rwanda, notice and severance and annual leave pages (2026). On notice and terminal benefits secondary sources differ in detail: we check the current text of the law for each termination.
Foreign staff
Hiring foreigners onto a Rwandan payroll
A foreign manager needs a permit uruhushya (permit, licence) to work in Rwanda. The route depends on who the person is. A founder who holds an investment certificate applies for an investor permit in the sector class of the business, for example W1 for IT or F1 for manufacturing. A hired specialist goes through an employment permit: H1 for occupations on the in-demand list, valid three years, or H2 sponsored by the employer, valid two years.
A registered investor with USD 250,000 invested may recruit three foreign employees without a labour market test. This is a recruitment right, not a minimum for the investment certificate.
Payroll for a foreign employee follows the same PAYE bands and the same RSSB rates. The differences are practical: a housing allowance or school fees often form part of the package, a split salary paid partly abroad needs care, and the employee may need evidence of Rwandan tax paid for the home country. We prepare an annual PAYE statement from the payroll records.
Permits, documents and timelines are explained on the investor and work permits page.
Sources: RDB, investment registration (rdb.rw); DGIE, migration.gov.rw; Fragomen, Rwanda employment permits (2025).
Citizens of East African Community states receive a free six-month pass on entry, which makes the first visit simple. Work documentation still depends on the role and the nationality, and we confirm the exact steps for each employee before the offer letter goes out.
The payroll calendar
Umuganda, public holidays and the 15th
Umuganda, the last Saturday
On the last Saturday of each month the country does umuganda (monthly community work). From about 8:00 to 11:00 most businesses close and traffic pauses while residents of each umudugudu (village) work on local projects. It is not a public holiday and it does not change payroll arithmetic. It does change logistics: deliveries, site visits and bank appointments on that morning do not happen. In a month where the last Saturday falls just before a filing deadline, we close the books on the Friday.
Public holidays
Official public holidays are paid days off under Art. 53 of the labour law. An employee who works on a public holiday is entitled to a rest day within the next 30 days. Payroll must reflect both. The week after 7 April is a national week of mourning; offices work, but events and celebrations are not scheduled.
| Holiday | Date |
|---|---|
| New Year | 1 and 2 January |
| National Heroes' Day | 1 February |
| Good Friday and Easter Monday | Moveable |
| Genocide against the Tutsi Memorial Day | 7 April |
| Labour Day | 1 May |
| Independence Day | 1 July |
| Liberation Day | 4 July |
| Umuganura (national harvest day) | First Friday of August |
| Assumption Day | 15 August |
| Christmas and Boxing Day | 25 and 26 December |
| Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha | By moon sighting, announced each year |
Sources: Law N° 66/2018, Art. 53; WageIndicator Rwanda, annual leave and holidays (2026); Government of Rwanda, gov.rw/holidays (2026 list, observed dates). We take the observed dates from the government's published list for each year.
When the 15th falls on a weekend or near a holiday, do not plan to file on the 15th itself. Banks and the payment system slow down around holidays. Our standard is declarations prepared by the 10th and paid by the 12th.
Monthly close
Check your own month
Use this list to see how ready a month is for closing. It is the same list our team works through.
Year-end
The annual close, step by step
- Months 1–2
Closing entries
Stock counts, fixed asset register, accruals, provisions, FX revaluation and the tax computation.
- By month 3
Tax return
Corporate tax return with audited financial statements and transfer pricing documentation; balance of tax paid.
- By month 3
Report to RDB
A registered investor submits a copy of its financial report to RDB within three months of the year-end.
- By month 7
Accounts at ORG
Annual accounts with directors' and auditor's reports filed with the Registrar General.
The corporate income tax return is due within three months after the end of the tax period, accompanied by audited financial statements and transfer pricing documentation. For a December year-end that means 31 March. The tax period runs from January to December by default; a different period needs the approval of the Minister of Finance.
Whether your company needs a statutory audit under the company law is a separate question from what accompanies the tax return. We confirm the position for your company at onboarding, and we coordinate the auditor's timetable so that the audit is finished before the tax return is due.
Private companies file annual accounts with the Office of the Registrar General within seven months of the accounting reference date, with the auditor's and directors' reports (Art. 142 of Law N° 007/2021). The annual return, which confirms shareholders, directors and beneficial owners, is filed each year in the month allocated to the company (Art. 143 as amended); non-filing can lead to strike-off.
A company holding an investment certificate icyemezo cy’ishoramari (investment certificate) has an extra duty under Art. 26 of Law N° 006/2021: keep books of account and submit a copy of its financial report to RDB within three months after the financial year. Since the deadline coincides with the tax return, we prepare both from the same closing file.
Sources: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Rwanda, corporate tax administration, reviewed 23 September 2026; Law N° 007/2021, Arts. 142–143 as amended by Law N° 019/2023 (CDH; ENSafrica); Law N° 006/2021 of 05/02/2021, Art. 26 (UNCTAD Investment Policy Hub).
Audit timetables in Kigali fill up in February and March. Book the auditor in the autumn, and close the books by the end of January, or the March deadline arrives with an unsigned audit report.
If things are late
Interest, fines and what triggers them
Late declarations and late payments carry fines and interest under Law N° 020/2023 on tax procedures, which replaced the 2019 law. RRA lists failure to file a tax declaration on time and failure to file a withholding declaration on time among the PAYE failures that attract penalties. Interest on late payment is calculated monthly; RRA's guidance describes it as the BNR inter-bank offered rate plus two percentage points.
Some fines are fixed by the law. For example, the fine for intentionally issuing an incorrect VAT invoice is 100% of the VAT payable, and failure to provide information on controlled transactions carries a fine of 5% of the transaction value. A tax audit can reach back five years, or ten where information was concealed with intent to evade tax.
Sources: Law N° 020/2023 on tax procedures, Arts. 80–87 (EY Tax News, 2023); RRA, PAYE penalties and interest page (rra.gov.rw, accessed October 2026); PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Rwanda, 2026.
Where it happens
Geography of a Rwandan payroll
There are no local income taxes in Rwanda, so payroll rules do not differ between the City of Kigali Umujyi wa Kigali (City of Kigali) and the provinces intara (province). Address codes differ, and they appear on invoices and in RSSB and RRA records: KG for Gasabo, KN for Nyarugenge and KK for Kicukiro, as in "KG 7 Ave". Umuganda is organised locally, down to each umurenge (sector) within an akarere (district).
Glossary
Words you will see on payslips and letters
Kinyarwanda terms with English translations; official documents are usually also available in English and French.
Legal basis
Laws this page relies on
FAQ
Questions founders ask about accounting and payroll
Can the books be kept outside Rwanda?
The bookkeeping work can be done anywhere, and ours is managed from Europe in English. Declarations are filed in Rwanda through E-Tax, and the records must be available for ten years for RRA. Our partners in Kigali handle the local submissions and correspondence.
Do I need to file if the company had no activity this month?
Yes, where the company is registered for the tax concerned. A VAT-registered company files a VAT return for each period even with no sales, and a company with employees declares PAYE and RSSB every month. A nil return on time costs nothing; a missed one attracts penalties.
Can I pay salaries in euros or dollars?
Domestic transactions in Rwanda are settled in RWF under the BNR foreign exchange regulation, and pricing in foreign currency needs authorisation. Salaries are set and paid in RWF. A contract can reference a foreign currency amount for budgeting, and we advise how to word it.
Does a foreign director who is not employed go on the payroll?
Not necessarily. A director who receives fees is paid under different rules from an employee, and withholding tax may apply instead of PAYE. We look at the director's role, residence and the treaty position before deciding.
Which accounting software do you use?
We work in cloud accounting software that produces IFRS for SMEs statements and exports to your group's reporting format. EBM invoicing runs alongside it, through EBM 2.1, Online EBM or a certified VSDC integration.
When does the pension rate go up?
Pension contributions are 6% from employer and 6% from employee since 1 January 2025, 7% each from 1 January 2027, rising in steps to 10% each by 2030 under Presidential Order N° 086/01. Budget for the increase now.
Do you need my company to have a statutory audit?
PwC notes that audited financial statements accompany the corporate tax return. Whether a statutory audit is required under the company law for your company is something we confirm at onboarding, before we propose a timetable.
How is the monthly fee set?
By volume: the number of transactions, employees, bank accounts and currencies, and whether you are VAT-registered. The fee is fixed and quoted in writing. See pricing.
Related
Read next
Corporate tax
CIT at 28%, preferential rates for registered investors and the annual return.
Read more → UmusoroVAT and withholding tax
Registration thresholds, the 18% rate, WHT at 15% and treaty rates.
Read more → IcyemezoCompliance calendar
Every recurring deadline for your financial year-end.
Open the tool → UruhushyaInvestor and work permits
Permit classes, fees and documents for foreign staff.
Read more → Konti ya bankiBank account
What Rwandan banks ask before they open a corporate account.
Read more → AmafarangaPricing
Fixed monthly fees, quoted in writing by volume.
See pricing →