Your 2025 Payroll Checklist: What Every Business Should Demand of Its Payroll System

This 2025 payroll checklist for Egypt starts with a simple truth: payroll isn’t just about pushing money to your employees anymore.

Finance wants real-time cashflow visibility, to cut costs and stay compliant. HR wants a friction-free employee experience that keeps people paid, motivated, and moving.

Add economic uncertainty, rising worker expectations, and patchy banking infrastructure—and suddenly payroll isn’t a background function. It’s front and center.

But most payroll systems haven’t kept up.

Many still depend on bank processes built years—or decades—ago. Others rely on even more outdated methods like cash, or fall back to consumer-grade digital wallets that were never built for payroll in the first place.

That’s how delays, errors, and admin overload become “normal.”

And how Finance and HR teams end up solving problems they didn’t create.

This checklist is built for any business in Egypt—regardless of industry, workforce types, and levels of digital maturity.

It’s not about what’s “nice to have,” but rather what’s essential to run payroll the right way: securely, efficiently, and without making it someone’s full-time headache.

Below is a 10-point checklist to stress-test your current setup—whether you run payroll in-house, outsource it, or use a hybrid model.

Tick them off. If you score under 7, you’ve got work to do.

Whether you’re a Finance lead, an HR manager, or the person doing both, this list is your benchmark.

1. A fully digital setup

Why a fully digital setup is non-negotiable in 2025

Traditional payroll methods are too slow, error-prone, and out of touch, especially when e-payments now handle everything else in life. Going digital is no longer a matter of convenience. It’s the baseline.

You save time.

You tighten cost control by wiping out courier fees and branch runs.

And you give your team a reliable and dignified way to access their salaries.

But in Egypt, full digitization is still the exception, not the rule.

Most large companies only digitize payroll for their white-collar staff. Smaller ones may skip it altogether. That leaves entire segments of the workforce out of the financial system—and businesses stuck doing extra work every month just to move money around.

What’s holding companies back from digitization?

It’s often not the company’s fault. Bank procedures, minimum salary limits, and headcount thresholds made digital payroll feel like a privilege.

But that’s changed.

Bankless solutions like dopay now offer a fully digital, fully inclusive payroll experience for any business, any workforce—without the barriers.

Quick check: Can you pay every employee in your company digitally, or do you still have to pay part of your workforce manually?

2. A unified payroll payment channel

Most payroll setups in Egypt are fragmented.

A portion of the workforce gets paid through bank transfers, another through wallets, and the rest in cash—especially in large companies with a mix of blue- and white-collar workers.

Even within the banked segment, salaries might be routed through different banks.

Why fragmentation kills efficiency

That means payroll goes out through multiple rails every month—each with its own timing, file format, reconciliation steps, and error risks.

It’s extra work for Finance, extra coordination for HR, and makes it harder to track or audit at scale.

To fix that, you need a single payroll channel that works for everyone.

There are two ways to unify your payroll process:

Option #1: All-in-one hub

• • Integrates your existing rails (banks, wallets, etc.) into one push.
    It cuts reconciliation time, but keeps your payment methods fragmented.

Option #2: Single, inclusive rail (the cleaner path)

• • One method every worker can use, regardless of job type or location.

Accessibility is non-negotiable. 

Not every employee can open a bank account, and wallets still exclude many blue-collar workers.

dopay transaction data shows why salary cards remain the best fit: 

• • Within 48 hours of payday, roughly 60% of total salary value is withdrawn in cash

• • While only 15% is spent digitally (e.g., POS) in the first two weeks.

They strike the balance between a cashless, compliant payroll system—and easy, flexible cash access that matches how most employees still manage their money. But for this to work, the cards must be widely accepted across ATMs in Egypt, and ideally come with little to no fees.

So when choosing your platform, don’t start by looking for the one with the fanciest set of digital services for the top 10% of your workforce.

Start with the one that matches everyone’s behavior, offers equal access, and builds on that foundation with relevant services your whole team can grow into.

Because unless your payroll channel is truly usable by every employee, you’ll stay stuck with a fragmented process—and all the time, cost, and risk that comes with it.

Quick check: Can every person you employ be paid through the same, inclusive system?

3. Simplified tracking and monitoring

You’re paying out a large total, but it’s fragmented across dozens, hundreds or even thousands of individuals. Some payments are fixed salaries. Others are variable—overtime, commissions, project-based payouts. That fragmentation makes it harder to get a clear view of your actual payroll cost and movement.

What you need is one place that shows:

• • How many payments went out

• • How much each one was

• • Who it went to

All recorded, searchable, and linked to the correct employee profile—without having to dig through inboxes or cross-check multiple platforms.

And as you’ve probably noticed by now, every item on this checklist depends on the one before it.

You can digitize your payroll and still end up chasing records—because most legacy systems, especially bank portals, aren’t built for visibility.

Even when the data exists, the interface makes it hard to use.

And if your workforce is split across different payment channels, you’re still manually tracking parts of it every month.

Simplified tracking only works when the system you use is unified, accessible, and actually designed for payroll—not retrofitted to it.

Quick check: Can you see every salary, bonus, and payout you made this month—across your entire team—in one place?

4. Simple, intuitive interface

Switching to a new payroll system should simplify your process—not add new complexities. A strong system means nothing if the people running it can’t use it with confidence.

That’s why when you’re choosing a provider, clarity is just as important as the features it provides. Your payroll officer shouldn’t need a full training course just to figure out where things are. A quick walkthrough should be enough to get them fluent in the basics.

And because payroll is sensitive, the cost of confusion is high.

Mis-clicks, missed steps, unclear flows—these are not small errors when they involve people’s salaries.

Bank portals are notorious for being clunky and outdated.

If you’re moving to a payroll-specific platform, make sure ease-of-use is one of the standards you hold them to.

Here’s a quick gut-check for interface quality:

• • Is there a clear home dashboard where you can see all sections at once?

• • Can you take key actions (like paying salaries or checking status) without digging through layers?

• • Is the language clear—or filled with technical or legal jargon?

• • Can a new payroll officer understand it without a manual?

If the provider offers onboarding support or walkthroughs during the transition, that’s a bonus. But you shouldn’t need ongoing handholding just to run your monthly payroll.

Quick check: If your payroll person left tomorrow, could someone else take over without training and still get it right?

5. Rapid and easy onboarding

If onboarding and offboarding employees is still a headache, it’s time to rethink your payroll process. One of the biggest reasons companies in Egypt still pay in cash is how difficult it is to bring new employees into the banking system.

Opening a bank account takes time. Banks have requirements that exclude most of the workforce—especially when salaries are low, contracts are flexible, or the company’s headcount is small.

That friction pushes businesses to delay digitization or limit it to a few roles.

But a payroll platform that saves you time on disbursement shouldn’t cost you weeks in onboarding.

If it can’t easily onboard every employee, it’s not built for scale.

What seamless onboarding should look like

A payroll platform that saves time on disbursement must also save time on setup. The gold standard today:

• • Single-step signup with a national ID

• • Embedded KYC (no second round of verification)

• • Instant card issuance and doorstep delivery—no branch visits, no paperwork runs

If a platform can’t onboard every hire quickly, it can’t scale.

Quick check: Can a new hire get set up, verified, and paid within a short time—without going to a bank?

6. Role-based approvals & maker-checker

Payroll is rarely handled by one team alone.

HR tracks attendance, overtime, deductions, and calculates the net amounts. Finance processes the actual disbursements. But when the process is split across tools, emails, and spreadsheets—it creates friction, risk, and room for error.

Here’s what typically goes wrong:

• • Manual handoffs delay payouts and introduce mistakes

• • Version control issues cause mismatches and missed updates

• • No audit trail means no accountability when something goes wrong

• • Security risks—payroll data isn’t something that should live in inboxes

• • Reconciliation headaches from mismatched or inconsistent inputs

A proper maker-checker setup solves all of this. HR submits. Finance approves. Both actions are logged in one place. Everyone stays in their lane, and the company avoids costly errors—whether that’s overpayment, underpayment, or sensitive data slipping through the cracks.

Quick check: Is your payroll process secure, traceable, and split between at least two roles?

7.  Data security, authorization, and fraud controls

Payroll data is some of the most sensitive information in your company.

It includes employee names, salaries, bank details, and national IDs—all in one place.

If any of that is leaked, sent to the wrong person, or accessed without permission, it’s not just an internal mess, but a reputational and legal risk for the company.

But security issues don’t have to be dramatic.

Fraud happens in quieter ways:

• • A wrong entry

• • A duplicated payment

• • A payout sent to the wrong employee because of a spreadsheet edit no one noticed

When your payroll system isn’t built with secure access, approval checkpoints, and user visibility, it becomes easy to lose control.

The basics you can’t compromise on

A password alone isn’t enough.
You need:

• • Strict user roles

• • Two-factor authentication

• • A clear separation of access between the person preparing payroll and the one approving it—like in the maker-checker section

These are basic controls that prevent costly mistakes and unauthorized actions before they happen.

The goal isn’t to turn Finance and HR into security experts.

It’s to work with a system that makes security and compliance automatic—especially when it comes to Central Bank requirements.

That means:

• • Only the right people can access or edit payroll data

• • Every action is logged and traceable

• • Files can’t be altered without detection

• • And your provider is already aligned with CBE standards

Whether you’re audited or just want peace of mind, these controls matter.

Payroll is a core pillar of the trust you build inside your company and with your employees.

And once it’s broken, it’s hard to get back.

Quick check: Can you control who has access to payroll—and make sure no one can take action they’re not supposed to?

8. 24/7 instant disbursement

People’s expectations have changed

People’s expectations have changed

Even the segments of Egypt’s workforce that weren’t traditionally tech-savvy are now used to sending and receiving money instantly.

Between the Central Bank’s Instant Payment Network (IPN), apps like InstaPay, and dozens of mobile wallets, people expect money to move fast—peer-to-peer, no delays, no “wait till business hours.”

The interfaces are simple. The process is smooth. The expectation is set.

But payroll hasn’t caught up.

That’s why many businesses turn to consumer-grade solutions like wallets or InstaPay just to avoid the cash run—even though these platforms:

• • Weren’t built for payroll

• • Don’t scale well

• • Can’t handle the operational load of a full disbursement cycle—especially across multiple sites or governorates

[Link to product demo pop-up → Subsidiary Management]

Banks were supposed to be the more professional alternative. But their payroll rails still run on legacy timelines. Bulk transfers. Business-day cutoffs. No weekend processing. No after-hours support. 

The cost of waiting

The result is that:

• • Companies freeze cash days in advance just to meet payroll timelines

• • If anything goes wrong—on your side or the bank’s—employees pay the price

• • If payday falls on a Friday, it’s “tough luck”—and someone in Finance gets the blame

• • If you miss a bank’s processing window by 15 minutes, payouts are pushed to the next day.

And the list goes on.

In 2025, this doesn’t make sense.

You need a payroll system that pays people with the same speed they’re used to in every other part of their financial life.

That means 24/7 instant disbursement—where salaries are sent in real time, any day of the week, and instantly received by the employee.

It’s the only way to offer a better standard than bank payments, without the risk and hassle of cash.

And it’s the only way to stop tying up your own working capital in the days leading up to payday.

Quick check: Can your employees receive their salary in real time—at night, on weekends, or whenever you push it?

9. Built-in earned-wage access (EWA)

EWA—short for earned wage access—simply means letting employees access the money they’ve already worked for before payday. Not as a loan. Not as a favor. Just a fairer way to smooth out the gap between work and pay.

It’s especially relevant in Egypt right now, where financial pressure is high and the cost of living keeps rising.

Our data at dopay shows that 77% of employees withdraw their full salary within 48 hours of payday. Most people start the month already stretched—often using that money to cover expenses rolled over from previous weeks.

Only 24.1% maintain any balance a week after payday.

The impact on productivity is real

• • A PwC study shows that one-third of financially stressed employees suffer a hit to their productivity.

• • And the cost is even clear in concrete terms. 56% of employees spend an estimated 3 to 9 hours per week dealing with personal financial problems. If we take the average—6 hours a week—you’re effectively paying 24 hours a month per employee for time spent worrying about money, not focusing on work.

So this isn’t just about helping your employees, but really about protecting your business.

Less money stress → higher workforce retention → a smarter and more cost-effective win than constant rehiring.

The current reality: salary advances that drain everyone

Many, if not most, businesses in Egypt already offer salary advances.

But because it’s not a guaranteed right in labor law, there are no universal rules—just internal policies, and in most cases, those are… basic.

There’s usually:

• • No clear eligibility criteria

• • No repayment structure

• • No proper tracking

It gets messy fast.

HR ends up overwhelmed. Finance loses visibility.

Some companies stop offering advances altogether, or quietly keep them for a few people they trust.

And without a fully digital payroll setup, that’s nearly impossible to fix.

Why built-in EWA hits all the birds with one stone

When EWA is integrated directly into your payroll system, you remove all the manual pain and reduce financial stress on your workforce, without losing control.

Here’s what changes:

• • Employees access a portion of their salary automatically, no approvals needed

• • Finance doesn’t have to freeze part of the cash or track IOUs

• • HR stays out of it completely, no more requests or follow-ups

• • Every payout is tracked, capped, and auto-deducted on payday

And most importantly, the money isn’t given out as a loan or a favor.

It’s the employee’s money, just made available earlier, through a system that handles the admin behind the scenes.

Quick check: Can your employees access part of their salary before payday—without Finance or HR needing to lift a finger? 

10. Human, responsive support (for employees and your company)

Digital payroll is great. Until something goes wrong and no one’s there to help.

At dopay, we know this from experience.

That’s why even with all the engineering that goes into keeping our platform stable, smooth, and reliable, we invest just as much, if not more, into human support.

Always-on. Trained to go beyond the regular measures when needed.

Because when payroll is on the line, your business and your team can’t afford to be left in the dark.

The gap most companies can’t afford

Most companies don’t want—and can’t afford—to be the ones solving payroll issues.

But with traditional setups, that’s exactly what ends up happening. Because external support (from the bank or your payroll provider) either doesn’t exist, or doesn’t work the way it should.

Most payroll issues don’t happen during office hours.

• • An employee runs into a card problem at 2 a.m. and needs their money for an emergency.

• • A new hire can’t activate their salary card on a Friday.

They shouldn’t have to wait till the next business day for a response.

If you’re serious about offering people real access to their money, 24/7 support is part of the deal.

Then there’s the business side. 

Payroll isn’t a general banking issue.

The structure of your workforce, your pay cycles, your onboarding timelines—all affect how your issues should be handled.

If the people on the other end of the line don’t understand that, you’re going to waste time re-explaining your setup whenever something goes wrong.

And in payroll, the moments things go wrong are usually the most sensitive.

What “human, responsive support” really means

You need two clear layers of help—and neither should sit on your desk:

1. 1. Always-on, front-line help for employees
      

      • • Card lost? Balance looks wrong? They reach a human—any hour, any day—so you’re not dragged in.

2. 2. Personalized support for the business
      

      • • People who already know your payroll calendar, head-count mix, and approval flow. No re-explaining when the issue is urgent—especially during a nationwide network outage or end-of-month crunch.

Anything less, and you’re back to solving problems the system was supposed to take off your plate.

Quick check: If someone on your team has a salary issue tonight, who do they go to—and do you trust they’ll get an answer?

To wrap it up

If you’ve made it this far, you already know—payroll isn’t just payroll anymore. It’s structure. It’s culture. It’s what keeps your business moving. And the system you choose needs to match that weight.

One that works for every department, every employee, every payday—without becoming a burden in and of itself.

Because when you waste time and money on payroll, you’re wasting them on something that happens every single month. And possibly every week.

If your HR, Finance, or admin team is losing days just to get salaries out, you’re not just burning time. You’re paying people to pay people.

That’s not how it should be. Especially when there’s a better way.

A modern payroll system should take work off your plate—not add more.

It should move with your business, adapt to your people, and handle the hard stuff quietly in the background.

That’s not a luxury. That’s the baseline. So don’t settle for less.

And don’t stick to what you know if it’s no longer working.

In the end…

Now that you know how to properly evaluate any payroll system—whether you already have one in place, use a platform to run salaries, or you’re still relying on traditional methods and want something better—book a call with dopay.

On the call, you’ll get a clearer picture of what we can bring to your business. And now you’ve got the tools to evaluate us the right way.