Choosing Construction Payroll Software
Most payroll software sold in Kenya was built for an office, not a building site. It assumes salaried staff, fixed hours and a desk. Construction is the opposite: casual daily labour, gangs moving between sites, attendance that decides the wage, and a Friday payout that must land on M-Pesa. This checklist sets out the twelve capabilities that actually matter when you choose construction payroll software for a Kenyan contractor.
Updated October 17, 2026 · Guides
The first six: attendance and payment
Start with the core loop — proving who worked and getting money to them. If these six are weak, nothing downstream can be trusted.
- Digital muster rolls that replace the paper book and lock before payroll runs.
- Geofenced site attendance so check-ins happen on site, not from anywhere.
- M-Pesa B2C wage payments through the business account, never a personal one.
- Casual and gang pay that handles daily rates, gang allocations and subcontractor payments.
- Digital payslips issued to every worker, with gross, deductions and net.
- Offline and low-data resilience for sites with weak signal or workers on basic phones.
The next six: compliance, records and support
Once payment is reliable, the system has to survive an audit and keep your cash flow moving.
- Automated statutory deductions for PAYE, NSSF, SHIF and the Affordable Housing Levy.
- Ready statutory returns filed by the 9th, with the numbers reconciled to payroll.
- Auditable records for every worker, day, correction and payment.
- Worker records and ID verification to stop duplicates and ghost workers.
- Payroll float so a delayed valuation certificate does not delay Friday.
- Real support from people who understand construction payroll in Kenya.
Questions to ask before you sign
A demo can hide weaknesses. Ask how attendance is verified when there is no signal, how a failed M-Pesa payment is retried, who files the returns, and how a correction is recorded after a roll is locked. Then ask two harder ones: can the system produce a muster roll for an NCA inspection, and how long does it take to onboard a new site with 50 workers? The answers separate site-ready software from office software.
Where FundiPay fits
FundiPay was built for the second list first, because we started with sites rather than spreadsheets. It covers the twelve points above in one system: geofenced muster rolls, locked before payment, M-Pesa B2C wages, automated statutory deductions, digital payslips, a 14-day payroll float and auditable records. For a Kenyan contractor, that means attendance and payroll stop being two versions of the truth.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need separate attendance and payroll software?
You can, but you then spend your week reconciling one against the other, and the gap between them is where errors live. A single system that runs both means the locked muster roll is the payment instruction, not a document you retype.
Can payroll software handle casual daily workers?
It has to, or it is not built for construction. Look for daily rates, gang allocation, part-days and a register of casuals you can pay weekly without re-entering them every time.
What about sites with poor network coverage?
This is a real constraint on many projects. Ask how check-ins are captured and queued when signal drops, and how the muster roll stays accurate when workers are deep inside a large site. Weak-signal handling is a genuine test of site-ready software.
Is it worth paying for a float feature?
If you have ever scrambled for Friday wages while a certificate cleared, yes. A float tied to verified payroll covers the timing gap between the work and the certificate, and it is repaid from that certificate rather than from your margin.
Keep reading
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Direct M-Pesa B2C Payroll
One payroll run pays every fundi straight to M-Pesa, using verified phone numbers with live results — no cash, envelopes or guesses.
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Digital Muster Roll for Construction Sites
A geotagged, tamper-proof digital muster roll that replaces the paper book — attendance verified by 50-metre geofence and locked in one tap.
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Automated Statutory Deductions
FundiPay calculates PAYE, NSSF, SHIF and the Affordable Housing Levy per worker and prepares the returns, keeping site payroll compliant.
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Payroll Statutory Calendar
The monthly construction payroll calendar in Kenya: PAYE, NSSF, SHIF and housing levy returns due by the 9th, what to prepare and the cost of lateness.