Payroll services in Ukraine: a payroll company for foreign businesses and NGOs

Payroll under Ukrainian law with a monthly reporting pack the head office can read. We explain to the parent why gross, net and employer cost differ, and how the Ukrainian social contribution works.

Too large for the chief accountant to handle alongside everything else, too small for a dedicated payroll specialist. We take the whole function, from timesheet to payment order and filing.

Salaries split between projects and the administrative budget, allocation keys, timesheets that satisfy donor rules and stand up in an audit. More: accounting for NGOs and business.

If payroll stays in house, we review a quarter or a year and report the errors with amounts. This is part of our HR and payroll audit.

Salary, hourly and piece rates, bonuses, night, weekend and public holiday premiums, overtime, additional duties and statutory salary indexation.

Personal income tax, military levy, unified social contribution, alimony, union dues, voluntary deductions and enforcement orders.

Annual leave, compensation for unused leave, sick pay funded by the employer and by the state fund, maternity pay and business travel.

Payment file in your bank’s format, card account register and tax payment orders prepared for the same day as the salary transfer.

The combined personal income tax, military levy and social contribution return with per-employee schedules, plus employment reporting where it applies.

Hiring, transfer, leave and termination orders, employment contracts, timesheets, leave schedules and personnel files kept in Ukrainian form.

Ukrainian labour law requires salary to be paid at least twice a month, with no more than 16 calendar days between payments, and the final amount for the month no later than the 7th day of the next month. Most employers run an advance in the middle of the month and the balance at the start of the next one.

Personal income tax of 18% and the military levy of 5% are withheld from the employee. The unified social contribution of 22% is paid by the employer on top of gross pay, up to a cap of 20 minimum wages. Taxes are paid on the same day as the salary transfer.

Companies file one combined return for income tax, military levy and social contribution every month, within 20 calendar days after the month end, with a schedule for each person paid. Late or wrong filings are the most common reason for penalties we see in payroll reviews.

Annual leave is at least 24 calendar days. Sick leave is paid by the employer for the first five days and by the Pension Fund from the sixth, on the basis of electronic sick notes. Both are calculated on average earnings, which is where most in-house errors happen.

The minimum wage is 8,647 hryvnia a month in 2026 and drives the minimum social contribution, the tax relief thresholds and several caps. Salaries fixed in the contract are subject to statutory indexation for inflation, which employers often forget.

Employers keep military records of their staff and notify the territorial recruitment centre within seven days of hiring or dismissing a person liable for service; since August 2026 the notice is filed electronically through Diia. We keep these records as part of HR administration.

Full labour law protection: leave, sick pay, notice periods, severance. The standard form for staff who work under your direction and on your schedule.

Only for genuine services. A contractor who works fixed hours from your office under your instructions can be reclassified as an employee by the labour inspectorate, with back taxes and fines for the company.

Available only to companies registered as Diia City residents, mostly IT. Residents also confirm compliance with the regime every year: see audit of Diia City residents.

A project manager paid from two grants and the core budget needs an allocation key, a timesheet that matches it and a payroll register that shows the split. We set this up so the numbers agree from timesheet to bank statement.

Salary scales, limits on top-ups, rules on bonuses and on paid leave charged to a project differ between donors. We check the payroll against the grant agreement before the month is closed, not after the donor asks.

Payroll is the first thing an auditor of a donor project opens. Because we also perform grant audits, we know which documents are requested and keep them in the order the auditor expects.

Staff who moved abroad after 2022 usually stay on the Ukrainian payroll under a remote work arrangement. The employment contract, the orders and the taxes remain Ukrainian, and the salary is still paid to a Ukrainian bank card or, where the contract allows, to a foreign account.

After about half a year in one country an employee may become its tax resident, and the employer may acquire obligations there. We flag such cases on the monthly report and, where needed, involve a DFK International member firm in that country.

• Company registration data and the current signatories
• List of staff with employment contracts, hiring orders and pay conditions
• Payroll registers and payslips for the last three months
• Returns filed for the current year and the previous one
• Leave balances, open sick leave and any enforcement orders
• The bank’s payment file format and the dates you want salaries paid

Three to ten working days, depending on headcount and how complete the HR files are. The first month runs in parallel with your previous calculation so that any difference is explained before we take full responsibility. The proposal itself follows within one working day after we have seen the scope.

Holiday, sick leave or resignation of one specialist does not delay the salary run. The account is run by a team inside an audit firm.

Calculations are reviewed quarterly by an auditor. Errors in average earnings, indexation and tax reliefs surface in our review, not in a tax inspection.

Management and key staff salaries are not discussed in your office. For many employers this alone is the reason to move payroll outside.