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Pakistan country pack — this guide covers Pakistan-specific statutory rules. Octal HR is configurable for other regions too.
Getting Started
After you sign up, Octal HR creates a dedicated tenant for your organisation. Your setup has four phases. Most companies complete Phases 1–3 within 1–2 days. Phase 4 (go-live) typically happens at the end of the month.
1
Foundation
~30 min
2
Employee Data
2–8 hours
3
Policy Setup
1–2 hours
4
Go Live
At month-end
Phase 1: Foundation Setup ~30 min
Phase 1
Company profile: legal name, NTN, registered address — Company Settings
Upload company logo and set brand color
Set timezone: Asia/Karachi, currency: PKR, date format
Set fiscal year: 1 July – 30 June (Pakistan FBR tax year)
Configure working week: Mon–Fri (or Sat half-day if applicable)
Add public holidays calendar for the current year
Create departments and designations (e.g., Engineering, Finance, HR)
Invite your HR team members — User Management
Phase 2: Employee Data Import 2–8 hours
Phase 2
Download employee import template from Employees → Import → Download Template
Fill in all required columns: Employee Code, First Name, Last Name, Employment Type, Status, Department, Designation
Upload the completed Excel (XLSX) file — validate and fix any rows flagged by the import wizard
Upload employee documents: CNICs, contracts, appointment letters
Set bank account details for payroll disbursement (account no., IBAN, bank name)
Invite employees to the self-service portal
Coming from another system? If you're migrating from a legacy HR system or spreadsheets, our onboarding team can help map your data format to the Octal HR template. Contact support before starting the import — this avoids re-work.
Phase 3: Policy Configuration 1–2 hours
Phase 3
Configure payroll components: Basic, HRA, Medical, Conveyance, Bonuses
Set income tax (Section 12 ITO) calculation method: Gross or Net payable
Configure EOBI deductions (employee 1%, employer 5%)
Set leave policies: annual leave entitlement, sick leave, maternity/paternity
Configure attendance rules: shift, grace time, late deduction policy
Configure loan policy (if offering employee loans)
Set up approval workflows for leave, loans, expenses
Configure email notifications
Phase 4: Go Live with First Payroll At month-end
Phase 4
Run a test payroll (draft mode) — review the payslips for 5 sample employees
Verify tax calculations match your previous payroll records
Check EOBI deductions are correct
Approve and run the first live payroll
Export bank transfer file and submit to your bank
Send payslips to employees via email or self-service portal
Connect biometric devices (if applicable) — Biometric API
Onboarding Support
Our onboarding team is available to assist at every phase. Growth and Enterprise plans include a dedicated onboarding session:
- Starter: Self-service with help center documentation and email support.
- Growth: 2-hour onboarding call + data import assistance + first payroll review.
- Enterprise: Dedicated implementation manager + custom migration + parallel payroll run for the first month.
Parallel payroll run: We recommend running Octal HR payroll in parallel with your existing system for the first month. Compare the outputs before cutting over. Enterprise plans include this as part of onboarding.