Payroll
lim handles payroll calculations, withholding tax, social insurance, and automatic journal entry generation.
Employee Management
# Add an employee
lim employees add \
--name "Tanaka Taro" \
--salary 400000 \
--start-date 2026-04-01
# List employees
lim employees list
ID Name Monthly Salary Status Start Date
emp_01K1... Tanaka Taro 400,000 active 2026-04-01
emp_01K2... Suzuki Hanako 350,000 active 2026-01-15
emp_01K3... Sato Kenji 450,000 active 2025-09-01
# View employee details
lim employees show emp_01K1...
# Update salary
lim employees update emp_01K1... --salary 420000
Run Payroll
lim payroll run --month 2026-03
Payroll: 2026-03
────────────────────────────────────────────────
Employee Gross Income Tax Social Ins Health Ins Net
Tanaka Taro 400,000 12,200 36,600 19,920 331,280
Suzuki Hanako 350,000 9,400 32,025 17,430 291,145
Sato Kenji 450,000 16,100 41,175 22,410 370,315
────────────────────────────────────────────────
Total 1,200,000 37,700 109,800 59,760 992,740
lim calculates income tax withholding using the National Tax Agency’s monthly tax tables (源泉徴収税額表). Social insurance rates are updated annually.
Payroll Deductions
lim calculates these deductions automatically:
| Deduction | Description | Rate (2026) |
|---|
| Income tax | Monthly withholding (源泉所得税) | Tax table |
| Health insurance | 健康保険 | ~4.98% (employee share) |
| Pension | 厚生年金 | ~9.15% (employee share) |
| Employment insurance | 雇用保険 | ~0.6% (employee share) |
| Resident tax | 住民税 | Specified per employee |
Social insurance rates vary by prefecture and insurer. Configure your company’s rates with lim companies update --insurance-rates.
Confirm Payroll and Generate Journal Entry
Confirm the payroll run and generate the corresponding journal entry:
lim payroll confirm --month 2026-03
✅ Created je_01KP...
DR Salaries 1,200,000
CR Checking Account 992,740
CR Withholding Tax Payable 37,700
CR Social Insurance Payable 109,800
CR Health Insurance Payable 59,760
Employer Contributions
lim also tracks the employer’s share of social insurance:
lim payroll confirm --month 2026-03 --include-employer
✅ Created je_01KP... (employee) and je_01KQ... (employer)
Employer contributions (je_01KQ...):
DR Statutory Welfare 169,560
CR Social Insurance Payable 109,800
CR Health Insurance Payable 59,760
Mark Payroll as Paid
After transferring salaries, mark the payroll as paid:
lim payroll paid --month 2026-03 --date 2026-03-25
✅ Payroll 2026-03 marked as paid (2026-03-25)
Payroll History
# List payroll runs
lim payroll list
# View details for a specific month
lim payroll show --month 2026-03
# Export for tax filing
lim payroll export --year 2026 --format csv
Payroll History
────────────────────────────────────────────────
Month Employees Gross Total Net Total Status
2026-01 3 1,200,000 992,740 paid
2026-02 3 1,200,000 992,740 paid
2026-03 3 1,200,000 992,740 confirmed
Year-End Adjustment (年末調整)
lim payroll year-end --year 2026
Year-End Adjustment: 2026
────────────────────────────────────────────────
Employee Annual Tax Withheld Adjustment
Tanaka Taro 140,500 146,400 -5,900 (refund)
Suzuki Hanako 108,800 112,800 -4,000 (refund)
Sato Kenji 189,200 193,200 -4,000 (refund)
Next Steps
