The network covers Malawi within the East Africa region. Payslips there are drawn up in MWK, and dealings with a local firm are conducted in English and Chichewa.
The business centres where the network is looking for a correspondent as a priority are Lilongwe, Blantyre, Mzuzu, Zomba.
The country lies outside the European Union and outside the European Economic Area: the A1 certificate has no standing there. Whether the employee remains in the scheme of origin then depends on the bilateral social security agreement, if any, concluded with the sending country; where no such agreement exists, dual affiliation must be expected and budgeted into the assignment.
The answer to this question changes everything: it determines to whom you may entrust your payslips locally, and what you must ask for before signing. It has been verified country by country with the local authorities.
In Malawi, running payroll on behalf of third parties is reserved by law to no registered profession: any company may take it on. The absence of a legal barrier shifts the checking onto you, and that is why the network itself verifies the registration, the tax and social security standing and the insurance cover of every firm before listing it.
La paie n'est pas en soi une activité réservée au Malawi. En revanche l'exercice de la comptabilité publique pour autrui est encadré : le Malawi Accountants Board régule la profession et l'ICAM décerne les titres (CA(M), CIFA, diplôme en comptabilité). Un cabinet qui facture des prestations comptables à des tiers doit normalement être enregistré auprès du MAB ; la portée précise de cette obligation n'est pas publiée en ligne, la faire confirmer par le candidat.
Malawi has a social architecture few countries share: there is no national social security fund. The pension obligation rests on the employer but is discharged through a licensed private pension fund supervised by the central bank. Looking for a public body equivalent to a social security office leads to asking for a document that does not exist; what should be requested is the contribution statement from the fund actually used.
English is the official language and the language of employment documents; Chichewa is widely spoken but is not the language of contracts. The currency is the Malawian kwacha, with no anchor to a reference currency.
The Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) allocates the taxpayer identification number and collects wage withholding tax. The accounting profession is shared between a public regulator, the Malawi Accountants Board, and a professional institute, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Malawi, which awards the designations. Payroll in itself is not a reserved activity, which places the burden of assessment on the client.
Choosing a licensed pension fund is the employer's decision, and it is with that fund that employees are enrolled. You therefore need to know who made the choice and when, before looking at a single payslip.
The certificate of incorporation of a Malawian company proves nothing about its current existence. Registered with the Registrar General, it evidences good order through the regular filing of annual returns: ask for that proof before anything else, for your own subsidiary as much as for a partner.
The employer separately registers with the MRA for withholding tax.
Written in English, the contract sets out working time, leave and the disciplinary regime. Dismissal procedure is formal: a prior hearing, a written and reasoned decision, and retention of the record.
The payslip particulars, the monthly remittance calendar for withholding tax, and the payment cycle for pension contributions, which is not necessarily the same, make up day-to-day administration. For a foreign employee, the work permit is prepared well in advance.
Termination finally requires accrued entitlements with the fund to be settled and the corresponding statements issued to the departing employee. Changing pension fund during the relationship requires the employees concerned to be informed in writing, and the transfer of accrued rights to be documented rather than assumed.
The network asks 9 documents of any firm wishing to represent it in Malawi. The table gives, for each of them, the exact wording in use locally, the body that issues it and the period during which it remains admissible. These are the terms to use in an application to the local administration.
Of these 9 documents, 6 are required of every applicant and 6 have a limited period of validity, the shortest being 3 months. 1 of these documents exist only in Malawi and have no equivalent in the common core of the network.
| Local wording | Issuing body | Validity | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of IncorporationCertificate of Incorporation Le Registrar General est responsable de « registration and administration of business entities, Non Profit Organizations and Industrial Property Rights ». Le certificat de constitution ne se périme pas : lui adjoindre un document récent prouvant que la société est toujours active (voir pièce suivante). | Department of the Registrar General, Ministry of Justice | No expiry Required | Official website |
| Annual Return filing / Certificate of Good StandingAnnual Return filing evidence / Certificate of Good Standing Au Malawi, une société radiée pour défaut de dépôt de ses annual returns conserve son certificat de constitution d'origine : celui-ci ne prouve donc rien sur sa situation actuelle. C'est la pièce qui permet de vérifier que la société est toujours au registre. | Department of the Registrar General | 12 months Required | Official website |
| Taxpayer Identification Number (TPIN) certificateTaxpayer Identification Number (TPIN) Le TPIN est l'identifiant unique de toute entité imposable au Malawi ; il conditionne l'enregistrement à la TVA (VAT registration) et au PAYE. Le certificat d'enregistrement TVA n'est requis qu'au-delà du seuil d'assujettissement : ne pas le rendre obligatoire. | Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) | No expiry Required | Official website |
| Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC)Tax Clearance Certificate Le TCC est délivré par la MRA et figure parmi ses services listés. Il couvre notamment les retenues PAYE de l'employeur — c'est donc, au Malawi, la pièce qui atteste le mieux la régularité d'un cabinet vis-à-vis de ses propres salariés. Il est généralement délivré pour un exercice fiscal. | Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) | 12 months Required | Official website |
| Attestation de l'administrateur du fonds de pension agréé (pension contribution statement)Statement of pension contributions from the licensed pension fund administrator Particularité malawite : il n'existe pas de caisse nationale de sécurité sociale unique. La retraite obligatoire passe par des fonds de pension privés agréés et supervisés par la Reserve Bank of Malawi. Il n'y a donc pas d'« attestation de régularité sociale » d'État : la meilleure pièce disponible est le relevé de cotisations émis par l'administrateur du fonds choisi par le cabinet. À défaut, le TCC couvre la partie PAYE. | Fonds de pension agréé, sous supervision de la Reserve Bank of Malawi | 3 months Where applicable | Official website |
| Professional Indemnity Insurance certificateProfessional indemnity insurance certificate Pas d'obligation légale générale identifiée hors exercice réglementé. Les cabinets en public practice y sont en pratique tenus par les règles de leur institut professionnel. À exiger contractuellement, auprès d'un assureur agréé localement. | Assureur agréé par la Reserve Bank of Malawi (Registrar of Financial Institutions) | 12 months Where applicable | Official website |
| Registration with the Malawi Accountants Board + ICAM membership / practising certificateMalawi Accountants Board registration and practising certificate Le Malawi Accountants Board est l'organe de régulation de la profession comptable ; l'ICAM est l'institut professionnel, qui décerne notamment le titre CA(M). Demander au candidat le certificat d'enregistrement du cabinet auprès du MAB et le practising certificate de l'associé responsable. | Malawi Accountants Board (MAB) ; Institute of Chartered Accountants in Malawi (ICAM) | 12 months Required | Official website |
| National ID (Malawi National Registration Bureau) or passport of the directorsDirectors' national ID or passport La carte nationale d'identité malawite est le document d'identification de référence. Recouper les noms des dirigeants avec ceux figurant au registre du Registrar General. | National Registration Bureau (NRB) | No expiry Required | Official website |
| Data controller registration under the Data Protection ActData controller registration Le Malawi s'est doté récemment d'une loi de protection des données confiant la régulation à la MACRA. Demander la preuve d'enregistrement si le candidat en dispose, sans en faire une condition bloquante. | Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), autorité de protection des données | 12 months Where applicable | Official website |
The absence of a national fund is the starting point for any analysis. Pension cover is private and decentralised, and testing an employer's compliance runs through the statement of the fund it selected rather than through a single administrative certificate. Two neighbouring employers may therefore deal with two different administrators.
Proof of the company's existence rests on annual returns filed with the registry, not on the certificate of incorporation, which says nothing about the present position and is often the only document offered.
The accounting profession, finally, must be read at two levels. An institute membership card does not establish the right to practise for third parties, which depends on registration with the public regulator. Both are requested together, and an application producing just one of the two has not answered the question and should be asked again.
Trois points d'attention. 1) Le Malawi n'a pas de caisse de sécurité sociale nationale : ne pas réclamer un équivalent de l'URSSAF, mais un relevé du fonds de pension agréé. 2) Le certificat de constitution ne prouve rien sur l'existence actuelle de la société : exiger impérativement une preuve de dépôt des annual returns. 3) Deux organismes coexistent pour la profession comptable, MAB (régulateur public) et ICAM (institut professionnel) ; un candidat qui produit uniquement une carte de membre ICAM n'a pas prouvé son droit d'exercer pour compte de tiers.
The network opens 3 partner slots in Malawi, not one more. No firm is listed there yet: all 3 slots therefore remain open to applications.
No listed partner in Malawi has asked to appear in the public directory. The contact details of a firm are passed on to the client only when an assignment is awarded.
Filing an application does not amount to admission: every request is reviewed one by one. There is no minimum turnover requirement, and the partner selected invoices its fees directly.
Submit an application: we review your file, we check the documents required on the ground and we give you an answer, whether it is positive or not.
Two references coexist in Malawi and we ask for both: registration with the Malawi Accountants Board, which permits practice for third parties, and membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Malawi together with a practising certificate. The file also includes the certificate of incorporation, evidence that annual returns have been filed, the taxpayer identification certificate and the MRA tax clearance certificate. The statement from the pension fund selected completes the assessment, given the absence of any national scheme. We also ask which pension administrator the firm itself uses for its own staff.
Describe your requirement. No firm is listed in Malawi yet: we review the request, then entrust it to a local firm that the network identifies and vets, or to the partner of a neighbouring country covering this territory. Your contact details are passed on to the selected firm alone.
Request a provider in MalawiMobility is rarely arranged one country at a time. The neighbouring profiles follow the same outline.
These countries account for most of the requests received: each one has, in addition to its profile, six pages devoted to a single aspect of local payroll.
The information gathered on this page comes from the registers, administrations and bodies listed below, consulted when the reference base was compiled. It is given for guidance and does not replace the advice of a professional established in Malawi.