A salary certificate is a letter on company letterhead confirming that an employee works for the company, in which role, since when, and on what monthly pay; banks, embassies and landlords in Saudi Arabia ask for one as proof of income, often in English. Pick the letter type from the tabs: salary letter, itemised salary certificate, salary transfer letter to a bank, embassy letter, or an employment letter with no salary. Choose Mr. or Ms. so the pronouns change throughout the letter, then download it as PDF or Word to sign and stamp.
How to write a salary certificate in a minute
Type the company name as it appears on the commercial registration, then the employee's details: name, national ID or Iqama number, job title, joining date and salary. The preview updates with every keystroke, and the words that change between Mr. and Ms. are lightly shaded so you can see the effect of the choice. An ID starting with 1 is written as a national ID, and one starting with 2 as an Iqama.
On the salary certificate tab you enter the basic salary and allowances, and the tool adds them up and writes the total in figures and words. The More details and letterhead switch splits the allowances into housing, transport and other, and adds nationality, employee number, a letter reference, the Hijri date, the signatory and a logo.
Total = Basic + Housing + Transport + Other allowances
What a salary transfer letter is
A salary transfer letter is the company's undertaking to one named bank that it will pay the employee's salary into their account there, will not move it to another bank until the employee brings a clearance letter from the first one, and will inform the bank if the employment ends. Banks in the Kingdom usually ask for it before granting a personal loan or a credit card, because it assures them the salary will pass through their hands.
On the Salary transfer to bank tab, enter the bank name and the IBAN, and the tool checks the shape of the Saudi IBAN: 24 characters starting with SA, and valid check digits. This is a format check only; the bank confirms the account itself. In advanced mode you can drop the second and third commitments if the bank does not ask for them.
Before issuing the letter, ask the bank which wording it accepts: some verify salary data electronically with the customer's consent, and others send their own form for the company to sign as it stands.
Salary letter, salary certificate and salary transfer letter compared
| Letter | What it confirms | Addressed to | Commitment for the company |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salary letter | The employee is in post, the job title and the gross salary | To whom it may concern, a government body, a landlord, a school | None beyond the accuracy of the details |
| Salary certificate | The pay in detail: basic, each allowance and the total | A party that needs the breakdown, such as a leasing office or a finance company | None beyond the accuracy of the details |
| Salary transfer letter | The salary, and an undertaking to pay it into a named account | One named bank | Pay the salary into that bank and notify it when employment ends |
| Embassy letter | Employment and salary, and the company's consent to the trip and the employee's return | An embassy or consulate | No financial commitment |
| Employment letter | The person works for the company, with no mention of pay | Anyone who does not need the salary | None beyond the accuracy of the details |
Salary certificate format: what goes in each part
The letter goes on the company's official letterhead, carries an outgoing reference number and a date, and is signed by an authorised person and stamped. The parts, in order:
- Letterhead: company name, commercial registration number, address and phone, plus the logo if there is one.
- Reference and date: the number in the outgoing register, the Gregorian date, and the Hijri date if the receiving party asks for it.
- Addressee: To Whom It May Concern, or the bank or embassy by name.
- Employee details: the name exactly as on the ID or passport, the national ID or Iqama number, nationality, job title and joining date.
- Salary: the gross figure in numbers and words, itemised where asked. Use the salary in the contract and the payroll, not a rounded figure.
- Closing line: the letter was issued at the employee's request without liability to third parties, except in a salary transfer letter, which is an undertaking.
- Signature and stamp: the signatory's name, title and signature, and the company stamp.
Private-sector salary letters and the GOSI wage
In the Saudi private sector the company issues the letter itself; there is no single government format every employer must use. What many people call a GOSI salary certificate is the statement of the wage registered for the employee with the General Organization for Social Insurance, which the contributor obtains from GOSI's services, not a letter from the employer. That is why the salary in your letter should match the registered wage: parties that compare the two sources send the letter back when they differ.
Some parties ask for a salary letter attested by the Chamber of Commerce. Attestation follows the chamber's procedure after signing and stamping, so ask the requesting party whether it needs one before you start.
Salary letters for private drivers and domestic workers
A private driver or domestic worker is employed by an individual, not a company, and their relationship is governed by separate regulations for domestic workers. You can still use the Salary letter tab: write your full name where the company name goes, put your ID number in the letterhead instead of a commercial registration, and sign the letter yourself.
Salary certificate in Word format
Download Word gives you the same letter as an editable file in Arial, so you can drop it onto your letterhead template or change a sentence the receiving party asked for. Download PDF gives you an A4 page ready to print. Before the first file you type your name, email and mobile into a short form that does not come back on this device; the letter in the preview can be read and copied with no sign-up.
Common mistakes in salary letters
- A salary in the letter that differs from the GOSI-registered wage or from what actually lands in the bank statement.
- The employee's name in an order or spelling that does not match the ID, so the embassy or bank rejects it.
- Titling an ordinary salary letter as a salary transfer letter, or giving an undertaking to a bank the employee never asked for.
- A letter with no reference number and no stamp, so the company cannot later prove it issued it.
- An old letter: most parties want a recent date, so ask how old a letter they will accept.
What to do after issuing the letter
Record the letter in the outgoing register with its number, date and addressee, and keep a copy in the employee file. If you issued a salary transfer letter, add a note to the employee file and tell whoever prepares the payroll, so the salary account is not changed without the bank's clearance. Ticking Keep the letterhead details on this device saves the company name, registration, address and signatory, so you do not retype them for the next letter.
When employee letters are requested every week
One letter a month is easy with this generator. When requests arrive weekly, the same details live in the contract, the payroll and the HR file, and every retyped copy is a chance for a salary that does not match what the bank sees on the statement. At Microtec we build accounting software (ERP) for companies in Saudi Arabia in which the employee file is part of the same system as finance, sales, purchasing and inventory. Try it with a few of your employee files.