Garment Making and Industrial Sewing Level 3

Who it is for. People who have finished Garment Making and Industrial Sewing Level 2, or who can show the same skills. Ghana's TVET framework has eight levels. National Proficiency II is for mostly routine work with limited supervision. National Certificate I is for "complex and varied activities under minimum supervision", and National Certificate II adds considerable responsibility and guiding others. This module is written at an advanced level, comparable to National Certificate I, reaching toward National Certificate II where you supervise staff. That is the author's matching, not an official ruling.

Why advanced skills matter now

• More than 70 per cent of the textiles and garments Ghanaians consume are imported each year, and the Government's 2026 Budget targets a garment sector of over US$2 billion and 150,000 jobs by 2033, up from about US$400 million.
• The Trade Ministry asked the Ghana Standards Authority in February 2026 to test fabrics and develop standards for uniforms made by local manufacturers. Standards mean inspection, and inspection rewards makers who keep records.
• DTRT Apparel in Tema employs about 2,500 people and trains new hires on the machines. Factories need supervisors who can balance a line, not only machinists.
• But be careful: a large study of Ghana's apprenticeship programme found weak short-term earnings in garment making, possibly because new tailors lacked start-up capital. Advanced skill without a costed, registered business plan is not enough.

Bridge from Level 2: what you already know

Level 2 did not cover balancing a whole line, choosing between production systems, a full costing of a cut-make-trim (CMT) order, grading a full size range, bridal and suit construction, machine fault-finding and planned maintenance, sampling inspection, electrical and fire safety, landed cost of imported cloth, working with designers and exporters, registering a business, or a full set of books and a 12-month forecast. This manual does. For general bookkeeping and venture basics see the hub's Money Skills Level 2 and Entrepreneurial Thinking Level 2; this manual goes deeper for sewing and tailoring only.

How the module works

Each unit has learning outcomes, performance criteria, the range and the evidence your assessor needs. You are judged Competent or Not Yet Competent. Units 1 to 4 are technical. Units 5 to 7 are about your own business. About 70% of the time is practical, following the split used by CTVET's Oil Palm programme, about 30% school and 70% workplace.

Every money figure marked example is invented to practise arithmetic. Fees, taxes and prices marked with a source were read on the page named in October 2026; confirm them before you pay or print, because they change.

Competency standard

Range. A line of six or more operators; a batch of 60 or more pieces; one CMT quotation. Evidence. Timing sheets; balance sheet; WIP count; cost and quote sheet.

Three ways to move work through a shop

Progressive bundle system (PBS). Cut pieces are tied in bundles, often of 5, 10, 20 or 30 pieces, and each operator does one operation on the whole bundle before passing it on. Operators spend time tying and untying bundles, pulling tickets and positioning parts, and work-in-process (WIP) piles up in front of the operations that take longest. Its big advantage for a small shop is that it needs little more than tables and baskets.

Unit production system (UPS). One garment at a time moves, usually on an overhead hanger system, so WIP is low and throughput is shorter, but the overhead transport costs a lot of money. One practitioner notes that traditional UPS is generally not feasible for most small businesses, though a hand-moved version, with baskets passed along a table and two or three pieces waiting at each station, has worked for complex bags. In UPS each unit gets its own bundle with every input, which prevents mixing a collar from one lot with a body from another.

Whole-garment (modular) working. One operator or a small team builds the whole garment. This is how most tailors work, and it suits one-off and bridal work. It is slow for a 500-piece uniform order.

For a Takoradi workshop making 100 to 1,000 pieces, a small-bundle PBS with a ticket on every bundle is usually the right start (the author's advice). Keep bundles to one size, one lot and one shade, as you learned for uniforms in Level 2.

Work study and the standard allowed minute

Work study is the systematic examination of how work is done so as to use resources better and set standards of performance. Method study records and critically examines ways of doing things to improve them. Time study measures the time for each element under set conditions. A sound study uses enough cycles to be 95% sure that the average is within 5% of the true time.

In a time study you rate the operator against a standard of 100. Basic time = observed time × observed rating ÷ standard rating. A relaxation allowance is then added so the worker can recover and attend to personal needs, and its size depends on the job. SAM = basic time + allowances, in minutes. Level 2 gave the source's example of 0.60 minutes at a rating of 80% giving a basic time of 0.48 minutes. Allowance sizes in this manual are classroom examples, not standards.

Improve the method before you time it. If an operator reaches for each bundle across the table, move the table. If three stitches are sewn where one will do, remove two. A saving of 0.1 minute on an operation done 500 times is 50 minutes.

Balance the line

For one operation, capacity per operator per hour = 60 ÷ SAM, and operators needed = target per hour ÷ capacity. The source works with perfect, round numbers and says that for real shop-floor timings you round capacities, then club or split operations. Real operators do not work at 100%, so multiply capacity by the line's efficiency, the share of the available time that produces good work (the author's extension, using an example efficiency of 70%).

Daily target = operators × minutes in the day × efficiency ÷ total SAM Pitch time = total SAM ÷ number of operators

The slowest step sets the speed of the whole line (Level 2). That step is the bottleneck. Fix it by adding an operator, sharing its work, or improving its method.

Count and control work in progress

Count WIP at each station every 30 minutes on a simple chart. If one station has 40 bundles waiting and the next is idle, the line is out of balance. A line with no WIP anywhere may be starved of cut work, which is a cutting-room problem. Level 2 told you to inspect at the first piece, midway and at the end; keep doing it.

Costing a cut-make-trim (CMT) order

In this manual CMT means the buyer or designer supplies the cloth and trims, and you are paid to cut, make (sew) and trim (finish and pack). When you buy the cloth too, the price is built differently (see Unit 4). A full garment cost has four parts: fabric (consumption plus wastage, plus freight and finance if imported), trims, thread, and labour, where labour = SAM × labour rate per minute. The page's worked example uses 3% wastage, thread costed from the length used per garment and the cone price, and a labour cost of SAM 40 at US$0.03 a minute, giving US$1.20. For a CMT price you build the labour, the thread, the overhead and a margin.

Labour cost per minute = monthly wage ÷ minutes available in the month Labour per piece = SAM × cost per minute ÷ efficiency CMT price = (labour + overhead + thread and packing) ÷ (1 − margin)

Plan the order

Work backwards from the delivery date. List: cutting day, sewing days (batch quantity ÷ daily line output), finishing and packing, inspection, and a buffer of one or two days. Tailors' leaders say deliver on time to keep trust. Write your date on the order, then build the plan to meet it.

Competency standard

Range. Shirt, skirt or dress, jacket, trousers; a three-size grade; one bridal bodice. Evidence. Pattern pieces; grade sheet; size chart; marker; garments; fitting records; photos.

From block to style

You met three ways to change a pattern in Level 2: fold out extra, slash and spread or overlap, or redraw darts and seams. Keep the grain line and match any piece that touches the changed one, such as a collar after a neckline change. At Level 3 you make styles from one block (for example a shirt, a shirt with a yoke, and a fitted shirt with back darts) and you check seam lengths every time: a sleeve cap must fit its armhole, and a collar its neckline. After any large change, sew a test garment before you cut valuable cloth.

Grade a whole range

Grading makes a set of sizes from one base pattern, and each key point moves by its own amount, not by one percentage, so proportions and seam lengths still fit together. The rules depend on the garment, the customer and the size chart, and there is no one universal rule, so you write your own and keep them. After grading, check that seam lengths, notches, darts and panels still match; for example, a sleeve cap must still match its armhole.

Do not print or photocopy a pattern bigger by a percentage and call it a new size. A copy at 105% enlarges everything by the same ratio, including seam allowances, and body measurements do not change in proportion in every direction. Professional ranges may use separate blocks for different size groups, because simple rules distort proportions the farther you are from the base size.

The methods you know still work. Cut and spread is easy but slow, and errors build up over many sizes. Pattern shifting moves each piece by a fixed amount from a fixed point and traces it onto new paper. Write the rule for every point on a grade sheet: point, direction, amount per size. Keep it with the master pattern.

A size chart for a contract

Free school uniforms went wrong on sizes: a report listed uniforms that were wrongly labelled, too big or too small, and made of poor cloth. For a school, church or company order:

Plan fabric: the marker

A marker is the layout of all the pattern pieces for a set of sizes on the cloth. A good marker uses the cloth width well and cuts the metres per garment. You calculate: cloth length for the lay = marker length + end allowance, multiplied by the number of layers.

Tailoring suits and corporate wear

You made a lined jacket in Level 2. A common order of work is: shape the under collar, front, back and shoulder seam; tailor the collar and pockets; set the sleeves with the shoulder pads; finish hem and vents; add the lining; topstitch; then buttons and buttonholes, pressing at every stage. A full-canvas jacket has canvas through the whole front, a half-canvas jacket has it through the chest and lapel only, and a fused jacket uses fusible interfacing alone. Corporate wear made in a batch uses fused interfacing; canvas is for premium orders (Level 2). Tell the customer which one they are paying for.

Three fittings (the author's suggestion, adapted to your workload):

Corporate wear. Banks, security firms, clinics and schools buy the same style many times. Keep a signed sample, a size chart and a written specification (Level 2). The Ghana Standards Authority was asked in 2026 to develop standards for locally produced uniforms: ask the GSA what applies before you tender for institutional wear.

Bridal and occasion wear

Bridal bodices are often built in layers: an underlining, an outer fabric basted to it, a separate lining for a clean inside, and a foundation with the boning, all secured at the top. One couture maker built the inner corset first, with steel and spiral boning, and did not begin cutting the final fabrics until late in the process because brides often change slightly. Bias-cut and lightweight cloth stretches under its own weight, so assemble everything except the hem, hang the garment for at least 24 hours (longer for drapey or heavy cloth), then level the hem on the form or the person. Level it in the shoes the bride will wear (the author's advice). These are practitioner accounts, not a standard; no source found lays out the full fitting stages, so keep your own fitting record.

Competency standard

Range. A workshop of six or more machines and four or more workers. Evidence. Fault log; machine log; inspection records; safety audit; supervision plan.

Find the fault: a checklist

Most sewing faults come from a few causes. A trainer who checks them in order saves hours. Ten reasons for skipped stitches are: wrong threading, weak foot pressure so the cloth flags up, a dull or worn needle, wrong needle size, wrong needle type for the cloth, too little lubrication, thread that is wrong for the job, poor-quality thread, a needle size that does not match the thread weight, and worn or burred thread guides and eyelets. Juki's maker FAQ for its lockstitch machines points first to the needle being fully seated and facing the right way, scratches on the hook tip and a bent needle. Dull or bent needles can cause skipped stitches and broken thread, and misaligned needles and a worn hook can do the same.

One informal test for balance: pull a test seam apart by hand; if the thread on one side breaks, that side's thread is the tighter one. The Elna table is a domestic-machine manual; for factory machines follow the maker's manual. A bent needle or a wrongly seated needle changes the timing of the machine, and a loose timing belt gives inconsistent distances between hook and needle. Ask a trained mechanic to set the timing (the author's advice).

Planned maintenance

A factory maintenance log tracks lubrication points, needle bar condition, hook wear, feed-dog alignment and guard condition, with a yes, no or not-applicable answer for each item and running hours so that service is planned instead of reactive. Put these into three levels.

Overlockers make a lot of lint. Clean around the feed dogs every three to four months by taking off the stitch plate, clean lint from between the knives, avoid compressed air because it pushes lint deeper, and use only the oil your machine needs because too much oil attracts lint. The guide was written for home overlockers, so follow the maker's manual for factory machines. A maintenance guide for factories may mention compressed air for bobbin cases; do not use it in a room full of cloth dust, and clean with a brush or vacuum.

Keep a log for every machine: asset number, make and model, date bought, hours, each fault, the cause, the repair, who did it, and the cost. After a year you will know which machine to replace. Keep a spare box: needles in the common sizes, bobbin cases, belts, bulbs, feed-dog screws and the oil. Level 2 gave machine prices, such as about GH¢3,800–5,500 for most industrial overlockers.

A quality system, not only a quality check

Level 2 taught you to inspect the first piece, midway and at the end, and to count faults. At Level 3 you build a system.

Classes of defect. Apparel buyers commonly sort defects into three classes: critical, which creates a safety hazard or breaks a legal requirement, for example a broken needle left in a garment or a drawstring in children's wear, with no tolerance; major, which affects function, durability, fit or saleability, such as an open seam, a broken zip or a wrong size; and minor, cosmetic faults such as loose threads. Buyers often ask for no critical defects, AQL 2.5 for major and AQL 4.0 for minor, but the buyer's own specification or purchase order always overrides a general rule.

Sampling. AQL means acceptable quality limit. Under the ISO 2859-1 sampling plan, General Inspection Level II is the default level, and the sample size depends on the size of the lot, not on the AQL. For lots of 501–1,200 the sample is 80, for 1,201–3,200 it is 125, and for 3,201–10,000 it is 200. You draw the sample at random from the whole lot. For a lot of 3,201–10,000 with AQL 2.5 for major and 4.0 for minor, the lot is accepted if the sample of 200 has no more than 10 major and 14 minor defects. For a lot of 1,200 with a sample of 80, one worked example accepts up to 5 major and 7 minor. The tables in different sources do not fully agree, so use the table in the standard your buyer names, not this manual's.

Find the cause, not only the piece. For every fault the system does four things:

Zones. A fault in the front of a shirt is worse than a fault on the inside of a hem. Mark the visible zones on your inspection sheet.

Safety: electricity, fire, ergonomics and dust

Machines. The UK safety regulator advises robust needle guards adjusted for each operator's finger size, guards on vee belts and pulleys, cables supplied from overhead so they do not cross the floor, power off and feet off the pedal when adjusting or changing needles, lighting that stays on when the motor is off, seating that allows good posture, and a weekly inspection of guards, needles and work areas.

Electricity. Many fire incidents in Ghana are linked to poor wiring and the use of unqualified people for installations, and the Energy Commission asked electricians in June 2026 to get the required licences and permits. Use a licensed electrician for your workshop wiring (the author's advice). Do not run many irons and motors from one socket, and do not repair cables yourself. If a machine smells hot, sparks or makes a new noise, switch off at the wall (Level 2).

Fire. The Ghana National Fire Service says business premises need a fire certificate. The fire service's online charges page lists a non-residential certificate at GH¢500 plus processing fees. Ask GNFS which extinguishers your shop needs. In general, advice from fire-safety suppliers is that carbon dioxide extinguishers suit electrical fires and water should not be used on them. Lint and piles of cloth burn: keep an exit clear, switch off and unplug at closing, and never leave an iron face-down (Level 2).

Ergonomics. In a study of 100 tailors and dressmakers in Madina, 60–74% had back, neck or shoulder pain, and the study says better set-ups could raise output two to three times. Provide chairs with backrests, task lighting and breaks to stand and stretch. Dust. Clean with a damp cloth or vacuum, never a broom or blowing.

The employer's duties. Ghana's Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) says it is the employer's duty to make sure every worker works under satisfactory, safe and healthy conditions. This includes providing and maintaining safe plant and systems of work, giving information, instruction, training and supervision, supplying safety appliances, fire-fighting equipment and protective equipment at no cost to the worker, providing separate and suitable toilets and washing facilities, and clean drinking water (section 118). An employer who fails without reasonable excuse commits an offence punishable by a fine of up to 1,000 penalty units or imprisonment up to 3 years, or both (section 118). A worker who has reasonable cause to believe there is imminent and serious danger must report it to the supervisor and may remove himself or herself from it, and the employer must not dismiss or withhold pay for doing so (section 119). The employer must report occupational accidents and diseases to the appropriate government agency as soon as possible and not later than seven days after they occur (section 120). This is not legal advice.

Supervise a team

Competency standard

Range. Two real or sample suppliers; one tender; one designer brief; one export-readiness checklist. Evidence. Landed-cost sheet; shrinkage test; tender cash-flow; designer sample and agreement; checklist.

Buy cloth in bulk

Cloth is the biggest cost of a garment. You compared suppliers in Level 2: price per metre, colour fastness, width, minimum order and delivery. At Level 3 add:

Local sources include Takoradi's Market Circle, the Western Region's commercial hub, which has thousands of traders selling textiles among other goods, and Ghana-made wax print produced by GTP since 1966. Ghana imports approximately 95 per cent of its textile raw materials, including dyes, auxiliaries, and natural and synthetic fabrics, according to a 2026 account of a KNUST professor's view of the draft national policy. So even local cloth often has imported inputs, and prices move with the cedi.

Importing cloth: landed cost

If you import cloth or trims, the price on the invoice is only the start. Landed cost = invoice + freight + insurance + import duty and other taxes + clearing and port charges + transport to your shop. Ghana's duty and tax rates on fabric were not verified for this module: the trade-data pages found describe classification under the ECOWAS Common External Tariff but did not give a 2026 rate for fabrics. As a guide, the ECOWAS Common External Tariff, adopted in 2013, has five bands: 0% for essential social goods, 5% for raw goods and capital goods, 10% for intermediate goods and inputs, 20% for finished consumer goods and 35% for specific goods for economic development. Which band your cloth falls in depends on its tariff code, and other taxes and levies are added on top. Ask a licensed customs agent or GRA Customs for the rate on your cloth's code before you order. Level 2 told you to ask for samples first and to check who will repair any machine (Level 2).

Uniform contracts and tenders (Level 3 detail)

You learned the steps in Level 2. Public bodies buy under the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663) as amended by Act 914 of 2016. For purchases below the international tender threshold, the rules point to national competitive tendering for qualified domestic bidders or requests for quotation. Suppliers bidding for government contracts must be registered with the Public Procurement Authority, and tenders are advertised on the GHANEPS e-procurement portal. One guide reports a registration fee of GH¢500 and renewal of GH¢300, while an older announcement said GH¢300, so confirm with the PPA. The current quotation limit and tender security rules were not verified.

The opportunity is growing. The Trade Minister told a July 2025 stakeholder meeting that uniforms for schools, health facilities and security services are bought in large volumes and that the Government would develop a centralised list of approved local manufacturers and ask public institutions to include local content in procurement plans. The Association of Ghana Apparel Manufacturers, supported by the ILO, is lobbying ministries on public uniform and apparel procurement. The Ghana Standards Authority has been asked to test fabrics and develop uniform standards. A national dialogue also urged using community tailors for free school uniforms.

The risk is payment. In November 2024 the National Association of Institutional Suppliers said its members had still not been fully paid for uniform and house-dress contracts, with arrears from 2022–2023 and part of 2023–2024. A report on the free uniform scheme listed wrongly labelled, ill-fitting and poor-quality uniforms.

Work with a designer

Designers bring styles; you bring skill, machines and time. Agree these in writing before you start (the author's advice):

Small Ghanaian fashion firms market mainly through WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook: ask permission before you post anyone's design.

Exporting: what you can honestly do now

AGOA. The African Growth and Opportunity Act lets eligible African countries ship many products, including apparel, to the United States with duty-free access. It lapsed on 30 September 2025 and was renewed in early 2026 through 31 December 2026, backdated to the lapse, with a one-year window meant to review rules of origin and eligibility. Exporters who paid duty in the gap may be able to recover it, but only after the U.S. tariff schedule is updated. Ghana's foreign minister said the extension would boost local garment production and create jobs. On 1 September 2026 an industry association reported that the House of Representatives had passed a two-year extension, to 31 December 2028, as part of a funding bill, and that it had not yet been signed. Kenya's government news agency reported on 5 September 2026 that the extension had been signed into law by the US President, so AGOA now runs to 31 December 2028. Do not sign a multi-year export contract that depends on AGOA until you check the current expiry with the Ministry of Trade or GEPA.

AfCFTA. The African Continental Free Trade Area aims to cut tariffs between African countries. When the Council of Ministers agreed rules of origin for about 4,650 products in 2022, textiles and clothing were left unconcluded. A later report says ministers reached consensus on transitional rules for clothing, textiles and automotive, but the details were not verified. Ask GEPA what rule applies to your product before you quote.

GEPA and the paperwork. The Ghana Export Promotion Authority urges exporters to register to benefit from its information and capacity-building services. A law-firm guide describes the general sequence for non-traditional exports: register the business, get a TIN, register with GEPA, have premises inspected, and for each shipment get an export consignment certificate and present a packing list, invoice and certificate of origin to GRA Customs; the fees quoted are dated, so verify them. The Ghana Standards Authority administers the Made in Ghana logo, which must not be used without written permission. Never label printed cloth as Kente.

The realistic route for most shops is to subcontract. Large exporters such as DTRT Apparel employ about 2,500 people in Tema. A small workshop is more likely to sew for a designer or a factory under a CMT contract than to ship by itself. To do that you need a signed sample, a costed price (Unit 1), a quality system (Unit 3) and the cash flow to wait for payment.

Competency standard

Range. The trainee's own planned business in Sekondi-Takoradi or the Western Region. Evidence. Registration checklist; start-up budget; funding plan; one-page plan; two-minute pitch.

See the hub's Entrepreneurial Thinking Level 2 and Money Skills Level 2 for the basics. This unit applies them to a sewing business.

Choose the legal form

Late annual returns cost GH¢1,000 for one to four years late and GH¢2,000 for five or more. Most solo tailors start as sole proprietors, and move to a company when they hire many staff, sign large contracts or take in outside owners (the author's advice).

Register step by step

The FDA and EPA permits that soap makers and food processors need do not normally apply to a sewing workshop; ask the Assembly if you do dyeing, printing or large-scale laundering, because those may need an environmental permit that was not checked for this manual. Keep a folder of every certificate and renewal date (see the filing calendar in Unit 6).

Tax route. Under the Modified Taxation Scheme, a resident individual with business income only and not VAT-registered pays fixed instalments on turnover up to GH¢20,000 and 3% of turnover, or tax on a modified cash basis, on turnover of GH¢20,001 to GH¢750,000, paid by *880# or the MTS app; professionals, owners of several businesses or outlets and partners are excluded. Companies pay income tax at 25%, or 18.5% for manufacturers in regional capitals other than Accra and Tema, which includes Takoradi, 12.5% outside regional capitals, and 8% for non-traditional exporters; ask GRA whether your sewing company counts as a manufacturer. From 1 January 2026 VAT is 15% plus NHIL 2.5% and GETFund 2.5%, and the registration threshold for goods rose from GH¢200,000 to GH¢750,000. For services such as sewing to a customer's order or alterations there is no turnover threshold: taxable services must be registered within 30 days of starting. Show cloth (goods) and labour (service) separately on invoices and ask GRA how your work is classed.

Premises and location

Level 2's checklist still holds: footfall near fabric sellers, markets, schools or offices (as in Takoradi's Market Circle), a visible sign, reliable power with a back-up, space for cutting, sewing and fitting, and a step-free entrance. A rent gives you a workspace but not a customer; one factor is that the busy seasons are school reopening, Christmas and, weekly, Fugu Wednesdays (Level 1). Check with the Assembly before you pay rent, and ask the landlord in writing how much rent must be paid in advance. Tariffs changed in July 2026, so ask what the power will cost.

Start-up budget (example)

A planned shop with four industrial lockstitch machines, one overlocker and room for four workers. Machine prices follow the online listings shown in Level 2; everything else is an example.

The registration fees come from the sources above. The fire certificate is the listed charge only; processing fees are extra and were not found.

Funding options

• Savings and savings groups. Government is linking savings groups to banks.
• Loans. Check the lender is licensed and ask for the APR in writing. The Bank of Ghana policy rate was 14.00% and inflation 5.2%.
• Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA). Programmes include SME GO, Business-in-a-Box (BizBox), SME High Growth and Kaizen, and business advisory centres operate in Takoradi, Shama, Effia-Kwesimintsim, Mpohor and Ahanta West. It has given over GH¢700 million to small businesses. Its financial-support page was out of date, so ask the centre which rounds are open.
• 2026 Budget programmes. GH¢170 million for the National Apprenticeship Programme, GH¢160 million for Adwumawura, GH¢110 million for the 24-Hour Economy and GH¢401 million for a Women's Development Bank. Check who can apply.
• Youth Employment Agency. Garment programmes with six months of factory training or a 12-month apprenticeship with a certified master.
• Assemblies' disability fund. It rose from 3% to 5% in 2026, aimed at skills, assistive devices and start-up capital.
• Women's programmes. NEWIG and the Coca-Cola Foundation trained 54 women in Sekondi-Takoradi with start-up kits.
• Ghana EXIM Bank. SME and export facilities, with an office in Takoradi.

Staff and apprentices

The Labour Act requires a written contract for jobs of six months or more (section 12), a written statement of main terms within two months (section 13), and at least 15 working days of paid annual leave (section 20). Maternity leave is 12 weeks. A casual worker is paid the full minimum for each day. The 2026 national daily minimum wage is GH¢21.77, about GH¢588 a month at 27 days. With SSNIT the worker pays 5.5% and the employer 13% of basic pay, 18.5% in all; the employer remits 13.5% to SSNIT within 14 days after month-end and 5% goes to a private Tier 2 trustee. Register workers when you hire them, and note that a late payment costs 3% a month. Employees pay PAYE each month, due by the 15th of the next month. The YEA's 12-month apprenticeship with a certified master is one route to self-employment. Whether an apprentice counts as a "worker" for SSNIT and the minimum wage was not verified: ask the Labour Department. This is not legal advice.

Insurance, marketing and safety

Ghana's law is reported to require commercial property to be insured, but section numbers were not verified. Get three written quotes from NIC-licensed insurers. Keep your Unit 3 safety audit and fire certificate on the wall. To market yourself:

• WhatsApp Business is a free app with a profile, a catalogue of styles and prices, labels for customers such as "waiting for fitting", and quick replies.
• Google Business Profile is a free listing showing your name, address, hours, photos and reviews on Search and Maps.
• A sign, a portfolio and referrals. Small Ghanaian fashion firms market mainly through WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. Show your Made in Ghana licence once you hold it, and your fire certificate.

Accessibility

Ghana's Persons with Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715) requires people who serve the public to make their services accessible. The Assemblies' disability fund rose to 5%, the Sekondi-Takoradi Assembly has given industrial sewing machines to persons with disabilities, and the Ghana Enterprises Agency has run a grant programme for businesses owned by persons with disabilities. Deaf machinists already work in factories. Hand-controlled industrial machines exist for wheelchair users, and inclusive design guidance asks for doors about 91 cm wide and turning space for wheelchairs. In your plan: a step-free door, a seated cutting table at wheelchair height, hand-controlled machines on request, picture and sign instructions, a visual fire alarm and a clear walkway.

The one-page business plan

Competency standard

Range. One month of sample records and one week or month of the trainee's own. Evidence. Order book; cash book; stock sheet; debtors list; profit and loss; balance sheet; reconciliation.

See the hub's Money Skills Level 2 for the basics of cash books, profit and loss and balance sheets. This unit applies them to a tailor or workshop.

The daily set of records

An income statement (profit and loss) shows sales minus the cost of goods sold, giving gross profit, then other costs, giving net profit. A balance sheet shows assets equal to liabilities plus equity. Working capital is current assets minus current liabilities. A trial-style check is that the two sides of the balance sheet match, which is a partial check, because a double error can still balance.

Deposits, work in progress and fabric stock

Deposits are not income yet. Money a customer pays before delivery stays on the balance sheet as a liability, a customer deposit, because you owe the customer the garment or a refund; when you deliver, you move it out of the liability and into income. A common mistake is booking the deposit straight to income and then discounting the final invoice, which hides the true price and makes the job's profit hard to read.

Work in progress (WIP) is the cost of cloth and trims you have bought and put into jobs that are not yet delivered. It is an asset until the job is delivered, and then it becomes cost of sales (a simple method for a small shop, using only materials; the author's choice).

Fabric and trim stock is cloth you own and have not yet put into a job. Count it each month: expected stock = opening + bought − issued to jobs.

Customer-supplied cloth is never stock or WIP, because you do not own it. It goes in the customer-cloth log. Only your sewing charge is income.

A month for Adwoa's Tailoring (example numbers)

Adwoa has a shop with two sewers, an apprentice and herself. Everything below is invented to practise.

At 1 March. Cash and MoMo 4,000; fabric and trim stock 1,500; work in progress 3,600 (cloth and trims for 60 school uniform sets); equipment at cost 18,000 less 3,600 depreciation so far, now 14,400. She owes a cloth supplier 500 and holds a deposit of 3,150 from the school (half of its 6,300 order). Owner's capital and profits kept 19,850.

During March.

• She sews 18 kaba and slit from customer cloth at a sewing charge of 150: 2,700.
• She does 40 alterations at 20: 800.
• She sews 2 men's suits from customer cloth at a sewing charge of 900: 1,800.
• She delivers all 60 school sets at 105: 6,300. The school's deposit of 3,150 is used, and the school will pay the other 3,150 later.
• She takes new deposits: 2,500 from a church choir (a 5,000 order for 40 shirts) and 1,200 from a wedding customer (a 2,400 sewing charge). She buys 1,600 of cloth and trims for the choir shirts and puts it into work in progress.
• She buys and uses 600 of thread, lining, interfacing and buttons for the kaba and suits.
• She pays the 500 owed to the supplier.

The depreciation is straight line: cost minus scrap value, divided by years of use. The employer's 13% is the SSNIT rate. The permit and renewal figures use the Assembly fee for a large non-industrial tailor and the business-name renewal.

SSNIT of 182 and the permit set-aside of 22 were not paid in March, so they are owed at the month end.

The two sides match: the trial-style check. If they differ, look for an entry recorded once, in the wrong column or not at all.

Why did profit kept (2,246) not equal the rise in cash (1,650)? Bridge: profit kept 2,246, plus depreciation 300 (not a cash cost), plus deposits received net of the school's deposit used (3,700 − 3,150 = 550), plus SSNIT and fees unpaid 204, minus the supplier paid 500, minus the school still owing 3,150, plus work in progress released (3,600 − 1,600 = 2,000) = 1,650. Profit is not cash. Adwoa made a good profit and still has GH¢3,150 owed by a school.

Debtors, creditors and stock

Age your debtors by days owed, and chase the oldest. Count fabric stock every month.

Pay staff correctly: PAYE and SSNIT (worked example)

Deduct SSNIT first. The PAYE monthly bands for 2026 are: the first GH¢588 at 0%, the next 80 at 5%, the next 100 at 10%, the next 2,900 at 17.5%, the next 16,000 at 25%, the next 30,332 at 30%, and above 50,000 at 35%. The GRA page says the annual table took effect on 1 September 2026, so confirm the bands before you run payroll.

A sewer on GH¢700 basic (the March example): employee SSNIT 5.5% = 38.50; taxable pay 661.50; PAYE = 588 at 0% = 0, plus 73.50 at 5% = 3.68; net pay = 700 − 38.50 − 3.68 = GH¢657.82; employer SSNIT 13% = 91.00; total cost to Adwoa = 791.

Pricing: margin and mark-up, and break-even

Margin is profit as a share of the price; mark-up is profit as a share of cost. At a uniform cost of GH¢84.17 and a price of GH¢105 the profit is GH¢20.83, a margin of 19.8% and a mark-up of 24.7% (author's arithmetic). Break-even sales = fixed costs ÷ gross margin. In the March example, if Adwoa treats all other costs and her own wage as fixed, they are 3,654 + 1,500 = 5,154. Her gross margin is 63.8%, so break-even is 5,154 ÷ 0.638 = about GH¢8,080 of sales a month, assuming the mix of work stays the same. March sales of 11,600 are above that.

Month-end routine

Tax records and the filing calendar

Keep records in Ghana for at least six years from the end of the year of assessment or VAT period, and longer if under dispute. Under the Modified Taxation Scheme, Adwoa's example turnover of 11,600 × 12 = GH¢139,200 (ignoring seasonal changes) falls in the GH¢20,001–750,000 band, so 3% of turnover is GH¢4,176 a year. Her goods turnover is far below the GH¢750,000 VAT threshold for goods. Withholding tax of 3% on goods, 5% on works and 7.5% on services applies when certain public and larger buyers pay you, and rent has its own rate; ask your buyer and GRA.

From 1 January 2027 the 2025 edition of IFRS for SMEs applies where it is used. A small tailor does not need it, but a company keeps books a lender and an accountant can read. Free tools can help: a spreadsheet, Zoho Books' free plan with its limits or Wave's free starter plan. Start with paper if software scares you: a book you use is better than software you do not.

Competency standard

Range. The trainee's own business plan. Evidence. Quality procedures; price sheet; growth plan; business plan and forecast; panel score sheet.

A simple quality system

Use Unit 3 as a base. For a small workshop:

Customer care and pricing strategy

Tailors' leaders told artisans to plan their time to avoid disappointing customers, because being on time builds trust, referrals and repeat business. Answer messages quickly, deliver on the promised day, and tell the customer early if something will be late. Use price tiers: retail, group or wholesale, and institution; an express charge for rush orders (Level 1); and a written discount rule. Compete on fit, finish and reliability, not only on price.

Scale, partners, contracts and tenders

Grow from within. Add one product or one new buyer at a time. Level 1's YEA programmes and the J-PAL study both warn that new tailors often lack capital, so grow when cash allows.

Second shift. The Labour Act allows shifts if there is an established timetable and the average hours over four weeks or less do not exceed 8 a day or 40 a week. Plan overtime pay (Unit 3).

Partners. The Ghana National Tailors and Dressmakers Association trains and speaks for artisans. Manufacturers' voice on public procurement comes from the Association of Ghana Apparel Manufacturers. Work with designers under written agreements (Unit 4), and subcontract to larger factories when you have a quality system and the cash to wait.

Contracts and tenders. A buyer contract states style, cloth, sizes, price, deposit and stage payments, delivery, and what happens if the order changes or the buyer pays late (Level 2). Have a lawyer read large contracts. Register with the Public Procurement Authority for government work, and test the cash flow before you bid (Unit 4). The Government says it is cracking down on illegal imports of fake and pirated textile products: never copy a brand's label.

Records for loans, succession and ethics

A lender wants: your registration papers, 12 months of cash book, profit and loss, balance sheet, bank or MoMo statements, a cash-flow forecast, and a clear use for the money (see Money Skills Level 2). Name a successor who knows your customers, patterns, supplier list and passwords, and keep the master patterns and grade sheets in a safe place. Ethics: label cloth honestly (never sell printed cloth as Kente); never print a licence or Made in Ghana mark you do not hold; pay staff on time and obey the Labour Act; report accidents; and never copy a customer's design for someone else without permission.

Your 12-month cash-flow forecast (example)

A cash forecast has opening cash, money in, money out and closing cash for each month. The example below is for a shop like Adwoa's. Money in follows the seasons: slow after Christmas and in mid-year, busy at school reopening and Christmas. Money out is 35% of money in (cloth, trims and thread) plus fixed cash costs of GH¢4,832 a month (wages 1,400, apprentice 300, SSNIT 182, rent 600, power 350, transport 250, data 100, needles and repairs 150 and the owner's wage 1,500). Depreciation is not a cash cost, so it is left out. In February the ORC renewal of 70 is added and in March the Assembly permit of 190. In August, September and December, 1,200 is added each month for casual helpers. All figures are examples.

Cash is lowest at the end of July, GH¢1,141, just before the school-reopening rush. That is the risk month: do not buy anything large then, and ask school customers for a deposit.

Capstone: present to a panel

You present a complete one-page business plan (Unit 5) with your 12-month cash forecast, price list, registration checklist, quality plan and an export or tender readiness note, in 8 minutes, then answer questions for 7.

1. What is the bottleneck on a production line?
2. If the total SAM of a shirt is 7.0 and you have 10 operators, what is the pitch time?
3. Why can a garment with 12 SAM of sewing take a week to get through a factory?
4. What three things do you check first when a machine skips stitches?
5. Why is printing a pattern at 105% not a correct way to make a bigger size?
6. What are the three classes of defect, and which has no tolerance?
7. For a lot of 3,500 pieces, how many pieces do you sample, and how many major defects can you accept at AQL 2.5?
8. What is the employer's duty on health and safety in the Labour Act, and within how many days must an accident be reported?
9. What does landed cost include besides the invoice price?
10. What did Ghana's AGOA status look like in 2026, and what must you check before signing a multi-year export contract?
11. Why is a customer's deposit a liability and not income?
12. Which month in the example forecast had the lowest cash, and why does it matter?

Best next reads: the YEA garment handbook; the Labour Act 2003; GRA's pages on modified taxation, VAT and PAYE; the ORC fees page; the HSE page on sewing machines; your machine maker's manual; Money Skills Level 2 and Entrepreneurial Thinking Level 2 in this hub.

What this module does not cover: computer pattern making (CAD) and automated cutting, knitwear and embroidery machines, large-factory management beyond the basics, customs tariff rates for fabric (not verified; ECOWAS bands only), AGOA beyond 31 December 2028, the AfCFTA textile rules of origin (not verified), current Takoradi fabric and sewing prices (check locally), the CTVET Fashion Design Technology unit list (not found online), and payroll tax beyond the basics. It is not legal, tax or financial advice.

Every source used in this manual is listed, with links, in the Teacher Copy.