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      1. Knowledge Base AU
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      3. Creating a new account

      Frequently Asked Questions

      This article lists commonly asked questions about all aspects of the payroll system. You can scroll through the page or click on the below links in order to be taken to the specific section:

      Awards

      How can I pay above award rates to my employees?

      Within the employee record, go to the Pay Run Defaults page and make sure the Award setting at the top of the page is Don't use an award then select "manually set rates" in the pay rate template field, you'll notice the pay rate field will become "available" for you to be able to set your own pay rate.

      This article explains... Paying above Award Rates

      How can I request an award be added to the list of downloadable awards?

      We are continually looking to add Awards, but due to the complexity and nature of an Award we cannot give time frames around if/when one will be added. That said, we have now included a comprehensive list of "future/potential" Awards on the Manage Awards page (only available to users on the Advanced plan) - find this page under the Pay Conditions heading on the payroll settings tab. There you can see for yourself if the award is already on our "to-do" list and register your interest. NB. You'll only find Modern / Fair Work awards on the list.

      When should I update an award to apply the new rates?

      Once you apply award updates the new rates will apply to all pay runs thereafter so the correct time to apply the new pay rates (update the award) is after the pay period that CONTAINS the update "date" and BEFORE you create a pay run for a pay period that's start date is AFTER the effective date of the increase. In other words, if any part of your pay period is before the effective date you should be using old rates. If the entire pay period is after the effective date then you should use the updated rates. NB. This link will take you to the Fair Work Australia page where it states that pay rate changes only take effect for the first full pay period after the effective date... Fair Work Australia

      When does the system apply the new rates for employees with automated pay rate increases resulting from birthdays/anniversaries?

      The new rates will apply during the pay run that the increase is effective from (or the next pay run that they are included in after that date). The rate increase takes effect part way through the pay run. For example, if their birthday is on Wednesday, then Mon & Tue would be paid at the old rate, and Wednesday onwards at the new rate.

      What rounding method is used?

      We have changed our calculation method to half-up rounding for our awards. All wages, penalties and overtime rates are in line with the Fair Work Pay Guides. This change will take effect for any awards that are due for a rate change on the 1st July 2020. For other awards, the change will come into effect at the next rate increase. 

      Clock Me In

      Why is the Clock Me In PIN expired already?

      When you first grant an employee access to ClockMeIn we send an email with that PIN in it. We mark that PIN as expired because they need to change it when they first use it.

      This means the original PIN is actually expired, because it has to be changed on the first log in. NB. The employee won't be able to login in the future if it's not changed during the first login.

      Employees

      How do I remove the casual loading?

      Click on "Pay categories" under the pay run settings heading on the payroll settings tab, then click on the casual ordinary hours pay category to expand the settings. You will see a rate loading field, remove the data in this field and hit Save. Once this is done, the rate loading will no longer be added to the base rate of any employee paid using this pay category in future pay runs.

      How do I pay my employees (Do I still have to actually go pay my employees, ie transfer funds to them?)

      The payroll system does not access anyone's bank account. Once you have finalised the pay run it's your responsibility to ensure the funds are transferred to each employees nominated bank account. (We remind you about this each time you finalise a pay run).

      You can pay employees in the following ways:

      • manually - ie via individual EFT from the business bank account to each employee's bank account, or use a pre-filled template in your internet banking site (contact the bank for more information if you need it). N.B: If you download the audit report from the reports button on the finalised pay run, you'll find the amount each employee needs to be paid in the Bank Payments section of the report
      • using an ABA file - click on this link for information on how to use this handy feature 

      How do I change an employees employment type?

      There are a couple of places in the employee's Employee record that you will need to make an adjustment:

      • In the Employee File -> Tax File Declaration page - change the employment type
      • In the Employee File -> Pay Run Defaults page - change the Primary Pay Category
      • You might like to check the employee's leave allowance page as well to ensure they are on the correct leave allowance template

      How do I pay contractors?

      You can use the system to pay contractors however they are treated as "employees" by the system - it's just that most of what is offered won't be used, eg. PAYG calculations and payment summaries, etc.

      You'll have to provide a basic level of information as you add them as employee then, once their record is complete you can decide how you want to handle them.

      If you'd like to keep them separate from other employees you could create a separate pay schedule for contractors ( Pay Schedules - Set Up) or even use a separate employing entity for these workers (Employing Entities).

      It would probably be best to create a separate pay category too ( Pay Categories - Creating & Managing ) - make it PAYG exempt to remove tax from the equation and don't tick the box to accrue leave (if you make your new pay category an hourly unit base).

      How do I pay my employees fringe benefits?

      You are able to set up a 'liability' for the Fringe Benefits. This article will help you do that- Setting up Liabilites. Once this is set up, or if it is already set up, you will need to allocate the deduction to the relevant employee. 

      When a pay event is created to lodge the employee's data with the ATO via STP reporting you will see the option to enter the reportable fringe benefits amount in manually before the event is lodged. NB. The manually added RFBA amounts are not automatically updated by the system so always use YTD totals when entering this amount.

      How can I pay 'in lieu of notice' when terminating an employee?

      You can create another pay category called "In lieu of notice" this article will assist you Pay Categories - Creating & Managing

      Then in the pay run before you terminate the employee go to Actions > Add Earnings > Select the new pay category > Enter the minus hour and the hourly rate then save. This article should assist you on the termination Terminating an Employee

      How is the tax calculated for working holiday makers?

      When calculating the PAYG for working holiday makers we consider the total amount paid 'so far' in the financial year to determine how much PAYG to withhold (as opposed to "projecting" earnings based on the earnings in that pay run).

      If an employee's earnings have breached the $37000 threshold under which the tax rate is 15%, their earnings will be subject to the next tax rate which is 32.5% up to 87000, then it changes to 37.5%

      So, for example...

      • say an employee's taxable earnings in the financial year so far are $38650.50
      • earnings in the current pay run are $2167
      • only $517 of that $2167 fits under the $37000 threshold so $517 x 15% = $77.55
      • tax rate on the balance $1650 is 32.5% = 536.25
      • 536.25 + 77.55 = 613.80

      Employee Self Service

      How can I send my employees another login email for WorkZone?

      Go to 'Employee' on the top menu and select 'List'. Then select the employee who you want to reactivate. Select 'Employee Portal Access' from the menu on the left hand side of the screen, under 'Employee Management' heading. Click the '(resend activation email)' link next to the employee's name. The system will resend the email to the employee's nominated email. In the top right hand corner of the screen a green box will say 'Password Activation Email sent'.

      Leave

      How do I adjust leave balances?

      It's just a case of using the Adjust Leave option within a pay run. Once the pay run has been created

      1. Click on the employee whose Leave needs adjusting to expand their record
      2. Click on the Actions button within their expanded record
      3. Select "Adjust Leave"

      You will be presented with a leave adjustment line:

      1. Select the type of leave e.g. Annual Leave
      2. Decrease the leave insert a minus (-) figure of the hours
      3. If there is no monies involved in the adjustment, i.e. recouping or paying of leave, do not tick the "Apply Earnings Rule" box

      This article explains further... Leave Adjustments

      How do I apply leave taken?

      You are able to add leave taken either during the pay run or via the Leave requests. The following article will show you how to do this - Leave - Entering Leave Taken

      How is leave paid in the pay run?

      It is expected that a permanent/non timesheet employee will be paid the "usual" number of hours in the pay run whether they worked them or not (because they are entitled to leave) so make sure you have included leave hours along with ordinary worked hours in the first instance, then:

      1. Click on the Actions button within the employee's record in the pay run
      2. Select Take Leave
      3. Select the leave type
      4. Enter the number of hours being taken

      The system will reduce the employee's leave balance and separate out the leave hours being paid (for reporting purposes) by adding

      1. One earnings line to deduct the leave hours from the ordinary hours being paid
      2. Another earnings line to pay the leave hours using a different (leave taken) pay category
        The net effect of the two earnings lines added is $0 so, for a permanent/non timesheet employee, you must always remember to include leave hours in the total number of hours being paid prior to taking leave.
      3. The leave balance is reduced by the "Leave taken" line that's also added

      An employee who is set to use timesheets (on the pay run defaults page) will not need earnings in place first - when you use the 'Take leave' option from the 'Actions' button within the employee's pay run record the system will simply add an earnings line and reduce the leave balance.

      Please follow this link to an article that illustrates... Leave - Entering Leave Taken

      My employee should have been accruing leave and wasn't. How do I adjust their leave balance to what it should be?

      To adjust for leave that should have accrued to date:

      1. Run the pay categories report (an option on the Reports tab) for the required pay category - filter the report for a period that covers all pay runs prior to the current
      2. Extract the total number of hours paid
      3. Multiply the total hours worked by the per hour accrual rate in place on each employee's leave allowances page
      4. Then, in the next pay run, click on the Actions button within the employee's record
      5. Select Adjust leave
      6. Select the leave type and enter a positive adjustment to add to the leave balance - be careful NOT to apply any earnings rules (NB. do this for each type of leave)

      How does the system predict employee's leave balances?

      A leave request will predict the leave balance as at the date of the leave request if you have entered "normally works" hours per week on the employee record, pay run defaults page. The leave request then predicts the balance by:

      • Looking at the current leave balance
      • Adding any leave that is expected to accrue up to the date of the leave request
      • Deducting any other approved leave requests already in the system (NB. the date of other approved leave requests is not significant, ALL approved leave requests will be deducted, even if they are for after the current leave request date).

      This article illustrates the process... Applying for Leave

      The only time the leave balance predictor won't work is if the employee is not "regularly" paid, eg.

      • we will look at the employee's last pay period end date and work out when their next pay date should be, eg.
        • the employee is paid weekly and the last pay period end date was 18 November
        • the next pay run should be period end 25 November
      • we will add 2 days (leeway)
      • if the employee is not included in a pay run by that date (27 November in our example), we will stop projecting leave balances

      How can my employee accrue RDO/TIL on the standard plan?

      Automating a standard RDO accrual process is not possible on the Standard plan so you would need to "manually" change either the timesheets or the earnings lines in the pay run in order to make this happen.

      If you don't already have an RDO leave category set that up first... Pay Categories - Creating & Managing

      • To accrue RDO/TIL in the timesheet - first create a work type that (when selected in the first column of the timesheet creation page) will point towards the RDO leave category... Work Types - for Use in Timesheets. Then, in the submitted timesheet, alter the hours worked to equal that to be paid then add another timesheet line (an option on the Actions button on the timesheet creation page) for the same day, select the RDO work type and enter the hours that will be accrued.
      • To do it in the pay run - import the timesheets with 40 hours (for example) total then reduce the hours in one of the earnings lines by 2 hours (for example). Now hit the Actions button and choose the option to Accrue Leave, select the RDO leave category and add 2 hours.

      Alternatively, if you upgrade to the Advanced (or Plus) plan - contact your provider for charges - you can automate this process using our powerful rules engine. This article will give you an idea of how that works... Automate your Payroll Time in Lieu Calculations

      Why is my casual employee accruing leave?

      Your employees will accrue leave as per the settings in place on their employee record, leave allowance page. You'll need to check/change these on each employee record... Updating Employee Leave Allowances OR, you could apply the Casual Leave Allowance template at the top of each employee's leave allowances page... Leave Allowance Templates NB. this will achieve the same result, it's just a way of applying all of the settings with one click on each employee record.

      Once you have done the above, you can adjust the leave balances back to zero where required in the next pay run... Leave Adjustments

      Why does it look like my employee took Family and Domestic Violence Leave when they didn't?

      Family and Domestic Violence Leave is mandatory for all employees, it must accrue in one hit / in advance / no balance should be carried over into the following year - click on this link for more information about this type of leave. When the employee reaches a new 'leave year' we use a negative leave adjustment to reverse out the (old year's) balance when the new (leave) year's balance is accrued for an employee - this will happen in the first full pay period after the employees anniversary date each year.

      The settings you put in place for this leave category determine how/if this adjustment will show up on the pay slip so:

      • IF the leave category settings are set to hide the accruals and balances, the leave adjustment we add to clear out /add new leave won't be displayed on the pay slip (at all)
      • IF the leave category settings ARE NOT set to hide the accruals and balances, the pay slip for the pay run where we add the leave adjustment to clear out the (old) leave balance and the add (new) leave accrual will display (in the Leave Details section on the pay slip) as:
      • Leave Accrued: 38 hours
      • Leave Taken: 38 hours
      • Balance: 38 hours

      Therefore, if you don't want to see the mandatory Family and Domestic Violence leave show up on the pay slip (unless this type of leave is actually taken by the employee) you just need to adjust the leave category settings to hide accruals and balances.

      You'll find the leave category settings under the Pay Run Settings heading on the payroll settings tab on the payroll dashboard, click on Family and Domestic Violence Leave to expand the settings and tick the boxes to Hide accruals and balances.

      How do I hide leave accruals on pay slips?

      If you want to hide ALL leave accruals on the pay slip:

      1. Go to the payroll settings tab on the payroll dashboard
      2. Click on Pay slips under the Business Settings heading
      3. Uncheck the box next to Show leave accruals

      If you only want to hide some accruals on the pay slips then you can choose to show leave accruals and/or balances on the pay slip by checking (or not checking) the appropriate boxes under within the leave category settings for each type of leave. To do this:

      1. Go to the payroll settings tab on the payroll dashboard
      2. Click on Leave Categories under the Pay Run Settings heading
      3. Check, or uncheck, the box next to:
      • Hide accruals from pay slips and/or
      • Hide balances from pay slips and in employee portal

      How do I add leave loading?

      As you're already up and running you will need to add the leave loading to both the leave category itself (which will automatically apply to any employees subsequently added) and on the leave allowances pages of the existing employees. To add the loading to the leave category settings:

      1. Go to the Payroll Settings tab on the payroll dashboard
      2. Click on Leave Categories in the list under the pay run settings heading
      3. Click on the Annual Leave category to expand the settings
      4. Add the Leave loading percentage and hit Save

      To add the loading to the existing employees' leave allowances pages:

      1. Go to the employee record by clicking on their name on the payroll dashboard (employees tab)
      2. Go to the leave allowances page
      3. Add the leave loading percentage for Annual Leave then scroll down and hit Save

      The alternative to adjusting each employee's leave allowances page is to apply the loading to the Permanent Leave Allowance template, then apply this at the top of each employee's leave allowances page (how to update the template is explained here...Leave Allowance Templates).

      My employee wants to take leave at half pay. How do I process this?

      If you want to pay your employees annual leave at half rates the following steps should be followed:

      1. Go to the Leave Categories page, under the pay run settings heading on the payroll settings tab
      2. Click on the Annual Leave category to expand the settings
      3. In the Payment Setup section of the leave category settings
        • set to "Report the earnings for leave taken against another pay category"
        • choose the Annual Leave Taken pay category
        • do not tick the box to "Use pay rate of Employee's primary pay cat"
        • hit Save
      4. Go to the pay rates page of the affected employee’s record
      5. Scroll down to find the the Annual Leave Taken pay category
      6. Enter a $ figure which is half the default rate of pay

        NB. You will need to remember        :
      • That you will have to change the pay rate back to full rate once the employee goes back to taking leave at full rates
        • do this by changing the rate for the pay category on the employee's pay rates page
        • OR, do it in bulk by ticking the box to "Use pay rate of Employee's primary pay cat" in the leave category settings (step 3. above)
      • That you will need to make sure that the amount of leave taken is halved - do this after the Leave Request has been applied by adding a positive leave adjustment to put half the leave back (Leave Adjustment is an option on the Actions button within the employee's pay run record) - add a note to explain the adjustment is there because leave was taken at half pay

      Pay Runs

      How do I add another earnings line to the pay run?

      If you're within the pay run itself, you can do this by

      1. Clicking on the employee that you want to add the additional earnings for to expand their details
      2. Clicking on the "Actions" button in the bottom right corner and selecting "Add Earnings"
      3. Selecting the pay category from the new earnings line that is added to the pay run.

      The following link should provide more information.. Adding Earnings Lines To A Pay Run

      Can I create a bi-monthly pay schedule?

      Unfortunately the ATO specification for payroll does not include bi-monthy pay cycles and will not be STP compliant - we do not offer this pay cycle. The best bet is to run a fortnightly pay run and adjust the period end date accordingly.

      How do I pay me employee in advance?

      There are two ways you can do this;

      1. Create the "future" (Advanced) pay run to pay the employee their advances wages. Select the manually add employees option and just add the employee who is getting the advanced wages. Then in the next pay run you create just exclude that employee as they have already been paid. If they are still getting paid (just a lesser amount) include the employee as normal but change the hours field to what you need.
      2. You can create an ad-hoc pay run (Pay Schedules - Set Up), and manually add the employee. Pay the advance wages. Then exclude them from the "normal" pay run next time you create the pay run (or keep them in and manually change the hours field like in option 1).

      I've made a change to the employee's pay rate but the old rate is still showing in the pay run. How do I get the new rate to appear?

      Changing "the past" is not something we take lightly, that's why it's not easy to retrospectively change an employee's settings in a pay run. It should be noted that you cannot change the data in a pay run where super has been paid - we prevent unlocking of these pay runs to protect data integrity - so if super hasn't been paid on the pay run you want to change, you can do it but it must be done (strictly) in this order:

      1. Open the pay run in question and any subsequent pay runs
      2. Go to the employee record, change the setting you are wanting to alter to something "else", hit save, then change it again to what you actually want it to be and hit save (this will make sure an actual change is recorded)
      3. Go to the oldest of the open pay runs
      4. Exclude the employee from the pay run (actions button, exclude from pay run)
      5. Include the employee in the pay run Now the pay run is using the employee's "current" settings and you should be right to proceed.

      How do I allocate an account to link to earnings in the journal?

      You will first need to enable the journal settings by going to the Payroll settings > Journals page. Once there, you can connect to a variety of providers for integration, and if so, the journals will be exported once the pay run has been finalised. Aside from the list of current providers, you are able to choose to export the pay run journal as a file export instead. 

      Once the journal page has been enabled, you can then go to the Payroll settings > Chart of accounts page in order to map your accounts. This article will provide more information on this - Mapping GL Accounts

      NB - If you use QuickBooks, you will not see the Journals page as there is an automatic integration. You can go straight to the Payroll settings > Chart of accounts page. 

      How do I send pay slips?

      Once you finalise a pay run you are able to publish pay slips as part of the process. Once pay slips are published, employees are able to access them via the employee portal or WorkZone. Included in this pay run finalisation process is the ability to notify your employees that their pay slips are available. The type of notification that the employee will receive is determined by the settings on their Employee file > Pay run notification page. If you have employees that prefer to have their pay slips handed to them manually, you can generate them by clicking on the “Pay slips” button in the pay run actions bar. 

      If you need to generate pay slips for a particular employee, you can do this by going to their Employee file > Pay slips page and hovering over the required pay run. You'll then be able to email or download the required pay slip. 

      How do I 'back pay' my employee?

      You can't "retrospectively" alter an employee's pay rate, because pay runs are finalised and paid using the information on each employee's record at that point in time. What you can do is pay the employee an "adjustment" to pay any back pay owed. There are a couple of ways to do this - keeping in mind that you don't want to double up leave accruals on the hours your are back paying them for. The below article will provide instructions on how to do this - How to Process 'Back Payment'

      Why can't I unlock a pay run? 

      You cannot unlock a pay run if super has been paid from it, we do this to protect data integrity once the super has been paid.

      If you need to make any changes to the earnings in that pay period you'll have to do it in a second "ad hoc" pay run, created with the same period end and paid date as the original. This article will walk you through doing that... How do I process an 'Ad hoc' Pay Run

      Why is the paid allowance adding to the 'total hours' worked in the pay run?

      If the allowance pay category is set to use an 'hourly' or 'daily' unit base the system will include earnings paid using this pay category as part of the total hours worked/paid in the pay run.

      To prevent allowance payments being included in the total hours worked go to the Payroll Settings tab -> Pay Categories (under the pay run settings heading) and click on the allowance pay category name to expand the settings - change the unit type to Fixed. Once this is done the allowance payments will show up under the 'other earnings' section in the pay run record and will not be included in the total hours.

      Why did the deduction appear twice in the ABA file?

      This happens because while the system needs the bank account that a deduction is to made to recorded on the Employee record > Bank accounts page (so the deduction can be paid to it), you need to record $0 to be paid to this account on that page, otherwise, the deduction will be paid to the bank account selected AND part of the employee's net earning will be paid to the bank account as well.

      ​The solution to the problem is to go to the Employee record > Bank accounts page and make the payment to the affected bank account $0, hit Save then unlock and re-finalise the pay run then download a new ABA file.

      How is STSL calculated in pay runs

      While PAYG tax is calculated on "taxable" earnings, STSL is calculated on "gross" earnings - this is in line with ATO guidelines that say your repayment income should include the following:

      • taxable income – not including any assessable First Home Super Saver (FHSS) released amounts
      • any reportable fringe benefits (regardless of the exempt status of your employer)
      • total net investment loss (which includes net rental losses)
      • reportable super contributions
      • any exempt foreign employment income amounts.

      Click on this link to go direct to the ATO website page on the subject.

      The repayment income total used for STSL calculations include:

      • only pre tax deductions that are salary sacrificed to super (set to be paid to a super fund)
      • exempt foreign employment income

      ... (the other income types listed above are handled outside payroll).

      We separate out STSL and PAYG in the pay run and some of our reports for reference only, you cannot specifically pay extra tax that will be applied against an STSL debt. In fact, the two types of tax (PAYG and STSL) are not "separated" at the ATO until the end of the financial year. At that point the combined PAYG and STSL is considered to be one "tax paid" total. The ATO will work out how much PAYG should have been withheld from the earnings in the financial year and then any tax left over from the total amount paid in the financial year will be applied against an STSL debt (if one exists) or refunded (if no debt exists).

      If your employee wishes to pay more or less off their STSL debt than the automatic calculation in the pay run accommodates then you will need to either:

      • use the Adjust PAYG option from the Actions button within the employee's pay run record to adjust the automatically calculated tax OR;
      • set up a recurring tax adjustment on the Pay Run inclusion page of the employee's record. To do this, follow the article below that will take you through the process... Setting up Pay Run Inclusions

      How can I pay my employees under WorkCover?

      You can pay your employees while they are under a work cover arrangement by following the instructions in this article - How to pay Workers Compensation

      Rule Sets

      My employee is attached to a rule set. How do I check to see what is happening for each shift?

      You can check what's happening for each shift by using the rules tester...

      1. Go to the Rule Sets page (under the pay conditions heading on the payroll settings tab)
      2. Select the Award from the drop down menu at the top of the page (if nec)
      3. Select the rule set you want to check
      4. Hit the Test Rules button
      5. Check the current period dates (the pay run period dates should match exactly to the current period or a previous period)
      6. Click on the Import button
      7. Select the employee whose shifts you want to test
      8. Scroll down and hit Run Test

      Once each day's earnings are displayed you can expand the day you want to check and click on the question mark (or the Rules tab at the top of the list of tested shifts) to show you the list of rules that have been triggered by that shift. Then you can go check each rule that was triggered and see how/why it has been applied to that shift - keep in mind that rules are applied in order from top to bottom so a rule that's triggered may be overridden by another rule further down the list.

      NB. Click on the Edit rules button to see the actual rules, note if you're using an award you can't actually edit the rules, it's just a way to "view" them but you'll need to agree to unlocking the award in order to be able to see the rules.

      How do I copy a complete rule set?

      You can do this by following the below instructions:

      1. Go into the rule set page
      2. Click on the rule set you want to clone
      3. Click on the edit button to open it
      4. In the URL, change the word "rule" to the word "clone"
      5. Press enter (and you'll see what looks like simple text)
      6. Click on the left facing arrow to go back in your browser

      Now go look at the list of rule sets in the account and you'll see a cloned rule set with the suffix " - copy" added.

      STP

      Getting started with STP

      The first step you will need to complete is registering for STP. We have created a quick and simple STP Registration Wizard to take you through this process. During the registration process you will be required to enable the integration between the payroll software and the ATO (if you haven't already done so)

      After you have registered for STP you may need to review your transition options if you have moved over from a different payroll provider. This may include entering employee's opening balances (if you have transitioned part way through a financial year) OR getting set up if you been granted deferral for reporting from the ATO.

      Now that you are all set up you can start lodging your Single Touch Payroll reports to the ATO!

      If you did enter initial values (opening balances) from a previous system you may need to create and lodge an Update Event before you start lodging reports from your pay runs.

      All that is left to do now, is start lodging a Pay Event directly from the pay run each time you finalise (but no later than the employee's payment date).

      I got an error when I went to lodge my pay event. How do I get more information on this?

      The following article will go through the most common lodgement errors - Resolving Common STP Lodgement Issues

      Do I need to lodge all of my pay events?

      Best practice for STP reporting is similar to other payroll practices in that you should create each pay run (in chronological order), finalise it and lodge the pay event before creating the next pay run. Pay run periods are usually sequential and scheduled anyway.

      Also, ATO guidelines say a pay event should be lodged the same day the employees are paid.

      If, for some reason, you have not followed/been able to follow "best practice" then you should still lodge all pay runs, even if the sequence of events lodged will see pay periods lodged out of chronological order, because there are specific components of the pay run itself that are included in the pay event and it's important that these are reported so they can be itemised correctly at the ATO.

      The user with authority has not approved the pay event so why can I still proceed to lodge it?

      We do not "police" the authority process (ie. we don't prevent lodgement if authority is not given) - we include the authority process as per ATO guidelines however it's up to the payroll administrator/business owner to put business practices in place to ensure authority is received before an event is lodged.

      How can I check what I've lodged in the ATO portal?

      To check what you've sent to the ATO via STP reporting:

      1. login to your ATO business portal
      2. go to the Manage employees page
      3. then click on the STP reporting link

      On the STP reporting page you'll see a list of pay events lodged for the financial year.

      If you lodge an Update event it will be identified as an update but will just show up in the list in chronological order (it won't include $ figures for gross or PAYG, as it's not linked to a pay run/event). ​

      Super

      How much does my employee have to earn before super is withheld?

      01 July 2022,  a bill to remove this minimum monthly income threshold for compulsory SG contributions was passed in parliament, now everyone is eligible to receive compulsory employer SG payments, no matter how much you earn.

      How can I pay my employees super?

      The best way to be 100% SuperStream compliant is to pay via Beam. The following article will show you how to register: Registering with Beam to automate Super Payments

      Once you are registered, creating a batch is simple. The following article will walk you through that process: Automated Super Payments using Beam

      Although we recommend using the above method to pay super, you're not required to use Beam. If you prefer to make your super payments manually, then you can use the Super Contributions Report. By using the Super Contributions Report to report on the last quarter (you can report by fund or employee), you can keep track of your super liabilities.

      When I pay super, can that data be exported as a journal?

      There is no journal produced as a result of creating a super batch/paying your super. The system only exports journals from the pay run.

      The pay run super expense journal entries are where you keep track of the super being accrued. The super liability entries are reconciled against the actual super payment when it's eventually made (expense is debit / liability is credit) so what you need to do reconcile the super payment (when you get around to making it) against the super liability entries from the journals exported from each of the pay runs included in the batch.

      If I don't make automated super payments, is there a way to mark these as "paid" in the system?

      There is no way to mark a super payment as paid. When using Beam once the payments have been made they just don't appear in any subsequent batches. However, if you are using the Super Contributions report there is no way to 'mark as paid' unfortunately and there is no work around.

      How can I set up Reportable Employer Super Contributions?

      There are 3 ways you can set up Reportable Employer Super Contributions (RESC) so that they'll correctly report (as RESC):

      1. On the employee's Opening Balances page - if RESC was paid prior to starting with Employment Hero Payroll
      2. By Deduction - either recurring or once off pre tax Salary Sacrifice
      3. By Super Adjustment - either recurring or once off Employer contribution

      The following article describes each process in more detail...Reportable Employer Super Contributions (RESC) 

      Why isn't my employees RESC being recorded as salary sacrifice?

      Any salary sacrificed to super payments must be set to be paid direct to a super fund (either in the deduction settings on the employee's pay run inclusions page or on the deduction line in each pay run) in order to appear on the payment summary as RESC.

      Can an employees salary sacrifice arrangements offset their OTE earnings base?

      Effective 1 January 2020, salary sacrificed super contributions will not:

      • count towards the amount of super guarantee contributions that an employer is required to make for an employee
      • reduce the ordinary time earnings that an employer is required to calculate SGC on, ie. the superannuation salary sacrifice will not reduce the employees OTE base for SGC purposes

      Timesheets

      How can I give permission for my employees to use timesheets?

      In order to allow your employees to use the Employee Self Service (ESS) portal to create their own timesheets you need to:

      1. Make sure the employee record, pay run defaults page is set for this employee to use timesheets
      2. Make sure (business level) employee portal access has been granted to the employee
      3. Make sure the (business level) employee portal access settings are set to allow employees to enter their own timesheets

      Why is the data for 1 timesheet line broken up into multiple lines in the pay run?

      There is no setting to make the timesheet data for one day show up on just the one earnings line in the pay run. The determining factor is whether the employee's record has them set to use a rule set to interpret the timesheet data into the pay run (any rule set) or not.

      This is because using a rule breaks the timesheet data down a bit further than a normal (not interpreted into the pay run by a rule set) timesheet line.

      That said, although you can't get around this in the pay run you don't have to show all of that detail on the payslip - if you go to payroll settings > payslips and make sure "show line notes" is not ticked, the detail will still be shown on the pay run screen but the employee will only see a summary of their earnings on the payslip.

      How do I apply different rates when needed via timesheets?

      You can use Work Types in order assign different rates to different shift conditions. When setting up a work type, you can map it to the required pay category (e.g. Saturday rate). Then, the employee just needs to select the applicable work type on the timesheet in order for the system to assign the correct rate. If no work type is selected the system will use the default pay category.

      The following article will help further - Work Types - How to Set up and Use in timesheets

      Can I use a template/external source to import timesheet data?

      You can set up a custom file import template in order to import timesheet data from pretty much any external source as long as the source can provide the data in CSV format. This article elaborates... Timesheet Imports

      How can I edit an approved timesheet?

      Sometimes you may need to modify a timesheet that has already been approved. You can do this by following these simple steps:

      1. Go to 'Manage Employees' and select 'Approve Timesheets'
      2. From the 'Approve Timesheets' screen, ensure the status 'Approved' is selected
      3. Click on the approved timesheet line and you will see the “Undo” button appear
      4. Click the Undo button and it will revert to being in the 'Submitted' status (the 'Approved' will change into a 'Submitted').
      5. Once the timesheet is in the 'submitted' state, you can then click on the small pencil which will open up the timesheet editor window
      6. From the editor window, you can make the necessary changes to the timesheet.
      7. Once you’re done, save the timesheet and you can go back into the approval screen and approve the timesheet.

      WorkZone

      How can I find out more about WorkZone?

      Our mobile app is called WorkZone - everything that an employee and an employee-manager (approver) needs is in one application, accessible on mobile, or web-based. The following articles provide more information about WorkZone:

      WorkZone - Getting Started
      WorkZone - Timesheets
      WorkZone - Clock in/out - for employers
      Approving Timesheets in WorkZone
      WorkZone - Unavailability
      WorkZone - Shifts
      WorkZone - Applying/Cancelling/Viewing Leave
      WorkZone - Expense Requests

       

       If you have any questions/comments please contact us via support@yourpayroll.com.au