This article contains some of the frequently asked questions regarding the end of financial year processing in Wagemaster along with Wagemaster end of year update FAQs.
1. Do we still need to print ATO Payment Summaries?
- ATO Payment Summaries have now become an optional step; they can still be printed from Reports > ATO Payment Summaries > Print Individual ATO Payment Summaries. Follow the help article here for more details: Produce ATO Payment Summaries.
2. How do we get our final figures to the ATO?
- This is done by reporting an STP Update that has the Final checkbox ticked for all employees. STP Update with the Final checkbox ticked will also set the employees' myGov accounts to Tax Ready.
- Select STP from the Standard Toolbar. Select STP Update. Ensure the All Employees tickbox is ticked and the correct Financial Year is displaying > click OK. When you are ready to report the STP Update, click Report to ATO. The Update Event Declaration window is displayed. Tick the declaration and report. The STP Update header will show zero values. Double click the Update Event line and you will see your employee's values. All values reported to the ATO are always the employees' latest YTD values and never per period values. For more details: How Do I Finalise My Year And Notify The ATO Of Final EOY Values?
3. Do we need to roll over our information at end of the year?
- No, backup as normal and change your PPE date to a July date to process your first pay in the new financial year. All your yearly balances are reset automatically. If you need to go back to last year’s figures change the pay period ending (PPE) date back - all your information will still be there.
- Please ensure you have performed relevant end of financial year tasks communicated via Agrimaster email communications prior to processing your first payroll in the new financial year. The communications and relevant documentation are also available at our Help Centre.
4. When is the end of the financial year?
- Once you have completed your last pay in June, you are ready to begin the end of financial year processing. Your last payroll of the financial year will be dictated by the date you selected as your period end date. (Setup > Preferences > Configuration > Period End > Taxation Year Boundaries).
- The default Australian dates are from 1 July to 30 June the following year and contain all pay period ending (PPE) dates that fall in this range. If you need to change your period end date so that the last pay period in June is pushed into the new financial year or the first pay period of July is pushed back to the current financial year, this must be done before you process that payroll.
- Do not change the period end boundaries if the employees receive the funds in the same financial year as the pay period end (PPE) date.
5. I have a tight timeframe, and I cannot do my EOFY for 2022/23; can I commence my first pay period for the new financial year without producing the ATO payment summary and/or STP Update marking all as Final for 2022/23, and then go back to process my EOFY process for 2022/23?
- You can go ahead, and process pays beyond 30 June 2023 before producing your STP Update marking all as Final and (optional) employee individual ATO payments summaries. However, please DO NOT do this if your circumstances require you; to change the period end boundaries if not yet completed. Saving pays beyond the existing taxation year period end boundaries means you will not be able to modify the period end date for that taxation year if required.
6. What is housecleaning, and do we need to perform it?
- Housecleaning is only recommended under specific circumstances. Housecleaning is a process that will remove information relating to the previous financial year(s) from your Wagemaster database.
- Please note that if you perform a houseclean, your pay period ending dates, payslips, and terminated staff from June last and prior years will all be deleted. We only recommend housecleaning if you have a large staff turnover and the processing/performance of payroll tasks is affected. It is recommended to keep at least two years of financial data in the copy of the database that will remain in the live database (7 years is ideal however may not be practical for all customers).
- Employers are legally required to keep time and wage records for seven years so ensure that if you do not have this number of years of payroll data in your live database, you at least maintain archived databases to meet this requirement: Record Keeping. It is imperative that you archive reports and take archive backups of your data prior to housecleaning.
7. Can I delete employee files?
- We do not recommend deleting employee files outside the housecleaning process. Businesses are required to keep payroll records for a minimum period of 7 years, so we recommend you ensure that you are meeting legislative requirements for business record keeping before any employee files are deleted. The housecleaning process requires you to back up so that you can always refer back to historical data from a prior period. Deleting employees in an ad-hoc way will make it very difficult to locate this type of historical information.
8. What is RESC?
- RESC is an acronym for Reportable Employer Superannuation Contributions. It relates to superannuation payments received by an employee, in addition to the standard Superannuation Guarantee Contribution (currently 10.5%, increasing to 11.00% for the 2023/2024 year), that the employee has control over. Typically, this will be salary sacrifice superannuation amounts and the employer additional amounts where the employee has influenced the amount paid. These amounts will also typically be pre-tax or based on payments pre-tax. This does not include employee contributions made after tax.
- More information can be found on the ATO website. To ensure these benefits are recorded correctly, you need to flag them as RESC payments. Go to Employee > Payments > Superannuation > Edit Salary Sacrifice or employer additional and tick the RESC box.
9. What should I do if I will have 27 fortnightly pay periods and/or 53 weekly pay periods in the 2022/2023 financial year?
- You should take action with regard to this as soon as possible, as doing nothing may result in your employees being undertaxed by the end of the 2022/2023 financial year. Please take a look at the ATO website for more information regarding 53 weeks and for 27 fortnights.
10. My allowance is not showing in STP even though my Setup > Allowance > ATO Payment Summary screen is setup to Report in STP.
- Set the PPE date to a date in the correct financial year, i.e., a June 2023 date.
- From Setup > Allowances, go into the individual allowance (e.g., Travel allowance), ATO Payment Summary (tab), and untick the Show on ATO Payment Summary box and Close allowance.
- Go back into the allowance, ATO Payment Summary tab and tick Show on ATO Payment Summary box and apply the above change(s) to all employees who have been paid this allowance for the current financial year. Ensure Report in STP is ticked and ATO Type is Other, then Close allowance.
- Check the Pay Sum box is ticked in the Employee files by either going into Payments > Allowances within the employee record or from within the Allowance setup itself, from the Employees tab and Employee file.
Please ensure that both boxes are ticked on the ATO Payment Summary screen.
11. Are there any changes to superannuation obligations for 2023/2024?
- The superannuation guarantee will change this year and increase to 11.00%, and the quarterly contribution cap (max contribution base) has increased from $60,220. Superannuation contribution quarterly cap updates will need to be performed within individual awards. Click here to access the detailed help article.
12. Are there any changes to the tax tables for 2023/2024?
There were no changes announced to personal income tax rates or thresholds.
13. Our PPE is 30/6/23, and payment is 3/7/23. Do I have to change the boundary or can I pay 1 day early on 30/6/23?
If your PPE is 30/06/2023 and your payment date (on the ABA file) is the same date, then you don't have to change your boundaries. (Good idea to pay a day earlier than normal as this requires no changes).
If your PPE date is 30/06/2023 and your payment date is 03/07/2023, then you need to change the boundary end date to 29/06/2023 so that the PPE of 30/06/2023 (which is paid to the employees in July) falls into the new tax year.
- Click here to access the detailed help article.
14. Our pay weekends on 26/06, and we then pay on 29/06. We don't have to change our tax boundary. Is this correct?
Correct. You keep your boundaries the same because the PPE date and the payment date both fall in June.
- Click here to access the detailed help article.
16. If PPE is on 30/6/23 and the payment is in bank accounts on 3/7/23 - does the boundary change to 3/7/23 to include the payment in this financial year?
You will need to change your boundaries, but you need to change the boundary to exclude the pay for PPE 30/06/2023 from the current year. If your PPE of 30/06/2023 has a payment date of 03/07/2023, then it has to be included in the NEXT financial year, the 23/24 tax year.
- Click here to access the detailed help article.
FAQs Related To Wagemaster Update And Update To Tax Tables And Super
Updating the tax tables and SGL (which are separate processes) will need to be done before doing your first PPE with a July date. The upgrade does not affect your tax tables or your super.
1. Do I update the tax table in July?
If you have yet to update last year or are unsure if you need to.
- Click here to access the detailed help article.
2. Do we need to upgrade the Wagemaster to the latest version before doing the end-of-year processing?
We recommend that you do the update as soon as possible, i.e., today, if possible.
3. Do we need to update the superannuation manually after upgrading?
Yes. Updating the tax tables and SGL (which are separate processes) will need to be done before doing your first PPE with a July date.
- Click here to access the detailed help article.
4. If we upgrade now, will super and tax get affected for PPE 27/06/23, processed on 30/06/23?
No. Updating the tax tables and SGL (which are separate processes) will need to be done before doing your first PPE with a July date. The upgrade does not affect your tax tables or your super.
5. The super changes will come into effect only for a PPE in the new financial year? Or is the payment date falling in the new financial year?
Any pay with a payment date in July must use the new SGL %, Quarterly Cap, and new Tax Tables.
6. Where is the notification tab for update super?
It is located on the top tab of Wagemaster, to the left of the close button.
7. Is the latest tax table part of the upgrade?
Updating the tax tables and SGL (which are separate processes) will need to be done before doing your first PPE with a July date. The upgrade does not affect your tax tables or your Super.
- Click here to access the detailed help article.
8. Does the latest update change the super to 11.00%, or do we do that manually?
Updating the tax tables and SGL (which are separate processes) will need to be done before doing your first PPE with a July date. The upgrade does not affect your tax tables or your Super.
- Click here to access the detailed help article.
9. Is the new tax table applicable from the first full pay week in July?
Updating the tax tables and SGL (which are separate processes) will need to be done before doing your first PPE with a July date. Tax Tables and SGL changes are to be applied to the whole tax year. The new tax tables and the new SGL % have to be applied to all payments made to employees on or after 1 July 2023, even if this payment includes hours worked in June.
- Click here to access the detailed help article.
10. If you update now, will that impact the SGL calculation ie, 10.50% to 11.00%?
We recommend that you do the update as soon as possible, i.e., today, if possible. Updating the tax tables and SGL (which are separate processes) will need to be done before doing your first PPE with a July date. The upgrade does not affect your tax tables or your super.
11. If you change the boundaries for EOY and you also change the super boundaries, when do you change the super boundary back to zero?
Change the super boundaries back to zero prior to the first PPE of the new month.
- Click here to access the detailed help article.
12. Are there any changes to be made to the minimum earning for SGL of $450/month
Correct. The monthly minimum SGL exemption has been removed.
13. Do we adjust the super in the full new year pay period?
Yes, super changes, as well as tax tables, are applied to whole periods only, so any pay for the new tax year (2023/2024) has to have the new super and new tax tables.
- Click here to access the detailed help article.
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