Incorrect Payroll Setup for some employees

Problem 27,303! I have a Labour Hire Company client who has his own Reckon Hosted programme to which I am connected. He sets his employees up, sends me their hours, I do their pays and do the relevant reporting, etc. It has now come to light that in the last financial year, he had 5 employees that he set up as working holiday makers but they are on a bridging visa (866). I have gone back into the set up and changed their status and put in a note and did an adjusting report last week. However today when I checked the new report, I discovered nothing has changed so the employees can do their tax return, but no refunds as they are still classed as WHM. I have just come off the phone to the ATO who suggested that I contact Reckon to see if there is a simple way of fixing this - is there?

The alternative suggestions (there were lots!) was for the employees to do another TFN dec with the correct details on that.

I have my fingers crossed that you could suggest a way for me to fix the situation through the software.

Comments

Acctd4

Hi @Cheryl Medley

Correct the Income Type allocation in each of the relevant employee records (to SAW - Salary & Wages) & also - if applicable - their Taxes tab details.

NOTE: Do NOT edit their actual Paycheques as these amounts have already been lodged/paid!

Once you've amended the above areas, re-create the STP Finalise Year STP file & re-submit it again. This will overwrite the previous one (including WHM references) with the updated info (SAW) 😊

Cheryl Medley

Thank you. Yes I have done all of the above without changing the pays - the employees can sort their underpayments out! I have done the amended report, but nothing changed so they are still classed as WHM.

Maybe I'll just do another Final report and submit that - just in case it didn't save correctly….

Cheryl Medley

Do you think because I did the fixing in August, and not prior to June 30, that would have made a difference in the no changes?

Acctd4

I'm wondering if you've selected the current FY - eg 2024/2025 instead of changing it to 2023/2024 when you've created the file (in RAH) - as it displays the current FY by default.

You can check in the submission itself, in Reckon's portal.

Check the Pay Date of the Finalisation submission in the list - it should display as on or before 30/06/24.

It will be the submission(s) with $ 0.00 values & Yes under Update Event:

Click on the Detail link at the end which will show you the breakdown per employee. You can then click on the Detail link for the relevant employee(s) & view the specific data reporting in their myGov, which will also show you whether it's reporting as WHM or SAW:

Cheryl Medley

I've just submitted another final report, but still hasn't changed the status of those employees. I had already changed their WHM status to normal and their pay type to SAW (etc) but it's not changing the status in the final report.

Acctd4

There will be something not right … either the Year selection, the date, the file type etc but I can't really determine without seeing it.

Are you able to post screenshots of each of the windows ((you can block out any identifying info) ?

Cheryl Medley

I made sure I had the correct year as, yes, I see that it automatically goes to the current year. When I look at the report in the portal (as per your screen shot), Income Type is still showing up as WHM whereas I have changed each of the employees details to SAW. The date is 30.06.2024-30.06.2024

Acctd4

Hmm … That seems strange 😬

In your RAH file, is this checkbox ticked (in the Company Information window, under the Company dropdown menu) ? :

Cheryl Medley

No, it's not. I should tick that box? This is a job I inherited from another book keeper so I assumed all the set ups were correct.

Cheryl Medley

I'm trying to do the screen shot of the portal, but I have a Mac and it's different from normal. I have to ask my boss questions and she's out and about at the minute.

Acctd4

https://community.reckon.com/discussion/comment/20648597#Comment_20648597

You would only tick it if the employer is specifically WHM-registered with the ATO.

Cheryl Medley

I believe he is. I have to do an annual report (which I've done only once) which is almost due again…

Acctd4

Does he actually have any WHMs ? NOTE: This allocation is only applicable to holders of 417 (Working Holiday) or subclass 462 (Work & Holiday) Visas, who are only here temporarily & planning to return home afterwards.

Cheryl Medley

Yes, they are all (except for those 5 and a couple of Aussies) WHM. They are from Fiji, Papua NG, etc. Farm labourers.

Acctd4

OK … well if he's definitely registered then yes, it should be ticked however that shouldn't be impacting an employee's Income Type change in STP submissions …

Cheryl Medley

One would think! I have done yet another report after ticking that box, and no, no changes to status. I'll keep trying to figure out screen shots so that you can see.

Acctd4

" … the employees can do their tax return, but no refunds as they are still classed as WHM …"

Just to clarify … WHMs don't necessarily get refunds, some have payables. It depends on their residency status, their income, allowable deductions & how much tax has been withheld. Depending on these factors, changing their income type may in fact result in a higher tax liability 😬

Cheryl Medley

Yes, I am aware of that. A couple of these people have made their lodgements so aren't concerned but the one who is will be entitled to refunds which he is relying on. He was on the bridging visa in the previous financial year but because he was incorrectly set up with my client, he is unable to make a claim. He has been into his MyGov portal to do his return, which is where all was revealed.

Two of the others have accountants, one of whom has advised the employee to go back to the employer and the other one thinks his account will be able to sort it, but is still waiting. I have been in touch with the first accountant who said the extra tax that his person will need to be paid will be well covered by his claims. And I think my man (the first one I mentioned here) will be the same. I worked out that he will be $1600 + owing to ATO but he has't worked since February, so will be entitled to refunds that will cover that amount.

Reckon STP Portal.docx

I couldn't do the screen shot, so I did a block and save. You will see 5 lodgements. The Error on included a whole heap of past employees who hadn't been made redundant previous to my taking over and I messed up some of the dates. But I fixed that bit.

Acctd4

Can you check in his employee record that the WHM selection has saved ?

When you open a Paycheque, is it displaying on there as WHM or SAW & is it giving you the Change prompt ?

Cheryl Medley

Nope! It's still saying WHM. I was wondering if I should go back through all their pay cheques and see what was there. That's one of the places I never look at since everything is 'online' so I don't see a completed form. I will change all of them with those details and see if that works. Thank you!

Cheryl Medley

I won't let me change the tax no. It's still on 8-no tax, but I can change the pay type from WHM to SAW. I have to go home now so I will follow up next week when I'm back here. Thank you for your patience and advice.

Acctd4

Probably best to leave the tax code anyway, otherwise it will change the PAYG calculation!

There's a lot of finalisations in the list so are you sure you're not inadvertently viewing the Detail of one of the older finalisation submissions ?

I changed an employee from a CHP to SAW in their record, pre-finalisation, & it split the Income Types accordingly. I can't remember if I also changed it on the Paycheques or not but yes, you may need to actually change the Income Type on each Paycheque

Cheryl Medley

Sorry! I've been working out my office yesterday and today so I am just seeing your message now. I did think it would be best not to change the tax code on the paycheques for those reasons. I checked all the final reports I did and they all say the same, so now that I am back at my work desk, I'll go into the software and make a start on changing the WHM to SAW and keep my fingers crossed.

I'll let you know!

Cheryl Medley

And that worked. Yesterday I went into all the paycheques for those people, did another EOY report and submitted it. When I checked the details, the workers were listed as SAW instead of HWM. Today, the one who has been chatting with me let me know he has lodged his return successfully through his MyGov.

Thank you again for your suggestions.

Acctd4

Great to hear @Cheryl Medley ! 👏👌

Reckon Accounts Hosted Announcements & Important Info

Check out the latest important info & announcements for Reckon Accounts Hosted

Button

View all Reckon software categories 🗃️

Each Reckon software has its own dedicated category on the Community. Click below to browse all categories.

Explore all categories