Payroll Frequently Asked Questions

How can I export payroll information out of payroll

The process below will allow you to select and export employee information out of MacBusiness Payroll, and save it as a text file ready to import into other software:

  1. From MacBusiness Payroll’s Main Menu, choose Reports

  2. From the Analysis area, choose Employees

  3. To find records for current employees, choose Current

  4. Click the Export button

  5. Choose the Export text file option, click OK

  6. From the drop-down list at the bottom of the window, choose the Type of file you wish to create: 

    Select “Excel Workbook” (.xls) to generate a file that can be opened directly in Excel
    Select “Comma-separated Text” if you require a .csv file 
    Select “Tab-Separated Text” if you require a .tab file

  7. Give the export file a sensible name, and save it to a location where you will be able to easily find it again later, such as your Desktop, and click Save

  8. At this point, you have on the left-hand side of your screen a list of fields in Payroll, from which you can choose to export to your text file, and on the right hand is a list of the “default fields” to export.  You can customise this list on the right by adding to it, or clearing items from it, as detailed below: 
  • Scroll down the list on the right to see if there is any information you would like to add to your exported list.
  • To add field names to your list, double click the field names on the left.  This adds them to the list on the right. 
  • You can rearrange the order of the fields by dragging field names up or down your list
  • If you have chosen a field you no longer require, select it then click on the Clear button

9.  When you are satisfied that you have the all the fields you need to export, click the Export button

10. Your export file can now be found in the location you saved it to.

 

What are the changes in Payroll v4.29?
  • Cosmetic changes: fixes a number of headings that were not displaying fully on Windows.

  • Provides Windows users with the improvements released to Mac users in 4.27 and 4.28.
How do I launch Payroll?

Once you have downloaded and installed MacBusiness Payroll, look in the MacBusiness Payroll vn4 folder for an application called MacBusiness Payroll and double-click it.

Where can I get help for MacBusiness Payroll?

You can get help for Payroll from several places

 a) An easy to read PDF Manual from the Help menu bar across the top of the screen

b) Tool tips, i.e. hover your mouse pointer over a button or feature for a second and a brief explanatory note should appear

c) This FAQ section

d) Contact us; we love to talk about our software. Note: our normal support charges apply

 

What are the changes in Payroll v4.28? (Mac only)
  • Preview reports: Fixed an issue where it was not possible to view on screen more than the first page of previewed reports or payslips.

  • Final pays: final pays can no longer be paid out in the same pay run as a payment of normal annual leave for the same employee.

  • Final pays: fixed an issue where an empty pay transaction could result if the user clicked cancel on one of the final pay option screens.

  • Payroll crash: added a process to prevent problems being caused if Payroll crashed during the production of certain reports.

  • MoneyWorks export: fixed an issue with the display of the MoneyWorks error log (which is produced if there are problems exporting a pay run to MoneyWorks).

 

What are the changes in Payroll v4.27? (Mac only)

The main purpose of this update is to address intermittent crashes that some users are experiencing running MacBusiness Payroll on Mac OSX 10.11 (El Capitan) and later.  The Payroll 4.27 update must be manually applied by MacBusiness Software Ltd staff, via a remote connection to your computer.

Other changes include:

  • Payroll update process: the update process now stops if there are unposted pays. (Previously it would give the option of proceeding, which when selected would automatically delete the unposted pays.)

  • Email payslip setup:  a new pause option has been added to the email payslips setup. This is set in consultation with MacBusiness Software Ltd, and is being used by a small number of customers who were experiencing a problem with this function.

  • Analysis lists: provide a sort command in the Records menu - in order to extend customer-specified sorting options.
     
  • MoneyWorks transfer/MYOB export: resolve issue with KiwiSaver Employer contribution amount when there are two pays for the same employee in the same pay run.
What are the changes in Payroll v4.26?
  • ACC rate changes for 1 April 2016: the maximum ACC earnings threshold has increased to $122,063 per annum, and the ACC levy rate has decreased to $1.39

  • Final pay: clicking the "final pay" button in the pay window now creates a separate pay transaction to allow it to be taxed as an "Extra Payment" to meet IRD’s recent publication Commissioner’s operational position on calculating PAYE on holiday pay.

  • Email payslips: there are now two options for sending payslips from MacBusiness Payroll.  As well as emailing payslips directly from Payroll, you can choose to email your payslips via your normal email programme (Mail & Outlook 2011 for Mac, or Outlook 32bit for Windows), to enable you to have more control over the sending of payslips 

  • Employee details screen: improvements to the way this layout works works when the window is extended

  • Employee details screen: the "duplicate employee" function now duplicates all rates, including Rate B

  • Employee details screen: postcodes starting with 0 no longer display an error message

  • Change pay rates: when Rate A increases, there is now an offer to update the Holiday Rate and Relevant Rate to match A

  • Change pay rates: when Relevant Rate is changed, and is less than Rate A, there is now an offer to update the Relevant Rate to match Rate A

  • View Tax Screen: now displays whether ACC is, or isn’t, included in the PAYE amount

  • Email payslips: are now sorted according to the sort order specified in the setup screen, before being previewed

  • Email payslips: Fixed error message when emailing a single posted payslip fails

  • Allowances by Employee report (detailed): pay run number no longer displays with 2 decimal points

  • IR348 Report: removed any indications this report can be sent to Inland Revenue in place of their printed form (Inland Revenue plan to phase this out)

  • Leave settings: ‘Use for new employees’ is now always on for Annual Leave, Sick Leave, Bereavement Leave & Time in Lieu leave templates

  • Leave settings: entitlement basis now always on, and Percentage basis always off, for Sick Leave, Bereavement Leave & Time in Lieu leave templates

  •  Leave settings: ‘accumulate TIL’ is no longer able to be activated except for allowances of types Ordinary Time, Overtime, or Stat Holiday Worked

  • MacBusiness Software Ltd, website down: reduced the number of attempts that are made to check for a software update, and added a keyboard override, control key, to bypass the check

  • MacBusiness Payroll MYOB version, employee limit: Improved the error message when the 20 employee limit is reached

  • Setup screen, employer Size: A ‘help’ button has been added beside the Employer Size field to explain its purpose

  •  Tooltips: on some versions of OS X online help tips are no longer truncated

Do I need to take backups of our Payroll software?

As with any computerised data, it is essential that you make regular back-ups of your Payroll files. This is to safeguard against losing your important data in the event of computer failure, theft, or physical damage.

Always Exit from MacBusiness Payroll before making backups. This ensures that all your current data is saved to disk before the files are copied.

You can back-up just the data file.  Inside the MacBusiness Payroll vn4 folder, look for a folder called MacBusiness Payroll files, inside that is a file called Payroll Data.pb8, or Payroll Data.pb9 if you have updated to v4.27 or later - this is your data file.  

Copy this file, preferably offsite.  BUT DON'T REMOVE IT.  It needs to stay in the MacBusiness Payroll files folder.

 

Inland Revenue have advised me to pay an additional 41.67% of the Student Loan rate?

From the main menu, choose Employees, select the employee from the list on the left, and go to their Rates/Tax screen.  Enter “5” in the IRD additional Student Loan Rate (SLCIR) field.  

This is the figure to use, because Inland Revenue actually mean for you to pay 41.67% of the existing Student Loan Rate, which is currently 12%.  i.e. 41.67% of 12% = 5.  

I have messed up a posted pay for an employee. How can I fix it?

Note that these instructions cover how to correct this in MacBusiness Payroll and with IRD, but it is up to you to arrange for any payment to or from the employee for any change to their net pay.

  1. If you have reported this pay to IRD, ensure that you have records of the figures as they were reported. Print the IR345 and IR348 reports if not.
  2. From the main menu, choose Reports, then Pay History.  From the list of pay transactions which appears, choose the pay which you want to delete, and click on the white arrow beside that pay transaction.  (Alternatively, you can access this pay transaction from the Employee details: History screen.)
  3. Click on the “-” sign in the bottom left hand corner of the window.
  4. You will receive a message asking you if you really want to delete the pay transaction.  Press “Delete”.
  5. At the next screen you will be prompted that Payroll will build you an unposted replacement pay based on the one you have deleted.  Press Yes to accept the replacement pay.
  6. Make the required changes to this unposted pay, then post the pay.
  7. If you had reported the original pay to IRD, run the IRD report(s) for the period in order to see the difference in reported figures. If the replacement pay has changed the reported figures, download an IR344 form from the IRD website in order to submit your corrections to your original figures.  Alternatively, if there are only a few employees affected, IRD don't mind you phoning them.
How do I know if I need a payroll update, or what tax rates are being used?

By default, Payroll automatically checks for software and tax rate updates each time you open it.

To find out if your Payroll is checking automatically choose Setup from the main menu. At the bottom of the Company Details tab there is a checkbox for this function. You can choose whether to accept the update or not on each occasion that an update is found.

Manually force Payroll to look for an update by clicking the “Check for Updates” button.

To check tax rates click the Tax/ACC/Kiwisaver tab on the Setup screen.  Here you will see listed the rates applicable for each tax year.  Clicking a different period on the left hand side of the screen will display the rates applicable in that period.  When you are creating your payrun, Payroll looks at your pay’s payment date and applies the appropriate tax rates.

To force Payroll to search for new tax rates from our website, click the “Update Tax Rates” button.  Note that the date of the last tax rate update is recorded under this button.

 

I should have paid an employee .50c an hour more for the last few weeks, how can I enter that in payroll now? (Back pay)

Check that you have an allowance code set up for paying back pay. Choose Setup from the main menu and click the Allowances tab. Look for an allowance called Back Pay. There may be more than one. Look for an allowance with a Rate of 1, Allowance Type of Ordinary Time, Tax Category set to Taxable, Multiply Allowance Rate by Employee Rate set to B, and Include in Calculations for:  Annual Leave. All other settings should be blank. If you can’t find one, create a new one with these settings.

  1. From the main menu, choose Employees, select the employee from the list on the left, and go to their Rates/Tax screen.  Enter .50 (or the additional amount required) in the Rate B field.
  2. Manually calculate the number of hours your employees was paid at the wrong rate
  3. From the main menu, choose Pay Run, load a pay run if necessary, select the employee from the list on the left, and in the Qty field enter the number of hours, with the allowance code from above.

 

How do I pay a lump sum bonus?

Check that you have an allowance code set up for paying a bonus. Choose Setup from the main menu and click the Allowances tab. Look for an allowance called Bonus. There may be more than one. Look for an allowance with a Rate of 1, Allowance Type other Allowance, Tax Category set to Taxable, and Include in Calculations for:  Annual Leave. All other settings should be blank. If you can’t find one, create a new one with these settings.

If you want to pay a lump sum (most common) ensure the Multiply Allowance Rate by Employee Rate field is left blank. Only set this to A or B if the bonus quantity is going to be time rather than a dollar amount.

If the bonus is “unexpected”, i.e. not part of the employment contract, the setting “Include in calculations for: Annual Leave” can be blank. Otherwise, if the bonus is part of the employment contract, this checkbox should be checked.

From the main menu, choose Payrun, and create a pay transaction for this employee. Note that the bonus should be paid in a separate pay transaction to payment for normal work etc. (You can have two pay transactions for the same employee in a pay run). Enter a line to pay the bonus:

Enter the gross $ value of the bonus in the Qty field.

Select “BN” (Bonus) for the code.

Notes:

  • Check that the Rate appears as 1.00 and that the gross amount of the bonus displays in the Taxable column. If not, your BN allowance has been set up to multiply by a rate other than 1, and/or to multiply by one of the employee’s pay rates. So you will need to either adjust the Qty in your pay transaction, or alter the BN allowance settings – which are on the Setup: Allowances screen. (If you want to change these settings, you will need to delete your pay detail line first.)
  • Bonuses that are “unexpected” (ie: not written into an employment contract or similar) do not need to be included in total $ earned used in the calculation of leave pay rates. This is controlled by the “Include in calculations for: Annual Leave” setting for the BN allowance
  • Bonuses are taxed at a flat rate – matching this employee’s highest normal tax rate. To set the flat rate, click the View Tax button on the pay details screen, and turn on the “Extra Pay” checkbox. You will be prompted to select the tax rate.
I’m setting up a new payroll, how do I enter an employee’s existing annual leave balances?

For employees on a “percentage” basis, i.e. employees with variable or casual working hours, find out the employee’s leave balance as at the date of their last pay before you started using MacBusiness payroll. Enter the employee’s time leave balance into the Opening Balance field. If you only have a dollar value figure, divide this by the employee’s current rate to get a time balance to enter.  The time unit must match the time unit used for paying the employee, i.e. if the employee is paid in hours the Opening Balance must also be in hours.

e.g. an employee has a leave balance of 125 hours as at the date of their last pay. Enter 125 in the Opening Balance.

For employees on an “entitlement” basis, i.e. working regular hours or on salary, determine the leave balance at the end of the employee’s last annual leave anniversary date, subtract any leave taken since then but prior to commencing using MacBusiness Payroll, and enter this figure in the opening balance field. Any leave that has accumulated between the end of the last leave period (anniversary date) and now (the commencement with Payroll) will be automatically calculated by Payroll once the first pay calculation has been posted.

e.g. an employee had a leave balance of 6 days at the end of their previous leave year, but had taken 3 since then, and before starting to use MacBusiness Payroll. Enter 3 in the Opening Balance.

Note:

  • If you don't have these figures to hand when creating employee records, they can be input at a later date. In this case, go back to the annual leave records by selecting the Employee menu, choosing the Employee name on the left hand side of the screen, selecting the Leave tab, then clicking on the white arrow beside each leave type, then enter in the opening balance from your records on the "records" screen.
How do I pay court fines, or other deductions to 3rd parties?

Check that you have an allowance code set up for paying Court Fines. Choose Setup from the main menu and click the Allowances tab. Look for an allowance called CF20, Court Fines $20.  

If you find this allowance, and you are not already using it for another employee, change it to suit the required deduction for this employee. e.g. CF40, Court Fines $40.

If there is not a Court Fine deduction set up, create a new one by:

  • clicking the + in the bottom left corner of the window
  • Create a code, e.g. for a fine payment of $40 from each pay, CF40       
  • description, e.g. Court Fines $40
  • Tax Category = Deduction
  • Rate = $40
  • Allowance Type = Deduction Direct Credited
  • enter the bank account number provided by the Court

To allocate this deduction to your employee, choose Employees, select the employee from the list on the left and click on their “standing tab”.  Add a new deduction by clicking the + on the right hand side of the screen, enter qty 1, and Code CF40.

When you load pay run next time, this employee’s pay will automatically include a deduction of $40 for their court fine.  

Manually calculate how many weeks will be required until this deduction can be stopped.  Set yourself a reminder, using the employee’s Notes screen, to stop the deduction on this date.

Note:  

  • This method should not be used for any deductions to IRD. PAYE, Kiwisaver, Student Loan & Child support deductions are made automatically as a result of the employee’s tax code and tax setttings, and repayments of tax debt to IRD should be made using the ‘Repay IRD debt’ button on the pay details screen.

 

What do I need to do in order to email payslips?
  1. From the main menu, choose Setup.  
    On the Company Details tab, in the Contact Email field, enter the email address the payslips will be sent “from”, e.g. the company email address.    
  2. On the Options Tab, click the “Email Payslips Settings” button.
    Click the Email Payslips checkbox on.

Choose one of the two methods of sending payslips:

The default option is through your computer’s email program, if you use Mail or Outlook 2011 on a Mac, or Outlook (32-bit) on Windows:

Just check that “via my email program” is selected in the Send emails box and click OK.

Note: Click on the “send” emails automatically checkbox, if you wish your emails to be sent immediately from your email software.  If you would prefer to view the payslip emails first, and control the sending of them, leave this checkbox empty.

Or

The other option is directly from MacBusiness payroll, this option bypasses the email software on your computer altogether:

Choose the “directly from MacBusiness Payroll” option in the Send emails box.

Enter the account settings for your email smtp server; you may be able to locate those in your email account’s preferences settings, or your IT support person may need to help you.

3.   From the main menu, choose Employees, for each individual employee, go to their Contact tab, enter their email address, and click the Email Payslips checkbox on.

You can now send an employee a test email to see if you have your settings configured correctly, by clicking the “Send test email” button on the Employee’s Contact tab.

To email payslips, print payslips as normal. Payroll will first preview and print those for employees for who do not have Email Payslips checkbox on, then preview those that do have this checkbox on. When you click the Continue button you will then be prompted to email payslips, click OK.

If you have chosen the default option, the emails will be sent through your email software.

If you have chosen the other option, directly from MacBusiness payroll, the payslips will be sent from via your smtp server without appearing in your email software.

I have an employee off on ACC, what should I do?

If an employee has a work related accident the employer has to pay “first week compensation” and can't require the employee to take that time off as sick leave.  The first week compensation is paid at 80% of the employee’s normal hours.

In this case, in Pay run, enter the Qty of hours to be paid (e.g. 32 for 4 x 8 hour days) and an allowance code of OH for ordinary time.

However, the employee and employer can agree to top this up to 100% using sick leave - ie, 5 days off at 100% would include 1 day of sick leave and 4 days ordinary time. 

Click the View Tax button and turn on the “No ACC” checkbox, as the PAYE on this pay should be calculated without the ACC earner levy.

After the first week off, ACC begin making payments to your employee.

Where the period of leave on ACC is in excess of five days (for either workplace or non-work accidents), the employer can top up the ACC payment from 80% to 100%. The employer may make this top up gratuitously, or the employer and employee can agree that it can be made through reducing the employee's sick leave entitlement by one day for each five days' leave taken.

Notes: 

  • An employee is entitled to continue to accrue annual leave even when they are off work on ACC.  If the employee’s annual leave is set to accumulate on a percentage basis, and they are away from work on ACC for a significant period of time, consider creating a new annual leave record for them and switching them to entitlement basis.  Call us if you need help to do this.
  • When the employee is taking leave for the first week of a non-work accident, sick leave may be used as there is no ACC entitlement in these circumstances.
Why aren’t employees’ leave balances printing on their payslips? Or, I don’t want to show leave balances on payslips.

Leave balances only show on “unposted” payslips. Reprinted payslips (from the Reports Menu) do not display leave balances.

 To control whether leave balances show on “unposted” payslips for an employee, check the leave settings for that employee:

  1. From the main menu, choose Employees, then select the affected employee. Click on the Leave tab, then click Annual Leave.
  2. Choose the Settings tab
  3. Click the checkbox  “Show on unposted payslips” on to display leave balances, or off to hide it. There are separate checkboxes for Entitlement basis and Percentage basis leave calculations.

Note that you can choose to display or hide balances for each leave type for an employee.

To set the default for future employees, choose Setup from the main menu, click the Leave tab.

 

How do I know what rate to pay my employee for Annual Leave?

From the main menu, choose Payrun, load a pay run if necessary, select the employee from the list on the left, then click the View Leave button.

Rate A is the employees’ normal rate of pay, and then there are two average rates (12 months for employees with regular work patterns, and 4 weeks for employees with irregular work patterns).

Follow the instructions on the screen to select the appropriate rate. The employer MUST pay the higher of the average rate or the current rate.  Even if the employee’s pay rate has just gone up, Annual leave must be paid at this rate.

Choose the rate at which holiday pay should be paid by clicking the appropriate radio button

Click “Set H”

Now any transactions for AL will be paid using the holiday pay rate, Rate H.

For employees whose leave is calculated on an entitlement basis it is important to take note of the Time per Week average figures as well. If  the average Time per Week is higher than ordinary time per week (for example, if an employee has worked overtime) then the employer must pay out annual leave at the average time per day to ensure they fully meet the requirements of the Holidays Act.

 

How do I pay annual leave? My employee’s leave is accumulated on a % basis

From the main menu, choose Pay Run, load a pay run if necessary, select the employee from the list on the left, pay any ordinary hours and/or statutory days, then add a new line.

Enter the following:

 • QTY:  Enter the number of hours being paid (generally this would be agreed with the employee, but you can use the average time per pay period figures from the View Leave button as a guide to the number of hours per day the employee has worked).
• CODE: Enter AL
• RATE: Check that the correct rate is applied.  You can check the employee’s average rate on the leave tab, as described in a separate FAQ.
• LEAVE QTY: Check that this is correct – it should be a sensible number of days. It will be calculated by MacBusiness payroll based on the “conversion factor” for this employee. The leave qty figure can be manually overridden if it is incorrect.  
• LEAVE DATES: Enter dates for the leave being taken

Example:

If your employee is paid by the hour and paid fortnightly:

40  OH   $20.00    Ordinary Hours
16  ST    $22.00    Statutory Holiday                  25-26 Dec 2013
24  AL    $22.00    Annual Leave               3       27-29 Dec 2013

How do I pay annual leave? My employee’s leave is accumulated on an entitlement basis.

From the main menu, choose Payrun, load a pay run if necessary, select the employee from the list on the left, and enter any ordinary hours and/or statutory days, then add a new line.

Enter the following:

• QTY: enter the qty of leave time to be paid, in the employee’s normal pay unit. e.g. number of hours if paid by the hour, or portion of a weekly or monthly salary (see example below). If paid by the hour, check the 12 month average hours per day is being paid. Click the View Leave button.
• CODE: enter AL
• RATE: Check that the correct rate is applied.  You can check the employee’s average rate on the leave tab, as described in a separate FAQ.
• LEAVE QTY: Check this is as expected. It should be a sensible number of days, or portion thereof. It is calculated by Payroll based on the “conversion factor” for this employee. It can be overwritten if incorrect.
• LEAVE DATES: Enter dates for the leave being taken

Examples:

If your employee is paid by the hour, and is taking one day of annual leave and working four days:

32   OH   $20.00   Ordinary Hours
  8   AL    $20.00   Annual Leave               1     28 December 2014

If your employee is on a weekly salary, and your employee is taking one day of annual leave and working four days, for example, you may have to split the usual qty of “1” to the following:

.8  OH   $20.00   Ordinary Hours
.2  AL    $20.00   Annual Leave                  1   28 December 2014

This means that 80% of their week is ordinary time, and 20% annual leave.  

How do I pay 8% AL with every pay for a casual employee?

Leave must be set to calculate on a percentage basis for the employee to use the following technique (go to the Employee details, Leave tab, Annual Leave, Settings)

On the pay transaction for the employee, click the Pay Casual Leave button.

An additional line, representing the employee’s casual holiday pay, will be added to the pay calculation.

If the employee has some casual holiday pay accumulated prior to this pay, Payroll will offer to add this as another line to the pay transaction also.

 

 

 

What is this “conversion factor”?

For employees whose leave is calculated on an entitlement basis, the Conversion Factor converts the time being paid for leave to the amount of leave taken, when they are measured in different time units, e.g. hours to days.

Examples:

  • If your employee is paid by the hour and normally works an 8 hour day, you will have a conversion factor of 8, which converts payment of 8 hours of leave to 1 day of leave taken. 
  • If your employee is paid a fortnightly salary, and works ten days in that fortnight, a conversion factor of 0.1 converts the time paid to a leave quantity of 1 day.
An employee is switching from being paid casual holiday pay, to being a permanent employee. What should I do?

From the main menu, choose Employees, select the employee from the list on the left, and go to their Leave tab. 

  1. Click anywhere on the Annual Leave line. Create a new annual leave record for the employee by clicking the small + on the bottom left hand corner of the screen.  If you want to, you can set the Anniversary Date to be one year from their change in employment status. Otherwise it will be set to the same anniversary as the leave record you are replacing. Click OK to create a new annual leave record.  Check and adjust if necessary: rate, conversion factor and ensure that the appropriate leave calculation method – percentage or entitlement - is switched on.
  2. Sick leave – unless the employee was so casual that no sick leave was being paid, continue using the existing sick leave record but check that entitlement is checked on, and review the rate and conversion factor with respect to their changed employment conditions.
  3. Bereavement Leave - same as sick leave
  4. Time in Lieu - check the conversion factor is correct.

You could also consider finishing the employee and creating a new employee, resulting in an entirely new set of leave records.  Depending on how ‘casual’ the employee was and for how long they were employed as a casual, you may want to consider adjusting the settings that control the 6 month stand-down period for sick leave. (Months to first anniversary, and Accumulate leave in first period).  A casual employee working on average 10 hours per week or 40 hours per month is entitled to sick leave after 6 months.

 

How do I pay Cashed Up Annual Leave
  1. Pay any ordinary hours, etc in a separate pay transaction
  2. Create a new pay transaction for this employee by clicking the + at the bottom left of the pay run window, and choosing this employee name
  3. Enter the Quantity: the number of hours being cashed up (remember, the legal maximum is one week per entitlement year)
  4. Enter the Code: CL (Cashed Up annual leave)
  5. Click View Tax at the bottom right hand corner of the window
  6. Click extra pay
  7. Choose the rate at which you wish to tax this pay
  8. Click OK, OK, OK

Tip: You can quickly check what rate to tax the employee, by figuring out the employee’s estimated gross annual earnings, and include the cashed up annual leave in that figure. Then navigate to the Set up, Tax/ACC/Kiwisaver tab, check the Tax Rates column to see what tax level this employee’s annual earnings fits into.  

 

How do I keep track of time in lieu?

Check that you have allowance codes set up for recording Time in Lieu.   Choose Setup from the main menu and click the Allowances tab. Look for an allowance called TA (Time in Lieu Accumulated) and another called TT (Time in Lieu Taken).

When an employee has worked extra time which you wish to record as "Time in Lieu accumulated":

  • from the Main menu, choose Payun, and create a pay transaction for this employee.  Pay any ordinary hours.  Add another allowance line by clicking on the + on the right hand side of the payrun window.  
  • Enter the number of hours of Time in Lieu accumulated in the Qty field
  • Enter TA in the Code field.  (Note that this time is not “paid” time, so the rate is 0)

When an employee wishes to use some Time in Lieu:

  • Enter the number of hours of Time in Lieu being taken, in the Qty field
  • Enter TT in the Code field.  (Note that this time is paid time)

Time in Lieu balances are recorded on the employees Time in Lieu leave record, and can be printed on the employees payslip if required.

I have an employee going on maternity leave, what should I do?

The employee can be put on hold to stop them appearing in pay runs, but should not be terminated.  It is not required to pay out accumulated leave when starting maternity leave, unless the employee requests it. 

From the main menu, choose Employees, select the employee from the list on the left, and go to their Rates/Tax tab.  Click the “Hold” checkbox to put the employee on hold. 

Under the Holidays Act, parental or maternity leave is included in the definition of continuous employment, i.e. an employee taking parental leave is not deemed to have left work and their leave conditions continue uninterrupted when they return from work.

However, the payment of annual leave for an employee who has returned from parental leave is different from usual.

See our support entry “I have an employee returning from maternity leave, what should I do”.

I have an employee returning from maternity leave, what should I do?

The employee can now be taken off hold. From the main menu, choose Employees, select the employee from the list on the left, and go to their Rates/Tax tab.  Click in the “Hold” checkbox to take the employee off hold.

Annual leave should still accumulate while on maternity leave.  If your employee is paid leave on an entitlement basis, as soon as you post a regular pay for that employee on their return from maternity leave, their accumulated leave balance will increase. 

If your employee is paid annual leave on a percentage basis, you need to increase their accumulated leave, using one of the following two methods:

One option is to switch their leave basis to the Entitlement method

 Before the employee’s first payment on returning back to work create a new annual leave record.

• From the Main Menu, Choose the employee, leave tab. Select annual leave.  Click the + in the bottom left hand corner of the screen, and choose Annual Leave. 

• The leave start date will be backdated to just after the last pay before the employee left for maternity leave which is perfect. Click OK.

• Go to settings and click on the checkbox for “Entitlement”.  You will be advised that any opening balances will be transferred from percentage to entitlement.  Check the rate (number of days) and the leave conversion factor matches the average work pattern for the employee once they have returned. Click OK. 

OR

When the employee returns to work, boost the opening balance of the annual leave record for the “missing” hours.

• manually calculate 8% of the total usual hours the employee would have worked had they not taken maternity leave.

• From the Main Menu, Choose the employee, leave tab. Select annual leave.  Click the + in the bottom left hand corner of the screen, and choose Annual Leave. 

• The leave start date will be backdated to just after the last pay before the employee left for maternity leave which is perfect. Click OK.

• On the records screen, in the percentage area, increase the opening balance by the number of hours you have calculated, e.g. if the opening balance was 10, and you have calculated 15, then make the opening balance 25.  On the records screen make a note on the leave record to explain the change to the opening balance.

NOTE:  The payment of annual leave for an employee who has returned from parental leave is different from usual. 

See our support entry "I am paying annual leave for an employee returning from maternity leave, what should I do?"

I am paying annual leave for an employee returning from maternity leave, what should I do?

If the employee takes leave during the first 12 months after returning to work from maternity leave, the normal requirement to pay the higher of the average weekly earnings for the past 12 months, or current weekly earnings, DOES NOT apply. It is sufficient to pay the average weekly earnings.

The simplest way to do this is to reduce the rate of pay for annual leave to the 12 months average.

For the average weekly calculations to be accurate there needs to be a posted pay transaction at the start of the employee’s return to work after maternity leave. 

If the first pay transaction after returning from maternity leave includes annual leave, post the work hours transaction first, then pay the leave transaction separately. 

If the first pay transaction after returning form leave is all annual leave then post a pay transaction for 1c gross first. Entering .0005 hours for an employee on $20 - $25 per hr, removing any standing deductions, will generally yield a gross value of 1c and 0 tax etc.

To pay the 12 months average rate for annual leave for an employee returning from maternity leave:
1. On the pay transaction, click the View Leave tab and look at Weekly Gross on the 12 Months Average.
2. Divide this Weekly Gross by the number of hours per week the employee works, this is the rate to use for paying leave.
3. Click Ok, and click View Rates.
4. Change the Holiday rate to the rate calculated above.
5. Click OK, and No, to the two prompts, i.e. don’t increase the Holiday rate to match Rate A, and don’t apply this rate to employee details for future pays.
6. Enter the annual leave line on the pay slip as usual.

For example, an employee who has been on maternity leave in the past 12 months requests 3 days annual leave within 12 months of returning from leave.
• The View Leave screen shows the average Weekly Gross for the past 12 months for the employee is $200. 
• The employee works 40 hours per week, dividing $200 by 40 gives a Holiday Rate of $5/hr (the normal rate might be $20/hr for example).
• Click View Rates and change the Holiday rate to $5, ignore the prompts to increase this rate.
• Pay 24 hrs annual leave for the 3 days leave requested, e.g. 8 hrs/day, which will total $120.
An employee who has been on maternity leave has decided not to return to work, what should I do?

If an employee does not return to work after going on maternity leave they are deemed to have terminated their employment at the time they started maternity leave.

You can simply use the final pay function to calculate any money owing to the employee if the employee’s annual leave is calculated on a percentage basis, or if it is calculated on an entitlement basis and the annual leave anniversary has not passed in the meantime.

If the employee’s leave is calculated on an entitlement basis and their annual leave anniversary passed while they were on maternity leave, the Final Pay function will accumulate annual leave while the employee was on maternity leave and pay it at the higher of the average rate or the current pay rate, neither of which are required in this case. Contact MacBusiness for advice on how to proceed.

 

How do I pay an employee’s final pay?

From the main menu, choose Pay Run, select the employee, and enter their ordinary hours, overtime, plus any allowances and deductions for the last period worked.  Also, if your employee has accrued any Time in Lieu, remember to pay this out using the Time in Lieu Taken allowance code, TT.

Click the Final Pay button

If you entered details for the last period worked, a message will appear, explaining that a final pay must be in a separate transaction from other payments, and offering to create a separate transaction for the final pay.  Choose Yes.

A separate window will appear, showing two calculations:

a)    the leave balance owing from the previous leave year

(this is displayed as a $ amount, based on either the average or ordinary pay rate, whichever is higher)

b)    8% (or whatever the employee’s percentage leave rate is set to) of the gross earnings for the current leave period to date, including the current pay period and any leave owing from the previous year.

Note: check the figure in the Conversion field; this is used to convert leave pay units to leave units, e.g. work hours to days of leave, or the fraction of a pay period that is equivalent to one day of leave if the employee is paid a salary by the week, or month. If this figure is not correct cancel Final Pay and correct it (go to Employee details, Leave tab, Annual Leave, Settings).

Final pay must be taxed as an “extra payment”. When you click OK, another message appears, advising that a default tax rate has been set for the final pay, based on this employee’s previous 12 month's earnings.  Click OK.  
 
If you are happy with the tax rate for the final pay that payroll has calculated, click OK, or amend the tax rate and then click OK.
 

A line representing 8% (or whatever the employee’s percentage leave rate is set to) of gross earning for the current leave period to date, will be added to the final pay transaction.

If there was leave owing from the previous year, another line will be added to pay out the outstanding leave at the higher of the current rate or the 12 months average rate.

Tips

• If you are unsure about the correct tax rate, search Inland Revenue’s website for “income tax rates”.

• To delete the final pay, click the Final Pay button again, or delete the pay transaction as usual.

 
What report will give me details of an employee’s earnings over a specific time period? (e.g. for an employee, or for ACC)

From the main menu, choose Reports.  From the Management Reports section, choose the Period Range Totals report.

Examples:

• ACC have requested a report of an employee’s earnings for a specified period. Choose the Period Range Totals report, choose the Payment Date option, Tax Details, and the Employee name. Then choose a From Date and To Date that covers the period specified by ACC. You can enter specific dates manually by clicking a second time in each field to make the drop-down menus go away. Click OK.

• An employee has asked you a “certificate of earnings” for the last tax year (note: “certificate of earnings” is an obsolete Inland Revenue report showing annual earnings for an employee). Choose the Period Range Totals report, choose the Payment Date option, Tax Details, and the employee name. Then enter From Date 01/04/xx and To Date 31/03/xx. You can enter dates manually by clicking a second time in each field to make the drop-down menus go away. Click the checkboxes Summary, and New page for each employee, to produce a “certificate” style report. Click OK.

IRD have said I need to start filing electronically…?

Firstly, generate the files you need from Payroll:

 1.   From the main menu, go to Reports and click IR345/EDF Export (irFile).

Choose the IRD period end date required and click OK.

A file called “IR345 [month end date]” will appear on your desktop.

2.    From Reports click IR348/EMS Export (irFile). Choose the IRD period end date.  Press OK.

A file called “ir-File [month end date]” will appear on your desktop.

These two files need to be uploaded to the Inland Revenue website.

If any employee opted in or out of KiwiSaver this month a “KiwiSaver [month end date]” will be generated also.

Then, go to the IRD’s website: www.ird.govt.nz

1.     Click on the green “Login” button in the “myIR” box on the right hand side

2.     Login using the details provided to you by Inland Revenue

3.     You will reach the “Welcome to Online Services” screen

4.    Click on the “ir-File (Employer monthly schedule)” link in ”Tools”

Note: if this is the first time you have ir-Filed electronically, there are a couple of extra steps you will need to follow:

    1. You will need to switch your filing method from “onscreen forms” to “electronic”.  From the menu on the left hand side, choose Filing method, switch to “File Monthly using Payroll File Transfer”. 
    2. In your workspace (Schedules) there may also be a prepopulated onscreen form for you to complete - this may need to be moved to the trash before the irFile can be successfully uploaded.

5.     On the “Workspace” screen, Click on the “File Transfer” link on the left hand side

6.     On the “File Transfer” screen, Click on the “Choose file” button to upload the irFile report you generated from Payroll.

7.    In the browse window, navigate to your Desktop then select the file called “irFile [month end date]”

Click on the “Choose” button

Then click the “Import and Send file(s)” button. 

You will get a message telling you that file transfer was successful.  View any files in your workspace by clicking on the “Workspace” link on the left hand side.

8.    To upload the IR345, repeat steps 5-7, substituting the file “IR345 [month end date]” instead.

Alternatively, you can fill this form out on screen using the “on screen forms” link

9.     If a KiwiSaver export file was generated when the irFile was exported from Payroll, upload and send that in the same way to the Inland Revenue.  Note: this file won’t show in your “workspace” but will appear in “KiwiSaver form history”.

10.   Make the payment to IRD online

Click the link “Electronic payments”

Click on the link for your bank

Proceed as you normally would with online banking, but look for a “pay tax” option.

 

 

How do I export Payroll transactions to MoneyWorks Gold accounting software?

In order for Payroll transactions to be automatically transferred into MoneyWorks there is a set up task to be completed first.  MoneyWorks needs to have a copy of Payroll’s import map installed, then Payroll and MoneyWorks need to have matching general ledger codes set up for employees, and your bank account.  Here’s how:

 

Install MoneyWorks Import Map

Look inside the folder “MacBusiness Payroll vn4” and locate the folder “MacBusiness Payroll files”.  Inside that folder is a file named “Payroll import settings.impo”.  Move this file to the folder called “Import Maps”, inside the “MoneyWorks custom plug-ins” folder.

To locate your MoneyWorks custom plugins folder:  open the accounts file you plan to import payroll transactions into, choose Navigator from the Window menu, click on Housekeeping in the sidebar, and click on the folder path beside Custom Plug-ins At: in the panel in the middle of the screen.

Also check that there is a “Scripts” folder inside the Custom Plug-Ins folder; create one if not. This is needed for the viewing of the MWKs import error log from within Payroll.

 

Set up general ledger accounts in Payroll

From the main menu in Payroll, choose Setup, and choose the Exports/Imports tab. Locate the “Accounting Export” panel.  Select “MoneyWorks” from the Accounting Software section, choose which model of MoneyWorks software you are using, choose whether you want separate transactions for each employee or a summary of each pay run (by general ledger account), and in the GL Bank Account field enter the MoneyWorks general ledger code for the bank account that the wages will be paid from.

Next, click the Pop-up Menus tab. Select GL Account in the list on the left of the window, then click the + button to add a general ledger account. We recommend you add both the account number and a description, to make subsequent setup steps easier.

At a minimum, add general ledger accounts for the following:

 • Wages (you might have another account for salaries)

 • PAYE (for all standard IRD deductions)

 • KiwiSaver Employer Contributions

 • Deductions (you might have several of these, e.g. social club, union fees)

 • Non-taxable allowances (as above, you might have several of these, e.g. expense reimbursements)

Then click the Options tab.  In the centre column on this screen you will see GL Account fields for wages, PAYE, KiwiSaver Employer Contribution, Deductions, and Non Taxable.  Each of these fields need to be filled in with the corresponding general code from your MoneyWorks accounts. The pop-up menus in the above step should make it easy for you to make the right selection. These are the default general ledger codes for new employees.

Any new employees who are created subsequent to this set up will automatically have these general ledger codes assigned to the different portions of their pay.

If you use the Departments feature in MoneyWorks, you must enter the full general ledger code-department code combination in Payroll, just as you would in MoneyWorks. If different employees work in different departments, you can leave this specification until the individual employee setup stage (see below).

 

Set up Employees

If you already have employee details loaded into Payroll prior to this setup task being done, you will need to set up the general ledger codes for each employee.

Click the Employees button at the top of the screen, and working through your list of existing employees choose the Accounts tab, and in the GL Accounts section, as for the Setup screen, assign the appropriate general ledger accounts using the pop-up menus created above. Repeat this process for each employee. Note that different employees can have different general ledger accounts.

These are the defaults for pay transactions, or standing pay transactions, if you have used this feature to set up pay transaction templates.

If you have already set up standing pay transactions you will need to set up the general codes for each line item.

Click on the Standing tab, and in the GL Account column, assign the appropriate general ledger code for each line item. Repeat this process for each employee.

Note that different general ledger codes can be used for different line items even if they have a similar purpose. For example, you might have an employee who works part of a pay period for one department, and part of a period for a different department. If you want to code this employee’s wages to different general ledger codes, enter two standing line items for hours worked, with the one general ledger code on one line and the other general ledger code on the other line.

Payroll is now set up for coding your next pay run for MoneyWorks.

If you have already processed a pay run, and want to export this pay run to MoneyWorks, you will need to enter general ledger codes for each line item for each pay transaction. To maintain the historical integrity of posted pay transactions Payroll does not retrospectively apply general ledger coding set up after posting the pay run.

To enter general ledger codes on a posted pay run, click the Reports button, then choose Pay History Detail Lines from the Analysis section on the Reports screen. In the GL Account column click beside each line item and enter the appropriate general ledger account. There are no pop-up menus for general ledger on this screen so you will need to take care to enter the numbers accurately.

 

Export pay transactions to MoneyWorks

  • Complete your pay run and post it
  • Ensure your MoneyWorks accounts file is open
  • In Payroll navigate to the “Reports Menu” and choose “Accounting Export”
  • Choose the pay run number from the dropdown list and click OK
  • Payroll will confirm the name of the MoneyWorks account file the transactions will be sent to, and then confirm the transactions have been sent. You will be notified if there are any errors, and given and opportunity to view an error report. In this case, none of the transactions will have been exported to MoneyWorks, giving you the opportunity to fix any errors, e.g. erroneous general ledger accounts, and try the export again.

To view the pay transactions in MoneyWorks, navigate to payments.  If you chose the option in Setup to export separate transactions for each employee, find the unposted pay transactions as cash payments to each of the employees in the pay run. Note the first time you run the export MoneyWorks will create a Cash-only Supplier for each employee in the pay run, using the Payroll employee number as the supplier code.

If you chose the Summary transaction option in Setup, there will be a single unposted cash payment transaction summarising all the employee pays by general ledger code.

 

Additional Features

 • If you use the Job Costing feature of MoneyWorks and want to code employee hours to different jobs you can specify the job number on a pay transaction line item by appending it to the general ledger code, separated by a colon “:”, e.g. WAGES:1234, or for a departmentalised account, WAGES-PROD:1234

• If you prefer the pay transactions to be imported into MoneyWorks as invoices rather than cash payments this can be achieved by customising the Payroll Import Map. Contact us to discuss your requirements and we will customise the map to suit.

As always, we are very happy for you to call us to be talked through how to do this.  Our normal support rate will be charged.

 

How do I export Payroll transactions to MYOB accounting software?

In order for Payroll transactions to be automatically transferred into MYOB there is a set up task to be completed first.  Payroll and MYOB need to have the matching general ledger codes set up for wages, IRD deductions, and your bank account. Here’s how:

Set up general ledger accounts in Payroll

From the main menu in Payroll, choose Setup, and choose the Exports/Imports tab. From the Accounting Export panel, select “MYOB”, and choose separate transactions for each employee.  In the GL Bank Account field enter the MYOB general ledger code for the bank account that the wages will be paid from.

Next, click the Pop-up Menus tab. Select GL Account in the list on the left of the window, then click the + button to add a general ledger account. We recommend you add both the account number and a description, to make subsequent setup steps easier.

At a minimum, add general ledger accounts for the following:

• Wages (you might have another account for salaries)

• PAYE (for all standard IRD deductions)

• KiwiSaver Employer Contributions

• Deductions (you might have several of these, e.g. social club, union fees)

• Non-taxable allowances (as above, you might have several of these, e.g. expense reimbursements)

Then click the Options tab. In the centre column on this screen you will see GL Account fields for wages, PAYE, KiwiSaver Employer Contribution, Deductions, Non Taxable. Each of these fields need to be filled in with the corresponding general code from your MYOB accounts. The pop-up menus in the above step should make it easy for you to make the right selection.

These are the defaults for new employees. Any new employees who are created subsequent to this set up will automatically have these general ledger codes assigned to the different portions of their pay.

Set up Employees

If you already have employee details loaded into Payroll prior to this setup task being done, you will need to set up the general ledger codes for each employee.

Click the Employees button at the top of the screen, and working through your list of existing employees choose the Accounts tab, and in the GL Accounts section, as for the Setup screen, assign the appropriate general ledger accounts using the pop-up menus created above. Repeat this process for each employee. Note that different employees can have different general ledger accounts.

These are the defaults for pay transactions, or standing pay transactions, if you have used this feature to set up pay transaction templates.

If you have already set up standing pay transactions you will need to set up the general codes for each line item.

Click on the Standing tab, and in the GL Account column, assign the appropriate general ledger code for each line item. Repeat this process for each employee.

Note that different general ledger codes can be used for different line items even if they have a similar purpose. For example, you might have an employee who works part of a pay period for one department, and part of a period for a different department. If you want to code this employee’s wages to different general ledger codes, enter two standing line items for hours worked, with the one general ledger code on one line and the other general ledger code on the other line.

Payroll is now set up for coding your next pay run for MYOB.

Note:  If you have already processed a pay run, and want to export this pay run to MYOB, you will need to enter general ledger codes for each line item for each pay transaction. To maintain the historical integrity of posted pay transactions Payroll does not retrospectively apply general ledger coding set up after posting the pay run.

To enter general ledger codes on a posted pay run, click the Reports button, then choose Pay History Detail Lines from the Analysis section on the Reports screen. In the GL Account column click beside each line item and enter the appropriate general ledger account. There are no pop-up menus for general ledger on this screen so you will need to take care to enter the numbers accurately.

 

Export pay transactions into MYOB

Complete a pay run, and post it (you can only export posted pay runs).

From the main menu, select Reports, and choose Accounting Export.  Pick the appropriate Pay Run number, and click OK.

This will create a “MYOB export [date]” file on your desktop.

 Open MYOB and:

1.    Choose Import Data > Transaction Journals from the File menu.

2.    Change “Import File Format:” to Comma-separated and “First Record is:” to Data Record

3.    Click Continue, locate your export file on your desktop, and click OK.

4.    You will see an import map screen. Click the Match All button at the bottom of the window. Click Import. 

5.    You will get a summary on the success, or otherwise, of your import.

If there were errors you must locate and open the “Import Log” file. This is located in the same folder as the MYOB accounts file. Double-click the file to open it.

The log file shows an error number for each transaction that failed, with explanations for the error number at the bottom of the log. Beware, the error number does not necessarily correspond to the line item that it is displayed on, it could apply to any one of the lines of the transaction, e.g. an invalid GL account number.Transactions that were accepted will have been imported. Transactions that failed will not. So there are two options if you got partial success, either (a) delete the transactions that were imported, fix the errors in Payroll, and export the batch again, or (b) edit the export file to fix the errors, and delete the transactions that were successfully imported.  Option (a) is usually the safest course.

6.    To view the imported transactions click the Transaction Journal button.

Click the General tab across the top of the screen and enter a date range that spans the payment date of your pay run. If you chose the Summary transaction option in Setup, there will be a single unposted cash payment transaction summarising all the employee pays by general ledger code.

Additional Features

If you use the Jobs feature of MYOB and want to code employee hours to different jobs you can specify the job number on a pay transaction line item by appending it to the general ledger code, separated by a colon “:”, e.g. 6-5130:1234.