Welcome!

ATO Software Provider Name Change
‍

Setting up the software connection between the business’ payroll account and the ATO is the first step in enabling STP reporting for your clients. This process requires knowing the software provider and software Id - both of which we display in the following areas of the product:

1. ATO Settings screen > Electronic Lodgement & STP tab; and
2. Enable STP wizard > Enable ATO Integration screen

This update is being sent to all partners to provide advanced notice that the name of the software provider, i.e. "KeyPay", is changing to "Employment Hero Payroll". The product will reflect this name change by Monday, 6 March.

Is any action required for businesses that have already enabled STP?

No. Businesses/partners that have already established the connection with the ATO are not required to do anything further, as the software Id will remain the same as part of this update.

Is the existing ATO integration process changing as part of this software provider name change?

The existing process will largely remain the same for any new businesses/partners requiring to integrate their payroll account with the ATO. The only difference will be that rather than searching for "KeyPay" as the software provider in your Access Manager, users will search for "Employment Hero Payroll". The corresponding ABN is 70 154 693 955.

All relevant support articles relating to ATO connections and enabling STP will be updated by next week.

‍

IRD Gateway Services - Payday Filing Employment Information Amendment
Available Now

‍We have made some improvements to our IRD Payday filing Employee Details Report.

You are now able to have further control over how you view the report. We have added the option to filter by employing entity. You can view one entity, or all and then click on each entity to see the employees within it.

We have also added new formats for downloading the report - instead of just CSV we now have also added Excel and PDF which also adds printability to the export feature.

Read more here: Payday Filing: Employee Details Report (IRD)

‍

TSB bank format added to NZ Payment Files
Available Now‍

For your extra convenience, we have added the TSB Bank format to the list of Payment files that an employer is able to choose for their BECs file when paying their employees.

You can learn more about setting up your payment files and the other bank formats we support here: Bank Payment Files

‍

Improvements to the Detailed Activity Report with the ability to Print
Live Now‍

Currently, the Detailed Activity report shows a breakdown of each pay run and related pay run elements by each employee. This can be really beneficial when reconciling the pay run data.

However, the system at the moment will only allow you to view the pay run data in the Detailed Activity report for one employee at a time, and there is no ability to print the data. This can be time-consuming for the user, having to switch between views on the screen every time they want to view the data for another employee.

We have introduced a new feature where users can run the report for both an individual employee or multiple employees, filter by date range and pay schedule and also print out the report.

API information: Detailed Activity Report‍

For more information see the following support articles: AU | UK | SG | MY | NZ

Record both Paid and Unpaid Breaks

Live Now‍

Previously, users could only enter breaks that were either categorised as paid or unpaid and not a combination of the two. Because of compliance and auditing purposes, businesses need to record both. By default, when an employee record breaks in their timesheets, the break duration is automatically deducted from paid hours unless the business has created a rule to pay employees for all breaks. By enabling the paid break feature, employees will be able to record both paid and unpaid breaks in timesheets and ensure they are paid accordingly.

This new feature will be made available to:

• Businesses that have time and attendance enabled on their subscription plan; and
• In timesheets that have start/finish times (as opposed to entering units/hours)

This feature is not automatically switched on for eligible businesses. Rather, users will need to select the new setting "Enable employees to include both paid and unpaid breaks in their timesheet" which is available in the Payroll Settings > Timesheets screen.

API Updates:‍

To facilitate this new feature for our integration partners, we have updated some of our existing APIs, as follows:

• The following new properties have been added to GET/PUT /api/v2/business/{businessId}/timesheetsettings

"allowPaidBreaks" (boolean)
"hasMaximumPaidBreakDuration" (boolean)
"maximumPaidBreakDuration" (int32)

• A new "isPaidBreak" property has been added to the associated roster shift and timesheet API endpoints.

These updates will not break existing APIs and so can be added at your earliest convenience and where/if necessary.

Refer to our API documentation for detailed information.

Paid break functionality is also available in the latest version of Clock Me In and WorkZone.

For more information see the following support articles: AU | UK | SG | MY | NZ

Change of Email Verification Process
Effective 14th February‍

In this previous partner update, we advised of an additional security enhancement that would be introduced in relation to email verification. Effective 14th February, the new process will be triggered whenever a user (all user types) updates an existing users' email address. This email change will need to be verified by following an emailed link within 72 hours.

This update will add an extra level of security which will protect accounts from being breached or incorrectly updated, as they alert end users of any potential malicious breaches to their account, and additionally, helps to prevent users from being locked out of their account due to incorrect changes to email addresses.

We previously had plans of including a notification email to affected employees for changes to their bank accounts, however, we have not made any changes to this area as part of this upcoming release. This may be revisited at a later stage and, if so, we will provide advanced notification of any intended changes.

For more information see the following support articles: AU | UK | SG | MY | NZ

New Employer Contribution Type‍

We are releasing a new non-reportable employer contribution type. Currently, any amounts associated with an employer contribution are classified as reportable by default. This new contribution type allows users to distinguish between reportable and non-reportable employer contributions and will ensure contributions are reported accordingly with the ATO.

Non-reportable employer contributions are typically as follows:

• Contributions required by collectively negotiated industrial agreements
• Matching contributions under a collective agreement (matching contributions under an individual agreement are reportable)
• To a defined benefit fund (exceptions may apply)
• Contributions required by super fund rules or a law
• Extra contributions that the employee could not influence, such as extra contributions for administrative simplicity or accepted employer policy

Find out more in our Help Centre article here: Superannuation - Employer Contributions.‍

You can find details of the API updates in our previous announcement for the feature.

‍

Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave Entitlement Update

The new paid family and domestic violence leave entitlement is now mandatory for
organisations with more than 15 employees. Instructions on applying these updates can be found below.

Fair Work have advised new payslip requirements which will come into effect by 4 June 2023:

• As per Fair Work's original advice, paid family and domestic violence leave currently displays as Leave - other on pay slips. However Fair Work has since amended this, and now requires this leave type to display as ordinary hours of work, or another kind of payment for performing work, such as an allowance, bonus or overtime payment.
• Employees can also request the leave to display as another type of leave, for example, annual leave. We are currently updating this functionality and will provide further updates soon.‍

‍Next steps:
How to apply these updates will depend on how many employees you have and whether you are paying to one of the pre-built Modern Awards.

More detailed instructions can be found here: Paid family and domestic violence leave guide.

2023 Australian Payroll Survey
Survey due by 28th February‍

The Australian Payroll Association is currently conducting their annual payroll survey. The results of this survey provide valuable insights into the current trends and developments in the payroll field, as well as contribute to the market share analysis of payroll vendors.

If you process payroll on behalf of clients, consider participating in this valuable piece of research. The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete and all responses will be consolidated and analysed in aggregate form to protect your personal information.

Complete Survey‍

All respondents will receive a detailed report including analysis, trends, providers and salary data for 2023 which will be highly valuable for you and your clients. We appreciate your time and support in completing this survey and hope you find the results informative and useful for your own marketing and benchmarking efforts.
‍

‍ATO Social Media Scam Alert‍

An increase in fake social media accounts impersonating the ATO, employees, and senior executive staff has been observed on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, and others.

These fake accounts pose as the ATO and ask users to send them a direct message for assistance with inquiries. The individuals behind these fake accounts are attempting to steal personal information, including phone numbers, email addresses, and bank account information.

Please warn your clients not to engage with these accounts or provide them with any information.

More information can be found on the ATO website: January 2023 – ATO social media impersonation accounts scam.