Pay Schedules are used to set up pay runs. The pay schedule's settings are used each pay run to calculate what to pay employees.
There is no limit to the number of pay schedules you can create and they can be configured for any combination of pay frequencies so you can have multiple weekly, fortnightly and monthly pay schedules all running at the same time.
How to create a Pay Schedule
To add a pay schedule, use the following steps:
- Select Payroll from the left-hand menu
- Select the Payroll Settings tab then select Pay Schedules (located under Pay Run Settings).
- Select Add
- Fill in the relevant fields (a description of each has been provided below), then select Save
Detailed description of Pay Schedule fields
- Name: This is the name the pay run will be called (so make sure that the pay run is clearly identifiable and recognised by all staff processing pay runs).
- Frequency: The options here are weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Note: This dictates the calculation of the employees' PAYG so ensure you select the correct frequency.
- Included employees: Here you can choose from:
- Note: you could choose this option where the pay run is ad-hoc in nature, e.g. processing back pays or bonuses/commissions.
- Employees with this pay schedule as their default: this is the most common setting and should be chosen where the pay run is regular in nature and employees will always be attached to this pay run.
- Employees with timesheets in the following locations: This option would be chosen if you want to separate pay run into locations. Note: If an employee works in more than one location and this setting is chosen, the employee could potentially be processed in more than one pay run in the same frequency and PAYG/super must, therefore, be manually adjusted to ensure the employee is not disadvantaged and the correct calculations are made. If you select this option, you must then enter a location/s.
- Pay Run Warnings: By default, all triggered system warnings will be displayed in the pay run. There may, however, be some pay run warnings that are of no relevance to a particular pay schedule and so you would prefer they are not displayed in the pay run at all. This setting allows you to configure what warnings you actually want displayed in the pay run. Selecting here will open the context panel. Deselect the warnings you do not want appearing in the pay run.
- Pay PAYG via payment file to a nominated bank account: Select this option if you want the ABA file for that pay run to include the PAYG amount to be transmitted to the ATO at the time of the pay run. If you select this option, you will be required to enter the relevant ATO bank details and reference number.
- Pay Run Automation: This setting allows you to choose what components of a pay run you want automated, that is run in the background automatically, and what components are to be processed manually. If the pay run is to be processed manually from start to end then no setting needs to change as manual processing is the default setting. Instructions on how to set up an automated pay schedule can be found here.
Editing an existing Pay Schedule
- Select Payroll from the left-hand menu
- Select the Payroll Settings tab then select Pay Schedules (located under Pay Run Settings).
- Select the pay schedule you wish to edit
- Edit the relevant fields (a description of each has been provided above), then select Save
Deleting a Pay Schedule
- Select Payroll from the left-hand menu
- Select the Payroll Settings tab then select Pay Schedules (located under Pay Run Settings).
- Select the Bin icon for the pay schedule you wish to delete
- Select Delete
Note: If the bin icon is greyed out you will not be able to delete the pay schedule. This is because the pay schedule has been previously used to pay employees. This is done to ensure it does not impact ongoing reporting.
Additional Monthly Pay Schedule Setting
A new setting will appear when the pay run frequency Monthly has been chosen. This setting is Calculate monthly hours based on an annual average:
The purpose of this setting is to calculate an average number of hours per month for employees with advanced standard working hours set up in their profile, rather than paying the specific hours per month based on the number of days in the month (calculating/paying different hours each month). This setting will follow the same principle as basic standard hours, for eg if an employee is set to work 19 hours per week, the monthly calculation of hours will be 19 x 4.33333 and this amount will not vary each month.
If this setting is not selected, the calculation used to determine the employee's monthly hours will be dependant on the days the employee works and how many of those days are contained in the specific month.
Content sourced from Employment Hero
