Tag Archives: Payroll

Superannuation Guarantee and SuperStream

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One day, you look forward to retiring and enjoying the Superannuation you have earned throughout your career. From 1 July 2022, you must pay Super to all employees. The only exception will be employees under 18 who work less than 30 hours. The Super payment is known as the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contribution and is paid into a superannuation fund as part of their wages. In this guide, we will explain what you must do and how you go about paying Superannuation.

The superannuation guarantee scheme requires employers to provide sufficient superannuation support for their employees. Employers must contribute a minimum percentage of each eligible employee’s earnings (ordinary time earnings) to a superannuation fund or retirement savings account (RSA).
ATO

WHY do I have to pay Superannuation?

Superannuation is a government requirement to help workers provide for their retirement.

  • The SG is currently calculated at 11% of an employee’s ordinary time earnings.
  • The super guarantee rate increased from 10.5% to 11% on 1 July 2023.
  • Businesses will be fined if they do not pay Superannuation or pay super at the correct rate.

WHAT else do I need to understand?

The employer must pay the SG at least four times yearly by the quarterly due dates.

  • you must pay (via electronic funds transfer or Bpay) and report super electronically in a standard format, ensuring you meet SuperStream standards
  • your superannuation payments must go to a complying superannuation fund – most employees can choose their own fund
  • if you don’t pay the SG on time, you may have to pay the superannuation guarantee charge
  • This does not apply if you are self-employed or a sole trader, and your super contributions are only for yourself
  • Due dates for the contribution payment each quarter are 28 January, 28 April, 28 July, and 28 October
Super Administration

Whilst the SG is a cost to the business from a wages perspective, the good news is that the administrative part of the process has been made simple for small businesses. Instead of making individual payments to each employee’s super fund, you make a single payment totalling all employee contributions. You have these choices:

  1. If your Payroll software is SuperStream compliant, you can use it for the process. Ensure that the system covers both the SuperStream-compliant information and the payment.
  2. The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) offered by the ATO is a free service you can use to make superannuation guarantee (SG) contributions. Eligible businesses have 19 or fewer employees or an annual aggregated turnover of less than $10 million. The big benefit here is they will split the payments across all the different super choices your employees may have made.
  3. Large Super funds have the facility to do it for you. Check with your fund to see if this is possible for your business.
  4. A messaging portal can take your information and make it SuperStream compliant, then send it to the relevant funds. You also provide them with a single payment to cover all employees.

HOW do I pay an employee Superannuation?

When a new employee starts who falls into the SG, you should:

  1. Offer your employees a choice of funds and provide them with the standard choice form.
  2. Provide them with information to help them understand Superannuation and investment options. Note: You cannot provide investment advice unless you are a licensed advisor.
  3. Provide the employee Tax File Number to their fund
  4. Keep records showing you have offered a choice and have paid. These records must be in English and kept for five years.

HINT

This process will be further simplified if you use an automated payroll tool (see our essential guide on payroll software). 

Employees may also make additional salary sacrifice contributions that will be taxed at a concessional rate of 15% up to a limit at which point extra tax must be paid. (This might have the benefit of reducing the employee’s tax obligation). You are required to report this through the same mechanism above as an employer.

Your obligation to pay Superannuation to any one individual is capped. Current rates can be found here.

SUMMARY – Superannuation Guarantee

Superannuation is compulsory for all employees earning more than $450 a month. Employees can choose their fund, and you must report all payments to the ATO, which offer a special service if you have under 19 employees. Remember to budget for this cost in your business calculations.

Record Keeping for small business

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Running a small business is about understanding what is going on and about meeting your obligations. You might have obligations to employees, suppliers, the taxman or more simply an obligation to yourself to understand if you are making any money or the ability to look up a past agreement.  This guide will look at why record keeping is important, what you need to keep records on, and how to keep good records.

Record keeping is the activity or occupation of keeping records or accounts.
Record keeping in financial terms is the process of recording transactions and events in a ledger or accounting system. Since the principles of accounting rely on accurate and thorough records, record keeping is the foundation accounting.

WHY should I care about record keeping?

Keeping good records is important for any small business. Whether that is to help manage your costs, whether it is for legal, regulatory or tax reasons, or simply to help manage and improve your business.  Collecting, storing, and effectively analysing your data is vital.

Without adequate records, it would be impossible to measure the health of your business and to keep track of your progress. It also helps avoid fines for doing the wrong thing and demonstrate your financial position if you need a bank loan.

Records must be kept by law for:
  • 5 years for Australian Tax Office purposes
  • 7 years for Human Resources time and wages records
  • 2 years after you have offset a capital loss against a capital gain (individuals & small business)

Keeping good records will make running your business easier and save you time in the long run.

WHAT should I keep records on?

The types of records you should consider keeping include:
  • Client Files
  • Contracts
  • HR required records for 7 years
    • employee details including pay, leave and work hours
    • reimbursements of work-related expenses
    • workers compensation insurance for each employee
    • pay as you go (PAYG) tax instalments
    • superannuation contributions
    • ending employment
  • HR records recommended:
    • resumes and job applications
    • contracts of employment
    • performance reviews
    • trade or registration certificates
  • Business records (for example, business registration, formal meeting minutes etc)
  • General business information (for example, job tracking, customer correspondence)
  • Accounting and tax for 5 years
  • Business expenses
  • Bank statements / credit card statements
  • Annual tax returns
  • Quarterly/Monthly tax filings
  • Payroll
  • Inventory
  • Sales
  • Revenue
  • Petty cash
  • Vehicle logs
  • Invoices
  • Cancelled cheques and cheque stubs
  • Purchase orders

HOW do I make record-keeping easy?

Under Australian law records must be:
  • readily accessible if required
  • must be unchanged and must be stored in a way that restricts the information from being changed or the record damaged (changes may be permitted for correcting an error)
  • in writing (electronic or paper)
  • legible
  • in English
  • explain all transactions
  • accurate and not misleading

A bookkeeper or your accountant can help with this process but this will not remove your need to still be involved in keeping accurate records.

Although you can keep records on paper it will be much easier if you do so electronically.  Refer to our essential guides on expense management, accounting software and payroll software to understand more. If you are concerned about outlaying funds for software you could set up a series of spreadsheets to help manage your accounts.

Other key documents like signed contracts, lease documents etc should be kept in a safe preferably fireproof storage. These documents can also be scanned and stored electronically ensuring you have back up copies.  Refer to our guide on Storage and sharing of files.

Electronic solutions and storage of records have the following advantages:
  • back up records in case of disaster
  • automated processing and provide ready-made reports
  • produces taxation and employment reporting requirements for government submission online
  • keep up with the latest tax rates, laws and rulings
  • save on physical storage space

HINTS

The Australian Tax office (ATO) provides a record-keeping evaluation tool which will help you evaluate how well you are keeping your business records. https://www.ato.gov.au/Calculators-and-tools/Host/?anchor=&anchor=RKET/#RKET/questions

The ATO provides an App for sole traders to help them record business income, expenses, and vehicle trips.  https://www.ato.gov.au/general/online-services/in-detail/mydeductions/mydeductions/

SUMMARY – keep records under Australian law

Record keeping is not just about keeping records for accounting.  Under Australian law, some taxation, superannuation and employment records must be kept for 5 or 7 years. 

Accurate and regimented record keeping will help you find the information you need, provide reporting and make running your business easier.  Modern accounting and payroll cloud-based solutions will not only streamline the process but also produce required government reporting for you.

Lack of record-keeping, false or misleading reporting can result in fines. Always ensure you have backup copies.

Accounting Software to run your business

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You started with a shoebox of receipts, now you have a storage box or maybe you are meticulous and have it all on a spreadsheet.  Either way it is time to start thinking about accounting software. This guide will look at why you need it and lead you through what you should consider in making your decision.

Accounting software, package or system describes a type of application software that records and processes accounting transactions within functional modules such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, journal, general ledger, payroll, and trial balance. It functions as an accounting information system.
source Wikipedia

Accounting software has changed a fair bit over the last few years with new competition driving new features and simplicity.  Probably the biggest change however is that it is all in the cloud. Put simply this means you rent access to the solution and do everything via the internet.  You no longer have software that you must buy and host internally on extra computer hardware that you must keep safe.  Instead you have a user-friendly solution that you can access from anywhere that integrates with your bank, POS system, etc.

WHY should you buy Accounting Software?

WHY should you buy Accounting Software?

Saves you time – track invoices, manage bills and expenses and pay staff in a few clicks
Tax time ready – calculate GST, PAYG and BAS reports
Built for Australian legislation reporting
Get paid faster – online invoices, pay now buttons and automatic payment reminders
Enter receipts on the move – use your smartphone to take a photo of the receipt from Bunnings. Great for travellers and tradies.
An external accountant or bookkeeper can have instant access at the same time you do
Reporting lets you quickly get a good idea of how your business is going now
Accounting software becomes increasingly beneficial as the business gets more complicated

HOW to make a decision on which Accounting Package

So now we understand that this software solution is so much more than getting a bill in the system, it is about automating the whole process.  Let us look at the features you should consider when selecting which vendor:

  • Different accounting package vendors offer different features and even within the same company they offer different levels which means you only get what you need.  For example, if you have no employees you do not need the payroll functionality. Consider what package you will need?
  • Pay Staff – Do you want payroll integration? Does the system calculate all payroll requirements including PAYG, annual leave, long service leave etc.? From July 2019 small employers with 19 or less staff must report payroll info to the ATO through Single Touch Payroll. https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Single-Touch-Payroll/ (Be sure to read our essential guide on Payroll)
  • Ease of use – As an untrained small business owner how easy is it to learn to use the package and be assisted through the software to understand what the requirements are of controlling your finances?
  • Invoicing – Send customised, trackable invoices.  Can clients pay right from the invoice?  Can automatic payment reminders be sent?
  • Tax and GST –  Can you easily and automatically track what you owe, and see all your position at a glance?
  • Does the software support Standard Business Reporting (SBR) allowing you to lodge your GST BAS requirements? (Be sure to read our essential guide on GST)
  • Application integration – Can the package be connected to other software solutions you are using?
  • Time tracking and billing – If you charge by the hour are there features that will simplify gathering this data? For example, a smartphone App.
  • Reports and budgets – What level of detail do you need and can you compare against a plan or budget?
  • Track jobs – Does the system track stock, work in progress, orders, jobs, and other task management requirements?
  • Bills and expenses – How easy is it to upload your bills and easily categorise expenses?
  • Point of Sale (POS) integration – Is there a seamless connection to track sales and inventory movements?
  • Inventory – If you hold inventory/stock will this package help you forecast and manage it? Can you barcode scan items in and out if you want to?
  • Bank Reconciliation – Will the system be able to handle multiple bank accounts?
  • Manage customers & suppliers – Can you easily see which customers owe you money, and which you need to follow up on?
  • Take payments – Does the software allow EFTPOS or credit card processing?
  • Cash flow management – Can you see your money in and money out at a glance, and understand quickly what your cash position is?
  • Online accounting – Is there a smartphone or tablet app that lest you enter data or receipts as well as run your business from anywhere?
  • Multi-currency – Does the system need to handle foreign currency?
  • Account sharing – Can you invite accountants, bookkeepers, and partners so they can help you manage your business?
  • Security – What security and backup procedures do they offer to help you protect your data?
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – Does the system keep detailed records on customers including what they buy, how often they buy, and when they buy?
  • Service – What support and training are available, what hours and does that support understand Australian regulations?

HINTS

For more information on what accounting tools are available and the specific features, they offer visit

Free trials are available to help you compare and chances are your financial expert will have an opinion on which one to use.

The accounting software packages you should consider in no particular order include Xero, MYOB, Quicken, Reckon, QuickBooks and Sage.

SUMMARY – Right Accounting Software

Having the right accounting package will save you vast amounts of time and effort and will help keep your business compliant with government regulations. 

Although these modern tools are brilliant in helping you control your business finances they will never replace having access to a financial expert.  We strongly recommend you have access to an accountant or bookkeeper to help guide you.

If you do not have external financial support today you can visit this site to help you find the right person

Hire Staff – hiring the right people

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A business is only as good as the people it employs.  Do they work hard, do they work smart, are they loyal or do they just want that paycheck and be out of there. This guide will look at if you have a need to hire staff, defining the role they will do and the task that must be completed.  Will they be full time, part-time, casual, or a contractor?

The common types of employment are:
full-time: an employee who works 35+ hours per week on an ongoing basis
part-time: an employee who works less than 35 hours per week and has a guaranteed minimum number of working hours
casual: an employee whose work hours may vary each week, depending on the work available
fixed term: an employee who works for a fixed period of time e.g. 3 months
shift workers: an employee who works shifts and gets an extra payment for working shift hours
An employee works in your business and is part of your business. A contractor is running their own business.
contractor can be great for short term projects and can also be paid by the hour without superannuation requirements.

WHY hire staff?

You may not have the skills or the time to do some tasks, or perhaps your time is better spent working on other parts of the business. If so and its time to hire staff assuming their efforts will drive more profit than their salary.

WHAT do I need to understand before you hiring staff?

Ask yourself, what level of skill will this person have and how much will you need to pay to attract the right candidate?  You do need to comply with government legislation in regard to award pay levels which can be found here https://calculate.fairwork.gov.au/findyouraward and discrimination laws here https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/employers/quick-guide-australian-discrimination-laws

HOW to hire staff?

Finding candidates

To find the right candidate, you can either do this yourself or use a recruitment agency.  A recruitment agency will charge you either a set fee or a percentage of the employee’s salary.  If you can afford this it offers a great way to only interview a small number of vetted candidates. If you decide to do this yourself make sure you don’t hire the first person you interview.  Even if they turn out to be the right person you need a point of comparison.  You can find people by word of mouth, an advertisement in your window, the local paper, social media post, or a post on your website or newsletter. A job board like LinkedIn or Seek is handy and with a small fee, it will significantly increase your pool of candidates.

Candidate selection starts before the interview stage where you decide who you will interview.  Many businesses may have 100 applicants for 1 position.  Start by setting the criteria that are most important from a skill perspective to perform the job, for example, must have managed people before.  If the candidate has not they are out of contention.  Seek has a function where you can ask candidates set questions during the submission process. Once this is determined start reducing your list of candidates down to around no more than six people.  Your time is valuable and you cannot interview everyone.  A very important criterion is to ensure the candidates have the right to work in Australia.  There are ways around this but require a significant investment of time and regulation. https://www.business.gov.au/People/Hiring/How-to-hire-an-overseas-worker  Even those with working or student visas have restrictions,  students only being able to work 40 hours in a fortnight and holiday visa workers are not able to work for someone for more than 6 months.

Interview

Now it is time to interview.  Consider where you will interview them, for how long, by whom, and specify if you want them to bring anything. Remember they are interviewing you as well as you interviewing them.  A candidate wants to understand your business, and you as the boss, to decide if they indeed want to work for you.  So some points to consider include what you wear, how you treat them and what questions you ask. You do not want to be a tyrant and you are not their friend so remember to treat them with respect.  A successful practice is to ask each candidate the same questions and to rate them against each other.  That way you have a clear comparison and a method of comparing the person you interviewed today with the one two weeks ago who you can hardly remember. You should take into consideration how each person fits with the skills set you defined earlier, how they will fit into your organisation culture, if they can show you their previous achievements and if they are passionate  (remember a small business is only as good as its people).

In some industries it is common practice to test potential employees through a trial.  We recommend that you pay them and give them a proper opportunity to show their worth.

You have now found the right person but before you hire them on the spot it is a wise idea to check references.  Unfortunately, some people do lie, and the more you are sure about someone the better things will work out.  Okay, all that checks out and the person has great references.  Now it’s time to make them an offer.  The offer needs to be clear around working hours, salary, place of work, anticipated start date, and may include additional items like employee confidentiality or IT policies. A template for an employment offer can be found here. https://www.fairwork.gov.au/how-we-will-help/templates-and-guides/templates

On-boarding

Once they accept, congratulate them and provide them with any further information to ensure they know the next steps, like what time you need them and what the dress code is, etc.  Now comes the hard bit.  Unsuccessful candidates interviewed with you and chances are they put a bunch of effort into that process.  You need to contact them and let them know they were unsuccessful.  Ideally be specific with the reason, for example, they lacked a specific skill, so they can improve next time rather than some generic statement like the other candidate was better.

The big day has now arrived for your new employee. Before they turn up you need to plan to induct them into your business and decide what they need to be taught and by whom.  Chances are it is you and it will take a lot of effort to begin with, but if done well you will have a happy and hardworking employee in no time.

You are now responsible for a new employee both personally and from a legislative perspective. If you don’t already have systems in place you must consider reporting like timesheets, payroll and taxation, superannuation, annual and sick leave, insurance, and workplace health and safety. (Be sure to check out our essential guides on these topics)

HINT

Candidates may attempt to negotiate employment terms such as wages. Always listen but remember it does not mean you have to compromise. 

Additional information can be found here

SUMMARY – Hire the right people

Your people are your business. Having the right employees is critical to your success. To Hire staff can be a rewarding process and will become simpler the more experience you gain.

Payroll – paying employees

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Within your small business, people are your most valuable resource but unless they are a family member they are unlikely going to work for free.  This means that you will need to pay them.  That sounds easy but you have to deduct income tax, pay superannuation, accrue holiday and sick leave and the list goes on. In this guide, we will look at payroll requirements, explain how you pay tax, and look at some of the solutions to make it easier.

There are 10 minimum entitlements you have to provide to all employees called The National Employment Standards (NES). The 10 minimum entitlements of the NES are:
Maximum weekly hours.
Requests for flexible working arrangements.
Parental leave and related entitlements.
Annual leave.
Personal/carer’s leave, compassionate leave, and unpaid family and domestic violence leave.
Community service leave.
Long service leave.
Public holidays.
Notice of termination and redundancy pay.
Fair Work Information Statement.
Note there are some exceptions for casuals. More details can be found on the NES website

WHY should I care about payroll?

The payroll process is important as a small business need to do two things:
  1. Pay employees the right amount at the right time, every time. Fairwork provides a base pay calculator which can be found here. https://calculate.fairwork.gov.au/FindYourAward
  2. Withhold the appropriate amount of tax, provide that to the Australian Tax Office with the required reports, and as part of this keep accurate records.  You also need to provide the employee with a payslip and keep records for 7 years.

WHAT you need to know about Payroll and Tax

Three types of tax must be paid:
  1. PAYG withholding – Pay As You Go tax is the employer assisting the employee meet their end of year tax liability. You must register to start the process, you must ensure the worker is entitled to work in Australia and you must withhold the tax every time you issue payment to your staff. Details on how to pay this tax can be found later in this guide. More details can be found on your obligations here. https://www.ato.gov.au/business/payg-withholding/
  2. Payroll Tax – This is a state-by-state tax and is a tax on your business not the employee. It is calculated as a percentage of your total wage bill once you exceed a certain threshold. Further details can be found here. Threshold and payroll tax rates, as well as payment requirements, can be found here:
    1. ACT Revenue Office
    1. Northern Territory Revenue
    1. NSW Revenue
    1. Business Queensland payroll tax
    1. Revenue SA
    1. State Revenue Office of Tasmania
    1. State Revenue Office Victoria
    1. WA Office of State Revenue
  3. Fringe benefits Tax – FBT is a tax that employers pay when they provide certain benefits to their employees, including their employees’ family or other associates. The benefit may be in addition to, or part of, their salary or wage package. More details and how to pay can be found here https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Fringe-benefits-tax-(FBT)/ A common example of this may be FBT payable on a company car used for work and pleasure.

A further requirement in the payroll process is the payment of Superannuation.  If you pay an employee more than $450 a month then you must contribute a further legislated amount to an employee’s chosen superannuation fund. https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Super-for-employers/

Leave is also an entitlement that must be calculated but is not compulsory on the payslip. The types of leave include:
  • Annual Leave – workers accumulate leave from the day they start at a rate of 4 weeks for every 12 months worked. It does not apply to casuals and should be accrued in your accounts so you know that you have a debt that must be paid at some time.
  • Parental Leave – Also known as Maternity leave, it is an entitlement of leave when a child is born or adopted. To be eligible you must have worked for at least 12 months for your organisation and the leave is up to 12 months unpaid. https://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/maternity-and-parental-leave
  • Sick and carer’s leave – Full-time and part-time employees can take paid leave to help with personal illness or injury, caring responsibilities, and family emergencies. Employees are entitled to 10 days of sick leave for every year of service. Casuals get none. https://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/sick-and-carers-leave/paid-sick-and-carers-leave
  • Public, Religious, and cultural holiday – Employees are entitled to paid leave on Public holidays that fall on a normal working day.  Religious and cultural holidays do not have entitled leave however if you do not allow employees to celebrate these it can be discrimination.  A simple solution is to celebrate them together through work events.
  • Long service leave – Employees get long service leave after a long period of working for the same employer. Most employees’ entitlement to long service leave comes from long service leave laws in each state or territory.  https://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/long-service-leave
    (Casuals are entitled to LSL in some states and territories)

Allowances and deductions may also form part of the payment process with additional funds provided for uniforms or travel, normally the subject of some sort of award.  https://www.fairwork.gov.au/awards-and-agreements/awards  Deductions may include a car lease payment or an extra employee-contributed super payment coming out of their scheduled pay.

HOW do you pay an employee properly?

The more employees you have, the more complex your payroll becomes. You might have a mix of employees on hourly wages and salaries. Throw in some contractors, staff on commission, overtime, expense claims, allowances, and leave entitlements, and your payroll can be different every time you run it. Your options are:

  • By hand: Either on paper or a spreadsheet. Note this may not meet tax office requirements.
  • Payroll software:  Apps can calculate pay and deductions and even fill out tax forms for you. Be sure to read our essential guide on payroll software.
  • Payroll service providers: You can outsource your payroll to experts. Some providers will do absolutely everything for you. Others will help with specific tasks.
  • Accountants and bookkeepers:  You do not have to go to a specialist payroll company. Many accountants and bookkeepers can do payroll for you.

Now that you have managed to work out how to pay your employee you also have to report and pay the Australian Tax Office.  You will have to abide by the Single Touch Payroll reporting guidelines. https://www.ato.gov.au/business/single-touch-payroll/in-detail/single-touch-payroll-employer-reporting-guidelines/  You will report to the ATO every payday how much your employees were paid, how much tax was withheld and what contributions were made to superannuation.

HINTS

Be sure to read our essential guides on Superannuation, roster management, and Payroll software.

SUMMARY – Adhere to Government Regulation around Payroll

Paying an employee is a complicated process with government regulation around conditions, awards, and taxation. It is important that you understand and follow the regulation and ensure your employees are paid the right amount on time every time.

There are lots of great tools and assistance available to help make this process easier.

Payroll Software – simplify paying people

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our guide on payroll we discussed the process of paying an employee. Part of that discussion was the actual calculation and processing, we discussed options like using a third party or using software to do it yourself. In this guide we will review what you need to consider in selecting a Payroll software solution.  

Chances are if you are considering payroll software you already have or are also considering an accounting package solution.  Either way you are best to ensure the solution is either built into the accounting package or can be integrated.  This will save you lots of time. See our essential guide on accounting software solutions.

Small business payroll software is a solution used in-house that helps you streamline and automate payroll processing tasks. The software saves time and effort through automation as well as reduces errors vs doing manually. It often includes modules for time tracking, tax filing, and benefits administration.

WHY do I need software to do my payroll?

Benefits of Small-Business Payroll Software

  1. Automation of processes
  2. Reduced labour costs associated with payroll processing
  3. Greater accuracy and lower risks eliminate the possibility of human error. The software can also remind you of deadlines, so reduce your risk of fines.
  4. Integration with existing software, for example, accounting packages or POS systems
  5. Some packages will provides updated tax tables when the legislation changes so that the right PAYG Withholding is used.

WHAT you need to know about the ATO and Single Touch Payroll

As a small business in Australia you need a package that will comply with the Australian Tax Office Single Touch Payroll (STP) https://www.ato.gov.au/business/single-touch-payroll/in-detail/single-touch-payroll-employer-reporting-guidelines/. Larger business may consider a package that includes other HR functions but it is unlikely a small business you would consider this. Like the accounting, POS, and eCommerce software solutions the Payroll solution is most likely to be cloud-based bringing functionality at a reasonable price.

HOW do I make a decision on which Payroll Software

Features you should consider:

  • Designed for the Australian Tax System and reporting requirements
  • Performs Single Touch Payroll reporting
  • Direct deposit functionality into employees’ bank accounts
  • SuperStream standard compatibility for Superannuation compliance
  • Ability to integrate with other cloud-based software solutions you are using. This will reduce the workload
  • Additional information can be printed on the employee payslip such as annual leave owing
  • The ability to support employee deductions or allowances for example, car leasing or uniform allowance
  • Leave management including annual, sick, and long service
  • Employee portal to update banking details or enter leave
  • Mobile access from your smartphones, both for administration and employee
  • If employees clock on and off, the ability to integrate this process
  • Flexibility to handle employment options including variable hours, bonus payments, contractors, etc
  • New hire integration without external assistance
  • Reporting functionality including leave reporting
  • Alerts or reminders, for example, payment was not successful or Super payment is due
  • Security. Remember all your wage information is on the cloud.  Consider in which country the information is hosted
  • Legislation updates.  How quickly will the software be updated to abide by any new Government legislation?
  • Support.  Various support or training might be available either included or at a cost.
  • Cost and cost of extra features

HINT

Make sure your software choice will does not have any compatibility issues with your and your employee’s bank account intergration. Also ensure the bank will process payments overnight so employees can draw cash the next day.

SUMMARY – Easy Payroll

This software can be accessed inexpensively and will make your life easier. More info on vendors can be found by searching for small business payroll software Australia.

Roster Management for scheduling staff

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John wants Friday off to go to the dentist, Beth cannot work Fridays and Liam is on holiday.  So, who can work on Friday?  For many small businesses rostering staff is a constant challenge. This guide will help you select a roster management software solution by helping you understand what you should take into account.

Rostering software provides a small business with a simple and intuitive method to manage staff rosters and shift structures. Most modern scheduling software also integrates with a host of other services like POS, accounting, payroll, data storage, HR systems, and more.

WHY do I need Roster Management Software?

WHY do I need Roster Management Software?

When done successfully, productivity is maximised and sales are not overrun by labour costs. Week after week, month after month, this task needs to be repeated again and again. This can become a tedious and error-prone process if done manually or on a spreadsheet.

WHAT are the benefits of scheduling software?

  1. Improving communication. Developing and maintaining a strong line of communication with your staff is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business. Many common staff scheduling miscommunications can be prevented.
  2. Increasing accuracy and efficiency. Quickly create, view, and modify schedules, handle leave requests, and keep in contact with employees about scheduling needs. Some programs include automatically populating fields, which help you spend less time manually entering names and numbers.
  3. Maintaining compliance with government regulation. Scheduling applications can be used to automatically track employee hours to prevent law violations. This feature is especially useful for companies that have employees who can legally only work a certain number of hours, such as minors or people receiving disability pensions.
  4. Monitoring labour costs. Scheduling software makes it easy to record hours and payroll data, providing valuable insight into current and future expenses. This allows you better control over budgeting and overtime costs.

HOW do I select the right Roster management solution?

Cloud-based solutions have made this software accessible and affordable to small business and you should consider the following when selecting a vendor:

  • Support – Services to help get you set up and provide the ongoing support you no matter what time of day.
  • UI – User Interface is how the information is presented. Understand how easy it is to use and its ability to be customised.
  • Job library – Ability to have different job roles and to flag which employees can perform which roles. For example, differentiating between a cook and a server.
  • Locations – If you have multiple locations the ability for an employee to be set to only work at one location or both.
  • Employee onboarding – allows paperless capture of essential contact details, tax file number, and superannuation details for new employees.
  • Shift swapping – Allows employees to swap shifts amongst themselves with or without the manager’s approval.
  • Employee availability – Both the ability to drop a shift an employee cannot make or set rules like I am not available every Friday.
  • Employee rules – Ability to set a rule such as Jane is not to be rostered on with Rudy.
  • Forecasting – The ability to have the right number of staff scheduled for a busy Saturday versus a quiet Monday.
  • Employee portal – The ability of the employee to log on via a PC or smartphone to view or administer their schedule.
  • Access – Ability for manger and workers to adapt to last-minute changes like replacing
  • Smartphone access – Ability for manger and workers to adapt to last-minute changes like replacing a sick employee remotely.
  • Auto schedule – Allows artificial intelligence to recommend the best roster with a single click.
  • Schedule alerts – employees decide how they want to get alerts of schedule updates—either via email, SMS, or simply through in-app messages.
  • Group announcements – share company-wide posts including files.
  • Leave management– keep track of employee leave entitlements.
  • Payroll & accounting integration– Integration with your other software solutions to provide integrated information for simplicity and planning. (See our essential guides on Accounting, Payroll, and POS software)
  • Time Clock – Real-time capture of working hours electronically.
  • Reporting – One area that separates good shift planning platforms from average ones is reporting. When they are forecasting shifts, businesses such as restaurants and retail stores need to know what their labour costs will be and how that relates to sales. When integrated with an accounting or POS solution, rich data can help you better plan for events like Christmas sales.
  • Security – Ensure employees can only log in as themselves and that it is simple and secure.
  • eLearning – Ability to have an online training library to ensure staff have the right skills.

This software solution is usually priced per employee per month.

HINT

Roster management software only makes sense when your staff do not work standard working hours like 9 to 5.  We also see the benefit really kicking in when you are trying to manage a larger workforce.

Various vendors can be found by googling small business roster management Australia.

SUMMARY – Save time and frustration

This software solution will reap more benefits the more complicated your staff rosters are and the higher the number of people.  This is one of those tools that, once you implement, you will not survive without.