How Payroll Works
Payroll in Microkeeper pays your staff for each pay period from their approved timesheets. Each pay cycle, such as your weekly staff, has a pay run: it works out every employee's pay, super, tax and leave as a payslip. You check the payslips, pay your team from an ABA file, and report the pay run to the ATO with Single Touch Payroll.
| Required plan | All plans |
|---|---|
| Required access | Payroll - Full Access to run pay runs. Payroll - Medium Access can view payslips, download the ABA file and lock a pay run, without changing pay. |
Payroll workflow in Microkeeper
Approve the pay period
Pay runs pay what's been approved.
- Approve timesheets for the period. See Timesheets.
- Review leave requests in the period. See Reviewing Leave.
Run the pay run
Microkeeper works out each payslip.
- Start the pay run for a pay cycle. See Run a Pay Run.
- Pay rules, leave and public holidays, super and tax are applied. See How Pay Is Calculated.
Review the payslips
Check them before anyone is paid.
- Add or change payslip lines, one employee at a time or in bulk.
- Reprocess after you change a timesheet or a rule.
- Pay final pay to staff who are leaving.
Pay your team
Pay from your bank, then lock the pay run.
- Download the ABA file and upload it to your bank.
- Lock the pay run, and staff see their payslips online. See Complete the pay run.
Report and pay super
Tell the ATO, and pay super funds.
- Lodge the pay run with Single Touch Payroll. See Lodge a Pay Run.
- Pay super through the clearing house. See Paying Super.
Payments Classification Chart
Every payslip line has a Class, chosen on the rule or line that pays it. The Class decides what the payment is entitled to: which hours it counts towards, whether it builds up leave and attracts super, and whether it's taxed. Its STP Category decides how it's reported to the ATO. When the STP Category is Gross, the Class decides that too: Normal is reported as gross pay, Overtime as overtime, and Bonus as bonuses and commissions. See STP Reporting Codes.
| Class | Ordinary hours | Overtime hours | Builds up leave | Super | Taxed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Overtime | No | Yes | No | Set per employee | Yes |
| Bonus | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Extra | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Allowance | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Tax Free Allowance | No | No | No | No | No |
| Reimbursement | No | No | No | No | No |
| Workers Comp Entitlements | No | No | By state, below | No | Yes |
- Ordinary hours and Overtime hours are the hour totals on the payslip and in reports.
- Builds up leave counts the line's hours, not its multiplier: 4 hours at double time build up 4 hours of leave.
- Overtime attracts super when the employee's Super Ordinary Hours is set to On total hours.
- Allowances: a task allowance, such as first aid or higher duties, is qualifying earnings for super, so give it Class Bonus with STP Category Tasks. An expense allowance, such as tool or laundry, isn't, so give it Class Allowance. See How Super Works.
How a leave payment's Class changes balances
Leave is paid as a payslip line too, and its Class decides what it does to the employee's balances:
| Class | Builds up leave | Comes off the balance | Super | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Leave taken in the usual way |
| Overtime | No | Yes | Set per employee | Leave paid out when someone leaves |
| Bonus | No | Yes | Yes | Leave cashed out |
| Extra | No | No | No | Corrections: paying leave without changing balances |
Workers Comp Entitlements by state
Hours paid as Workers Comp Entitlements build up leave in the states that require it. The state comes from the Timezone on the employee's profile.
| State | Annual Leave | Personal Leave | Long Service Leave |
|---|---|---|---|
| VIC | Yes | No | Yes |
| NSW | Yes | No | Yes |
| ACT | Yes | No | Yes |
| QLD | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| NT | No | No | No |
| WA | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SA | Yes, for the first 52 weeks | Yes | Yes |
| TAS | Yes | No | Yes |
In SA, once an employee has been on workers compensation for 52 weeks, pay their hours with a Class that doesn't build up annual leave.
Payroll guides
Run a Pay Run
Start, review, change and complete a pay run.
Leave and Public Holidays
How leave and public holidays reach the payslip.
What payroll relies on
- ABNs and Pay Cycles: each pay cycle's period, payment days and the bank account its ABA file pays from.
- Each employee's profile: their pay cycle, start date, rates, tax, super and bank details. See Employees.
- Pay rules: how timesheet hours are paid.
- Single Touch Payroll: reporting each pay run to the ATO.