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How do I update the Compulsory Employer Superannuation Contribution Percentage in Sage MicrOpay?

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Summary

The Compulsory Employer Superannuation Contribution will increase from 9.5% to 10% from 1st July 2021. Please note that the June 2021 Sage MicrOpay version 8.4 has a new feature that will allow you to update ALL your employees automatically to the new percentage. You will need to upgrade to this version BEFORE you change tax year. Review this Sage Knowledgebase article for details of when this release will be available and a video on this new feature.

Resolution

Sage MicrOpay Superannuation Issue - PLEASE READ BELOW and action immediately

Important Information - Sage MicrOpay Bulletin v8.4B1 Mandatory Release is now available

What's in this Release?

There are 2 issues addressed in the Bulletin:

For a small number of customers, when SG Percentage Change is used to copy and replace SG employer contributions as part of the Change Tax Year process in Sage MicrOpay 8.4, certain employee contributions may also be replaced. A number of factors must exist for this issue to occur, so a limited number of customers who upgrade to version 8.4 will be affected. However this bulletin has been developed to minimise potential impact to all customers.

1. Change Tax Year functionality that created new 10% super employer contributions by copying the 9.5% codes incorrectly changed the deductions for employee super contributions on the Employee Maintenance screen to a different deduction code.

One of the upgrade steps in this Bulletin checks for new employee contributions that were created when Change Tax Year was run. If any are detected, the following message is displayed on sign in to Sage MicrOpay 8.4 B1.  Please note that you only need to email Support if the message is displayed. If you do not see the message, then employee contributions have not been replaced.  Review release notes for full instructions.

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2. Where a customer processed their super after completing Change Tax Year - The primary super contributions was incorrectly included as Additional Contributions and not Primary Contributions on the report and in the file. This will impact Express Super as well. Review release notes for full instructions.

Introduced in Sage MicrOpay Version 8.4

From the 1st July 2021 the compulsory employer superannuation contribution percentage will increase from 9.5% to 10%.  The SG payment percentage calculation relates to the financial year the employee receives the payment.

Review the ATO website for more information:

https://www.ato.gov.au/rates/key-superannuation-rates-and-thresholds/?anchor=Superguaranteepercentage

SGL Percentage Change option added to Change Tax Year - auto-create and attach new 10% SG employer contributions

 

CAUTION: The June 2021 Sage MicrOpay End of Financial year release will include a feature that will allow you to update your employer contributions from 9.5% to 10% automatically.  To enable you to do this, you must upgrade to Sage MicrOpay version 8.4 BEFORE you change tax year.

Please upgrade to Sage MicrOpay version 8.4 BEFORE you complete your Change Tax Year.

Review this short video of the changes that relate to Change Tax Year in Sage MicrOpay version 8.4 and how you will update your compulsory employer superannuation contributions for 2021-2022.

  • Note: the reference to the Release Notes for Sage MicrOpay version 8.4 was released on the dates above.
  • The examples of the Employer Contribution Codes and Descriptions in the release notes are based on the Sage Training database, you can add a Code and Description that is relevant to your company.  You do not need to use the same codes as we have.  Review your current Employer Contributions and descriptions and decide what is best suited to your company.
  • It is preferable to upgrade when you do not have any current transactions present, but before you do Change Tax Year.  The changes to employer contributions and tax, only change when you are ready to complete the Change Tax Year process e.g you have finalised and completed ALL your pays for June 2021.
  • You can upgrade to Sage MicrOpay Version 8.4 before you start your last pay for June 2021 if you need to as per the details above, you only change the employer contribution codes in Change Tax Year once you have completed ALL your pays for June 2021 when you Change Tax Year to 2021-2022.
  • Download and review this Sage Knowledgebase article for further detailed information:

 

 

A new option, SGL Percentage Change, has been added to the Change Tax Year window in the Sage MicrOpay version 8.4 release.

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The purpose of this option is to reduce the amount of work you need to update SG employer contributions, by creating new 10% contributions then replacing the existing 9.5% contributions attached to employees.

After upgrade to Sage MicrOpay version 8.4 the SGL Percentage Change grid is displayed in the Change Tax Year window. The grid lists each current employer contribution:

  • where BOTH the Percentage Deduction and SGL Percentage match the SG percentage for the current financial year, i.e. 9.5% for the 2020-2021 financial year
  • that is linked to an active employee.

A Create checkbox is displayed for each employer contribution and is ticked by default.

For each listed employer contribution that you would like to replace, enter a New Code and New Description and ensure that Create is ticked before clicking OK to change the tax year.

If there are listed contributions that should not be replaced, untick Create before the tax year is changed.

NOTE: To clear a New Code and/or New Description that was entered in error, e.g. because a new employer contribution should not be created from that record, select the field text then enter a SPACE to clear the field.

If the text is just deleted, it will be restored as soon as you exit the field. A message that there is an incomplete SGL Percentage Change record that cannot be processed will be displayed when the tax year is changed.

Before you use the SGL Percentage Change/Change Tax Year:

  • You must upgrade to Sage MicrOpay version 8.4 BEFORE Changing Tax Year.

Once the tax year is changed, SGL Percentage Change is not available and you will have to manually update/create 10% SG employer contributions.

  • New employee and/or employee change records sent from external systems must be processed, i.e. new employees currently in progress in the New Employees Maintenance grid and new and/or updated employees awaiting implementation via Implement HR Changes.

If not processed before Change Tax Year is run, these employees will be excluded from the SG Percentage Change process.

  • You don't have to use SGL Percentage Change but if you do not, you will need to manually update employer superannuation contributions as required, before commencing processing in the new financial year.
  • Take a backup of your payroll database.

When Change Tax Year is run, a new 10% SG employer contribution is created for each 9.5% contribution that was selected in the SGL Percentage Change grid. Each new contribution:

  • uses the New Code and New Description you entered in the grid
  • has Percentage Deduction and SGL Percentage set to 10.00

replaces the previous 9.5% contribution that was attached to active employees

Where you have compulsory employer superannuation codes setup with a type of Units, Amount, Hours different to 9.5% or Fixed, you will need to review these on an individual employee level as you may have values that have been manually calculated using the old compulsory employer superannuation contribution percentage or salary packaging.  Check your Super File Layouts and custom reports if you have specified Employer Superannuation Contribution codes in it.