Superannuation Guarantee Rate Increases To 10 Percent On 1 July 2021

Superannuation Guarantee Rate Increases To 10 Percent On 1 July 2021

The rate of compulsory super that your employer pays you will rise to 10% from 1 July 2021. The Superannuation Guarantee (SG) is the minimum amount that an employer must pay into your super fund if you are an eligible employee. As of 1 July 2021, the SG will rise from 9.5% to 10% of your ordinary time earnings. Ordinary time earnings salary is generally what you earn for your ordinary hours of work, including commissions, shift loadings and allowances, but not overtime payments. Under the current legislated timetable, the SG rate rises to 10% on 1 July 2021 and then incrementally by 0.5% each financial year to 12% by 1 July 2025. As a result, employers need to update their payroll settings to reflect the 0.5% increase in the SG rate. More importantly, employers and employees will be required to consider the future impact of the increased SG costs. What will the effect be on employers and employees? The terms of existing and new salary packages will dictate the financial impact of the SG rate increase. For example:- Will the additional 0.5% SG contribution be added to the existing salary package (Therefore, no change to employee net pay)?ORWill the additional 0.5% SG contribution be incorporated into the existing salary package (Reduction to employee net pay)?Furthermore, it will be important to look into the relevant employee awards for the effect of the increase in the SG rate. DateSG Rate1 July 202110.0%1 July 202210.5%1 July 202311.0%1 July...
New Law Introduced To Prevent Casual Employees Double-Dipping: What You Need To Do Now

New Law Introduced To Prevent Casual Employees Double-Dipping: What You Need To Do Now

On 18 December 2018 the Government varied the Fair Work Regulations 2009 to allow employers, in certain circumstances, to offset the casual loading paid to an employee against certain entitlements that may otherwise be owed to the employee if they are found in the future to be a permanent employee. This change to the law has been introduced in reaction to the case of Workpac v Skene [2018] FCAFC 131  where an employee classified as a casual employee (and paid a loading) was later found by the court to be a permanent employee. In that case the court ordered the employer to back pay the employee the annual leave he should have accrued, despite the fact that he had been paid a casual loading to compensate him for not being entitled to paid leave. Casual loading offsetting NES entitlements For employers to benefit from the new law, certain criteria need to be met including that: “the employer pays the person an amount (the loading amount) that is clearly identifiable as an amount paid to compensate the person for not having one or more relevant NES entitlements during a period (the employment period)”. The reference to “relevant NES entitlements” are to those matters set out in the National Employment Standards in the Fair Work Act 2009 which do not apply to casual employees and include entitlements such as paid annual leave and personal/carer’s leave, redundancy pay, etc. The new law acts retrospectively as well as going forward – so if an employee makes a claim in the future in respect of periods of employment in the past, the Regulations will still apply. In our view, there are two matters which employers will...
Hubdoc – How it Works

Hubdoc – How it Works

        Hubdoc is an online cloud-based service and mobile app for digitizing financial documentation. Designed to alleviate data entry for busy business owners and bookkeepers. With Hubdoc, your  key financial docs automatically flow into one place. Quickly view your receipts, bills and statements the moment they are sync’d or uploaded. Hubdoc captures, processes and syncs precious information between leading accounting applications. Simply snap paper invoices, bills or receipts using smartphone or tablet camera and the apps for iOS or Android scans those documents ready for upload. Single sign-in for associated online accounts and the ability to import pre-existing scans via upload or email also allows Hubdoc to automatically grab financial data. With copies placed in fully customizable folder structures, documents can then be archived and viewed anywhere and across multiple devices via app or browser. Cloud-based storage features bank-level protection boasting industry-standard levels of encryption and verification technology. Financial data from uploaded documents or linked accounts can then be published between leading accounting software such as Xero and Quickbooks. Vendor Rules allow how Hubdoc codes docs and data to be changed, ensuring seamless integration within existing systems and user groups. Try it for yourself.  ...

Christmas Gifts for Employees, Clients and Suppliers

With Christmas around the corner it is a good idea to check what are acceptable “Gifts”    Christmas Gifts for Employees Are gifts to your employees claimable? Gifts may be classified as “entertainment” or “non-entertainment”.The provision of a gift to an employee at Christmas time, such as a hamper, may be a minor benefit that is an exempt benefit where the value is less than $300. Where the gift is given at the Christmas party, each benefit can be considered separately. For gifts such as wine, food, hampers, vouchers, etc., these are not considered to be entertainment. If the gift is a minor benefit (i.e., less than $300 value), then the gift is not tax deductible, and therefore GST is not claimable for gifts to employees and their family members. No FBT applies to gifts of less than $300. For gifts over $300, FBT may apply for employees and their family members. Gifts such as a holiday, membership to a club, or tickets to a theatre, sporting or musical event are considered to be entertainment. For minor benefits, as above, the gift is not tax deductible and no FBT applies. For employees this is not a minor benefit, the gift is tax deductible but it is also subject to FBT. Christmas Gifts for Your Clients and Suppliers Are gifts to your clients and suppliers claimable? Gifts may be classified as “entertainment” or “non-entertainment”. For gifts such as wine, food, hampers, vouchers, etc., these are not considered to be entertainment. Non-entertainment gifts to clients or suppliers are deductible and GST is claimable. Gifts such as a holiday, membership to a club,...

Thinking of Outsourcing Your Bookkeeping?

  Are you a business owner or operator who is considering outsourcing your bookkeeping? Then you’re in the right place! Read on to discover the benefits of outsourcing your bookkeeping to a qualified professional. Find out what to look for in a bookkeeper, what skills they have, and how a bookkeeper can help you run a more successful, profitable business. 10 reasons to outsource your bookkeeping Leveraging time is the goal of most smart business operators. Leveraging your time in business means that you achieve many tasks with the least personal input, thus reserving your time for the most important parts of your business. Outsourcing is a powerful business tool for those committed to leveraging their time. Done well, it brings significant benefits to your business. Consider the following 10 reasons to outsource your business’s bookkeeping. Outsourcing will: free you and your key personnel up to focus on your core business. save you money. A contract bookkeeper is significantly more efficient at dealing with bookkeeping issues and accounting software. This efficiency means the cost of you performing your own bookkeeping is likely to be higher. The opportunity cost (due to your time being spent on bookkeeping) may be significant again. offer you the ability to tap into a knowledge base not available internally. give you peace of mind knowing that you have complied with your legislative obligations. enable efficient dealings with the Tax Office, including lodgements. improve your financial reporting abilities, thus improving your access to key information with which to run your business. allow you to leverage the bookkeeper’s software knowledge, ensuring that you’re using the best software...