To assign an overtime category to an employee

1. Go to the Payroll command centre and click Payroll Categories.
2. Click the Wages tab. Any overtime categories will be listed. Here's AccountRight's 2 default overtime categories:
   
3. Click the blue zoom arrow () to open an ovetime category.
4. Click Employee.
5. Select the employees entitled to this overtime rate.
6. Click OK.
7. Repeat steps 3-6 to assign additional overtime categories to your employees.

The overtime payroll category is now assigned to your employees and you'll be able to pay overtime as explained below.

If AccountRight's default overtime wage categories don't meet your requirements, here's how to set up a new overtime category:

1. Go to the Payroll command centre and click Payroll Categories.
2. Click the Wages tab.
3. Click New.
4. Enter a Wages Name, such as Overtime (2.5x).
5. For the Type of Wages, select Hourly.
6. If you report to the ATO through Single Touch Payroll, select the applicable ATO Reporting Category. If unsure, check with your accounting advisor or the ATO. Learn more about assigning ATO reporting categories for Single Touch Payroll reporting.
7. For the Pay Rate, select Regular Rate Multiplied by and enter the overtime rate, such as 2.5000. Here's our example overtime category setup:
   
8. (Optional) If you want to track overtime using a separate account, e.g. to show overtime separately on your profit and loss statement, select Optional Account and choose the applicable account.
9. Click Employee.
10. Select the employees entitled to this overtime rate.
11. Click OK then click OK again.
12. Complete the next task to stop super calculating on new overtime categories.

To stop super calculating on an overtime category

According to the ATO guidelines, overtime payments aren't part of ordinary time earnings (OTE) for super guarantee purposes.

Super is already excluded from AccountRight's default overtime categories. But if you've created a new overtime category, here's how to stop super calculating on it:

1. Go to the Payroll command centre and click Payroll Categories.
2. Click the Superannuation tab.
3. Click the blue zoom arrow to open the Superannuation Guarantee category.
4. Click Exempt.
5. Select your new overtime category.
6. Click OK then click OK again.
7. Repeat steps 3-6 for all other super categories assigned to the employee.

To pay overtime

Once you've assigned overtime categories to your employees, you can pay them overtime.

1. Start a pay run as you normally would.
2. Click the blue zoom arrow () to review the employee's pay.
3. Enter the number of overtime hours against the applicable overtime category. Here's an example of 2 hours time-and-a-half and 1 hour double time.
   
4. Finish processing the pay as normal.

Find out how much overtime you've paid by running the Payroll Category Transactions report (Reports menu > Index to Reports > Payroll tab > Payroll Category Transactions). You can filter the report for one or more overtime payroll categories and employees. Learn more about Payroll reports.