COVID-19 wage subsidy (JobKeeper) payments

1. Go to the Accounting menu and choose Chart of accounts. The Accounts page appears.
2. Click Create account. The Create account page appears.
3. Select Detail account.
4. Choose Income as the Account type.
5. Choose Income as the Parent Header.
6. Enter a 4-digit Account number after the dash which suits your accounts list. For example, 4-1001.
7. For the Account Name enter JOBKEEPER SUBSIDY (NO GST), to help you and your employees identify the JobKeeper payments.
8. (Optional) Enter the account's Opening balance.
9. Choose N-T Not Reportable as the Tax Code.

10. (Optional) Enter Notes about this account.
    Here's our example:
    

11. Once you're done, click Save.

You can now set up the required wage pay item to ensure JobKeeper payments are reported correctly to the ATO.

You'll need to set up a pay item: JOBKEEPER-TOPUP. This will be used for employees earning less than the JobKeeper payment amount, or for those who've been stood down, and must be paid a top-up to bring their taxable gross to $1,500 per fortnight.

Let's set up the JOBKEEPER-TOPUP pay item:

1. Go to the Payroll menu and select Pay items. The Pay items page appears.
2. Click the Wages and salary tab.
3. Click Create wage pay item. The Create wage pay item page appears.
4. Select the option, JobKeeper top-up payment. The following fields are automatically completed:
   
   1. Name

   2. ATO reporting category

   3. Pay basis

      To prevent rejected STP reports, these fields cannot be changed.

      
      

   Optional expense account

   If you want to account for your JobKeeper top-up payments separately, you can create an expense account. You can then select the optionOverride employees' wage expense accountin the pay item and choose the new expense account. Check with your MYOB Partner or accounting advisor if you're not sure if this is suitable for your business.

5. Under the Employees using this pay item, choose the employees who will be paid the JobKeeper payments.
   Here's our example:
   
   

6. Click Save.

This task is only applicable if you're not paying super on JobKeeper top-up payments. If you will be paying super on these payments you can skip this task.

Take a look at these fortnightly pay examples to see what super is typically paid on:

To stop super calculating on the JobKeeper top-up pay item

1. Go to the Payroll menu and choose Pay items. The Pay items page appears.
2. Click the Superannuation tab.
3. Click to open the Superannuation Guarantee pay item.
4. Under Exemptions, click the Add exemption dropdown button .
5. Choose the JOBKEEPER-TOPUP wage pay item.
   Here's our example:
   
6. Click Save.

Once you're ready to start JobKeeper payments, there's a simple step you'll need to do to notify the ATO via Single Touch Payroll.

1. Go to the Payroll menu and select Single Touch Payroll reporting. The Single Touch Payroll reporting page appears.
2. Click the JobKeeper payments tab.
3. Choose the applicable Payroll year.
4. Select an eligible employee.
5. Under First JobKeeper fortnight, choose the relevant fortnightly period during which your employee started receiving JobKeeper payments.
   Here's our example:
   
6. Repeat for each eligible employee.

7. Once you've selected all eligible employees, click Notify the ATO (at the bottom of the page).

8. When prompted, enter the name of the authorised sender and click Send.

1. Go to the Payroll menu and choose Create pay run. The Create pay run page appears.
2. Choose your Pay cycle.
3. Choose who you're paying and the pay dates. Then click Next.
4. Click the arrow to open an employee's pay.
5. Take note of the amount shown against Base Salary or Base Hourly pay items. This is typically the employee's regular income and will help you work out how to record the JobKeeper payment.

6. Enter the employee's pay.

   If an employee is	Do this
   being paid less than the JobKeeper payment	Enter the hours or amount for the work they've done against the relevant pay item, such as Base Salary or Base Hourly. Enter the top-up amount (to bring their pay up to the required JobKeeper payment amount) against the JOBKEEPER-TOPUP pay item. Only enter the amount, not hours. This ensures that leave won't accrue on the JobKeeper top-up. See the FAQ below for more details.
   being paid more than the JobKeeper payment	Enter their pay as you normally would against the relevant pay item, such as Base Salary or Base Hourly wage pay item. Employees will accrue their usual leave entitlements.
   stood down	Enter the full JobKeeper payment against the JOBKEEPER-TOPUP pay item. Employees still need to accrue their usual leave entitlements. See the FAQ below for more details.

   
   Here are some examples:

   Example 1: Employee paid less than $750 per week.

   Here's an example of an employee who works 20 hours per week and is paid is less than the JobKeeper amount ($750). For their 20 hours they earn $500 per week.

   Under JobKeeper, they'll now earn $750 per week so we've put their extra $250.00 against the JOBKEEPER-TOPUP pay item ($500+ $250= $750).

   

   Example 2: Employee paid more than $1500 per fortnight.

   Here's an employee who is paid is more than the fortnightly JobKeeper amount ($1500). They normally earn $1742.31 per fortnight. Under JobKeeper, they'll be paid the same amount.

   Enter their pay as you normally would and record their pay against the relevant pay item, in this case Base Salary.  

   

   Example 3: Employee who is stood down.

   Here's an employee who has been stood down. Regardless of what they were earning while working, they'll now receive the full JobKeeper payment.

   So in their fortnightly pay we'll enter $1500.00 against the JOBKEEPER-TOPUP pay item.

   

7. When you're done, repeat steps 4 - 6 for each employee.

8. Finish your pays as you normally would. Need a refresher?

The wage subsidy payments from the government will automatically appear in your bank feed transactions.

• If you've already recorded a Receive Money transaction for the deposit (as described below), you can match the bank feed transaction to it.
• If you haven't recorded a Receive Money transaction for the deposit, you can do so straight from the Manage bank feeds page (Banking > Manage bank feeds). When creating the Receive Money transaction, allocate the deposit to the income account we set up earlier (the steps below will show you what this means).

For details about how to work with bank feed transactions, see Managing your bank feeds.

 You'll need to manually enter a Receive Money transaction, like this:

1. Go to the Banking menu and choose Receive money. The Receive money page appears.
2. In the Bank account field, choose the JOBKEEPER-TOPUP income account the JobKeeper payment has been deposited into.
3. (Optional) If you've set up a contact for the ATO, choose them in the Contact field.
4. For the Description of transaction, enter the details of this payment.
5. In the Account column, choose the income account you created earlier.
6. In the Amount column, enter the JobKeeper payment amount you've received.
   Here's our example:
   
7. The Tax code will be based on the one you specified when you created the income account. In this case, it will be N-T Not Reportable.
8. When you're done, click Record.

How are leave accruals affected by JobKeeper? 

Typically, an eligible employee's leave entitlements will not change under JobKeeper. So the amount of leave they were accruing before JobKeeper, will continue to accrue during JobKeeper.  For more information, visit this Fair Work website.

As the JOBKEEPER-TOPUP is set up as a salary type pay item, hours can't be entered against it on the pay run. So if an employee's leave entitlements are based on a % of hours worked, no leave will accrue on JOBKEEPER-TOPUP payments.

This means you'll need to use a new pay item if you need to record leave accruals for employees:

• whose leave is set up as a % of hours worked, and
• who are receiving payments against JOBKEEPER-TOPUP, for example a stood down employee.

This pay item will only be used to calculate leave accruals and will have no dollar amount against it. Therefore, it won't need to be reported to the ATO.

Let's step you through it:

1. Go to the Payroll menu and select Pay items. The Pay items page appears.
2. Click the Wages and salary tab.
3. Click Create wage pay item. The Create wage pay item page appears.
4. Enter a name that's easy to identify, such as Leave Accrual - Stand Down.
5. Choose Allowance - other as the ATO reporting category.

6. For the Pay basis, select Hourly.
   Here's our example:
   

7. Under the Employees using this pay item, choose the employees who will be paid the JobKeeper payments.
8. Click Save.

When you pay the employee, enter the amount of hours they need to accrue leave on.

What if I've paid my employees before setting up JobKeeper?

No problem, there's no need to change the pays you've already done.

Before your next pay run, make sure you notify the ATO that you've started making JobKeeper payments via Single Touch Payroll. For details, see task 4 'Notify the ATO that you're starting to pay JobKeeper'.

Do I have to pay back pay?

As the ATO requires each eligible employee to be paid at least $1500 per fortnight, you'll need to make sure your first JobKeeper pay includes any required back pay.

How do I make a final JobKeeper payment to an employee?

If you need to make a final JobKeeper payment to an employee, you need to notify the ATO via Single Touch Payroll, by choosing a Final JobKeeper fortnight date for the employee.

1. Go to the Payroll menu and choose Payroll Reporting.
2. Click the JobKeeper payments tab.
3. Select the employee.

4. In the Final JobKeeper fortnight list, choose the relevant fortnightly period after the last JobKeeper payment they've received. For example, if an employee's last JobKeeper payment was 14 August (during FN10) then choose 17 Aug - 30 Aug JOBKEEPER-FINISH-FN11 as the Final JobKeeper fortnight.
   

5. Repeat for any other affected employees.

6. Once you're done, click Notify the ATO.

7. When prompted, enter the name of the authorised sender and click Send. 

This will inform the ATO that the employee will no longer receive JobKeeper payments.

An employee has become ineligible during JobKeeper. What should I do?

If an employee becomes ineligible during the JobKeeper scheme, you need to notify the ATO via Single Touch Payroll, by choosing a Final JobKeeper fortnight date for the employee.

1. Go to the Payroll menu and select Single Touch Payroll reporting. The Single Touch Payroll reporting page appears.
2. Click the JobKeeper payment tab.
3. Select the employee.
4. In the Final JobKeeper fortnight list, choose the relevant fortnightly period after the last JobKeeper payment they've received. For example, if an employee's last JobKeeper payment was 19 June (during FN06) then choose 22 Jun- 05 Jul JOBKEEPER-FINISH-FN07 as the Final JobKeeper fortnight.
   
   

5. Repeat for any other affected employees.

6. Once you're done, click Notify the ATO (at the bottom of the page).

7. When prompted, enter the name of the authorised sender and click Send.

This will inform the ATO (when you send the pay via Single Touch Payroll reporting) that the employee will no longer receive JobKeeper payments.

If you've notified the ATO that JobKeeper has started for an employee that is not eligible for JobKeeper, you can easily fix this in the STP reporting centre.

1. Go to the Payroll menu and select Single Touch Payroll reporting. The Single Touch Payroll reporting page appears.
2. Click the JobKeeper payment tab.
3. Select the ineligible employee.

4. In the Final JobKeeper fortnight list, choose the same fortnightly period you chose for the First JobKeeper fortnight.
   Here's our example:
   

5. Repeat this for any other employees who you've accidentally selected.

6. Click Notify the ATO (at the bottom of the page).

7. When prompted, enter the name of the authorised sender and click Send.

If you need to reverse or delete any pays you've processed for the employee, see Changing or deleting a pay.

What if I've selected the wrong JobKeeper start date for an employee?

This is easily fixed. You just need to:

1. Go to the Payroll menu and select Single Touch Payroll reporting. The Single Touch Payroll reporting page appears.
2. Click the JobKeeper payment tab.
3. Select the employee.  

4. In the Start JobKeeper fortnight list, choose the correct fortnightly period.

5. Repeat this for any other employees whose start date needs to be amended.

6. Click Notify the ATO.

7. When prompted, enter the name of the authorised sender and click Send. 

Is my business eligible for JobKeeper?

To determine if your business is eligible for JobKeeper, you must calculate if your turnover has reduced. To check your eligibility use the turnover test, visit the ATO website.

You can run the following reports to help provide you with the information you need to calculate any change in turnover:

• GST report (GST exclusive) – monthly or quarterly
• Profit and loss report
• Budget (if projections are relevant)

Use the appropriate report to identify relevant income, exclusive of GST, for the two periods that you are comparing. This may not be straightforward so check with an MYOB Partner or the ATO for guidance.

I'm a sole trader. Am I eligible for JobKeeper?

Sole traders (with no employees) may be eligible to receive JobKeeper payments if their business has experienced a downturn according to the ATO’s eligibility criteria. To check if you’re eligible visit this ATO website.

If you’re eligible, there’s no need to set yourself up as an employee in MYOB – just enrol directly with the ATO.

When you receive JobKeeper payments from the government, follow the steps in this help topic to set up a new income account and record them as a Receive Money transaction in MYOB.