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This information applies to MYOB AccountRight version 19. For later versions, see our help centre.


 

 

ANSWER ID:11155

AccountRight Plus, Premier and Enterprise, Australia only

In some industries and professions, items such as cars and laptops can be salary sacrificed. Here's how you can handle salary sacrifice arrangements of this type in AccountRight:

  1. Allocate the purchase of the item being sacrificed to a Salary Sacrifice liability account.
  2. Set up a salary sacrifice deduction and link it to this account.
  3. Record the employee's pay with the salary sacrifice amount deducted from their pay. The amount offsets the payable liability account.

Over time, the salary sacrifice deducted from the employee's pay will provide a full reimbursement for the purchase of the item.

If an employee wants to salary sacrifice part of their pay for superannuation, see Salary sacrifice superannuation (fixed %) or Salary sacrifice superannuation (fixed $ amount).

Set up a salary sacrifice agreement

Start by creating a salary sacrifice liability account and a deduction category.

Set up a salary sacrifice liability account
  1. Go to the Accounts command centre and click Account List.
  2. Click the Liabilities tab.
  3. Click New. The Edit Accounts window is displayed.
  4. Set up the ledger account, selecting an Account Number and Account Name that best suits your Accounts List and purpose. Here's an example:
     
Set up the deduction payroll category
  1. Go to the Payroll command centre and click Payroll Categories.
  2. Click the Deduction tab.
  3. Click New. The Deduction Information window is displayed.
  4. Give the deduction a name and then set the Linked Payable Account to the salary sacrifice liability account set up in the previous procedure.
  5. Set up how to calculate the deduction. If you need to:
    • enter the amount on each pay, or in the employee's standard pay, select User-Entered Amount per Pay Period.

    • calculate the deduction as a percentage of the employee's pay, select Equals x% of Gross Wages, or the most appropriate category.

      If you have employees that need to sacrifice using different percentages, you'll need to set up separate deduction categories for each rate.

    • enter a fixed amount on each pay, for all employees linked to this category, select Equals $x Dollars per Pay Period.
       

  6. Click Employee and select the employee to whom the salary sacrifice AND calculation basis applies.
  7. Click Exempt and select the PAYG Withholding category.

Process the salary sacrifice transactions

The purchase of the item can be made by either the employee or the business. In either instance, here's how you would record the purchase, and process the pay:

 

Purchase the item that's being salary sacrificed
  1. Go to the Banking command centre and click Spend Money.
  2. Set the Card field to the supplier, or if reimbursing the employee, your employee.
  3. Enter the transaction details including the amount.
  4. Set the Acct # field to the liability account you set up above.
  5. Click Record.

In the example above:

  • The laptop has been purchased from a supplier, and the GST Tax Code has been used as this business is able to claim an input tax credit.
  • The tax exclusive value of the purchase is $1500. This represents the total salary sacrifice amount to be deducted from the employee's pay. 

Regarding the GST: 

  • Apply the GST tax code if the business can claim the GST input tax credit for the purchase. Similarly, apply the N-T tax code if the purchase isn't to be reported on the BAS.

  • Your accountant or the ATO will be able to confirm your GST liabilities on items purchased for the purpose of salary sacrifice.
  • Where a business claims the GST input tax credit, the item's GST exclusive price becomes the total salary sacrifice amount to be deducted from the employee's pay.
Record a pay with a salary sacrifice deduction

When recording a pay, the deduction will automatically be calculated, as in the example below.

If the amount is incorrect, check the setup of the salary sacrifice deduction category, or the amount entered on the employee's standard pay.

  FAQs


How can I tell when the salary sacrifice amount has been repaid?

Use the Find Transactions window to keep track of the Salary Sacrifice liability account balance as this will show how much is still to be paid by the employee. The balance of this account is reduced each time a pay is recorded, and eventually the Ending Balance will become zero.

To check the balance outstanding:

  1. Click Find Transactions along the bottom of any command centre.
  2. In the Search by field, select Account and specify the Salary Sacrifice liability account.
  3. In the Dated From and To fields, specify a date range which spans the Salary Sacrifice liability account's life activity, in other words from when the salary sacrifice began up to the current date.
  4. The Ending Balance will be displayed.

In the example below, there $1550 left for the employee to pay for the laptop.

What do I do when the salary sacrifice amount has been repaid?

When the item has been repaid, you can unlink the deduction payroll category for the employee:

  1. Go to the Payroll command centre and click Payroll Categories.
  2. Click the Deductions tab.
  3. Click the zoom arrow next to the Salary Sacrifice deduction category.
  4. Click Employee and deselect the employee to whom the salary sacrifice applied.
  5. Click OK.

When processing your next pay run, the salary sacrifice deduction will no longer appear for the employee's pay.

How do I set up payment summaries to reflect the correct gross wages?

The Gross Wages that's to be shown on the employee's payment summary needs to be reduced by the value of the salary sacrifice deduction. When preparing your payment summaries, do this:

  1. Go to the Payroll command centre then click Print Payment Summaries.
  2. Follow the on-screen steps and advance to the Payment Summary Fields window (tab 4).
  3. Highlight Gross Payments in the Payment Summary panel.
  4. Select the salary sacrifice deduction payroll category.