Christmas will be here before we know it, and most businesses seem to be closing down for the festive break from Friday 17 December – in just a month’s time! In the mad rush to get everything done before putting the out of office on, don’t forget your payroll requirements. Record your staff’s annual leave and public holidays in Xero to save you any headaches over the Christmas break.
Our payroll guru has put together a short checklist of the things you should be doing. Make sure to set aside some time in the next few days to get them done:
Public holidays
Check you have the holiday groups set correctly in Xero. This will ensure Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day are set up as public holidays and normal salaries will calculate for those days. Even if an employee is on leave, if it’s a public holiday during their leave period, they are to be paid for the public holiday. To do this head on over to Payroll > Employees > Select the employee > Click Employment Tab and use the drop-down to select holiday group.
Annual leave
If your business has a shut-down period, then employees still need to apply for leave to cover this period. Send an email out to all team members now, so that you can approve leave requests before the festive break begins. If your staff don’t have sufficient leave available, are they allowed to go into negative leave it does it need to go through as unpaid leave? Once they have applied, you need to either approve or reject their request. Simply head over to Payroll > Overview and you should see their leave there.
Annual leave loading
Have you checked the relevant awards and employment contracts to determine if your employees are entitled to annual leave loading? If they are you need to ensure you have this set up in Xero. To do this head on over to Payroll > Employees > Select the employee > Click Taxes and ensure the box is ticked for eligible to receive leave loading
Schedule the pay run
The next step is to schedule the pay runs. If you or your payroll person is going to be on leave on your normal payday, you can schedule this in advance.
Roster scheduling
If your business is remaining over during the Christmas and New Year period, are you able to plan your roster in advance and give staff notice of the hours they will be required to work? What systems have you got in place if changes occur and you have paid employees in advance?
How we can help
If this all seems a bit too much for you, our team at Carbon Payroll are here to help, and can assist you with your pay run over the Christmas period so you can relax. We’re working as normal so you can enjoy the break without stressing about paying your team.
