Add & edit Pay Items and Allowances

Adding or Adjusting Pay Items and Allowances in your platform

Pay items and allowances can be set up within your platform anytime. With multiple configuration options, Pay Items and Allowances can be configured to your Award or Agreement requirements, with options to apply them to multiple awards at a time or a single award. 

If you want to learn how to set up and manage your Pay Items and Allowances, follow along in this guide as we cover:

• The key details you need to know before you start
• How to add in new Pay Items and Allowances
• Managing your existing Pay Items and Allowances
• Updating the Single Touch Payroll (STP) category of a Pay Item or Allowance
• Bulk updating your Pay Item and Allowance rates

  Please note: Incorrectly setting up your Pay Items or Allowances can impact your End of Financial Year (EOFY) reporting and how it is reported to the ATO via STP. Please ensure you are reporting your allowances and pay items per the ATO guidelines. 

Before you begin

Understanding Pay Items & Allowances

Before adding any allowances or pay items to your platform, it's important that you understand what they are, and all the items you need to consider before you start. Pay items and allowances are additional payments made to an employee, in addition to or beyond their ordinary wages.

Pay items are most commonly used for things like:

• Bonuses
• Commissions
• Back payments

Allowances are most commonly used for things like:

• Tool allowances
• Travel allowances
• Meal allowances
• Uniform or Laundry allowances

There are certain items that sit within the pay items and allowances category, that however, sit in different areas of the platform. Those items are:

• Shift penalties - These are built within an individual positions pay rules, in an award. With this, the shift penalty can be set to trigger for every hour worked within that positions specific rule configuration. 
• Overtime meal allowances - While these can be built here, if you would like them to be automated, you can set these within an individual positions pay rule settings. With this, the allowance can also be set to trigger for only specific positions, and day types.
• Penalty rates - Penalty rates, commonly used for things like Public Holiday rates, are a part of your Award set up, and can be add in as a Rate Label then set within your position pay rules. 

Once an item has been added to your Pay Item and Allowance Library, certain actions may not be possible due to compliance reasons. We strongly recommend that you consider the following:

• • Check with the ATO - Review and confirm the settings for your allowance or pay item prior to adding it to your platform. This can include tax, superannuation, and STP reporting categories. 
  • Deleting an allowance or pay item - Allowances and pay items can only be deleted if they have not yet been paid. Once an allowance has been paid, it cannot be deleted or archived.
  • Certain fields are locked for existing pay items and allowances - If a locked field requires an edit, you will need to create a new pay item or allowance. See the section "Editing exiting Pay Items & Allowances" for the complete list of fields that can be edited. 

Understanding Pay Item & Allowance intervals

When setting up an allowance or pay item, it's important to consider the most effective way to apply it to an employee and their payslip. The interval field is a key consideration, as it determines the frequency at which an allowance or pay item is applied.

  Please note: Pay Items and Allowances do not have a cap; they will apply to all eligible shifts the employee works. Please consider this when setting up and reviewing all items.

Let's look at how each of the intervals apply:

When setting up your pay items and allowances, you can set them up so that they can be applied automatically when shifts are approved in Approve Shifts. For each of the settings below, we will be looking at how the interval setting will trigger based on the shifts approved. 

Additionally, the allowances will apply only for ordinary time; however, you can set up allowances to apply for all hours (both ordinary and overtime) and leave; see the section below for further reading. 

• • Hourly - This allowance will apply for each hour worked.
    • In the example below, we can see that on Monday, a total of 14 hours were approved (12 ordinary and 2 overtime). The hourly allowance has only been applied to the 12 ordinary hours. 
      
      

      
      
      

  • Shift - Employees will receive the allowance for each shift they work.
    • If an employee works multiple shifts in a day, the allowance will be applied to each eligible shift. This is determined by whether there is a time gap after the previous shift.
    • This will apply to shifts worked across multiple rosters, operations, and positions from the same award. 
      
      

      

      • In the example below, we can see on Tuesday, there are 2 back to back shifts where the end time for the first shift and the start time for the second shift are both 12 pm, as there is no time gap between shifts, only 1 shift allowance is being applied. If we look at Wednesday, there is a 30 minute time gap between the shifts; as such, each shift is treated separately, and a shift allowance is applied to each. This will be the case for any gap between shifts even 1 minute. 

        
        

        
        
        

  • Daily - The allowance applies for each day there is a shift.
    • If an employee works multiple shifts in a day, the allowance will only trigger once.
      • In the example below, we can see that on Wednesday, there is a 30 minute time gap between the shifts. However, only 1 day allowance has been applied as both of these shifts are on the same day. 
        
        

        
        
        

  • Weekly - The allowance is applied per week a shift is worked.  
    • This allowance will be applied to an employee's payslip once their first shift has been approved for that week. Fortnightly pay periods will need to be done for both weeks of your period.
      • In the example below, the weekly allowance has been applied to this employee even though they only have 1 approved shift.
        
        

        

The settings below are generally used in combination with the submit shifts feature, as these require the employee or admin to specify the quantity of the allowance required. These intervals are best used for allowances that greatly vary from shift to shift, such as a Piece Rate, Sleep Disturbance, or Travel. 

• • Hour (value by candidate) 
  • Km (value by candidate)

In the example below, we can see that the employee has submitted a quantity of 15 hourly allowances. These will then go to Approve Shifts to be reviewed by an Admin User. 

  Allowances can be managed and applied in other ways, such as making the pay item or allowance optional or setting a specific amount in an employee's profile. For further reading on this topic, please refer to our article on Allowances. 

Adding and Managing Pay Items & Allowances

Adding in new Pay Item or Allowance

Pay items and allowances can be created at any time in your platform, once an award has been built. Within your Award, you can set these items to occur automatically or be manually applied when needed.

In this section, we will guide you through the following:

• Things to consider before you begin
• Creating new items for single or multiple awards
• Additional fields available when editing, or to single award items.

 

Before you begin

Before we go into the steps on setting up new pay items and allowances, it is important to note that there are a few items to consider. Please take a moment to read through the following, as they can greatly impact the amount of work you do going forward. two methods in which you can do this. The method you choose, is determined by how many awards your pay item or allowance is linked.

• • Method of application - You can add in new allowances and pay items in two ways. Your chosen method is determined by how many awards your pay item or allowance is linked to. If linked to:
    • Multiple Awards, add the pay item or allowance via Awards and Agreements > Pay Items/ Allowances > Add.
      
      
      
      
    • Single Award, add the pay item allowance via Awards and Agreements > under the Award > Pay Items & Allowances.
      • Use this method if you want to apply a pay item or allowance to a specific rate label in an Award.
      • For example, a percentage-based allowance applies to specific rate labels.
        
        
  • Uneditable fields - A few fields will become locked once a pay item or allowance is built. If these fields are filled incorrectly, you will be unable to edit your item and, as such, will need to create a new one. Please confirm you have all the correct information for the following fields, as they will be locked once your item is saved:
    • Item type
    • Interval
    • Are you required to withhold tax?
    • Tax calculation Method
    • STP Category
    • Allowance type
    • Mark this as non-payable?
    • Does super guarantee apply?
    • Variables Applied

Create a new Pay Item or Allowance

The instructions below show the method for adding a new pay item to Multiple Awards; the process will vary slightly when adding an allowance to a Single Award. 

Both methods have the same process and necessary entry fields. However, when applied directly to a Single Award, you'll see additional fields available to apply the item to specific rate labels. Please scroll to the separate section below to see the additional fields that are available.

To create a new pay item or allowance:

1. Navigate to Awards & Agreements > Pay Items/ Allowances and select Add.
2. Fill in all the required fields. View the GIF at the bottom for a demonstration. 
   
   • Select Type: Pay Item or Allowance. The type will affect how items filter through to reporting.
   • Title: This will be visible in your reporting.
   • Valid in: Select the State where the pay item is valid. If it's the same across all states, select Australia (NAT). You may need to create separate items for specific states.
   • Interval: Select the application interval depending on your item type:
     • Hourly - The allowance applies for each hour worked. 
     • Daily - The allowance applies for each day there is a shift. For days with multiple shifts, the allowance will only trigger once. 
     • Weekly - The allowance is applied per week worked. 
     • Hour (value by candidate) - The employee using submit shifts or a manager specifies the total number of the allowance that applies. 
     • Km (value by candidate)- The employee using submit shifts or a manager specifies the total number of the allowance that applies. 
     • Shift - This will apply the allowance to each shift the employee works. For days with multiple shifts, the allowance will trigger for each eligible shift. 
   • Do employees still receive this allowance when on paid leave?
     • Yes - Allowance will apply when a leave application is approved or when leave is added in Approve Shifts. 
     • No - The allowance will not apply to approved leave hours. 
   • Are you required to withhold tax?: Yes or No.
   • Select Tax calculation Method?: Available when response to "Are you required to withhold tax?" is Yes, select from the following options:
     • Marginal Tax (Default)
     • Method A applies to back payments, bonuses or similar lump sum payments irrespective of the financial year. The additional payment is apportioned over specified periods, applying the average amount to the current gross earnings.
     • Method B (i) applies to back payments relating to a specific period within the current financial year. The PAYG shortfall from tax previously withheld will be calculated based on the current tax tables for the specified period to which the back payment applies.
     • Method B (ii) applies to back payments relating to a prior financial year or additional lump sum payments regardless of the financial year. This method averages all additional payments applied within the financial year across the number of annual pay periods and applies it to the average total earnings.
     • For more information on each method, please see the Australian Tax Office (ATO)'s Schedule 5 End of Financial Year Reporting & Payment Summaries.

   • STP Category 

     • Gross
     • Overtime
     • Bonuses and Commissions
     • Directors Fees
     • Lump Sum A: Redundancy
     • Lump Sum A: Termination
     • Lump Sum B
     • Lump Sum D
     • Lump Sum E
     • Lump Sum W
     • Exempt Foreign Income
     • Allowance - If this is selected a new field will display below with more options.
     • Non-reportable.
     • For more information on STP categories, please see the Australian Tax Office (ATO)'s STP Phase 2 reporting - Quick Reference Guide.

   • Allowance 

     • Cents per Kilometre
     • Award Transport Allowance
     • Laundry Allowance
     • Overtime Meal Allowance
     • Travel and Overseas Accommodation Allowance
     • Tool Allowance
     • Task Allowance
     • Qualification Allowance
     • Other Allowances - Selecting this will display another field with the below options:

   • Other Allowance Category 

     • Non-Deductible
     • Uniform
     • Private Vehicle
     • Home Office
     • Transport/ Fares
     • General
       
   • Mark this item as non-payable? (Accrual allowance)
     
     • Yes - Allowance accrues against the interval specified (hours, days, weeks, etc). The allowance will not typically be paid directly to the employee. Some use cases for this include:
       • A bonus that is based on hours worked.
       • The value paid to an alternate fund (e.g. BERT).
     • No - Allowances are paid directly to the employee based on the interval. This will be the option that is most commonly used. 
   • Does super guarantee apply?: Super will be paid on this allowance. 
     • For hourly allowances you will need to select if:
       • Does super guarantee apply? - Does super apply only on Ordinary Hours, or does it apply to All Hours worked?
       • What hours does allowance apply to? - Does this allowance apply just for Ordinary Hours, or does it apply for All Hours worked?
   • Choose the Variables Applied
     • Workers Compensation - This will be calculated with this allowance included.
     • Payroll tax - This will be calculated with this allowance included.
     • Superannuation - Will be paid on this allowance.
     • Public liability - This will be calculated with this allowance included.
   • Specific Operations (optional): Leave this empty if the allowance applies to all operations.
     • Selecting operations here will mean that the allowance can only be applied to employees working in this operation.
   • Apply to Positions (optional): To automatically apply the allowance when approving shifts, select all relevant positions to which the allowance applies. Leave this blank if the allowance is optional or is a value by candidate allowance. 
3. Apply to Award(s): Select all awards to which the pay item or allowance applies. This applies when creating an allowance for multiple awards and cannot be left blank. 
   • Rates - Here, you will set the rate label (to appear when selecting payslips), and the allowance amount per interval.
   • Rate Label - This label will appear in the 'Pay Items/ Allowances' drop-down when selecting pay items in the payslip.
     • The rate will not be saved if you do not enter a Label.
     • If no Label is entered, the pay item or allowance will not appear on the payslip as an option. You can label the item the same as the title or use this field to call it something else.
     • Set the allowance rate per interval.
       • Select the 'No charge' tick box if this item will not be charged back to clients. 
       • To amend the relevant allowance charge rate for specific Operations, please make changes to this in the Rates book.
   • Select by: 
     • Operation - Selectable by operation users (this is a legacy feature).
     • Candidate - With this enabled, employees can apply for their allowance when using the Submit Shifts functionality.
4. Optional: This option works in conjunction with 'Apply to Positions'. With an allowance applied to a specific position, it will automatically appear on the payslip; checking 'optional' will remove that automation.
5. Save the pay item or allowance. 

Additional fields when editing an existing Pay Item or Allowance

You'll note a few additional fields available when editing an existing Pay Item or Allowance or adding it directly to the Award. As the system recognises the Award these items are attached to, you'll see additional fields allowing you to associate these items to specific position rates within that Award.

To apply a specific Award position rate to a Pay Item or Allowance:

1. Find the item you want to edit by navigating to either the:
   
   • Pay Item and Allowance Library, or
   • Select the drop-down arrow next to an individual Award > Pay Items and Allowances.
2. Scroll down to the Rate section, and select the Use position rate checkbox.
3. Once selected, new fields with more options will be displayed below.
   • Select the applicable rate label.
   • Apply a percentage value rate to this rate label. 
   • Select + Add rate to apply to multiple rate labels.
4. Save once complete.

Editing existing Pay Items & Allowances

As your business needs change, you may need to edit or update your pay items and allowances. You can view, edit, or delete your existing items from the Awards & Agreements menu. 

In this section, we will guide you through the following:

• Things to consider before you begin
• Editing existing Pay Items and Allowances

 

Before you begin

When you want to edit or delete an allowance, there are important considerations to keep in mind, as certain actions may not be possible for compliance reasons. These include:

• • Deleting an allowance or pay item - Only items that have not been paid can be deleted.
    • Once a Pay Item or Allowance has been paid, it will appear in timesheets and some financial reporting.
      
        Contact us: Removing paid items from your platform is complicated. If you need to take action, please first reach out to our Support Team for guidance. 
  • Uneditable fields - Once an item has been created and saved, specific fields are locked from editing.
    • You can edit the following fields:
      • Title - This is used in reporting and has no impact on how the pay item or allowance functions.
      • Valid in - This will make the pay item or allowance valid in different states, which can affect which operations have access to it.
      • Do employees still receive this allowance when on paid leave? - Yes/ No.
      • Specific Operations - Optionally choose which specific operations the allowance or pay item applies to.
      • Apply to Positions - Optionally specify the pay item or allowance to specific positions only.
      • Label - Overrides the 'title' of the pay item or allowance. Seen on payslips and in reports.
      • Allowance per [interval] - The rate of the allowance can be updated.
      • Use position rate - Optionally apply this to a specific position rate within your chosen award. Once selected, apply the chosen rate label and percentage of that rate.
      • Select by:
        • Operation - Selectable by Operation Users (this is a legacy feature).
        • Candidate - With this enabled, employees can apply for their allowance when using submit shifts.
      •  Optional - This option works in conjunction with 'Apply to Positions'. With an allowance applied to a specific position, it will automatically appear on the payslip; checking 'optional' will remove that automation.
        
          Please note: If you need to edit a locked field, the correct process will be to create a new pay item or allowance; see the section above for further details. 
  • Removing Positions or Operations - If your item currently has specific Positions and/ or Operations assigned within its configuration, it can trigger that item and automatically appear on employee payslips.
    • Removing any of the Positions or Operations from an already paid item can directly impact employee pay.  

How to edit an allowance or pay item:

1. From the main menu, navigate to Awards & Agreements and select Pay Items/ Allowance. This will display the Pay Item and Allowance Library.
2. Navigate to the appropriate tab and use the search function to find the item you're after.
   
     Hot tip: If you have the same allowance built across multiple Awards and need to edit and update the item for just an individual Award. Instead of searching through your entire catalogue, you can navigate directly to your selected Award > Pay Items and Allowances to find and update that item.
3. Select the edit icon. 
         
4. From here, you can edit or delete the allowance. 
5. Select Save once your changes have been made.

Update the STP category of a Pay Item or Allowance

You may find that your pay item or allowance has been attributed to the wrong STP category, which you'd like to correct. If this is the case, users with the relevant permission will have access to change the STP category assigned to deductions, pay items, allowances and leave items.

  Permission Reminder: Only users with the permission 'Manage STP Categories' can change this field, which will move all your reportable data to a new STP reporting category.

In this section, we will guide you through the following:

• Things to consider before you begin
• Updating the STP category for your Pay Item or Allowance

Before you begin 

Before updating your STP category, it is essential to note that this will have a flow-on effect in other areas of your platform. Once your change is made, it will affect the following:

• • Reporting for the entire financial year selected
  • All payslips for all employees with that Pay Item or Allowance paid
    
      Please note: Changing the STP category will trigger a new STP package for each employee whose payslips are affected. You will need to review and submit those packages to the ATO. 

To change the allowance STP category:

1. From the main menu, navigate to Awards & Agreements. You can choose to adjust from
   • The Pay Items and Allowances Library, or
   • In the Pay items and Allowances of a specific Award.
2. Locate the pay item you'd like to edit, select the edit icon to the right, and choose the Change STP category selection. 
   
   

   

3. The current STP category will show in the drawer. To make a change, adjust the following selections:
   • New STP category - All relevant choices will show the drop-down box.
   • Apply change beginning from - This change will apply to the entire selected financial year.
   • Preview related payslips - Engage the toggle to view all related payslips where this STP category change will be reflected.
     
       Hot tip: Updating the STP category will affect employee's ATO data. Please ensure you are aware of the implications of performing this action. The blue ATO badge will link you directly to ATO guidance on STP reporting.
4. Once your selections are finalised, select the Apply Change button.

Your changes are complete. If you open the change drawer again, you can see the new STP category.

In this example, we will correct a mistake in the STP reporting category for a Tool allowance. It was mistakenly categorised as a laundry allowance for the current financial year. You can follow along as we make the necessary changes, check the associated payslips, and refresh the screen to see the updated information.

Update Pay Item & Allowance rates in bulk *NEW

Once you have added your Pay Items and Allowances, you likely won't need to update them unless in the case of the following scenarios:

• Editing an incorrect field.
• Adding in additional rates.
• Adding in additional Positions or Operations
• Conducting a Rate Rise for a new financial year. 

If you are looking for a complete list of your Pay Items and Allowances, along with the rate assigned. You can gather that information quickly and easily from our CSV Import page. You can also update the rates for these in bulk from this page. 

In this section, we will guide you through the following:

• Using the CSV export/ import function.
• The data validation required when filling out the CSV file. 

  Please note: Using this CSV to update your rates will only update them in your Award. Any overrides in your Operations will remain unchanged.

To export or bulk update your allowance rates:

1. From the main menu, navigate to Import/ Export > CSV Import.
2. From the drop-down list, select Award Allowances Rate (from Export).
3. To download the complete list of your Pay Items and Allowances, along with their rates, select Export All Allowances Rates. 
4. If you would like to update the rates, you will need to update the export then:
   • Select Choose file, and upload your edited file. 
   • Upload CSV, to load in your new rates to the platform. 

Data Validation

When importing data to your platform, the information must be formatted correctly. Below, we have outlined all the fields used in this import for you to take a look at. You can also see this by selecting Get Field Definitions on the CSV Import page for your selected import. 

  Please note: Only the bolded fields in this import are editable. All other fields must remain the same for this import to work correctly. 

Column Name	Column Definition	Can this field be edited?
Award ID	Existing Award ID.	No
Award name	Existing Award name.	No
Allowance name	Existing Allowance name.	No
Allowance Type	Existing Allowance type. Allowance or Pay Item.	No
Allowance variables	Existing variables assigned to the allowance. Payroll (tax), Workcover, Super, Public Liability.	No
Rate label	Allowance name.	No
Rate	Rate of pay for Allowance	Yes
Charge Out	Charge rate for Allowance.  Relevant for labour-hire organisations.	Yes
Record ID	Allowance rate ID.	No