MYOB recently hosted a lunch and learn webinar — Nailing EOFY for Bookkeepers — for our Bookkeeping Practices to help them prepare for the new financial year.
Hosted by Leanne Berry, MYOB’s Community Relations Manager — Bookkeepers, the webinar featured a panel of experts offering advice across a broad range of EOFY topics.
Hear from Peter Thorp, Director, Australian Bookkeepers Network on how to avoid the time crunch of EOFY.
“We have competing demands, we have clients and their accountants looking for information, but at the same time, we also have compliance demands from the government for lodgements,” he says.
Tips for getting ahead:
Really good planning. Get everything lined up well in advance and know all the key dates
Work out by date what you can bring forward into June, and what you can stretch out until later
Best planning is made from all available information. So know your deadlines and the deadlines of accountants
Good communication is essential
Stay calm and trust the systems in place. It’s important to have a calm demeanour for clients
HR legislation to be aware of
Damien Gooden, Chief Executive, HR Central speaks about:
Increase to minimum wages and national awards from the first full pay period after 1 July, 2023
Inflationary pressures and cost of living increases means small business owners are asking how they maintain profitability
Important for everyone to be aware that all SMEs are dealing with cost-of-living pressures. So be aware before raising costs or prices
Some of the more impactful issues of IR include:
Wage secrecy has been abolished. It’s now illegal to put in an employee contract that they can’t talk about how much they make with other employees
Ten days of family domestic violence leave. Employers need to manage this very carefully. The legislation stresses that recording the leave on the employee payslip cannot show as domestic violence leave, to protect the employee accessing the leave.
Changes to sexual harassment legislation. Because the law now requires employers to be more proactive, there needs to be more ironclad policies. Also there has to be better procedures to minimise occurrences and to take action swiftly, privately, and completely.
STP finalisation
Hear from Sonya Prosper, Partner Success Manager at MYOB on STP reporting tips as she demonstrates changes in software
Tips include:
Under the STP Reports tab, make sure at least one pay event has been accepted for each client
Important – start reconciling STP data now. Also you need to ensure the payroll activity report and your EOFY verification report are in alignment
Information on the increase in employer superannuation contribution from 10.5% to 11% on July 1. And how you can automate the process
How to generate EOFY payroll report packs. Also, how to create a standardised template you can seamlessly use across all clients
Other tips include:
You need to ensure your payroll activity and payroll register reports match
Use the exceptions dashboard to make sure the receivables reconciliation and the payables reconciliation exceptions are balanced
How to use the MYOB Practice Portal to securely send sensitive documents and reports to clients for signing and approvals