Tax Periods and Pay Frequency

What is the difference between Pay Frequency and Tax Periods?

Pay Frequency

This refers to how regularly an employee is paid, either weekly, fortnightly, monthly or seasonal (casual). This is usually entered when you initially setup a new employee.

It can be found by;

• Clicking on the Payroll toolbar option
• Clicking on the Employees tab
• If employee is new, click on Add Employee button
• If employee exists, highlight the employee by clicking on his/her name, and then click on Select Employee button.
• Click on the Applicable Pay Rates tab

Tax Periods:

When adding a pay for an employee, you need to enter the correct number of tax periods and/or days.

• Click on the Payroll toolbar option
• Click on the Employees tab
• Highlight the employee that is to be paid by clicking on his/her name, and then click on Select Employee button
• Click on the Add Pay button

In the Summary window there is a box to enter Tax Periods. If a pay is being entered for more than one pay period, change the number of periods - e.g. 4 weeks pay paid in one lump sum, for a weekly employee would be 4 Tax Periods. This will ensure that tax calculates correctly. If that same weekly employee was being paid weekly the Tax Period would be 1. For 'daily' employees (eg. shearers) be sure to select Days rather than periods.