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Jan 2021

12

Thesaurus Customer Update: January 2021

Welcome to Thesaurus Software's January update. Our most important news this month include:

Revenue announce further changes to the EWSS for 2021 

Revenue have introduced further changes to the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme. Join us on 20th January as we recap upcoming changes to the EWSS and what these changes mean for your business. Plus, we will share some of the key lessons learned from processing payroll in a pandemic, and how it prepares us for payroll in the ‘next normal’. 

Thesaurus Connect – It's better than ever before! 

We are committed to consistently improving our software to better serve your needs and enhance your customer experience. This year we have introduced many new features to Thesaurus Connect, including improved multi-user / working from home functionality and an extra layer of security.

  • Version checking when opening a payroll file
  • ‘Other users’ checking when opening a payroll file
  • Define and set custom leave types
  • Improved calendar functionality

Pricing Strategies that work – what other practices are doing 

In this free webinar for accountants and payroll bureaus we explore how you can maximise the value of your payroll service offering. Learn how technology and automation turn daunting payroll tasks into a smooth and profitable process. We look at four tried and tested pricing strategies that will help secure your payroll profitability.  

Moving from Thesaurus Payroll Manager 2020 to 2021

Every tax year we release brand new software in line with the new budgetary requirements. Thus, to move your payroll on to a new tax year, simply download the new tax year version of Thesaurus Payroll Manager. Your software for the new tax year will contain a seamless import facility to bring across your employee details from the previous tax year.  

Updates to EWSS Eligibility and Subsidy Rates 

There has been a change to the EWSS qualifying criteria for pay dates on or after 1st January 2021. The change relates to the periods to be used for assessing the minimum 30% reduction in sales/orders. Where employers have been availing of EWSS in 2020, they will now need to review expected turnover for the 6 months to 30th June 2021 versus the 6 months ended 30th June 2019 (not 2020). The rates of subsidy have also been revised to better support businesses. 

Posted byRachel HynesinCustomer Update

Dec 2020

1

Thesaurus Customer Update: December 2020

Welcome to Thesaurus Software's December update. Our most important news this month include:

*** Extra Dates Added to COVID-19 Webinar Series ***

Still confused about the Wage Subsidy Scheme? Don’t worry you’re not alone. Due to phenomenal demand, extra dates have been added to our COVID-19 & payroll webinar series. Join us on 9th December for our free webinar: Important Updates to the Wage Subsidy Scheme | Guest Speaker: Revenue

Time to Renew your 2021 Payroll Licence – What's the Quickest Way? 

Due to the impact of the pandemic, our phone lines are busier than ever before which is leading to longer than normal wait times. The quickest and easiest way to purchase your 2021 licence is online. The order process is straightforward and takes approximately 3 minutes to complete. Once your order is complete you will receive your invoice along with your licence key which you will need to activate your 2021 licence.

Please note: Thesaurus Payroll Manager has not been released yet. We will send you another email once the software is available to download and install.

Employee Gift Cards & The Benefits of the Small Benefit Exemption Scheme 

As Christmas fast approaches, employers are looking for ways to show their employees their appreciation for their hard work, especially in these difficult times. Employers can reward employees without incurring taxes by giving them a One4all gift card using the Small Benefit Exemption Scheme. Avoid the post office queues and purchase your gift cards from within Thesaurus Payroll Manager. There is no additional charge to avail of this facility to purchase gift cards. 

Payroll in a Pandemic - Make sure your practice isn't left behind

Accountants and payroll bureaus are urged to plan and prepare for the upcoming challenges COVID-19 brings to their payroll services. Now is the time to plan and future-proof your payroll bureau for survival. This guide highlights practical tips to ensure COVID-19 doesn’t affect your payroll performance.

New improved ‘working from home’ functionality (Coming 2021)

Thesaurus Payroll Manager 2021 in tandem with Thesaurus Connect will allow for completely seamless ‘working from home’ process where there are multiple individuals who work on or require access to the same employer files. This new functionality improves the remote working experience, giving you all the benefits of the cloud while utilising the power and responsiveness of your local device.

Posted byRachel HynesinCustomer Update

Nov 2020

3

Thesaurus Customer Update: November 2020

Welcome to Thesaurus Software's November update. Our most important news this month include:

COVID-19 Webinar with Guest Speakers Revenue: Wage Subsidy Scheme Explained 

We have teamed up with Revenue to bring you a free webinar where we discuss everything you need to know about TWSS reconciliation and the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), including key changes to the scheme, eligibility criteria, processing subsidy claims, and operating the scheme in Thesaurus Payroll Manager. The webinar will also include a live Q&A session with experts from Thesaurus Software and Revenue. Only 30 places remaining – book your place now.  

COVID-19 & achieving business continuity in the cloud 

In the ‘new normal’, employers and employees expect to access their payroll information in the cloud. Self-service online portals are changing the way businesses interact and communicate with their employees, whilst providing the cloud functionality to get things done smarter and faster. Thesaurus Connect enables clients to submit employee hours, approve the payroll run, manage their employees’ leave, run payroll reports and much more.

Thesaurus Payroll Manager 2021 is coming soon... 

We have some exciting new features coming in Thesaurus Payroll Manager 2021, including improved cloud functionality with Thesaurus Connect. This new functionality gives you the best of both worlds – a desktop-based payroll software but with cloud access capabilities, improving the remote-working experience. Pre-order your Thesaurus Payroll Manager 2021 licence today!  

How can an employee app improve your payroll processes? 

Traditionally, using a mobile phone in the workplace could sometimes be seen as a complete no-no. But that’s rapidly changing thanks to the myriad of ways that employers are now using mobile technology to streamline their business and boost employee morale. But these apps can do more than make your business a nicer place to work for your employees. They can improve your payroll processes too. 

Posted byRachel HynesinCustomer Update

Oct 2020

1

Thesaurus Customer Update: October 2020

Welcome to Thesaurus Software's October update. Our most important news this month include:

TWSS Reconciliation - Upload to ROS before 31st October

As the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme is now closed, to enable an accurate reconciliation between subsidy amounts refunded by Revenue and the amounts of subsidy that employers paid to their employees, Revenue requires employers to report the actual subsidy paid to employees, on each pay date. TWSS Reconciliation files can be created in Thesaurus Payroll Manager within Reports > TWSS Report. This file must be uploaded to ROS by 31st October.

How Does Remote Working Affect Payroll and HR?

When employees are working remotely, even the most basic tasks such as distributing payslips, applying for annual leave and internal communication can be more difficult. However, in the wake of COVID-19, many employers have had to adapt and implement working from home and are now looking for clever solutions to overcome the payroll and HR challenges presented by remote working.

Are you entitled to EWSS for July & August? Don’t miss the sweepback deadline

If you are currently eligible for EWSS, you may be entitled to receive subsidies and PRSI credits in respect of employees paid by you during July and August. In order to make a claim, a CSV file must be uploaded on ROS before 14th October. Thesaurus Payroll Manager includes the ability to prepare the CSV file within the ‘EWSS’ menu. It will also calculate the estimated claim value for you. Claims could be quite substantial, so we urge you to run the report and, if applicable, submit your claim as soon as possible.

Free Webinar: Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme – Extra Dates Added

After the success of our previous booked-out webinar, we have decided to add another date. Join us on 8th October where we discuss TWSS reconciliation, EWSS sweepback and processing wage subsidy claims. Guest panelist: Sandra Clarke - President of the Irish Tax Institute.

Only 10 places left - Book your place now to avoid disappointment!

Thesaurus Connect’s Employee Calendar: Track Attendance at a Glance

The company-wide employee calendar on Thesaurus Connect allows managers to see at a glance who is on leave and when, with different display options to suit your needs. The colour-coded calendar highlights the various types of leave, including annual leave, unpaid leave, sick leave and parenting leave, making staff scheduling and managing leave a walk-in-the-park.

Posted byRachel HynesinCustomer Update

Sep 2020

1

Thesaurus Customer Update: September 2020

Welcome to Thesaurus Software's September update. Our most important news this month include:

Thesaurus Payroll Manager now caters for the EWSS 

Although the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) is a subsidy payable to employers only and will not impact employee payslips, several steps need to be performed within Thesaurus Payroll Manager in order to transition from TWSS to EWSS. Thesaurus Payroll Manager has now been upgraded to cater for this new scheme.  

Join Revenue & Thesaurus Software's Free Webinar & Panel Discussion

The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) will replace the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) from 1st September 2020. We have teamed up with Revenue to bring you a free webinar where we discuss everything you need to know about TWSS Reconciliation and the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme.  

Register for EWSS before it’s too late! 

Eligible employers will be required to register for the EWSS via ROS. Employers must hold up-to-date tax clearance to register for the scheme and receive the subsidy payments. Where an employer files an EWSS payment submission without first registering for EWSS, it will be rejected in full. The date of registration cannot be backdated prior to the date of application, and so it is imperative that registration is undertaken prior to the first pay date in respect of which EWSS is being claimed. 

Benefits of employee apps that you never knew (and why employees love them)

Thesaurus Connect offers a whole host of additional features, from secure cloud backup to employee dashboards. However, the employee app is one of the most attractive of these additional features, and for good reason. It enables you to introduce more effective ways of communicating with employees and streamline everyday processes such as annual leave requests. 

TWSS Reconciliation - Coming Soon 

During the first few weeks of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (known as the transitional phase), Revenue refunded a flat rate of €410 per employee per pay period, which, in a lot of cases, exceeded the subsidy that the employee was entitled to receive. Revenue are hoping to commence the TWSS reconciliation in October to address any outstanding subsidy refunds or repayments necessary. TWSS CSV reconciliation files will be uploaded to Revenue to enable them to reconcile the amount of subsidy paid to the employee against the amount refunded by Revenue.  

Posted byRachel HynesinCustomer Update

Aug 2020

13

The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme - Important Update

The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) will replace the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) from September 1st 2020. Revenue are currently working through the finer details of the scheme. Below is some information to help you understand the scheme and to help prepare for it should you choose to avail of it.

The scheme provides a flat-rate subsidy to qualifying employers based on the number of paid and eligible employees on the employer’s payroll. The scheme is expected to operate until 31st March 2021.

  • It is important to note that TWSS will cease on August 31st 2020.
  • Employers wishing to avail of EWSS must register for it via ROS. Revenue are planning to have the registration facility available from August 19th.
  • Employers must hold up to date tax clearance to register for the scheme and to receive the subsidy payments.
  • Employers must be able to demonstrate that their turnover or customer orders between July 1st and December 31st 2020 are expected to suffer at least a 30% reduction as a result of Covid-19. Further information on the qualifying criteria can be found here.
  • Registered childcare providers can avail of the EWSS without the requirement to meet the 30% reduction in turnover or customer orders.
  • Employers must review their eligibility status on the last day of every month to ensure they continue to meet the eligibility criteria, if they no longer qualify they should deregister for EWSS with effect from the following day (1st of the month)
  • Proprietary directors were due to be excluded from the scheme. It is now expected that they will be included where they retain ‘ordinary’ employees on the payroll.

Subsidy Payment:

  • The subsidy will be paid to employers monthly after the return due date (14th of the following month).
  • Any changes made to payroll submissions after the return due date will not be processed for subsidy payments.


Please note, gross pay includes notional pay and is before any deductions for pension, salary sacrifice etc

Payroll:

  • Employers will be required to pay employees in the normal manner i.e. calculating and deducting Income Tax, USC and employee PRSI through payroll.
  • EWSS is a subsidy paid to an employer. It will not show on payslips or in myAccount.

Employer PRSI:

A 0.5% rate of employers PRSI will continue to apply for employments that are eligible for the subsidy. This is expected to work as follows:

  • PRSI will be calculated as normal via payroll e.g. on PRSI class A1. 
  • Revenue will calculate a PRSI credit by calculating the difference between the rate on the normal class and the 0.5%.
  • The credit will show on the Statement of Account to reduce the employer’s liability to Revenue.

July/August 2020

TWSS and EWSS will run in parallel from 1st July to 31st August. Employees already on TWSS must remain on TWSS until the end of August. Employers wishing to operate the scheme from July 1st i.e. for employees not eligible for TWSS, should process the payroll for these employees in the normal manner and Revenue will review these cases at a later date and refund the subsidy due.

Revenue plan to cater for this via myEnquiries. This will require employers to provide Revenue with the employee details etc. Payment should be made to employers in September.

Publication

A list of employers availing of EWSS will be published in January 2021 and April 2021 to www.revenue.ie.

Software Upgrades (to cater for EWSS)

We plan to release upgrades for Thesaurus Payroll Manager and BrightPay in the week commencing 24th August. Revenue are still fine tuning the details of the scheme and how it will interact with PAYE Modernisation. Therefore, unfortunately, we will be unable to release upgrades any earlier than this.

Posted byPaul ByrneinCoronavirusCustomer Update

Aug 2020

7

Thesaurus Customer Update: August 2020

Welcome to Thesaurus Software's August update. Our most important news this month include:

Free COVID-19 & Payroll Webinar

Join Thesaurus Software on 13th August for a free COVID-19 & Payroll webinar. In this webinar, we explore the key changes to the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and what we know so far about the new Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme. The EWSS will run in parallel to the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme from 31st July. Places are limited. Click here to book your place now.

Automate Annual Leave Management with Thesaurus Connect

After months of lockdown, many people are embracing the idea of staycations in a bid to save what’s left of the summer. For employers, however, managing employee leave can be far from relaxing if it is a manual process. Thesaurus Connect’s online leave management tools eliminate cumbersome people management tasks. It’s more than just payroll software, it’s a ready-to-go, easy-to-use HR software solution. The staycation trend should be a reason to be excited, not an admin nightmare.

July Jobs Stimulus Plan – Employer Focus

Newly appointed Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced the July Stimulus package worth €5.2 billion which included 50 new measures to help businesses and in turn help with the recovery of our economy. Here we have summarised the major employer-related measures introduced in this package.

Wage Subsidy Scheme Reconciliation and Repayment to Revenue

Details of both the reconciliation process and the process for employers to follow when returning excess Wage Subsidy Scheme funds to Revenue will be published in due course. In the interim, to assist in their future reconciliation, employers should continue to retain records of subsidy payments made to employees, records of subsidy refunds and tax refunds received from Revenue and hold any excess of the subsidy payments received for offset against future subsidy payments or for future repayment to Revenue.

Posted byRachel HynesinCustomer Update

May 2020

27

Thesaurus Customer Update: June 2020

Welcome to BrightPay's June update. Our most important news this month include:

Important COVID-19 Payroll Updates

The government has announced the first steps to ease the coronavirus restrictions with a roadmap in place for lockdown measures to be slowly lifted. Understand how to adapt your payroll processes to accommodate for the schemes and subsequent updates.

Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme - Operational Phase

During the Operational Phase of the scheme, Revenue will calculate employees' previous average net weekly pay and their maximum personal subsidy amount and provide this information to employers. This will be in the form of a Revenue instruction (in CSV format), which employers must download from within their ROS account and import into their payroll software. Revenue are updating the TWSS files daily to include employees that have been rehired after 1 May 2020 and notified to Revenue in an RPN. Where relevant, the Revenue instruction file must be downloaded from ROS again and re-imported into the payroll software.

Return to Work Safely Protocol 

The Irish Government has introduced a Return to Work Safely Protocol for all businesses to follow. This introduces mandatory measures for organisations to take care of their people and safeguard their health and well-being. All workplaces must adapt their workplace HR policies, procedures and practices to comply fully with the COVID-19 related public health protection measures identified as necessary by the HSE.

Rehiring Employees After Layoff - The Payroll Implications

Thousands of shops, businesses and construction sites have reopened as part of the first phase of the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. Many businesses are now able to re-engage their staff that had previously been placed on layoff. Can these employees qualify for the Wage Subsidy Scheme? How does this affect payroll?


Posted byKaren BennettinCoronavirusCustomer Update

Nov 2019

29

Thesaurus Customer Update: December 2019

Welcome to our December update where you will find out about the latest hot topics and events affecting payroll. Our most important news this month include:

Plans to auto-enrol workers in pension schemes by 2022

In 2022, all employers are likely to have certain auto enrolment mandatory duties to complete by law. As a nation, we are not saving enough for our retirement. Many are planning to rely solely on their state pension which could lead to a reduced standard of living. The Irish government aims to bring in an auto enrolment system where all employers will enrol their employees into a workplace pension scheme and contribute towards the employee pension pot.

PAYE Modernisation: One year on - was it a success?

Thesaurus Software has teamed up with Revenue for a series of free PAYE Modernisation webinars. In this webinar, we will look back on PAYE Modernisation in 2019 and decide if the new real time payroll reporting system has been a success. We’ll also deep dive into the evolution of cloud technology in payroll.

  • Part 1: Discover the common mistakes employers make and learn what’s to come in 2020.
  • Part 2: Learn how Thesaurus Connect’s cloud platforms can improve your payroll efficiency.

Register today

Watch this short video to see how your business can benefit from Thesaurus Connect

Thesaurus Connect is our cloud add-on that works alongside Thesaurus Payroll Manager. Securely store payroll information in the cloud and enable online access anywhere, anytime for you, your employees and your accountant. You will be up and running in seconds. Find out how Thesaurus Connect can improve your payroll processes with a free online demo.


Employee Gift Cards for Christmas - Purchase One4All Gift Vouchers on Thesaurus

Thesaurus Payroll Manager offers a facility where users can securely purchase one4all gift cards for their employees. Employers can give a gift card of up to €500 tax-free to employees. Gift cards arrive addressed to the employer in an unmarked envelope for extra security.

New BrightPay Connect Feature for Bureaus

This is what you must be offering as part of payroll (And why clients will LOVE it)

Client Payroll Entry (Exclusive to BrightPay Connect)
The Payroll Entry Request allows clients to easily and securely enter their employee’s hours, saving bureaus hours of administrative time. Additions and deductions that have been set up by the bureau in the payroll software can also be selected by the employer. All of the information included in the Payroll Entry Request (payments, additions, deductions and new starters) will seamlessly flow through to the bureau’s portal, ready for payroll processing.


Client Payroll Approval (Exclusive to BrightPay Connect)
BrightPay Connect’s Payroll Approval Request allows bureau users to securely send their clients a payroll summary before the payroll is finalised. Clients can review and authorise the payroll details for the pay period through their online employer dashboard. Ultimately, your client will be accountable for ensuring the payroll information is 100% correct before the payroll is finalised. Additionally, there is an audit trail of the requests being approved by the client.


Thesaurus Payroll Software | BrightPay Payroll Software

Posted byKaren BennettinCustomer Update

Nov 2019

20

Important Pricing Update for Thesaurus Payroll Manager 2020

To ensure that our investment in technology keeps pace with Revenue’s changing landscape and to facilitate the increase in customer support resources, we are changing our pricing for 2020. This new pricing structure is designed to better match usage and support requirements with price.

Unlike many of our competitors, we’ve added hundreds of powerful features and enhancements and heavily invested in additional customer support staff, all so that you don’t have to worry. 99.9% of the time everything will run smoothly but if you ever have problems we will be there to help you. Payroll is way too important not to have a first-class backup service. We believe our pricing remains excellent value and continues to be very competitive when compared to the options from other providers.

Details can be viewed here

Posted byKaren BennettinCustomer Update

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