Thesaurus Customer Update: January 2021

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

• The COVID Heroes of the Accounting World 

• From the support desk: How do I start processing 2021 payroll?

• How to avoid a payroll nightmare during COVID-19

• How your payroll bureau can survive the COVID-19 crisis

Posted byRachel HynesinCustomer Update

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.

Posted byRachel HynesinNew Features

Christmas Opening Hours

The management and staff of Thesaurus Software Ltd would like to thank you for your valued custom in 2020 and to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Here are our opening hours for the Christmas period:

Call us on 01 8352074, email us at support@thesaurus.ie or complete our online form.

The COVID Heroes of the Accounting World

Thesaurus Software is delighted to announce that BrightPay has won the COVID-19 Hero Award (supplier) at the Accounting Excellence Awards. BrightPay is created by Thesaurus Software, and although this was awarded to BrightPay, this is simply what our company is called in the UK - two different names, but the same company and the same 75 employees behind this award.

The judges recognised that we went above and beyond to support payroll professionals at a time when they were under pressure with government schemes and trying to interpret scheme guidance. Paying employees was one of the areas most impacted by COVID-19 and we recognised customers would struggle to implement government schemes.

The main challenge for us has been delivering upgrades to minimise the stress for customers. Our COVID-19 upgrades were released in advance of scheme changes being implemented. In most cases, we were first to the market with upgrade releases with other providers taking longer or needing additional software bug fixes, not automating scheme calculations or not implementing functionality for every change.

Our speedy upgrades to the payroll software focused on automation functionality to accurately calculate scheme payments and claims which meant customers were prepared and compliant.  

Our customer support strategy involved additional staffing and increased hours. Our comprehensive webinar, blog and email strategy educated and informed customers about COVID-19 processes and presented demonstrations of how to action these schemes in our payroll products. Our multi-channel approach guided our customers to easily implement government measures.

Speaking at the Accounting Excellence Awards, host extraordinaire Mike Goldsmith said “the judges saw that BrightPay went above and beyond to support their client base and payroll professionals at a time when they were under pressure with furlough claims and interpreting guidance. BrightPay did this through a coordinated strategy that went beyond product enhancement. Their success in this was evidenced by high customer satisfaction and impressive reach with their support material.”

Find out more about our COVID-19 Response Plan and how we have helped our customers throughout the pandemic.

Related Articles:

Payroll in a Pandemic - Make sure your practice isn't left behind
Thesaurus Software’s COVID-19 Response Plan
Free Webinar: EWSS Explained | Guest: Revenue

Posted byRachel HynesinAwardsCoronavirus

Thesaurus Customer Update: December 2020

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

• National Minimum Wage to increase by 10c per hour

• Thesaurus Software's Response to COVID-19

• Thesaurus & One4all integration: Reward your employee’s this Christmas

• How your payroll bureau can survive the COVID-19 crisis

*** 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

Places are strictly limited - Register Now

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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.

Pre-Order Thesaurus 2021 Here

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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. 

Find out more

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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.

Get your free copy

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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.

Find out more Book Connect Demo

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Posted byRachel HynesinCustomer Update

Thesaurus Customer Update: November 2020

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

• Budget 2021: Employer Payroll Focus

• Revenue Start Compliance Checks and TWSS Reconciliation

• Free Webinar: Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme Explained

Thesaurus Payroll Manager 2021 is coming soon... 

Posted byRachel HynesinCustomer Update

Thesaurus Customer Update: October 2020

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

• Deadline for EWSS Sweepback is fast approaching!

• Increase to CWPS Rates on 1st October 2020

• Remote working is becoming ‘The New Normal’ - What does this mean for payroll?

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.

Read more

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

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!

Click here to register More upcoming webinars

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

Posted byRachel HynesinCustomer Update

Don't forget about your EWSS July / August Sweepback!

The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) replaced the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) which ended on 31st August 2020. As some employees were excluded from the TWSS, eligible employers can backdate a claim for EWSS to 1st July 2020 in respect of certain employees.

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.

• If you previously claimed TWSS for July and August, any employee who did not qualify for TWSS may be eligible for an EWSS claim. Essentially, this means that any employee who started with you on or after 1st March, who was not employed by you at any stage during January or February, should be eligible for EWSS in respect of any payments made to them during July or August. The potential claim can be quite substantial e.g. if you had just one employee qualifying for EWSS being paid by you for July and August, the combined subsidy and PRSI credit could exceed €2,000. 

• If you did not previously qualify for TWSS but now qualify for EWSS, any employees paid by you at any stage during July or August should be eligible for EWSS. 

In order to make a claim, a CSV file listing the PPSN numbers and Employment IDs for all eligible employees must be uploaded on ROS. Our latest software upgrade (available when you launch our software), includes the ability to prepare the CSV file. It will also calculate the estimated claim value for you. This is available in the 'EWSS' menu in Thesaurus Payroll Manager.

Because of the tight timelines in releasing our upgrade and because we may not have access to all payroll data since the start of the year, we cannot guarantee the calculated claim value and it should therefore be viewed as indicative.

The ROS upload facility is expected to be available from 15th September within the “Employer Services” Section on ROS. All applications must be submitted by the employer or agent through ROS before 14th October.

Following receipt of the sweepback CSV, Revenue will then process these files and validate them against the rules of the scheme. If an employee is deemed eligible, Revenue will calculate the total subsidy due to be paid and will arrange for the subsidy to be paid as soon as practicable after 16th September. Payment in respect of additional submissions received after 16th September in respect of July/August will be made weekly thereafter up until 14th October.

Claims could be quite substantial, so we urge you to run the report and, if applicable, submit your claim as soon as possible. 

Revenue guidance on the rules surrounding the sweepback and the claim process can be viewed here. 

Free Webinar: Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme

Interested in finding out more about EWSS? Join us for our free webinar on 8th October where we discuss everything you need to know about EWSS eligibility, processing subsidy claims and the new guidance in relation to the July/August Sweepback.

Don’t miss out – Places are limited. Click here to book your place now.

Posted byRachel HynesinCoronavirus

Thesaurus Customer Update: September 2020

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

• Revenue to join Thesaurus Software for free webinar & panel discussion

• Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme comes to an end

• Thesaurus Guidance - Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme?

Register for EWSS before it’s too late! 

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

TWSS Reconciliation - Coming Soon 

Posted byRachel HynesinCustomer Update

Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme - What you need to know

A new Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme has been introduced, providing a flat-rate subsidy to qualifying employers based on the numbers of paid and eligible employees on the employer’s payroll.

Both the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) and Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) will run in parallel from 1 July 2020 until the TWSS ceases at the end of August 2020. The EWSS will replace the TWSS from 1st September 2020. It is expected to continue until 31 March 2021.

Non-TWSS employers, i.e. those who have not previously availed of TWSS, will only be eligible to apply for the EWSS. EWSS support will be backdated to 1 July for eligible employers who did not qualify for the TWSS.

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 in September. 

Employers who have availed of the TWSS will still be able to rehire eligible employees and continue to operate the TWSS until 31 August 2020. Employees already on TWSS must remain on TWSS until the end of August. From 31 July, TWSS employers can claim for non-TWSS employees under the new EWSS, for example, new hires.

While the concepts behind the two schemes are similar, there are a number of differences between them.

Scheme Eligibility

The EWSS will require employers to reassess their eligibility for wage support. To be eligible for the EWSS, employers must be able to demonstrate that their turnover or customer orders have suffered at least a 30% reduction as a result of Covid-19 between 1st July and 31st December 2020, compared to the same period last year.

There is one exception to this - Registered childcare providers can avail of the EWSS without the requirement to meet the 30% reduction in turnover or customer orders.

Under the EWSS a subsidy will be available for new and seasonal employees, in addition to existing employees.

The EWSS is also open to newly commenced businesses. Where a business commenced after 1st November 2019, the eligibility criteria will be assessed against projected turnover or customer orders had there been no COVID-19 disruption.

Revenue have confirmed that the EWSS can be claimed in respect of proprietary directors, subject to certain conditions - click here to find out more about EWSS & proprietary directors.

Operating the Scheme

Under the EWSS, employers will no longer have to download CSV files. 

Eligible employers will be required to register for the EWSS via ROS, using Manage Tax Registrations (under Other Services) in the main ROS screen. Employers must hold up to date tax clearance to register for the scheme and receive the subsidy payments.

The date of registration cannot be back dated prior to the date of application and does not need to be back dated if a claim will be submitted in respect of payments in July & August. Therefore, it is imperative that registration is undertaken prior to the first pay date in respect of which EWSS is being claimed.

The EWSS will be administered by Revenue on a ‘self-assessment’ basis. 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 de-register for EWSS with effect from the following day (that being the 1st of the month).

Subsidy Support

Under the EWSS employers will receive a flat-rate subsidy of up to €203 or €151.50 per employee, per week, depending on the employee’s gross weekly pay. A subsidy will not be available for employee’s whose gross weekly earnings are less than €151.50 or greater than €1,462. The gross pay includes notional pay and is before any deductions for pension, salary sacrifice etc.

There will be an indicator on the payroll submission to indicate that an employee is an eligible employee for EWSS. On receipt of an eligible payslip, Revenue will calculate the subsidy payable based on the gross pay, pay frequency and the insurable weeks.

EWSS is a subsidy paid to an employer, it will not show on a payslip or in myAccount. The subsidy will be paid to employers monthly after the return due date, which is the 14th of the following month. Any changes made to payroll submissions after the return due date will not be processed for subsidy payments.

Under the EWSS, employers will be required to pay employees in the normal manner i.e. calculating and deducting Income Tax, USC and employee PRSI through the payroll.
The normal requirement to operate PAYE on all payments will be re-established under the EWSS.

However, a 0.5% rate of employers PRSI will continue to apply for employments that are eligible for the subsidy. This will be achieved 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 PRSI class and the 0.5%. 
• The credit will show on the Statement of Account to reduce the employer’s liability to Revenue. 

For more information on the TWSS and EWSS register for our free webinar which takes place on 3rd September 2020. We will be joined by Revenue to discuss what you need to know about both schemes.