To help answer your queries around transferring employees from one payroll to another, we have collated some common questions that you're asking us on this subject.

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Why aren't my payrolls listed when trying to transfer employees?

This can happen when the payrolls are assigned to different companies, or the Employer Registration Number not being the same in each payroll. To resolve this issue, follow this guidance in this guide.

When should I transferred my employees to a different frequency?

The most appropriate time is at the start of a new tax year when no period processing has been done. However, if this did not occur, you can transfer employees mid year but you must choose the appropriate time.

This is depending on what payroll frequency you are transferring from and to.

EXAMPLES

Transferring from Weekly to Monthly

CAUTION: You should only transfer employees at the start of a new month. 

Eg 1: Period 8 in a Weekly payroll is the last week of February, so this employee can be transferred into a Monthly payroll at the start of March (Period 3)

Eg 2: An employee has been processed (and paid) in a Weekly payroll for Periods 1 and 2, can I transfer them into my Monthly payroll for Period 1? No, as part of the month has already been processed in the Weekly payroll, you must continue to process this employee in the Weekly payroll until the end of the month, and then transfer them into the Monthly payroll (at start of period 2).

Transferring from Monthly to Weekly

CAUTION: You should only transfer employees at the start of a new month. 

Eg 1. An employee has been processed for period 1 to 3 in a monthly payroll, when can I transfer them to my Weekly payroll? At the start of the 1st period that has an April pay date (typically this will be Period 13 or 14).

Eg2. My employee has been processed for Period 2 in my Monthly payroll, can I transfer them into my Weekly payroll, start of period 7? It is recommend to transfer the employee into the 1st period of a new month (i.e.. period 9 – 1st weekly period in March).

Transferring from Weekly to Fortnightly

CAUTION: You should only transfer employees at the start of a new fortnight. 

Weeks 1 – 2 = Fortnight 1

Weeks 3 – 4 = Fortnight 2

Weeks 5 – 6 = Fortnight 3

Weeks 7 – 8 = Fortnight 4 etc.

Eg 1: An employee has been processed in Period 4 in a Weekly payroll, so this employee can be transferred into a Fortnightly payroll (start of Period 3).

Eg 2: An employee has been processed in a Weekly payroll up to the end of Period 7, can I transfer them into my Fortnight payroll for Period 4? No, as part of the fortnight has already been processed in the Weekly payroll, you must continue to process this employee in the Weekly payroll until the end of the week 8, and then transfer them into the Fortnightly payroll (at start of period 5).

What happens to the employee in the source payroll?

The employee will show as transferred in their employee record, everything else will remain the same, their ETP tab will still list all values for previous processed periods. However, you will no long be able to process this employee in the source payroll. You should not delete this employee as any corrections to periods processed in the Source payroll will have to be performed in the source payroll and a correction Submission sent to Revenue. If these corrections affect the overall totals (Gross Pay, taxable pay, tax etc.) this information will need to be corrected manually in the Destination payroll for the cumulative transferred information (Period 1) in the Employee’s ETP record.

What happens to the employee in the destination payroll?

Within the destination payroll, the employees ETP tab will have one line of values (Period 1), this is the total of all periods processed in the previous payroll they were transferred from. 

How can I make corrections to a previous period?

If you need to correct a previous period before the employee was transferred, you can edit the ETP tab in the source payroll and re-send the payroll submission. Read more >

What happens to the reports?

After the employee has been transferred to a different payroll, their values will no longer appear on reports for periods processed after the transfer. In the Destination payroll, an additional C/Forward minus Transfer Values column will be shown in the Cumulative Control totals section of the Control Summary report.

NOTE: Generating the Control Summary report in a Consolidation payroll will include the transferred employee’s information twice. 

What happens if i need to transfer the employee back?

If you need to transfer the employee back to their original payroll, you simply follow the steps in the Transferring employees guide. They will then be added to the payroll as a new employee.