The Payments tab contains the employee’s recurring deduction records.
Recurring deductions can be used to:
deduct a regular rate or amount from the employee’s pay
send the deducted amount to a nominated agency
maintain a reducing balance that automatically decreases as deductions are processed
continue deducting an ongoing amount until the record is manually made inactive
A reducing-balance deduction automatically becomes inactive once the balance has been cleared.
For more information about configuring and using recurring deductions, refer to:
<Payments and recurring deductions>
Making changes
The Payments tab contains a data column, a detail panel and an interaction bar.
Changes are made using the buttons on the interaction bar, allowing you to:
+ button: Adds a new recurring deduction record.
− button: Removes the selected recurring deduction record.
Edit button: Opens the selected recurring deduction record for editing.
Recurring-deduction data column
The data column displays the recurring deductions recorded for the employee.
Selecting a deduction updates the detail panel with the settings and current balance associated with that record.
Options, settings and fields
For ease of reference, the available options, settings and fields are grouped into the following areas:
recurring-deduction data column
payment details
deduction priority
banking details
reducing-balance settings
Payment details
The payment details determine:
Which agency receives the payment
How much will be deducted per pay period
Whether the deduction is active or not
Pay to
Type: Dropdown menu
Purpose: Identifies the agency that receives the deducted amount.
Dependency: The available options are drawn from the Agencies and superfunds category in the Codes screen. The agency must use the Deduction classification before it can be selected here.
Other functionality: The agency record also determines the deduction method shown beside Rate/Amount.
Inactive
Type: Tick box
Purpose: Determines whether the recurring deduction is currently active.
Dependency: None
Other functionality: When selected, the deduction is not applied. A reducing-balance deduction also becomes inactive automatically once its balance is cleared.
Rate/Amount
Type: Numeric field
Purpose: Records the rate or amount deducted from the employee’s pay.
Dependency: A Pay to agency must be selected.
Other functionality: The value is interpreted using the deduction method configured on the selected agency.
Deduction method
Type: Display-only dropdown field
Purpose: Displays how the value entered under Rate/Amount is applied.
Dependency: Determined by the selected Pay to agency.
Other functionality: The method cannot be changed from the employee’s Payments tab. It must be changed on the agency record in the Codes screen.
Deduction priority
Priority
Type: Dropdown menu
The available options are:Compulsory: Deducts the required amount regardless of whether doing so results in negative net pay.
Protect net pay: Deducts only as much as can be taken without reducing the employee’s net pay below zero.
Zero if unpayable: Applies the deduction only when the full amount can be taken. Otherwise, no deduction is made.
Purpose: Determines how the deduction is treated when the employee’s available pay is insufficient.
Dependency: A recurring deduction record must be configured.
Other functionality: None
Banking details & other details
The banking fields are used where the deducted amount is paid to a bank account.
Particulars
Type: Text field
Purpose: Records the text included in the Particulars field of the bank transaction.
Dependency: The deduction must be paid to a bank account.
Other functionality: None
Code
Type: Text field
Purpose: Records the text included in the Code field of the bank transaction.
Dependency: The deduction must be paid to a bank account.
Other functionality: None
Payslip note
Type: Text field
Purpose: Records the note displayed for the deduction on the employee’s payslip.
Dependency: None
Other functionality: None
Reference
Type: Text field
Purpose: Records the text included in the Reference field of the bank transaction.
Dependency: The deduction must be paid to a bank account.
Other functionality: None
Reducing-balance settings
These settings are used where the deduction relates to a fixed debt or balance that reduces over time.
Where Reducing balance? is not selected, the deduction continues until the record is manually made inactive or removed.
Reducing balance?
Type: Tick box
Purpose: Identifies the deduction as a self-managing reducing balance.
Dependency: None
Other functionality: Selecting this option displays the Original balance and Balance owing fields. The deduction automatically becomes inactive when the balance owing reaches zero.
Original balance
Type: Numeric field
Purpose: Records the original value of the debt or balance.
Dependency: Requires Reducing balance? to be selected.
Other functionality: For a newly established balance, this will generally be the same as Balance owing. For an existing debt being transferred into SmoothPay, it can record the original debt amount even where part of the balance has already been repaid.
Balance owing
Type: Numeric field
Purpose: Records the amount that remains to be deducted.
Dependency: Requires Reducing balance? to be selected.
Other functionality: The balance decreases as deductions are processed. Once it reaches zero, the recurring deduction becomes inactive automatically. The Balance owing will usually be displayed on the payslip
Additional functionality
Print button
The Print button appears on the interaction bar below the recurring-deduction data column.
Click the Print button to produce a report showing the payment history for the selected recurring deduction.
