It seems that every day there is a new announcement in relation to JobKeeper payments and provisions to help you continue to pay your employees during the COVID-19 crisis.
JobKeeper is an incredibly complex scheme, with varying eligibility and reporting requirements, as well as key dates when you need to complete specific steps.
We cannot stress this strongly enough: Stay in very close contact with your bookkeeper and accountant during this time and make sure you get competent advice.
Your accountant and bookkeeper are getting daily updates from their industry associations on all of the quirks and changes as to who is covered, dealing with different business configuration options such as service or management entities.
They are also the only ones qualified to give you professional advice relating to your particular business financial situation and to help you set up your payroll system to ensure you correctly account for JobKeeper.
Here are a few key links to help you get more information about JobKeeper to help you know what to ask your bookkeeper or accountant:
ATO
ATO – General landing page relating to JobKeeper arrangements and links to the forms you need to have your employees complete to be part of JobKeeper.
There is also an ATO Community Forum where you can ask questions, and the ATO team or members of the community can respond.
Bookkeeper’s Professional Associations
Australia has a number of bookkeeping professional associations, and each has been keeping their members updated with key information.
Their sites are a great wealth of information to help you work out what to do and how to do it with your payroll.
Institute of Certified Bookkeepers – JobKeeper Information This is a brilliant resource and has links explaining many of the tricky bits such as JobKeeper payments and full-time students aged 16-17 year’s old.
Association of Accounting Technicians – COVID-19 Resources and Information
Accounting Professional Associations
CPA Australia – Much of CPA’s resources are for member’s only. However, there is a Small Business Resources page that contains some useful links on your business and COVID-19 as well as fact sheets relating to employment issues.
Institute of Chartered Accountants – The ICA has a few business support resources to help businesses navigate COVID-19/
Accounting Software
Many of the common small business accounting software companies have adjusted their software to assist you with JobKeeper reporting for your payroll.
Check with your particular software for new JobKeeper reports and guides to ensure you correctly account for payments.
Xero – Xero has a dedicated Business Continuity Hub with links to common payroll questions and issues.
MYOB – MYOB has a dedicated COVID-19 Forum to answer questions about accounting and payroll, as well as how to process JobKeeper payments.
QuickBooks – Quickbooks has a COVID-19 Recovery Hub
The bottom line is that with the tsunami of information about JobKeeper payments, it is easy to miss a form, a step, or a process. Talk with your accountant or bookkeeper and get yourself and your business set up correctly and processes put in place to continue to report and comply over the coming months.
