MYOB Greentree 2021.3

MYOB releases new versions of its enterprise software products like MYOB Greentree and MYOB Advanced regularly. The focus for these updates is to introduce new functionality and to stay up to speed with legislative changes, compliance, security, bug fixes, and introducing new features.

This version of MYOB Greentree 2021.3, released in November 2021, is no different. However, this release focuses heavily on changes to stay compliant with the new STP Phase 2 announced by the government in the 2019-2020 Budget and Payment Times Reporting for larger organisations with a Turnover of more than $100m annually.

What is STP Phase 2?

The Australian government announced that Single Touch Payroll (STP) would be extended to include additional information. The 1st of January 2022 was initially set as the mandatory start date for Phase 2, although this deadline has now been extended to 1st March 2022.

STP Phase 2 will reduce the reporting burden for employers who need to report information about their employees to multiple government agencies. It will also help Services Australia’s customers, who may be your employees, get the correct payment at the right time.

Whilst this is great news and provides lots of benefits for both employers and employees (e.g. no longer needing to send the ATO your employees’ TFN declarations.), this does mean that you will need to update your payroll software to be compliant.

Read the ATO’s Employer Guide here.

If you use MYOB Advanced, then please refer to this page for more information.

STP Phase 2 for MYOB Greentree

This release updates the MYOB Greentree system for the Single Touch Payroll expansion, also called STP Phase 2. Under STP Phase 2, more information is reported to the ATO; however, the way you submit STP returns has not changed. 

The Submit and Update events have been updated to support the new format required for STP Phase 2. For more information, see “Expanding Single Touch Payroll Phase 2 website” and the STP Phase 2 Transition document 

What do I need to?

1) To ensure your organisation stays compliant, firstly, you will need to organise an upgrade your current Greentree software to 2021.3 (Contact your certified MYOB Greentree Partner, like Endeavour to assist).

Please note that for Endeavour clients we will assist you with the STP transition, below is some detail of what will need to be completed (FYI), some of the screens shown will not be available until the 2021.3 upgrade is completed.

2) Secondly, you will need to update your employee records. STP Phase 2 requires additional information for employees thus. To update employees to add this information, you can: 

Update employees individually on the Tax Config tab of the Employee Maintenance window. 
Update employees in bulk using the new STP Employee Setup script.

3) A new STP Employee Setup script is available at HR > System > Setup > Scripts. This script lists all employees, showing the details that have been entered for them on the Tax Config tab of the Employee Maintenance window 

Any employees who are missing information required for STP Phase 2 are highlighted in red click on an employee to display information about the missing information in the pane at the bottom of the window. You can double-click on any employee to open the Employee Maintenance window and make any necessary changes. The STP Employee Setup script is updated automatically for any modifications you make. 
The window includes Import and Export buttons employees in a test system, then export the employee details to a live system once you are sure they are all correct.

4) Transaction types are categorised differently under STP Phase 2. To update transaction types for STP Phase 2: 

Update transaction types individually using the STP tab on the Transaction Types window. 
Update transaction types in bulk using the STP Configuration utility (previously called the Payment Configuration Summary utility).

5) Under STP Phase 2, an Income Type must be recorded for all pays, including historical pays. Where the income type is “Foreign Employment Income”, “Inbound Assignees to Australia”, or “Working Holiday Makers”, a Country Code is also required.

To update existing pays for STP Phase 2: 

Update selected pays for an employee using the existing Change Pays script. 
Update pays in bulk using the new Populate Pays with IncomeType/ CountryCode script.

6) HR Journal Entry

The Income Type (and Country Code, where relevant) is now displayed on the HR Journal Entry window, where you can also now edit it. 

7) HR Employee Detail Report 

Changes have been made to the HR Employee Detail report: 

The Payment Summary field has been removed. 
The Employment Basis and Income Type fields have been added. 
For foreign taxpayers, the Country field has been added.

For Australian companies, two columns have been added to pay lines: Income Type and Country. 

8) Termination Reasons 

STP Phase 2 includes more information on terminations. In addition, a new ATO Reason dropdown is available on the Lookup Maintenance window for Termination Reasons. Use this field to specify an ATO reason for each reason in the system. 

Payment Times Reporting Enhancements

The Payment Times Reporting Scheme commenced on the 1st of January 2021. It requires businesses to submit a report on their payment terms and practices. Reports are due every six months of an income year, within three months of the end of the reporting period.  

Therefore, the first reporting period is the 1st of January 2021, the 30th of June 2021, with the first report due by the 30th of September 2021.

Read more about the eligibility criteria and reporting requirements.   

One of the critical initiatives behind the scheme is to help the 3.5m smaller businesses get paid faster by the larger firms to distribute cash flow to where it is more needed. So how does this work, and how do you know which of your suppliers are classed as small or large businesses. 

For companies that use Quad Accounting, you can now run Payment Times Reporting for individual branches by using the new Branch dropdown. You can then run the reports as normal. 

Note: You can still run PTRS for a whole company by leaving the Branch dropdown blank. 

Windows Designer Enhancements

Windows Designer has been fixed to apply customisations to the correct controls. Previously, an issue occurred if controls were: 

Added programmatically but not given unique names. 
Not always added, for example, varying with module control settings. 
Added in a different order.

Windows Designer has been modified to better handle interactions between controls that use Parent Aspect settings. Customised settings, such as sizes, are now applied in top-down order, form before controls, parent controls before children. So, for example, in the Designer, the size of a child control will show as customised if the parent’s size has changed through customisation. 

Security Enhancements

Various security updates have been made in this release. For example, the About Greentree window could be opened from the Windows login screen, which gave access to system information before the user had authenticated themself.

Resolving Known Issues

Many known issues have been resolved in MYOB Greentree 2021.3 to the eModules, WebView, Greentree Browser and Greentree Desktop. Contact our friendly team or your MYOB Greentree Partner to receive the complete list. 

About Endeavour Solutions

Endeavour provides business software solutions and accounting solutions to mid-sized businesses from Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch branches. Started in the 1980s, they have hundreds of customers and provide solutions in many business sectors.

Their point of difference is building solid business relationships with their clients. Part of this is to make sure they share a common culture with their clients, and the most effective communication and processes are used. Its mission is to bring the best possible solutions to its clients using the highest level of service. They measure this in client satisfaction levels and longevity of their business relationships.

Why upgrade to MYOB Greentree 2021.3?