This article outlines the recommended steps to complete your payroll year-end routine.Completing these steps ensures payroll totals are correctly archived, employee year-to-date values are reset, and your system is ready for the new payroll year.
Why the Year-End Routine Matters
Closing your payroll year is a critical process. When you complete the year-end routine:
- Year-to-date (YTD) payroll totals are moved to history for reporting purposes
- Employee YTD accumulations are cleared
- A new payroll year is opened for processing
Best practice: Close the payroll year for all payroll groups at the same time.
Before You Close the Payroll Year
- Ensure the correct Payroll Group is selected
- Confirm all payroll periods for the year are fully processed and closed
Closing the Payroll Year
Once all payroll periods are finalized:
Select the payroll group to be closed
Navigate to the Year-End routine
Run the Close Payroll Year process
Year-End Mergers (If Applicable)
If your organization has multiple payroll groups and employees moved between groups during the year, you should merge their records.
This ensures:
- One consolidated year-end record per employee
- A single GRA return form per employee
How to Perform a Year-End Merge
Navigate to Periodic → Year End Records
Select the Mergers button
Click Update to run the automatic merge
Reviewing Year-End Records
The Year End Records screen allows you to review and adjust values used in Forms 2 and 7.
Navigate to: Periodic → Year End Records
Key Fields Explained
Field | Explanation |
|---|---|
Accumulated Tab | |
| Taxable Earnings less OT | Total PAYE refund captured (does not reduce PAYE on this screen) |
| Total OT Pay | Total overtime paid for the year |
| Overtime Deduction | GRA-approved overtime allowance |
| Children Deduction | GRA child allowance |
| PAYE Refund Adjust | Total PAYE refund captured (does not reduce PAYE on this screen) |
| Free Pay Refund | Additional free pay from refund module (added if enabled in preferences) |
| Insurance Deduct Refund | Additional insurance allowance from refund module |
| Overtime Deduct Refund | Additional overtime allowance from refund module |
| Child Deduct Refund | Additional child allowance from refund module |
Periods Tab | |
| Overtime Months | Number of months during the year in which the employee earned overtime |
| GRA Employment Type | Classify employees as Full-Time or Part-Time for GRA reporting |
| GRA Employment Job Type | Identify if the employee’s role is a Primary or Secondary job |
Important Notes:
- Taxable Earnings include No Pay Deductions by default
- If you manually adjust values and want to exclude No Pay, set No Pay Deductions to zero
Final Year-End Checklist
Before moving on to statutory reporting, confirm that:
Payroll year is closed for all groups
Year-end mergers completed (if applicable)
Year-end records reviewed and validated
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