Payroll Pro - History of Updates
Payroll Pro - new features added in Version 2.64 (released July 2024)
PAYE legislation changes applying from 31 July 2024:
This version contains previous legislation as well as 31/07/2024 to 31/3/2025.
Payroll Pro automatically selects the rates to use according to the pay date.
We will let you know if any further legislation changes are made during the year.
You can update to the latest version using the "Check For Updates Online" option from the main menu of Payroll Pro.
Payroll Pro - new features added in Version 2.63 (released April 2024)
Dashes for Zeros Option in Pay History Reports
There can be many zeros in the pay history reports, and all of these 0.00s can make the report hard to read. Zeros as dashes might improve readability. This is the new default, but can be changed back as follows:
Select "File" then "General Program Options". Next choose the "Standard" tab, and un-tick the option "Dashes (-) instead of zeros (0.00) in Pay History reports."
Printing for Payday Filing
Try this option if you have any problems printing the Payday Filing report.
Select "File" then "General Program Options". Next choose the "Advanced" tab, and tick the option "Alternative print function for payday filing report".
Improved Messages in Places
Removed unnecessary messages and wording to improve readability.
Payroll Pro - new features added in Version 2.62 (released March 2024)
PAYE legislation changes (applying from 1 April 2024):
This version contains legislation covering previous years as well as 1/04/2024 to 31/3/2025.
Payroll Pro automatically selects the rates to use according to the pay date.
We will let you know if any further legislation changes are made during the year.
ACC Earner Levy
The Earners Levy rate per $100 increases from $1.53 to $1.60.
The result is that the PAYE increases by $1.60 per $100 of gross pay.
Student Loan Repayment Threshold
For primary employment income such as M SL and ME SL, the repayment threshold increases from $439 per week to $464 per week.
The result is that an employee on tax code M SL or ME SL can now earn more gross pay per week before they have any student loan repayment deducted from their pay.
Easier Changing of Definition of a Holiday Pay Week
When you change an employee's definition of a week for holiday pay purposes (for example 5 days down to 3 days), you will usually want the balance in "weeks" to remain unchanged, although this will depend on your employment contracts, This new feature will allow you to have this adjustment made automatically.
Annual Holiday Pay Balance Days and Weeks
The balance on the employee's annual holiday pay set up area now shows weeks equivalent next to days. For example, if a week is defined as 5 days, and the balance is 15 days, the weeks equivalent balance is 3 weeks.
Various Other Improvements
Colours in some areas have been changed for readability. Fonts have been changed in various areas for readability.
Various text log file reports now load much more quickly.
Payroll Pro - new features added in Version 2.61 (released July 2023)
Minor internal tune up:
For some users, an internal function was slowing the program down in one or two cases. The underlying function has been been optimised to remove this slow down.
Payroll Pro - new features added in Version 2.60 (released March 2023)
PAYE legislation changes (applying from 1 April 2023):
This version contains legislation covering previous years as well as 1/04/2023 to 31/3/2024.
ACC Earner Levy
The Earners Levy rate per $100 increases from $1.46 to $1.53.
Student Loan Repayment Threshold
For primary employment income such as M SL and ME SL, the repayment threshold increases from $409 per week to $439 per week. The result is that an employee on tax code M SL or ME SL can now earn more gross pay per week before they have any student loan repayment deducted from their pay.
Accrued Estimate Holiday Pay
The holiday pay balance message on the payslip has been updated to better show the calculation.
New Logo
A small change to the FiveStar logo has been made - it now includes the word "Payroll" in place of the word "Software".
Payroll Pro - new features added in Version 2.59 (released January 2023)
PAYE legislation changes - some changes applying from 1 April 2023:
This version contains legislation covering previous years as well as 1/04/2023 to 31/3/2024.
ACC Earner Levy
The Earners Levy rate per $100 increases from $1.46 to $1.53.
Student Loan Repayment Threshold
For primary employment income such as M SL and ME SL, the repayment threshold increases from $409 per week to $439 per week. The result is that an employee on tax code M SL or ME SL can now earn more gross pay per week before they have any student loan repayment deducted from their pay.
Message Removed
An uncessesary repeating message was appearing in the holiday pay report in some cases. This has now been removed
Cut off for year to date totals
Added option "Allow cut off for year to date totals". When this is selected, a new option will appear under "Defaults & Setup" > "Company Details". The new option is "Year-to-Date Totals for only PART of a year...". When a date is entered, pays before this date are excluded from YTD Totals. This allows for a history for holiday pay calculations which is earlier than the start date, for cases when a business changes ownership requiring this mix.
Example Added
KiwiSaver Employer Contribution hint now includes employees 65 years and over in the example of those who are exempt.
Payroll Pro - new features added in Version 2.57b (released June 2022)
Matariki Holiday
Optional update only.
Matariki holiday added to the notes in the timesheet. Calculations are correct in previous versions - this update just adds the wording.
Payroll Pro - new features added in Version 2.57 (released March 2022)
PAYE legislation changes (applying from 1 April 2022):
This version contains legislation covering previous years as well as 1/04/2022 to 31/3/2023.
ACC Earner Levy
The Earners Levy rate per $100 is increasing from $1.39 to $1.46. This will increase weekly PAYE by 7 cents per $100 gross. The maximum income to which the ACC Earner Levy is applied increases from $130,911 to $136,544, giving a maximum levy of $1993.54. So, this generally affects employees earning more than $130,911.
Student Loan Repayment Threshold
For primary employment income such as M SL and ME SL, the repayment threshold increases from $390 per week to $409 per week. The result is that an employee on tax code M SL or ME SL can now earn more gross pay per week before they have any student loan repayment deducted from their pay.
Payroll Pro - new features added in Version 2.56 (released December 2021)
Sick Leave Report:
In the previous version we added an option to the Sick Leave Balances report to show "Sick Leave Setup and Entitlement". We have now added a third option – a combined Sick Leave report with Balances, Setup, and Entitlements.
Emailing Payslips:
Email providers have removed, or are in the process of removing, support for earlier versions of a security function called Transport Layer Security (TLS) – they now require TLS Version 1.2. TLS encrypts data sent over the Internet. Payroll Pro now uses TLS V1.2 for emailing payslips.
Payroll Pro - new features added in Version 2.55 (released July 2021)
Sick Leave changes (applying from 24 July 2021):
This version contains legislation covering previous years as well as 1/04/2021 to 31/3/2022.!
Sick leave - Minimum 10 days per year
From 24 July 2021, employees will become entitled to a minimum of 10 sick days per year. This means that from July 24th, each time an employee reaches their sick leave anniversary they will get 10 days added to their sick leave balance instead of 5 days. The maximum balance will remain as 20 days. This means once an employee's sick leave balance reaches 20 days, no more additional sick leave will be added to their balance.
Sick Leave Report
An additional option is now available. This provides a report of sick leave set and entitlement details.
Payroll Pro - new features added in Version 2.54 (released February/March 2021)
PAYE legislation changes (applying from 1 April 2021):
This version contains legislation covering previous years as well as 1/04/2021 to 31/3/2022.
New formats for "payday filing" and "new & departing employee" files
A new format is now used for the "payday filing" and "new & departing employee" files uploaded to IRD. There is nothing different you will need to do since Payroll Pro will automatically use the new format. However, the "payday filing" and "new & departing employee" options within Payroll Pro have been updated to make them more user friendly.
In addition to the new file format, the "new & departing employee" file will now include KiwiSaver information, which means the same file is now used if an existing employee opts in to, or out of, KiwiSaver. We have also updated the payday filing and other IRD related tutorials on our website, which can be accessed from a link within Payroll Pro in the relevant option.
New Tax Bracket
A new top personal income tax rate of 39% applies for the 2021–22 and later income years on annual personal income that exceeds $180,000. This will affect employees on the tax codes M, M SL, ME and ME SL who earn over $180,000 per year.
Two New Tax Codes
With the introduction of the new tax bracket for annual earnings above $180,000 applying from 1st April 2021, two additional secondary tax codes are being introduced. These are SA and SA SL, and will be used for employees in secondary employment and earning above the threshold. SA SL is for employees in this earnings level who are also repaying a student loan (SL).
Additional ESCT (Employer’s Superannuation Contribution Tax) Rate
A new ESCT rate threshold amount of $216,000 has been added due to the additional 39% tax bracket. This will generally affect employees earning over $216,000 who are enrolled in KiwiSaver, and receiving the KiwiSaver Employer Contribution.
Student Loan Repayment Threshold
For primary employment income such as M SL and ME SL, the repayment threshold increases from $385 per week to $390 per week. For example, an employee on tax code M SL can now earn more gross pay per week before they have any student loan repayment deducted from their pay.
Payroll Pro - new features added in Version 2.52 (released Feb/Mar 2020)
PAYE legislation changes (applying from 1 April 2020):
This version contains legislation covering previous years as well as 1/04/2020 to 31/3/2021.
ACC Earner Levy
The maximum income to which the ACC Earner Levy is applied increases from $128,470 to $131,911, giving a maximum levy of 1819.66. So, this generally affects employees earning more than $128,470.
The ACC Earner Levy rate remains at 1.39%.
Student Loan Repayment Threshold
For main employment income, the repayment threshold is increased from $380 per week to $385 per week. For example an employee on tax code M SL can now earn more gross pay per week before they have any student loan repayment deducted from their pay.
Payroll Pro - new features added in Version 2.50a/2.50b (released Feb/Mar 2019)
PAYE legislation changes (applying from 1 April 2019):
This version contains legislation covering previous years as well as 1/04/2019 to 31/3/2020.
ACC Earner Levy
The maximum income to which the ACC Earner Levy is applied increases from $126,286 to $128,470, giving a maximum levy of $1,785.73. So, this generally affects employees earning more than $126,286.
The ACC Earner Levy rate remains at 1.39%.
Student Loan Repayment Threshold
For main employment income, the repayment threshold is increased from $374 per week to $380 per week. For example an employee on tax code M SL can now earn more gross pay per week before they have any student loan repayment deducted from their pay.
KiwiSaver
Employees can now elect deductions at 6% or 10% in addition to the existing rates of 3%, 4% and 8%.
New/Departing Employees File
A new file format is now available for the upload of new and departing employee details to myIR. This is a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file, instead of the previous Excel (XLS) file. This new format (CSV) can be uploaded in the same area as the payday file, simplifying the process for employers.
Payroll Pro - new features added in Version 2.49 (released Nov/Dec 2018)
Payday Filing
2.49 FiveStar Payroll Pro now supports Payday filing.
2.49a - some additional changes to IRD specifications incorporated into Payroll Pro.
Payroll Pro - new features added in Version 2.48 (released February 2018)
PAYE legislation changes (applying from 1 April 2018):
This version contains legislation covering previous years as well as 1/04/2018 to 31/3/2019.
ACC Earner Levy
The maximum income to which the ACC Earner Levy is applied is increased from $124,053 to $126,286, giving a maximum levy of $1,755.37. So, this generally affects employees earning more than $124,053.
The ACC Earner Levy rate remains at 1.39%.
Student Loan Repayment Threshold
For main employment income, the repayment threshold is increased from $368 per week to $374 per week. For example an employee on tax code M SL can now earn more gross pay per week before they have any student loan repayment deducted from their pay.
Computer Printed Employer monthly Schedule
From April 2018 the IRD will not longer accept the printed IRD Approved IR348/349 (Employer Monthly Schedule, EMS). A warning message has been added in Payroll Pro as a reminder.
Payroll Pro - new features added 2017 and earlier.
Start and Finish - a new form has been added in the Timesheet area where the user can enter the start time and finish time, and unpaid breaks, per day, for each employee, so that the user does not need to calculate the hours worked per day. The button for this has now been enhanced to help it stand out.
Electronic Banking - now has a clearer heading to indicate the date the banking relates to.
Start and Finish - a new form has been added in the Timesheet area where the user can enter the start time and finish time, and unpaid breaks, per day, for each employee, so that the user does not need to calculate the hours worked per day.
IRD Message - a new message has been added to advise that the IRD will no longer be accepting computer printed IRD Approved ir348 forms from any payroll software from 1/4/2018.
Allowances and Deductions - The Reset to Zero option has now been expanded to allow "Reset units to zero after employee paid" and/or "Reset rate ($) to zero after employee paid". Previously this just set the units to zero.
New look main menu - Each column has different coloured buttons to help the user easily see the setup vs payrun vs other options.
The Electronic Banking option is now showing under Update Totals since this is the logical order of use.
A new button IRD Filing has been added in the right hand column to indicate to users that IRD filing options are available.
Updated Digital Signature - Payroll Pro and it's related software is now signed with an updated signature.
Hints and Messages: Additional helpful hints and messages added at various places.
Payroll Pro version 1 has now been discontinued.
Clients can upgrade to version 2 free of charge.