We're approaching the end of 2021, and that means there are a number of things you need to be aware of in connection with the December payroll. We've gathered the most important points below, so you can go into the new year with peace of mind and your payroll in order.
1 Be in good time with the year's last payroll
There are many reasons to pay extra attention to the deadlines for the December payroll. If you're too late with the payroll in December, it won't relate to the income year 2021, which can have consequences for the employee's income details and mean extra work for you. So it's a good idea to order the payroll drafts as soon as payroll starts, so they can be generated and you can keep updating the payslips as you go.
In Zenegy, the system will always alert you if there are irregularities or errors in the payroll. This ensures a correct pay run every time. You can also pull a number of reports that can help you towards an easier and faster pay run. Read more about our reports and read our blog post with good advice on making your pay run more efficient.
So remember to do the December payroll as early as possible! In Zenegy, the deadline for the December payroll is Wednesday 29 December at 08:00 for transfers to NemKonto and at 10:00 for Overførselsservice, if the pay is to be available on Thursday 30 December.
2 Reconcile with eIncome and bookkeeping
eIncome:
When you close the payroll year for 2021, you must check that the company's payroll data matches the reports made to SKAT. You reconcile using a reconciliation list from eIncome, which you'll find under ‘Tast Selv Erhverv’ on SKAT's website.
Once you've downloaded the list, you can upload it to Zenegy to get a reconciliation overview between Zenegy and eIncome.
Bookkeeping:
Reconcile Zenegy with your finance system. When you run payroll in Zenegy, the payroll is posted, and you can choose to have the posting transferred directly to your accounting software. Read more about the bookkeeping overview here.
3 Check your employees' days of holiday
The holiday-taking period for holiday year 2020 (holiday earned from 1 September 2020 to 31 August 2021) ends on 31 December 2021. So it's important to get on top of your employees' holiday and make sure it's taken.
Basically, the Holiday Act says that 5 of the 25 days of holiday the employee earns during the holiday year can be paid out or transferred to the next holiday period.
If the employee has more days of holiday left over from the holiday year 2020 that aren't taken, the value of the days of holiday beyond 5 days must be paid into Arbejdsmarkedets Feriefond. There are exceptions to this if the employee has been prevented from taking holiday, for example by parental leave.
By agreement, the 5th holiday week can be transferred to the next holiday period, to be taken before 31 December 2022, or it can be paid out.
Read more about the Holiday Act's most important deadlines
4 Settling SH savings and the free choice scheme
If you have employees with SH savings (for public holidays) or a free choice scheme, you need to be aware of which collective agreement applies. Under most collective agreements, SH and the free choice scheme are paid out with the year's last payroll, but it's a good idea to check this.
Free choice:
Free choice can be set to be paid out automatically, in a month you choose, for each employee. See a detailed overview of setting up free choice.
SH:
Some collective agreements require SH to be taxed in the current year and paid out net the year after. If this applies to your employees, you can set up the system for this kind of payout.
SH can be set up to be paid out automatically in a month you choose, for each employee. If an employee leaves with a negative SH balance, the amount is automatically deducted from the payout when they leave. See a detailed overview of setting up SH.
5 If there are changes to the employee's tax details
When an employee is created in Zenegy and you choose which tax card to use for the employee, Zenegy at the same time sends SKAT a request to subscribe to that tax card. This means that if an employee changes their details with SKAT, this will automatically be updated in Zenegy. Be aware, though, that it can take up to 14 days before Zenegy receives the updated tax details. Read more about how Zenegy handles tax cards.
Increased withholding rate:
If an employee has chosen to have an increased withholding rate, you need to check whether the employee wants to continue with it in the new year, as it isn't reset automatically in the system. So it's a good idea to send your employees a reminder to decide on their withholding rate.
Extra pension contributions:
You also need to take into account whether an employee wants to pay extra into their pension. So it's a good idea to make employees aware of this, so they have time to decide on their pension before the December payroll is sent off.
In Zenegy, you do this by adding an extra pension scheme in the pay run, where you can enter a Fixed amount under Own contribution.
6 Registrations
Make sure to go through all registrations (holiday, absence, mileage, out-of-pocket expenses etc.) before approving the year's last pay run. It's important that they're approved in time, so they're registered in the correct income year.
7 An employee leaving
If an employee leaves around the turn of the year, you must make sure this is registered in December. It's important that the employee's holiday, SH and free choice balances etc. are settled. This must be done with the December payroll, as it will otherwise affect the new income year and result in extra tax for the employee.
If the employee is to be paid holiday pay on leaving, it's important that this is done with the December payroll. If it's done too late, the holiday pay will be registered in the new income year. If it's a large amount, this can shift the whole income year, which can mean the employee risks a higher tax rate or a large tax bill. Read our guide to employees leaving.
8 Reporting to Danmarks Statistik
If you've been notified that your company has been selected to report to Danmarks Statistik, you must remember to do so. In Zenegy, you can sign your company up so the reports are sent automatically. You do this under ‘My company’ -‘Subscription’. Make sure Danmarks Statistik is activated, as in the picture below. As a Zenegy customer, signing up for this subscription is free. Read more about Danmarks Statistik.
9 Care days and extra days off
In Zenegy, you have a number of options for setting up extra days off and care days. Here you can define the period the days should follow, for example the calendar year, the new holiday year or the old holiday year. You can also define whether remaining days should be transferred to the next period or paid out. Extra days off and care days aren't covered by the Holiday Act, so they're subject to other rules, from collective agreements or agreements in the company.
So at the turn of the year, you must check balances and, where relevant, transfer or pay out the remaining days. Read more about extra days off and care days.
10 Changed settlement dates for labour market contributions and A-tax
There are different payment deadlines, depending on whether the company is classified in the category ‘small/medium-sized companies’ or ‘large companies’.
Be aware that at the end of November, you'll be notified by SKAT if there are changes to your payment deadlines. If your company has higher labour market contributions or A-tax than last year, it will get new reporting and payment deadlines. Read our blog post and get on top of paying A-tax and labour market contributions.
