The final slips are the hardest…

The last pay slips of 2022 will be processed this month. This always requires extra attention and often several pay runs during the busiest period of the year. ‘The most wonderful time of the year…’ is therefore usually not applicable to payroll departments and payroll administrators.

2023 is getting closer and it is important to arrange various things related to payroll administration in time, so that corrections can still be made in the last Wage tax declaration. To ensure a smooth closing of 2022 and a good start of the new year, we have drawn up six important points for the salary and HRM administration below.

Closing payroll administration 2022 & preparing 2023

Before providing the latest pay slips to the employees, check the following points:

1) Do close the December pay run and check the Employee’s Annual Statements (Jaaropgave)

For example, check the Annual Statements to see whether there are major differences in wages compared to the wage tax deducted. If you know how the wage tax is calculated, check whether the deducted wage tax on an annual basis is correct based on the taxable annual wage. And check whether the social premiums have been correctly calculated based on the annual premium base salaries.

Any inaccuracies can often be found quickly in the Wage Statement (Loonstaat), in which you can find a separate line for each employee and for each processed pay run.

2) Check the Verzamelloonstaat

Check the Verzamelloonstaat for missing termination dates and/or incomplete ID numbers. Also check whether there are no negative amounts in the Verzamelloonstaat, which can sometimes occur if gross deductions have been made or if corrections have been made to the pension premium.

The Verzamelloonstaat can be refused by the Tax Authorities if they are incomplete or contain negative amounts.

3) Check the filed declarations

Check whether the total of the filed monthly declarations up to and including November, plus the return still to be filed for December, corresponds to the totals of wages, wage tax and social premiums as stated in the Verzamelloonstaat.

4) Have everyone submit their 2022 time-off in Celery before December 31

As a result, the time-off balances are updated as much as possible before the automatic switch to 2023 is made on December 31. Because on that date the Celery HRM module determines the time-off balance that will be carried over to 2023. Any unprocessed time-off requests from 2022 can still be processed in 2023, however they will also have to be adjusted manually in the time-off opening balance of January 1, 2023.

5) Submit annual documents 2022 on time

Don’t forget to submit the Verzamelloonstaat in time at the beginning of January 2023, so you will avoid fines. And don’t wait for the last day either, because if a Verzamelloonstaat is not accepted for one reason or another, you must have time to make the necessary adjustments.

The deadline for submitting the Verzamelloonstaat is usually January 31 of the new year, but this can sometimes differ. Check which deadline applies to you.

6) Process changes in a timely manner in 2023

For example, changes in pension premium amounts. Or have certain social premiums become applicable or not due to a change in salary and/or working days? These premiums often must be switched on or off manually.

Social premium differences on an annual basis

In Celery, most social premiums with a maximum basis, a discount and/or an exemption on an annual basis are automatically recalculated and settled on an annual basis in the December pay slip. This can sometimes result in employees receiving some social premiums back in the December pay slip, or (unfortunately) having to pay some extra premiums.

How is it possible that employees must pay extra social premiums in December? Sometimes premium discounts on an annual basis or premium exemptions based on a certain annual salary are applicable. That annual wage is often only known after the December run, but as a payroll administrator you must take it into account every month 11 months earlier in that year. You, and Celery, are unfortunately not clairvoyant, so it is possible that discounts and exemptions have been applied during the year, which are reversed in the December run based on a certain annual salary. The result can be an extra deduction of social premiums and therefore a lower net salary than normal.

Having to pay extra premiums is of course ‘not funny’ for employees, especially in December. And being a payroll administrator, you can make changes that point this in the right direction by, for example, simply not applying certain exemptions and/or discounts to these employees. It is therefore advisable to change such settings before you start the payroll of 2023.

Finally, Celery wishes you a great payroll year 2023!