FAQ
Frequently asked questions about payroll accounting
General remarks
The central task of payroll accounting is the operational processing of payroll accounting. It thus represents an important sub-area of financial accounting – more precisely, bookkeeping. Payroll accounting is subject to significant and regular changes. Compliance with legal obligations is of great importance here. We support you in complying with these obligations imposed on you as an employer through our modern, contemporary and efficient payroll accounting. We use DATEV for our payroll accounting service.
Payroll accounting handles all payroll related accounting issues. The focus lies on all accounting aspects relating to employees and the payments and payment obligations resulting from employment relationships.
The main tasks of payroll accounting include:
- the preparation of wage and salary slips,
- the maintenance of all employee related data,
- maintaining wage accounts,
- reporting necessary contributions to social security agencies
- and the creation of accounting documents for financial accounting.
In general, companies are free to take care of their payroll accounting themselves or use external service providers. However, good payroll accountants should have a correspondingly extensive know-how in the areas of labour, social security and wage tax law. At the same time, errors in payroll accounting represent a significant risk for employers.
We would be happy to support you and take over the payroll accounting for you.
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The salary and wages have to be recalculated every month. The finances for payroll accounting are often regulated by collective agreements or laws. The work done (hours worked) must of course be taken into account. In addition, there may be one-off payments (e.g. Christmas bonus), bonuses and surcharges.
It is important to note that taxable and tax-exempt payments are clearly separated.
This is followed by the calculation of the wage or ancillary personnel costs and from this the preparation of the payslip (the "payslip" for the employee) and finally the payment of the wages. But payroll accounting also has to “pay” elsewhere – always the employer’s and the employee’s share: health insurance contributions, nursing care insurance, pension insurance, unemployment insurance in one sum to the health insurance company. The health insurance company takes care of the distribution to the right places. In addition, there is wage tax and solidarity surcharge (or church tax if you belong to a religious denomination) in one sum by ELSTER to the tax office.
If necessary, contributions for additional old-age provision or capital-forming payments to the banks or insurance companies are due.
The social security agencies and the tax office don't take it for granted if you forget to do so or don't transfer the money to the appropriate places in good time. Finally, attention must also be paid to continued payment of wages in the event of illness, payments under the Maternity Protection Act or voluntary benefits that the company can provide to its employees.
There are various ways of making such services tax-free. You can find details on this and the advantages and disadvantages of the various employment opportunities for employees in our blog post "The first employee: What you have to consider with wage tax and social security".
The annual financial statements do not have to be made monthly, but still regularly. Because at the end of a calendar year, the settlement is due. The employees' salary accounts are closed and the figures are transmitted electronically to the tax office. The payroll department also has to send the annual remuneration for the aforementioned social security contributions to the health insurance company. Finally, what must not be forgotten is the annual report to the professional association in order to be able to determine the contributions for the statutory accident insurance.
When hiring a new employee, the following documents, among others, are required:
- Completed personnel questionnaire (all necessary data will be requested, you will receive the corresponding template from us)
- Copy of employment contract
- Member certificate of health insurance
- Proof of parental status
- Contracts for company pension schemes (bAV) or capital-forming benefits (VWL)
- Certificate of vacation already granted or compensated in the current calendar year (vacation certificate)
New employees are generally to be registered with the health insurance company to which the employee belongs or which he/she has chosen at the start of employment with the first subsequent pay slip, at the latest within 6 weeks of joining.
Deviating from this, in certain sectors, registrations must be made at the latest when you take up employment (immediate notifications). This applies to the following sectors:
- Construction industry,
- catering and accommodation industry,
- passenger transport business,
- Freight forwarding, transport and related logistics business,
- fairground trade,
- forestry companies,
- building cleaning trade,
- companies involved in setting up and dismantling trade fairs and exhibitions,
- meat industry.
A violation of the reporting obligation can be punished with a substantial fine.
You must register with the relevant health insurance company, regardless of whether the employee is subject to compulsory insurance in all branches of social insurance (health, nursing care, pension or unemployment insurance) or only in one of them.
When registering a new employee, the following information must be provided:
- name (surname),
- first name (given name),
- name prefix and name suffixes, if applicable,
- title,
- Street and house number,
- Postal code and city,
- country
- Start of employment,
- Insurance number (from the social security card),
- Personnel number (which was assigned to the new employee)
- Reason for submitting the report (new registration).
You are welcome to use our online form for the immediate notification or send the attached form to our e-mail message set up for this purpose immediately message@schlecht-partner.de.
On request, we will be happy to keep the holiday statistics for you. Employees are provided with information about the status of their holiday accounts in the monthly payslips. All you have to do is inform us of the vacation days that have been submitted and approved. We'll take care of the rest.
The company number identifies your company. the social insurance institutions (health insurance, pension insurance). It has eight digits, e.g. 12345678.
You can obtain the number online from the employment agency's company number service. You can also find the number on your previous receipts, e.g. the contribution statements or printouts of SI notifications.
In the case of start-ups or the first-time employment of employees, you must first apply for a company number. We are happy to do this for you.
As soon as you employ workers, you need a trade association.
The professional associations are responsible for the statutory accident insurance. Its task is to prevent or compensate for accidents at work, occupational diseases and work-related health hazards. They are public corporations with self-government.
You can find this number, for example, on the annual letter from the trade association (contribution notice) or on the printout of the electronic report of the wage statement. You also need the name of the responsible BG (e.g. the construction BG) and your PIN for the electronic procedure to the trade association.
If you have any questions about the trade association, you can contact the central accident insurance hotline.
Although we cannot actively advise you on questions of employment law for professional reasons, our law firm is characterized by a high standard of service to our clients. That's why we always strive to offer you reliable and high-quality solutions in subject or service areas that are not covered by us. For example, we have been working together with lawyers in the area of employment law for years, based on trust. Therefore, we accompany you in questions of employment law and find you the right expert for your question.
Due to our focus on questions of international tax law and our membership in the international network XLNC, we regularly support clients with cross-border issues. Feel free to contact us.
The field of payroll accounting is extremely dynamic and subject to significant changes. Our experts are therefore continuously undergoing further training in order to have the latest information at your fingertips at all times.
At the same time, we are convinced that it is advantageous for the employer as well as for the client relationship if you inform yourself about the developments. In addition to consulting with our team, we would be happy to inform you about the latest developments in our regular newsletter on wages and salaries.
Our range of services is diverse and we look forward to supporting you in other service areas or questions. In addition to the areas of financial accounting, the preparation of annual financial statements and tax returns, we also actively advise you on special topics such as corporate succession, problems of international tax law or the preparation and support of corporate transactions.
Please do not hesitate to contact us.
Ongiong payroll accounting
Employers are obliged to issue payslips to employees and workers. However, payslips are often not easy to understand.
We're here to help.
Find below the essential characteristics of a payslip and what they mean:
- Employee Data
Here you will find personal information such as B. Date of birth, tax characteristics and social security information. - Overview of working and vacation time
Information on attendance and absence times as well as vacation days can be found here. - Address field
Here is the address of the wage recipient as well as the name and address of his employer, the personnel number and, if applicable, the department number. - Billing Notes
Additional values can appear here, e.g. B. weekly working time, cost center, hourly wage. In addition, further information can also be output here, such as interruptions, e.g. B. in case of illness, parental leave. - Gross earnings
Here you will find information on how the monthly payments are made up, e.g. B. from hourly wages, holiday wages, vacation wages and vacation pay. These salary components each contain a reference to tax and social security obligations.Marked with "****" there can be further information from the payroll office. - Tax/Social Security
Here you can see the statutory deductions. - Net Earnings/Net Deductions
The amounts listed here reduce or increase the calculated net earnings. This then results in the payout amount. - Withdrawal Amount
Here you will find the amount that will be paid out or transferred in the current month. - Bank Details
This field can contain the bank details to which the payment amount will be transferred. - Employer's Total Costs
At this point, the payroll office can decide whether the total costs for the employer should be shown. These include the gross salary of the employee and ancillary wage costs, such as e.g. B. the employer’s contribution to social security. - Statement of Merit
Here you will find an overview of the accumulated gross values and statutory deductions from the current employment relationship. - Footer
At this point you will find explanations of the abbreviations in the form as well as the mandatory information required by law. The footer of the statement therefore also contains the indication that this statement was drawn up in accordance with Section 108 (3) of the Trade Regulations Act.
We will of course provide you with the monthly evaluations according to your wishes. We would be happy to send them to you securely by e-mail. If you wish, you can also receive these by mail.
We can provide you and your employees with payslips in a number of ways.
In addition to the payslips sent in individually enveloped letters from the DATEV printing center in Nuremberg directly to your employees, we can also send them to you in bundles or in digital PDF format. In our opinion, the digital provision of payslips to employees via DATEV Arbeitnehmer Online is particularly recommended.
We are guided by your wishes here.
Payment obligations go hand in hand with payroll accounting. In addition to the salary payment to the employees, payments have to be made to the social insurance institutions and the tax office. At the same time, these payments must be made promptly to avoid the risk of default.
We are happy to support you in making payments efficiently. In addition to an overview of the payments, we are happy to provide you with the payments as a file to import into your bank program. In addition, it is also possible for us to integrate the payments directly into your online banking program.
Our payroll service
You have a fixed contact person from our payroll team who will be at your side as an expert with questions about payroll. Of course, if your contact person is absent due to vacation or illness, unrestricted support from our payroll team is guaranteed.
You can reach us by phone, fax, email or by post.
We invoice our payroll accounting services transparently and comprehensibly. While the preparation of the monthly wage and salary slips, i.e. the management of wage accounts and the preparation of the wage and salary slips, is billed at a monthly flat rate per employee, expenses for consulting services and the supervision of examinations are incurred according to the time spent. On request, we would be happy to provide you with an offer for our services in the field of payroll accounting.
DOWNLOAD
You can download our payroll mandate checklist as a PDF here.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at any time.
Please find our contact details below.
Via E-Mail: lohnbuchhaltung@schlecht-partner.de
Schlecht und Partner
Mailänder Platz 25
70173 Stuttgart
Tel.: 0711 40 05 40 50
Schlecht und Partner
Barer Straße 7
80333 Munich
Tel.: 089 24 29 16 0