We have become aware on an issue which affects the ETI recalculation for April 2020 on the new Release 5.4c software. The software was initially released on 30 May 2020.

If you updated your payroll companies to Release 5.4c before the 2nd of June 2020, please take note of the following detials

New software has been deployed during the evening of 1 June 2020. If you updated your payroll companies to Release 5.4c before the 2nd of June 2020, please take note of the following:

• During the update to Release 5.4c, the system does a backdate calculation on the ETI figures for April 2020, in line with the latest ETI tables.
• In some instances, the system calculates invalid ETI calculated values for employees who earned R6500 remuneration in the month of April 2020. There is thus an invalid ETI value instead of zero.
• The concern thus is that invalid ETI values have calculated for your employees, which needs to be corrected.

Q: How do I check my company data for invalid ETI values?

A: For you to validate your ETI values, you will need to generate a report using the ETI History Extract. Click here for a guide how to run the ETI History Extract.

The employees will have either ETI values exceeding the claimable amount based on the latest ETI tables, or negative amounts.

Q: How do I resolve this issue on my payroll?

A: To rectify the issue, there are 2 different solutions you can apply to resolve the issue. Please review both options:

Option 1 - Restore a previous backup and update to Release 5.4c again:

The software has been updated on the cloud, however if you already converted to the latest release, you will not be able to reverse the recalculation. The only way to allow the system to correctly recalculate the ETI values. will be to restore to the May 2020 backup on Release 5.4b (prior to updating to Release 5.4c) and allowing the system to recalculate the values.

Click here for a guide how to retrieve and restore a backup on Payroll Professional.

Option 2- Remove the invalid values using the ETI Take-on function

The ETI History Export has an import function as well, which will allow you to correct the invalid ETI values.

Step 1: Run the ETI History Extract

  If you have not extracted the ETI values prior to this step, follow this guide to generate the ETI History extract for the 2020 calendar year. Click here for a guide how to run the ETI History Extract..

Step 2: Identify incorrect ETI

  Excel allow you to add filters on the Excel sheet, which will allow you to identify incorrect ETI values 

• Select the 1st row of the sheet
• Click on Data
• Select Filter

  Once filters have been activated, you can refine your search:

• Click on the Month filter, and select Month 4 (for April)
• Click on the ETI Remuneration column filter, and select all values equal to 6500 and greater
• This will display the list of all employees with invalid ETI for April - employees are not supposed to be able to claim ETI if they earn R6500 or more per month.

  Remove the invalid ETI values:

• In the Tax Incentive column, change the value to 0.00 - this will remove the invalid ETI values.

  At this point, save your Excel file.

Step 3: Create ETI take-on import file

  Click here for the full article on "How to do an ETI take-on".

  The ETI History Extract with the removed ETI values, can now been amended to become an import file:

• Select column AE (New/Term Days) to column AL (Comment)
• Delete the selected columns
• The End column will now reflect in column AE (which is correct)
• Open a new Excel workbook
• Copy the filtered contents to the new Excel workbook
• Delete the 1st row (which contains the headings)
• Save the file as a CSV comma delimited file
• The file is now ready to be imported into your payroll

Step 4: Import ETI take-on file

  Click here for the full article on "How to do an ETI take-on".

• Access you company
• Select Interfaces, Import Data, Utility Imports, ETI Take-On
• Select Import
• You will receive an option to make an backup (Yes/No)
• Select "choose a file or drag the saved CSV file to the box
• Click on Upload
• The Upload file name will appear
• Click on Import

  At this point, all the change ETI History will be overwritten as per the import file.

Step 5: Reconcile ETI values

• You can print the ETI History Report again to ensure all corrections were done correctly.
• We recommend that all ETI values for April and May is checked an validated based on the Covid-19 relief table (available in the software release notes)
• This will also provide you the opportunity to calculate the ETI differences for April, to claim on your May or future EMP201 (within the 1st 6 months of the tax year)

Take note, if no ETI reflects for the month of May, be sure all employees are linked to a Wage Regulating Measure and is linked to a valid minimum wage code. Refer to this post for more details:

If you have any questions with regards to the above or need assistance with creating the ETI import file, please complete a web form and attach your ETI history export file.