Say Goodbye to your Old Philippine Peso Bills

Better check your wallet and piggy banks right now, because according to the Philippine government, December 31, 2015 will be the last time you can make use of your old bills.

government-announcement-old-bills

So if you still have some old bills from your last payroll, you better spend it NOW or turn it over to any bank for exchange.

Here’s the full image of the guidelines for your reference:

official-money-payrollhero-philippines

The government is giving Filipinos one last chance to get rid of these old Philippine peso bills. By 2017, all old paper bills will be rendered useless so don’t forget to turn them over to the nearest bank this coming 2016.

Top New Year’s Resolutions for 2016

New-Years-Resolution-PayrollHero

Greeting the year ahead will never be complete without the traditional “New Year’s Resolutions”.

From losing weight, to saving lots of money to buy a brand new car, people from around the world welcome the New Year with personal lists of pacts, goals, and promises that serve as a motivation for what’s to come.

Curious to know what people are writing on their list?

Here are some of the Top New Year’s Resolutions of 2016. (infographic from Digimind)

New-Years-Resolutions-PayrollHero

How about you? What are your New Year’s Resolutions for 2016?

Let us know in the comments section below!

Happy New Year! 

PayrollHero’s Top 10 Posts of 2015

Time flies by so fast! 2015 is already coming to a close.

In just a few days, we’re waving goodbye to the year that was, as we say Hello to 2016.

We’re excited for the coming year since YOU have tons of stuff to watch out for! We’ll be making more exciting content for you to read, watch, and listen to.

But for now, let’s take a quick look back at PayrollHero’s Top 10 Posts of 2015.

1.) ATM Withdrawal Limits for Philippine Banks

atm-withdrawal-limits-for-philippine-banks-payrollhero

Our most viewed post of 2015 is this quick guide on the ATM Withdrawal Limits for Philippine Banks.

There are a lot of banks in the Philippines and they all have their respective ATM withdrawal limits. On top of that, the banks also charge fees per transaction, so this article gives people a better understanding of which bank to use so that fees can be minimized as much as possible.

2.) How To Prepare An Alphalist for the Philippines

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has issued certain guidelines and basic information requirements in preparing a company’s alphalist… But not everyone knows exactly how to do it.

PayrollHero gives you a quick overview on how to prepare an Alphalist in the Philippines.

3.) 8 Restaurant Recommendations In Fort Bonifacio, Philippines

fort-bonifacio-restaurants-payrollhero

Because we love you, we’ve listed some of our favorite restaurants in Fort Bonifacio (BGC). Check out our blog post and maybe you can even spend your New Year Celebration in one of these restaurants!

4.) Visit to Manila’s White Cross Children’s Home

payrollhero-white-cross-manila

Although the team’s trips to White Cross happened in 2014, this story was still one of our top performing blog posts in 2015.

The team documented their journey to White Cross Children’s Home in San Juan, Philippines with lots of pictures. You can see them all in this post.

5.) What is the SSS? (Philippines)

There are thousands of people everyday who search about SSS (Social Security System). And this short blog post gives you an overview of what SSS in the Philippines is all about.

BONUS: For a detailed guide on how to compute your SSS deductions and other payroll concerns, you can download our FREE Payroll Kit here.

6.) Employer Contributions in the Philippines: Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG)

PAG-IBIG-PayrollHero

Employers also benefit from the wealth of information we share on our blog. In this case, we wrote about PAG-IBIG and how employers (and employees) should handle it.

7.) The Philippines Restaurant Industry at a Glance #infographic

restaurant-infographic-payrollhero

We created an infographic on the Restaurant Industry in the Philippines. It gives you a quick glance on key stats on the restaurant landscape in the Philippines.

Feel free to share this infographic on your own website or social media pages.

8.) Employee Contributions in the Philippines: BIR and SSS

Yet another top performing post about SSS in the Philippines! Check out this blog post, which is more detailed than the one mentioned above.

In this article, we’ve also provided a link to all the necessary BIR forms.

9.) Employer Contributions in the Philippines: PhilHealth

As you may have noticed, PayrollHero blog readers are really loving our quick guides on information about government deductions/benefits.

This one covers everything you need to know about PhilHealth. (Get our FREE PayrollHero Kit here)

10. An Introduction to Domain Driven Design

Domain-Driven-Design-payrollhero

And lastly, the PayrollHero team was able to enjoy two days of intense training on Domain Driven Design with Kiro Harada.

In this blog post, we shared what we learned from Kiro, so you too can be part of the experience. This learning retreat was attended by team members from Manila, Whistler, and Singapore.

Conclusion

It was an amazing experience for us this 2015. We enjoyed writing and creating awesome content for you guys!

Rest assured that we’ll keep delivering only the best this coming 2016! So don’t forget to visit our blog regularly, okay?

Happy New Year, everyone!

FREE Payroll Kit for All Employees

payrollhero-ultimate-payroll-guide

If you’re an employee and you’re reading this, then you’re in luck!

The PayrollHero team prepared the Ultimate Payroll Kit that answers all your questions and concerns regarding the following topics:

  • How to Compute 13th Month Pay
  • How to Compute Holiday Pay & Rest Day Pay
  • How to Compute your BIR Taxes
  • How to Compute your Government Deductions (SSS, PAG-IBIG, PhilHealth)
  • How to Compute Night Differential Pay
  • How to Compute Your OT Pay

All these and more for FREE! Click here to download your FREE Payroll Guide in the Philippines.

Aside from providing smooth and efficient HR, Time, Attendance, and Payroll processes to businesses, we also provide a wealth of information for employees regarding matters concerning their payroll.

So if you always found yourself making a Google search on “How to Compute 13th Month Pay” or “How much is my SSS deduction”, then our free PayrollHero Kit will do wonders for you.

payrollhero-download-button

You won’t have to Google about these payroll concerns in the Philippines ever again. Simply get the guide, keep it in a folder (It’s in PDF format), and consult it whenever you want to know something that concerns your payroll.

Not only do you get a more clear and defined answer to your questions; you also won’t have to bug your company HR with trivial questions anymore. You will be well-equipped with all the basic and necessary info about your payroll. Sounds awesome, right?

So download the free PayrollHero Kit now and learn everything you need to know about your payroll today!

payrollhero-download-button

Video Tour of Philippine Payroll on PayrollHero

Below is a video explainer for how PayrollHero can work within your Philippine business. From setting up schedules, to clocking in and out, resolving attendance and generating payroll.

1. Creating employee schedules on PayrollHero
It is quick and easy to setup schedules for your employees. Depending on your business will depend which scheduling tool you use. Our onboarding team will help setup the processes so that your managers can quickly and easily manage their teams schedules.

Clocking in/out via PayrollHero
Clocking in and out on PayrollHero is a breeze. We have TeamClock for iOS and Android as well as the MyClock Web and TeamClock Chrome. We can setup your account to based on your needs.

Clock in/out details are run through thresholds
We automate your time and attendance policy using our thresholds functionality. All clock in and outs are run through the thresholds to make enforcement of your policies easier. We have thresholds for In early, in late, out early, out late, undertime, unscheduled work, duplicate clock in and duplicate clock out.


Resolving employee attendance infractions
Our resolve attendance functionality enables your managers to quickly and easily resolve infractions that fall outside of the thresholds. Most common is missing clock in and overtime. Each click is recorded as to who resolved what infraction and why.

Enroll employee in Government deductions

Add allowances on PayrollHero

Generate payroll
Generating payroll is simple and rules based. Once the time and attendance has been resolved running the payroll is quick. Below is an example of a Philippine payroll being run.

Other questions that you might have?

  1. How PayrollHero Computes the Pag-Ibig Deduction?
  2. How PayrollHero Computes the SSS Deduction?
  3. How PayrollHero Computes an Employees Total Hours for One Day?
  4. How PayrollHero Computes the Philippine BIR Tax Deduction?
  5. How PayrollHero Computes the PhilHealth Deduction?
  6. How to Compute the 13th Month Pay?
  7. How to Compute for Night Differential?
  8. What Is Annualized Witholding Tax (Alphalist)?

Have more questions? Feel free to consult our knowledge-base or reach out and our team would be pleased to speak further about your companies specific needs. 

Top Industries with the Highest 13th Month Pay Bonus

13th-month-payrollhero

In just a few days, you’re going to be receiving your hard-earned 13th month pay from your employer. Although some have already received theirs as early as November, majority of the Filipino workforce regularly receives their 13th month pay during December.

Yes… Just in time for your Christmas shopping! (Check out our Top 5 Christmas Shopping Hacks for 2015 here).

But not all 13th month pay in the Philippines were created equal.

Some industries generally offer higher bonuses than the rest. Check out this infographic from MoneyMax.ph to find out which industry is the most generous when it comes to 13th month pay.

13th-month-pay-payrollhero

If you want to know how to easily compute your 13th month pay, you can check out our quick guide here.

So what can you say about this? Are you happy with your bonus?

Let us know in the comments section below!

Year End Update – Philippines: Alphalist, BIR DAT Files and 2316 Forms

This is one of PayrollHero’s biggest releases this year. You can view the original post here:

In a nutshell:

  • Updated 2015 Alphalist
  • Alphalist DAT Files
  • Updated Multi-Inserts for Previous Employer and Additional Dependents
  • BIR 2316 Forms (New)

What’s new this release?

  • For 2015, the BIR Exemption amount has been increased to Php 82,000.00 of the total amount of exclusion from gross income for 13th month pay and other benefits. This change was effective from Jan 1, 2015.
  • You can now download DAT Files. These files are the upload-version of BIR’s Alphalist.

  • You can now add previous employer details so you can generate accurate 7.1 and 7.5 Alphalists. This can be added through the Previous Employer Multi-insert form.

  • You can now add additional dependent information to be used in your 2316 forms. Additional dependent information can be added through the BIR Update Multi-insert Tool.

  • 2316 forms can now be downloaded individually through the employee profile.

Where can I download these forms?

You can download the Alphalist and the DAT files by going to “Payrolls > Reports > Forms (click view)”. You can allow the employee access or download their 2316 form by going to their “Employee Profile > Documents > BIR 2316”.

What do I need to do?

Accounts that have complete payrolls for 2015 shouldn’t have any issues downloading the Alphalist.

To setup your account for Alphalist and the 2316, please contact our Client Success Team, they would be happy to help!

If you have any questions please let us know by clicking here.

PayrollHero-Blog-Ads

Top 5 Christmas Shopping Hacks for 2015

merry-christmas-payrollhero

It’s December, and everyone’s rushing off to the nearest malls to buy Christmas gifts. It’s not a very pleasant picture — especially if you’ve been stuck in traffic for nearly 2 hours and you’ve yet to buy anything for your family and friends.

Unfortunately, traffic in Manila during Christmas season is inevitable (even on a regular day traffic in Manila is horrendous, but that’s another story). The best way to make your 2015 Christmas shopping a much better experience is to hack your way around it.

With that said, we’ve listed 5 Christmas Shopping Hacks for 2015 to ensure that your shopping experience is better than most.

Start Early

shop-early-payrollhero

Okay, as of this writing, it’s already the 2nd week of December, and this doesn’t really qualify under “Starting Early” since malls are ALREADY packed and crazy traffic has begun. But shopping as early as now is still better than joining the crowd on the last week before Christmas.

You can try going during non-peak hours. If there’s a nearby mall in your office, you could try to go for a quick shopping trip so you could avoid the crowded malls and horrible traffic during after-office hours.

Book an Uber / GrabCar 

Uber-Grabcar-PayrollHero

One way to get around the Christmas rush traffic and hassle is by booking an Uber or a GrabCar in advance.

With their Waze integration, you at least have a shot to avoid traffic (as much as possible) with an Uber. You could also drive your own car, but again, it would be better to relax and let the friendly Uber / GrabCar partners drive you to your destination.

Be mindful of Uber’s rate “surge” though, as you might end up biting more than you can chew. Try to book when there’s no surge so you don’t get shocked with your total bill.

Organize and Prioritize

If you’re like 99% of our blog readers, you must have countless family and friends to give gifts to. An awesome way to make your Christmas shopping experience smoother is if you actually know what you’re going to buy.

Prepare a list in advance. Just pop out your smartphone, open an app like Evernote or Google Docs, and type in the name of the people you’ll buy gifts for and what you’re getting them.

Here’s a look at my personal checklist (done through Evernote).

christmas-shopping-list

Still a long way to go.

If you prepare a list before you go to the mall, you’ll be able to save a lot of time and energy.

Shop Online

Zalora Philippines

Avoid the traffic mayhem COMPLETELY by doing your Christmas shopping online.

With Zalora, Lazada, OLX, Shopee, and other online stores, you can easily find gifts for your loved ones without leaving the house.

Order as early as possible and have the products delivered at your doorstep. All you have to do is wrap these gifts, and you’re all set. I’m personally buying some of my gifts online this year.

BONUS TIP: You can also check out independent online stores that sell awesome T-shirts (like The Perfect White Shirt). Rather than going to the mall and falling in line, you can save a lot of time and hassle by ordering online.

Make or Bake

Or… you can forego Christmas shopping altogether and just make personalized gifts for your loved ones.

If you’re not artsy, you can give baking a try. You can easily bake cookies or delicious cupcakes like this:

payrollhero-cupcakes-diy

Not only can you save time and money, you’re also going to be making a lot of your family and friends happy. After all, effort trumps material gifts 10 times out of 10.

Enjoy your Christmas Shopping! 

PayrollHero Security

securityWe value our customer’s security and work hard to ensure that our platform and procedures are focused on security of our clients data. A PayrollHero account contains all employee information and confidential material. For that reason, we take security, encryption, and system permissions very seriously.

Below we have listed a complete guide of our security processes for your reference.

User Security

  • Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement

At the onset of our business relationship, we sign a mutual non-disclosure agreement as part of our commitment to your company confidentiality.

  • Password Strength Policy

We have a Password Strength Policy which ensures that a PayrollHero user will be able to log in with high security measures.

We require all passwords to use the following:

– One lowercase letter
– One uppercase letter
– One number
– 8 characters in total for password length

  • Two Factor Authentication Log In

As an added layer of security for users, we have implemented a Two Factor Authentication (2FA) log-in, which makes logging in more safe and secure.

With 2FA, users are blocked from sharing passwords – giving the user complete ownership and responsibility for his or her personal account.

Every time a user logs in, they get a time-based, one-time password to authenticate the log in process. This password changes every time you log in, and only you, the user, will be able to know this generated password.

To enable 2FA, you would need a device, usually a smartphone, and an app to generate these one-time use passwords. Here are some of our recommended apps:

Click here for a complete guide on how to set up Two Factor Authentication for your PayrollHero account.

Platform Security

  • Encryption at Rest

All data within PayrollHero is encrypted in transit and at rest, meaning that it is not only encrypted when moving from application to application but it is also encrypted when idle.

  • HTTPS

All communication in and out of the PayrollHero platform is done through HTTPS. “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a communications protocol for secure communication over a computer network, with especially wide deployment on the Internet”.

** For both security and non-security incidents, we have employ an urgent and critical process that brings a certain priority level to the team. There is an incident commander appointed during any of these incidents and is responsible for involving the necessary resources. 

Architecture

The PayrollHero System is designed to only expose access to customer facing services. All other access requires an encrypted administrator connection.

  • Only vetted senior staff members have access to production data.
  • All access requires encrypted access to the system.
  • All access to the system requires either an encrypted VPN connection or two factor authentication to access anything.
  • All access to production data is logged.
  • All systems are isolated from each other, regularly replaced, and security patches are applied as soon as they are available.

Customer data is stored on a multi-tenant environment, as such it does exist within the same databases. Extreme care is taken to never allow customer data to get mixed up.

The PayrollHero system is designed to deal with server failures. We perform offsite backups, and frequent onsite backups. We also have an offline mode for the clock in/out feature.

If you want to learn how to use TeamClock while offline, click here for a quick tutorial.

Servers

In an effort to ensure that all your data is kept secure, we only use one of the best names in server and cloud computing – Amazon.

Technically speaking, we secure our data with the following services.

PayrollHero utilizes AWS Services that are ISO 27001 and PCI DSS L1 Certified:

  • Amazon Web Services Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
  • Amazon Web Services Simple Storage Service (S3)
  • Amazon Web Services Relational Database Service (RDS)
  • Amazon Web Services Elastic Load Balancing (ELB)
  • Amazon Web Services Identity and Access Management (IAM)
  • Amazon Web Services Elastic Block Storage (EBS)

PayrollHero will use commercially reasonable efforts to make the PayrollHero platform available with a monthly uptime percentage of at least 99%, in each case during any monthly billing cycle (the “Service Commitment”). In the event PayrollHero does not meet the Service Commitment, You will be eligible to receive a Service Credit as described below.

Service Level Agreement

Service Credits are calculated as a percentage of the total charges paid by you (excluding one-time payments such as upfront payments) for the monthly billing cycle in which the platform was unavailable.

  • If the monthly uptime percentage drops below: 99%
  • Service Credit Percentage: 20%
  • Service Credits are applied to Your next months invoice.
  • To receive a Service Credit, You must submit a claim by opening a support case (support@payrollhero.com).

To be eligible, the credit request must be received by us by the end of the second billing cycle after which the incident occurred and must include:

  • the words “SLA Credit Request” in the subject line;
  • the dates and times of each unavailability incident in respect of which You are claiming;
  • the affected PayrollHero account;
  • and your request logs that document the errors and corroborate Your claimed outage (any confidential or sensitive information in these logs should be removed or replaced with asterisks).

Our most up to date Terms of Service.

If you have any other questions about our confidentiality, data security, or encryption, please feel free to contact us at support@payrollhero.com.