You may have become aware of Service NSW (SNSW) requiring businesses to re-test and confirm their eligibility for JobSaver and the Micro-Business Grant. We have held off contacting you as the requirements to undertake this process as rules have been announced with no notice and then regularly changed, not offering much clarity to you. Service NSW has now announced updated guidance on the process involved in confirming continued eligibility for these grants.
We have prepared a client guide that can be found here on our website.
Key Points from the SNSW Guidance
- If the business was closed during the relevant fortnight there is no requirement to perform a decline in turnover calculation and these entities can simply select ‘yes’ on the confirmation screen to indicate that they have continued to experience a decline in turnover of at least 30%.
- For other businesses, you have 3 options on how to assess your eligibility meaning that you are able to choose a period that is most suitable for your circumstances. Please note, that once you have chosen an option, you will need to continue using this option for all future assessments.
- The new guidelines explain that you may be able to oscillate in and out of the support payments from fortnight to fortnight. That is, you may be ineligible for one period but became eligible for other periods.
- It is possible to delay your reconfirmation and you can reconfirm for multiple fortnights in one go. For example, some entities might prefer to wait until month-end accounting records are finalised.
- Service NSW states that payments will be made within 5 days of the entity reconfirming its eligibility.
- There is no requirement for updated accountant’s letters to be submitted to SNSW.
What You Can Do To Prepare
As always, we are available to assist in the eligibility and confirmation process for your business. If you do require help, when contacting us please ensure the following is contained in your correspondence where possible:
- Confirm your initial comparison period
- Confirm that sales for the relevant fortnight are up to date
- A sales report for the relevant fortnight ie the fortnight that requires re-testing
We also ask for your patience during this time as we are dealing with a high volume of enquiries, in addition to business as usual. Whilst we appreciate that some of you may be experiencing cash flow issues with reduced trade or complete shutdown, there is no rush in re-confirming as you will receive your full entitlements back-dated to the relevant date, regardless of lodgement.
Lastly, SNSW has communicated to the joint professional accounting bodies that it will continue to pay September payments without the need for businesses to reconfirm their eligibility, with payments only ceasing if reconfirmation is not provided from October onwards. Unfortunately at this time, SNSW has not updated their website or front line staff to communicate this to businesses. Once we have received confirmation of this, we will contact you again. If you do not hear anything else from our office then the fortnight 13 September – 26 September will need to be confirmed for eligibility.
If you have any queries, please reach out to your contact here at Myssy + Co. As always, we wish you all the best during this challenging period.