This article explains how to manage employee payroll details under Labour Drivers in Magnifi. Once employees have been imported or added, you can use the Labour Drivers tabs to update pay details and project labour costs, including overtime and payroll on-costs.
Use this guide when you need to:
Update an employee’s hourly rate or hours worked per week.
Apply pay increases to one or more employees.
Enter pay periods, overtime, and allowances.
Add payroll on-costs such as superannuation, payroll tax, or workers compensation.
Go to the Hourly Rate, Hours per Week, or Allowances tab under Labour Drivers.
Click into the relevant cell to update the value.
Example: if an employee is projected to receive a pay rise in October, update the October cell.
Double-click a value to copy it forward into future months.
Updated values appear in red when they differ from the imported/current value.
To copy current values for all employees into future months, click Copy All.
Note: If a cell is left blank, Magnifi adopts the current value.
Go to the Hourly Rate tab.
Click Pay Increase.
Enter the % increase and select the Start month.
The increase applies from the chosen month onwards for all employees.
To update a single employee, edit the relevant cell and double-click to copy forward.
Go to the Gross Wages tab.
Select the Pay Frequency (weekly, fortnightly, or monthly).
Enter the number of pay periods.
Weekly pay periods are calculated automatically.
Fortnightly pay periods must be entered manually.
In the Gross Wages tab, enter the expected overtime hours.
Overtime hours are multiplied by the Overtime Multiplier to calculate the projected overtime cost.
How to calculate your overtime multiplier:
First, work out your average base rate per hour:
Add up all base wages for the past 12 months.
Divide this by the total base hours worked.
Next, work out your average overtime rate per hour:
Add up all overtime wages for the past 12 months.
Divide this by the total overtime hours worked.
Finally, divide the overtime rate by the base rate.
The result is your overtime multiplier.
👉 Example: if the average base rate is $30/hour and the average overtime rate is $48/hour, the multiplier is 1.6x.
If a cell is left blank, Magnifi will apply the default multiplier. You can override this by entering a % in the relevant cell.
Overtime % applies only to Direct Employees.
💡 Tip: To include overtime for overhead staff, create a “dummy employee” (e.g., First Name: Overtime, Last Name: Allowance) and enter projected hours or costs.
Go to the Gross Wages tab.
Enter estimated % rates for on-costs such as:
Annual Leave Loading – defaults to 1.35% (17.5% of 4 weeks ÷ 52). Applies to full-time and part-time employees (excludes overtime).
Payroll Tax – enter as a % of gross wages (including overtime and super). Magnifi does not apply thresholds, so use your expected average rate (e.g., last year’s payroll tax ÷ [wages + super + overtime]).
Superannuation – defaults to a % of gross wages (excluding overtime). To include overtime or allowances, click the default rate. If your workforce has mixed contributions, you can update this % to reflect your current average.
Workers Compensation – enter as a % of gross wages (including overtime). A guide is last year’s workers compensation ÷ total wages (including overtime). Note: as super is also subject to workers comp, the % here may appear slightly higher than your calculated rate.
Hover over the on-cost name to view the calculation method.
Monthly values can be updated manually. If they differ from the default, they will display in red.
To exclude a cost, enter “0” in the relevant cell.
On-costs automatically flow into the Profit and Loss Projection under Direct or Overhead Labour Cost, depending on employee classification.
Do I need to update every cell each month?
No. If cells are left blank, Magnifi will carry forward the current value. However, if current values change in the future, historical blank cells will also update — so it’s best practice to enter values each period.
How can I apply a pay rise to all employees at once?
Use the Pay Increase option under Hourly Rate to apply a % increase from the chosen month.
Why don’t I see overtime for overhead staff?
Overtime applies only to Direct Employees. To include overhead overtime, create a separate “Overtime Allowance” employee.
How do on-costs flow into reports?
On-costs appear automatically in the Profit and Loss Projection under Direct or Overhead Labour Cost, based on employee classification.