In Singapore payroll, the As At Date on the AW/OW Setup page is a critical setting that tells JustLogin where the boundary sits between your manually entered opening-balance data and payroll figures calculated by the system. If this date changes unexpectedly, it can affect how Additional Wage (AW) CPF ceilings are calculated — particularly when you are using Option 2 or Option 3. This article explains when the As At Date can default to the current month and year, and what impact that has on your payroll.
When the As At Date Defaults to the Current Month and Year
The As At Date does not change on its own in the database. However, the AW/OW Setup page defaults to the current month and year on load, and any save action will write whatever date is currently displayed onto employee records. The following scenarios can cause the current month and year to be saved unintentionally:
- First-time setup or no existing records. If the AW/OW Setup page has never been saved before, no prior date exists to load. The page defaults to the current month and year, and saving the page — even just to update balance amounts — writes that date to all employee records.
- Page reload behaviour. Each time the page loads, it briefly initialises to the current month and year before attempting to retrieve the saved date from the first employee's record. If that employee has no valid saved date (for example, a newly added employee), the page remains on the current month and year.
- Importing data via CSV. When you import AW/OW data, the import uses whichever date is currently displayed on the page. If the page has defaulted to the current month and year and you do not adjust the date before importing, the imported records will carry the current month and year as the As At Date.
- Saving a single employee row. Saving an individual row also stamps the currently displayed As At Date onto that record, even if your intention was only to update balance amounts.
Important Note Always verify the As At Date shown on the AW/OW Setup page before clicking Save or importing data. A date that looks correct on screen may have silently reset to the current month and year since your last visit. |
How an Incorrect As At Date Affects AW Contributions
The As At Date defines which months of data are treated as opening balances (entered by you) versus system-calculated data from payruns processed in JustLogin. Shifting this boundary — even unintentionally — can cause AW CPF ceilings to be miscalculated, leading to over- or under-deduction of CPF on additional wages such as bonuses or commissions.
Option 2 — Average Ordinary Wage Projected for the Year
- The system calculates projected annual OW as:
(Total OW year-to-date ÷ number of months with data) × 12 - The As At Date determines how many months of data are included in this average. If the date shifts forward unexpectedly — for example, from January to July — the system averages over fewer months, which can significantly inflate or deflate the projected annual OW.
- A higher projected OW results in a lower AW ceiling, reducing the amount of additional wages subject to CPF, and vice versa.
Option 3 — Current Month Rate Projected Forward
- The system takes the current month's OW, projects it across the remaining months of the year, and adds the year-to-date total to arrive at the projected annual OW.
- The As At Date determines which months form the year-to-date portion. If the date moves forward, some months of opening-balance data may be excluded, changing the base figure used in the projection.
| Option | How the As At Date is used | Effect of an unintended date change |
|---|---|---|
| Option 2 | Sets the number of months included in the OW average | Fewer or more months in the average, inflating or deflating projected annual OW and the AW ceiling |
| Option 3 | Defines which months count as year-to-date opening balances | Months of opening-balance data may be excluded, altering the base figure for the projection |
What to Do If You Notice Unexpected AW Contribution Changes
- Go to the AW/OW Setup page and check the As At Date currently displayed.
- If the date has moved to the current month and year and that was not intended, review when the page was last saved and under what circumstances (for example, a recent import or a row-level save).
- Correct the As At Date to the appropriate month and year before saving.
- Re-run or recalculate the affected payrun to ensure CPF contributions on additional wages are based on the correct ceiling.