Upgrade Policy

We are often asked – ‘What is your upgrade policy?’

Low one off Fee Software
Our aim is to produce low cost effective software that does the job, sometimes without all the ‘bells and whistles’ or rarely used features. We have not had a specific upgrade policy, nor do we have annual subscriptions or service contracts. For a one off fee, our users can use the software they have purchased as long it is usable – in other words as long as it satisfies the ATO requirements.

Free Updates
We provide all users with free updates – these are generally for minor improvements and bug fixes. So a purchaser of EMPDUPE Maker Release 3 for example is entitled to free updates for Release 3.

Changes to ATO Specifications
In the past, the ATO made mostly minor changes to their Reporting Specifications, requiring only affected users to upgrade, while un-affected users could continue to use existing versions. For example Spec v9 were released for the 2008/09 year and continued to be compliant for most employers until the 2015/16 year. Spec v11 were released for 2012/13 and were still fully compliant for the 2015/16 year.

This long standing approach was to have been the case for the 2017 Payment Summaries where in Jan 2017 the ATO released PSAR Specifications v12.0.0. These Specifications were directed at employers who made payments under the new Working Holiday Maker arrangements as well as those who paid Fringe Benefits to their employees. Employers un-affected could continue to use their existing compliant software versions.

A month later, the ATO released new PSAR Specifications v12.0.1 (see extract here). The sole purpose of this new Specification was to apply the new requirements to ALL employers. So for the 2016/17 Payment Summaries, the Specification state that the only versions the ATO will accept are Payment Summaries that comply with v5.3.0 and EMPDUPE files that comply with v12.0.0 or v12.0.1. Release 4 of EMPDUPE Maker complies with these requirements, however not Release 3, or any other accounting type software version in use at that time. It seems all employers will be forced to upgrade their accounting or Payment Summary software.

As a consequence of this change, we at Namich have developed a new Upgrade Policy to minimise the impact on users.

Usage Pattern
Unlike software used on a day to day basis, such as the Windows® operating system, or Microsoft® products such as Word® and Excel®, most of our software is used for once a year reporting, generally around July and August of each year. We also keep the costs of our software to a minimum. Our new Upgrade Policy has been developed in this context.

Free Upgrade
On the launch of a new Release, all previous Release purchasers whose payment was received within 2 months of date of new Release will be contacted and offered a free upgrade.

Discounted Upgrade
An existing purchaser who does not qualify for the free upgrade, can purchase an upgrade to the latest version for 30% off the full purchase price. The 30% off will be processed by way of refund within 48 hours of purchase. The refund will be processed using the same payment channel as the purchase.

T‘s & C‘s
As licenses are non-transferable, upgrades are only available if the Registered Name and ABN are the same as the original purchase. The Registered Name and ABN can be found on the original Registration email.

Our Upgrade Policy is a concession granted to a purchaser by Namich and is not reflected in the Licence Agreement. Namich’s decision on the application of the policy is final. Namich reserves the right to modify the Upgrade Policy by updating this page on its website.