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End of year finalisation with Single Touch Payroll reporting

AccountRight Plus and Premier only

Before finalising

  • Tick

    Enter all pays up to 30 June (pays recorded with a July payment date which include June pay dates aren't included in the finalised year)

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    Fix any incorrect pays

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    Check that pay runs sent during the payroll year have been accepted by the ATO.

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    Note that rejected reports retain a Rejected status. This is OK if reports since the rejected one have been accepted by the ATO.

What happens when I finalise?

  • You'll start by checking some payroll reports to make sure you've reported everything correctly to the ATO.

  • An update event is sent to the ATO to let them know you're finalising your payroll year.

  • The status of the employee's income statement in myGov changes to Tax ready so they can pre-fill and lodge their tax return.

If you're stuck or feeling unsure, try our free eLearning to discover everything you need to know about finalising your payroll information.

1. Compare payroll reports before the first pay in the new payroll year

Before processing the first pay of the new payroll year, you should confirm that the amounts you've paid your employees in AccountRight match the amounts that are listed against each employee's record. This will identify if any amounts have been incorrectly entered against an employee's pay history instead of being paid via payroll.

You'll do this by running and comparing the Activity Summary and Register Summary reports.

Here's a quick overview:

  1. Go to the Reports menu > Index to Reports.

  2. Click the Payroll tab.

  3. Run the Activity Summary and Register Summary reports for the entire payroll year, e.g. 1 July 2022 - 30 June 2023.

    Report names highlighted
  4. Compare the totals at the bottom of each report. If they match, great! You're ready to continue with your finalisation process as described in the next task.

If the reports don't match
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This means an employee's pay history has been manually changed in their employee card. This might have occurred if you started using payroll part-way through the payroll year, and you've entered your employees' year-to-date payroll totals.

Otherwise, it means an employee's pay history has been manually updated in error – usually in an attempt to fix their pay amounts. Instead, you should only ever fix a pay by changing the pay.

Providing you have not processed the first pay for the new payroll year, you'll need to identify which employee this impacts, then fix their pay history.

If the reports don't match and you've processed the first pay for the new payroll year, you'll need to contact our support team for help.

Identify the affected employee

  1. Compare the above two reports again, and find the employee whose totals on the reports don't match. For example, check the Wages columns in both reports to see where the amounts differ for an employee. Then move to the Deductions column and so on.

  2. Run the Activity Detail and Register Detail reports. This shows a breakdown of the amounts paid to the employee per payroll category.

  3. Identify the affected payroll category. This will help you identify what has likely been changed in the employee's pay history.

  4. You can then update the employee's pay history to undo whatever manual change has been made (Card File command centre > Cards List > Employee tab > click the zoom ( ) arrow to open the employee's card > Payroll Details tab > Pay History tab).

  5. Once you've fixed the employee's pay history, send an update event to the ATO as described in the FAQs below.

  6. Once the update event has been accepted by the ATO (check the report status to find out), run the above reports again to confirm the totals match.

Need help fixing an employee's pay history? We recommend speaking with your accounting advisor.

2. Confirm the STP amounts you've reported to the ATO

Before finalising, you should check that the year-to-date (YTD) amounts you've sent to the ATO for the payroll year match the payroll figures in AccountRight.

Do this by comparing two reports to ensure they match:

  • the YTD verification report in the Payroll Reporting Centre—this shows the YTD amounts you've reported to the ATO

  • the Payroll Summary report in AccountRight—this shows the YTD amounts you've processed through payroll in AccountRight

a. Run the YTD verification report
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  1. Go to the Payroll command centre and click Payroll Reporting.

  2. Click Payroll Reporting Centre.

    Payroll reporting centre button highlighted
  3. If prompted, sign in using your MYOB account details (email address and password).

  4. Click the the EOFY Finalisation tab.

  5. Choose the Payroll year. The Gross Payments (YTD) and PAYG withholding (YTD) values are the total amounts sent to the ATO for all your employees.

  6. Click YTD verification report.

    YTD verification report link highlighted

    The report displays as a PDF. Take note of the total salary and wages YTD amount. Here's an example:

    Example YTD verification report with total highlighted

What am I looking at?

  • This report shows the total of all ATO reporting category amounts sent to the ATO for all employees.

  • The Reconciliation to Payroll section is not sent to the ATO. It shows total gross wages which you'll also see in the Payroll Summary report in AccountRight. This amount will differ from the total gross wages reported to the ATO, as it doesn’t include Allowances, CDEP, Foreign Income, ETP components (not ETP Tax), Lump Sum values or any additional reimbursable/employee expenses.

  • The ATO Reporting Category section lists the things that have been submitted to the ATO.

  • The Total payments (in the ATO Reporting Category section) doesn't include allowances. This amount should be the same as what's shown in your Payroll Summary report in AccountRight, minus any allowances or the other pay components which are listed in the Reconciliation to Payroll section.

  • An employee's reportable fringe benefit amounts are reported to the ATO when you finalise, so these won't display on the YTD verification report until after you've completed the finalisation.

b. Run the Payroll Summary report
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  1. In AccountRight, go to the Reports menu and choose Index to Reports.

  2. Click the Payroll tab on the left.

  3. Under Payroll Categories, click the Payroll Summary report.

  4. Filter the report to show Year-to-Date for This Year, and dated from 1 July to 30 June.

    Example report filters highlighted
  5. Click Display Report and check the YTD total for wages. Here's our example:

    Example payroll summary report with total highlighted

It's better in a browser

Click Open in web browser in AccountRight to access your company file in a web browser. You'll have access to an improved version of the Payroll Summary report, where salary and wage amounts are grouped by ATO reporting category. Learn more about end of year finalisation in a web browser

c. Compare the reports
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After you've run the above reports, compare the YTD total wage amounts on both. If they match (like in our example), you're ready to finalise.

If the reports don't match

Here are some things to check.

Check your ATO reporting categories

Make sure you've assigned an ATO reporting category to each of your payroll categories. The easiest way to check if anything is missing is to let AccountRight do it for you.

  1. Go to the Payroll command centre and click Payroll Reporting.

  2. Click Check Payroll Details.

    Check payroll details button highlighted

    AccountRight will let you know if there are any payroll categories that need an ATO reporting category assigned—like this example:

    Example payroll category without an ATO reporting category assigned
  3. If any payroll categories are listed:

    1. Click the zoom arrow to open the payroll category.

    2. Assign the applicable ATO Reporting Category. For help choosing the right one, see Assign ATO reporting categories for Single Touch Payroll reporting or speak to your accounting advisor.

    3. Click OK.

    4. Back on the Check Payroll Details window, click Check Payroll Details to run the check again.

  4. If you add or change the ATO reporting category in a payroll category, send an update event to the ATO as described below.

    Use Find transactions to identify employees who have been paid a specific payroll category during the payroll year (Payroll command centre > Find transactions > Search by Payroll Category > choose the payroll category > enter dates from 1 July to 30 June).

Once all payroll categories are assigned an ATO reporting category, run the YTD verification and Payroll Summary reports again (as we did above) to ensure they match. If they do, you're ready to finalise. Otherwise, check the reported wage values for each employee as shown below to narrow down where your issue might be.

Check reported wage values for individual employees

There are two reports you (or your accounting advisor) can use to check the amounts paid to individual employees for the payroll year.

  • In AccountRight, run the  Employee Payroll Register Detail report (Reports menu > Index to Reports > Payroll tab > Register Detail).

  • In the Payroll Reporting Centre, click the ellipsis  button for an employee and choose Download report(PDF) or View summary report (PDF). This report shows a summary of all ATO reporting category amounts sent to the ATO for an employee (gross payments, PAYG withholding, allowances, etc.).

 Here's what these reports show:

Report

Description

Payroll Register Detail (in AccountRight)

The total wages include all payroll categories and  doesn't  reduce the total wages by any non-taxable deduction or wage categories, and payroll categories that don't have an  ATO reporting category See an example

Summary of Payments (in the Payroll Reporting Centre)

The gross payments amount is reduced by any non-taxable deduction or wage categories, and payroll categories that don't have an ATO reporting category. See an example

To ensure the latest year-to-date amounts are sent to the ATO for an employee, you can send an update event to the ATO as described in the FAQs below.

If you see a negative amount for an ATO reporting category on an employee's Summary of Payments report, this amount will be reported as zero to the ATO. To fix it, you'll need to reassign this value. We recommend seeking advice from your accounting advisor for help.

3. Notify the ATO of terminated employees

As part of processing an employee's final pay, you need to notify the ATO. This lets the ATO know the employee's termination date and any ETP components in their final pay.

You might have completed these steps when you processed the employee's final pay. If you didn't, complete these steps for each employee you terminated in the payroll year.

The steps for notifying the ATO of a terminated employee are slightly different for STP Phase 1 and STP Phase 2 – so choose the steps that apply to you.

Am I reporting via STP Phase 2?

You can check in the STP reporting centre (Payroll command centre > Payroll reporting Payroll Reporting Centre). If you don't see this label, you're on STP Phase 1. How do I get ready for STP Phase 2



I'm set up for STP Phase 1
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  1. Go to the Payroll command centre and click Payroll Reporting.

  2. Click Payroll Reporting Centre.

  3. Click the Employment terminations tab.

  4. Select the employee who's leaving, choose their last day of employment, then click Notify the ATO.

    Notify the ATO button highlighted
  5. When prompted to send your payroll information to the ATO, enter your details and click Send.

This declaration is processed in the same way other Single Touch Payroll reports are. They need to have a status of Accepted in the payroll reporting centre before you can finalise your STP information.

I'm set up for STP Phase 2
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  1. Go to the Payroll command centre and click Payroll Reporting.

  2. Click Payroll Reporting Centre.

  3. If prompted, sign in using your MYOB account details (email address and password).

  4. Click the Employee terminations tab.

  5. Choose the applicable Payroll year and click Add Termination.

  6. Enter the termination details and click Notify the ATO.

    Example employee termination details
  7. When prompted to send your payroll information to the ATO, enter your details and click Send.

This declaration is processed in the same way other Single Touch Payroll reports are. They need to have a status of Accepted in the payroll reporting centre before you can finalise your STP information.

4. Finalise your Single Touch Payroll information

Finalising your Single Touch Payroll information is done in just a few clicks. Make sure you do it before the ATO's finalisation deadline, which is typically July 14.

  1. Go to the Payroll command centre and click Payroll Reporting.

    Payroll command centre with payroll reporting highlighted

  2. Click Payroll Reporting Centre.

    Payroll reporting centre button highlighted

    If this button says Connect to ATO, it means the company file hasn't been set up for Single Touch Payroll, or you haven't added yourself as a declarer for STP.

  3. If prompted, sign in using your MYOB account details (email address and password).

  4. Click the EOFY finalisation tab and choose the Payroll year you're finalising.

    STP reporting centre with payroll year highlighted
  5. If you need to report fringe benefits for an employee (what is this?)

    • If you're on STP Phase 1

      1. Click the ellipsis  button for the employee and choose Enter RFBA.

      2. Enter in both the:

        • Reportable fringe benefits amount $

        • Reportable fringe benefits amount exempt from FBT under section 57A $
          The combined value of these must be above the thresholds set by the ATO.

      3. Click Add amounts.

    • If you're on STP Phase 2

      1. Select the option Enable RFBA at the top of the screen. Columns for RFBA ($) and Section 57A ($) appear.

      2. For each employee with fringe benefit amounts, enter the reportable values. The combined value of these must be above the thresholds set by the ATO.

        • RFBA ($) - these are reportable fringe benefit amounts

        • Section 57A ($) - these are fringe benefit amounts exempt from FBT under section 57A (see the FAQ below for details).

  6. Select each employee you want to finalise, then

    • if you're on STP Phase 1, click Set as Final

    • if you're on STP Phase 2, click Finalise and notify the ATO .

  7. When prompted to send your payroll information to the ATO, enter your details and click Send.

When you finalise, an update event is sent to the ATO containing the year-to-date payroll totals for the finalised employees. You can see this update event listed with your other payroll submissions on the STP reports tab. How to view your submitted payroll reports.

What's next?

Each employee that has been finalised will have the Final indicator ticked in the payroll reporting centre. You can let these employees know that they can now sign in to myGov to complete their tax returns or view their income statement. That's right—you don't need to prepare payment summaries or group certificates for them!.

Providing you're using the latest AccountRight version, you're ready to start processing pays from 1 July for the new payroll year. The latest tax tables will automatically apply so you don't have to worry about downloading them. Also learn about the new option in AccountRight to keep you compliant with super guarantee rate increases.

You must be reporting to the ATO via STP Phase 2

If you haven't already, you need to move to STP Phase 2 to stay compliant with the ATO. But we have you covered – see how easy it is to move.

FAQs

Can I record a pay in July before finalising?
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Yes, you can record a pay in July before finalising - BUT FIRST make sure you've compared your payroll reports to identify and fix any discrepancies. Then, you can record a pay with a July Payment Date before finalising.

Because the July pay is dated in the new payroll year, it won't be included in the payroll year you're yet to finalise.



Why do the amounts in the STP reporting centre look wrong?
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When you look at the EOFY finalisation tab or the YTD verification report in the STP reporting centre for the current or last payroll year, you might notice the values don't look right. This can happen if you've recently moved to STP Phase 2.

You can easily fix this by sending an update event. If needed you can do this for the current and previous payroll years.

  1. In the STP reporting centre, click the STP reports tab.

  2. Choose the Payroll year (for the year where the values don't look right).

  3. Click Send update event.

  4. When prompted to send your payroll information to the ATO, enter your details and click Send.

I've processed a pay dated on or before 30 June - why is it showing as a $0 update event in the STP reporting centre?
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If you process a pay in the new payroll year (e.g. 1 July or later) but the Payment Date is in the pervious payroll year (e.g. 30 June or earlier), the ATO will treat the pay as an update event. Even if the pay contains amounts that you're reporting to the ATO, they'll consider it an update event (and not a pay event) because it's related to the previous payroll year.

But don't worry, even though the pay run shows as a $0 update event in the STP reporting centre, the updated year-to-date payroll totals (for last payroll year) for the employees in the pay run will still be reported to the ATO.

Example STP report

Why don't my STP reports match the ATO's Business Portal?
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Each STP report sent to the ATO includes the employer pay period information and the employee year-to-date (YTD) amounts.

As the ATO doesn't allow you to delete these reports, the Business Portal will show every pay run declared through STP, including ones that you have deleted or reversed in your software.

So, in most cases, if you've made payroll adjustments the Business Portal may not match your STP reports. And that's OK. Just make sure you check year-to-date totals in AccountRight before finalising. See To check year-to-date totals, above.

Why is an employee missing from the EOFY Finalisation list?
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Only employees who have been paid in the current payroll year appear in the EOFY Finalisation list. If an employee isn't listed, check that:

  • the employee's Employment Basis is set to Individual or Labour Hire. You'll find this setting in the Payroll Details tab > Personal Details of the employee's card.

  • at least one pay been recorded for the year, after setting up STP.

If you've checked these things and an employee still isn't showing, send an update event to the ATO as described above. This sends the employee's YTD amounts to the ATO and the employee will appear in the finalisation list.

How do I undo a finalisation?
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When you undo an employee's finalisation, their income statement in myGov will no longer be Tax ready so they won't be able to pre-fill and lodge their tax return.

  1. Go to the Payroll command centre and click Payroll Reporting.

  2. Click Payroll Reporting Centre.

  3. If prompted, sign in with your MYOB account details (email address and password).

  4. Click the EOFY Finalisation tab.

  5. Choose the Payroll year.

  6. Remove the finalisation. How you do this depends on what you see.

    • If there's an ellipsis  button next to the employee, click it and choose Remove finalisation.

    • If there is no ellipsis button, select the employee and click Remove finalisation and notify the ATO.

  7. When prompted to send your payroll information to the ATO, enter your details and click  Send. The Final indicator tick is removed for the employee. If it's still there, click a different tab then return to the EOFY Finalisation tab.

  8. When you're ready, you can finalise the employee again.

How do I remove an ETP from the Payroll Reporting Centre?
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Reverse the pay in AccountRight and you’ll be prompted to submit the reversal to the ATO for STP reporting. This will automatically remove the incorrect payment.