End of year Payroll guide

1. Complete all payruns up to 30 June in your accounting software. Once you have completed the final pay run, check that your total earnings, superannuation and PAYG accounts reconcile. In Xero, select the Payroll Activity summary report for this financial year.

2. Take note of the balances for the payroll accounts and compare to the General Ledger report for the same Financial year. The total earnings, total superannuation and total tax amounts need to match.

3. If you use more than 1 wage account, you will need to add these up

What if there’s a discrepancy?
One common issue is wages being reconciled to the wrong account in the General Ledger. If your General Ledger totals are higher than the payroll report, check for incorrect reconciliations. Once corrected, re-run your reports to confirm the balances match.

Part B: Review Employee Pay Components

1. Select Payroll activities detail report for this financial year

2. Review the information for each employee. Correct any errors.

Part C: Generate and File STP Finalisation

1. To do this go Payroll > Single Touch Payroll

2. Check the organisation details

3. Enter the signatory (usually the business owner or payroll administrator)

Once finished, select all employees and Publish. This locks the end of year payroll accounts and publishes the payment summaries so your employees will have access to them.

Part D: Lodge Payroll Finalisation with the ATO (STP)

If you're using STP-enabled accounting software like Xero, you can easily lodge your end-of-year figures with the ATO.

1. Payroll > Single Touch Payroll Finalisation > Select all

2. Submit Finalisation

This notifies the ATO that your employee payment information for the financial year is complete. Employees will then be able to access their income statements via MyGov.

Most accounting platforms will automatically update tax tables for the new financial year once finalisation is complete.

Need Help Finalising Your Payroll?

Finalising payroll can be complex, especially when dealing with discrepancies or STP obligations. If you’d like expert assistance, Shelly’s Bookkeeping is here to help. We’ll make sure everything is reconciled and lodged accurately, so you can start the new financial year with confidence. We also provide bookkeeping and payroll services if the time to outsource is now.

Still unsure about STP or what’s required?

Check out our blog on Single Touch Payroll – What’s All the Fuss About?