How to finalise Single Touch Payroll in XERO for the financial year
Another financial year down and now it’s time to finalise your Single Touch Payroll (STP) so your employees can complete their tax returns. Payment summaries or group certificates are a thing of the past, replaced by STP a few years ago. If you've opted into Single Touch Payroll, there's no need to send employees any documentation. All of their payroll information will be available on their income statement, which they can access via MyGov.
Employers reporting through STP need to make a finalisation declaration by 14 July each year.
Here's how to finalise your STP via XERO:
It's a relatively straight forward process but just to make sure you've got all your bases covered, here's a step-by-step guide:
- Make sure all your pay runs for the year have been posted and filed.
- In the Payroll menu, select 'Single Touch Payroll'
- Select the 'Finalisation' tab.
- Tick 'All employees'.
- Start finalisation process.
- Click the menu icon to the right of an employee’s name, then select 'View details'.
- Review the employee’s year-to-date summary.
- (Optional) Add a Reportable fringe benefits amount or an exempt reportable fringe benefits amount.
- Click 'Save' and 'Next' to repeat the process for your next employee.
- Check the lump sums are reporting correctly and, if required, adjust the lump sum value for unused leave.
- To finalise data for individual employees, select the checkbox next to their name. To finalise data for all employees, select the 'Employees' checkbox at the top of the table.
- Click 'Finalise'.
Your Single Touch Payroll finalisation is done.
It can take up to 72 hours for the status in XERO Payroll to update. After this your employees will have access to their income statement in MyGov.
If you make a mistake, don't worry. You can still fix it:
- Post an unscheduled pay run to adjust the employee's pay.
- File the pay run with STP.
- Review and finalise the employee's data again via the STP finalisation.
If you're having any issues finalising your Single Touch Payroll please reach out to your Accountant at Link Advisors and we'll happily assist you.
What your employees will see
There won’t be anything to send to your employees.
On 1 July, they will see the status of this information change from ‘year-to-date’ to ‘not tax ready’. It will stay like that until you submit STP finalisation.
When you have made the finalisation declaration, your employees will see the status of their payment information change to ‘tax ready’.
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The information provided on this website is a brief overview and is general in nature. It does not constitute any type of advice. We endeavour to ensure that the information provided is accurate however information may become outdated as legislation, policies, regulations and other considerations constantly change. Individuals must not rely on this information to make a financial, investment or legal decision. Please consult with an appropriate professional before making any decision.