Finalise all Payee YTD Details


Before STP Reporting, an employer provided a payment summary at the end of the year to notify the ATO and the employee how much they had earned and how much tax was deducted etc.


Basically STP Reporting amounts to providing your Payees (or employees) with an Income Statement (or Payment Summary) after each pay. So at some point you need tell both the ATO and the Payee which is the 'final' Income Statement - this process is known as 'Finalising' your STP reporting for the year. This can be done in a Pay Event when reporting your last payroll for the year, or it can be done in an Update Event, after your last Pay Event for the year. For most Payers, the 'finalisation' is required by 14 July, just as issuing Payment Summaries was in the past.


So 'Finalising' each Payee's YTD totals, notifies the ATO that the current STP Report (whether it is Pay Event or an Update Event) shows the correct YTD amounts paid for this Payee for the year - it is essentially an end of year 'sign-off', similar to the old process of actually 'issuing' the Payment Summary to both the Payee and the ATO in the past. Technically 'finalising' a Payee changes the status of the Income Statement the Payee sees in their myGov account from 'Not tax ready' to 'Tax ready'.


To 'finalise' their STP Reporting for the year, Payers must set the Final Indicator to TRUE for each Payee.



Employees who left during the year

If an employee leaves during the year, you can 'finalise' then immediately after they leave. Once you have set the Final Indicator to TRUE, you should not include that Payee in any subsequent STP Reports, if you do, you will reset the Final Indicator and 'unfinalise' the Payee.


So provided the Payee had Final Indicator set to TRUE for the last report in which they appeared, there is no need to include them in the End of Year 'finalisation' report. However you can include them again if you like, for example if you are uncertain whether you 'finalised' them correctly when they left. There is no harm in including them again in the end of year 'finalisation' report.


Each Payee YTD amount in the latest STP Report for that year 'replaces' all previous YTD amounts, and all previous 'Final' Indicators. Ensure the last report lodged shows the correct YTD amounts and has Final Indicator set to TRUE for all Payees included in this Report.




Preparation for EOY

We recommend you follow the same process you have used in the past to verify that the payroll figures in your accounting system are correct. This includes for example:



RESC and RFBT

Calculate any Reportable Employer Super Contributions for each employee. If these amounts are tracked via a Payroll Category (see Handle Salary Sacrifice), ensure the final total is correct. If not tracked via a Payroll Category use the method outline at Report RESC at year end to set the correct amount for the next STP Report.


Calculate any Reportable Fringe Benefits Tax amounts for each employee. Use the method outlined at Report RFBT at year end to have the amount included in the next STP Report.



Setting the Final Indicator to TRUE

As stated above, when you Finalise a Payee (set Final Indicator = TRUE) you are in effect 'issuing them a Payment Summary'. All Payees paid during this payroll year must be Finalised.


Deadlines for Finalising a Payee vary - see the ATO's End-of-year finalisation through Single Touch Payroll.


Send Final Indicator as part of a Pay Event

You can do this are part of your regular reporting by setting the Final Indicator to TRUE for all employees at the same time as reporting your final pay for the year - this is known as Finalising while reporting a Pay Event.


Send Final Indicator as an Update Event

Alternatively you can send the Final Indicator to TRUE as an Update Event. Typically an Update event would be used when sending the Final Indicator after you have lodged your final Pay Event for the relevant Payroll Year, for example in in July. Before lodging the STP Report with Final Indicators, check the data on the Final STP Report Data screen carefully.


This is how you would set the Dates screen at '5. Set Reporting Period' when submitting a Final Indicator as part of an Update event. Assuming you are reporting an Update event for the 2019/20 Payroll Year on 4 July 2020:



Apart from the Assemble Activity Statement Data (Period) step where no W1 W2 Data is required, in all other respects, assembling data for an Update Event is the same as for a Pay Event.



Note: Finalising a Payee (setting Final Indicator to TRUE) is not the same as Terminating a Payee. Setting Final Indicator to TRUE for one STP Report is an End of Year process for all Payees currently included in your STP Reports. You will continue to Report on these Payees in the new Payroll Year in the usual manner - with Final Indicator set to FALSE. Once you Terminate and Finalise a Payee (set Final Indicator to TRUE), you do not report on them again nor do you need to include them in the EOY Update event. You would only include a previously Terminated and Finalised employee if they re-commence their employment, or you need to make a correction.


Make Copies of Files

After lodging your EOY STP report with Final Indicator set to TRUE, we recommend you make a copy of your Data Set file and clearly label it - for example

'CoyX Data Set File Final for 2020.dsf' - this may be useful if you need to make a correction later. Likewise make a copy of your MYOB® company file or payroll records at this point in time (substitute CoyX with your business name).



Amendments

If after setting the Final Indicator to TRUE and sending the STP Report to the ATO, you detect that an error was made, see Finalise at End of Year (amended).



RESC and RFBT amounts

If you set RESC or RFBT for end of year reporting using the methods outlined under Report RESC or under Report RFBT, be sure to set these amounts back to zero after you have lodged  your STP Report with Final Indicator and before your first STP Report in the new payroll year.


Payment Summaries and EMPDUPE File

Single Touch Payroll replaces Payment Summaries and EMPDUPE Files. If reporting payroll via STP Creator you are not required to provide Payment Summaries to your Payees and you should NOT lodge an EMPDUPE File with the ATO. This may result in duplicate Income Statements in the MyGov accounts of your employees.



Extra Assistance Required

As with any STP Creator issues, if you are having difficulty resolving, send us an email with the details (including screenshots). We will provide guidance via email as soon as we can. Alternatively if you would like someone to connect remotely to resolve the issue, we have a HelpMe! service - see link under Extras on our Purchase Page here - a fee applies.