Employee Payroll Setup
Maintain employee payroll details, tax settings, pay cycle information and super details in the payroll system.
Payroll · STP · PAYG · Superannuation
Keep payroll accurate, repeatable and connected to your accounting. Hamro Accountant Sydney can help businesses process pay runs, maintain payroll records, calculate PAYG withholding, issue payslips, report through Single Touch Payroll and manage superannuation processing under the current Payday Super rules.
Payroll processing depends on the employment settings supplied for each employee. Award interpretation and employment-law advice may require Fair Work guidance or a workplace-relations professional.
Payroll processing brings together employee pay information, hours or authorised salary amounts, allowances and deductions, PAYG withholding, payslips, Single Touch Payroll reporting, superannuation and the accounting entries created by each pay run. The process should also leave clear records so wages, PAYG and super can be reconciled later.
Payroll works best when employee settings, pay calculations, reporting, super and bookkeeping all use the same reliable information.
Maintain employee payroll details, tax settings, pay cycle information and super details in the payroll system.
Process authorised salary or hours, allowances, deductions and leave information and produce employee payslips for the pay period.
Calculate and record PAYG withholding through the payroll process and connect the resulting liability with BAS and accounting records.
Report employee payroll information through STP-enabled software as part of the employer's payday reporting process.
Calculate payroll-related super liabilities and support a workflow that aligns with the Payday Super timing rules now in effect.
Keep wage expenses, PAYG, super liabilities and payroll clearing accounts connected to the bookkeeping records.
The process should make it easy to see what was authorised, what was paid, what was reported and what remains payable.
Keep tax, super, pay-rate, salary, leave and payroll settings current before processing the pay cycle.
Use the employer-approved hours, leave, allowances, deductions or other pay inputs relevant to the period.
Review gross pay, PAYG withholding, deductions, net pay, super and employee-level changes before finalising the payroll.
Finalised payroll produces the net payment amounts and employee payslips for the relevant pay period.
Complete the STP reporting step and process super contributions in line with the current Payday Super timing requirements.
Check wages, PAYG and super liabilities against the accounting file so payroll does not drift away from the financial records.
From 1 July 2026, employers generally need to pay super guarantee contributions on payday rather than waiting for a quarterly contribution cycle. The super guarantee rate remains 12%, while the new system uses qualifying earnings for the Payday Super calculation.
In the standard case, the contribution needs to be received by the employee's super fund within 7 business days after payday. Extended timeframes can apply in some situations, including some new-employee cases.
This makes payroll accuracy and super-payment processing more closely connected. Errors in employee fund details or payroll setup should be resolved quickly so payments are not delayed.
Single Touch Payroll allows employers to report salary and wage, PAYG withholding and super information to the ATO from STP-enabled payroll software when employees are paid.
Because the STP report comes from the payroll data, employee details, pay categories, tax settings and year-to-date figures need to be maintained carefully. Fixing payroll errors early is usually simpler than discovering them at year-end finalisation.
See how PAYG connects to BASPay components and year-to-date payroll information.
The payroll file brings together the reporting information.
Payroll data is reported through the STP-enabled system.
Fair Work requires employers to provide employees with a payslip within 1 working day of payday. Time and wage records generally need to be retained for 7 years.
Employee pay can also be affected by modern awards, enterprise agreements, the National Employment Standards, classifications, penalty rates, overtime and allowances. Payroll software does not decide which employment conditions legally apply.
We can process payroll using the employment settings and authorised rates provided for the employee. Where an award, classification or workplace entitlement is uncertain, confirm it with Fair Work or an appropriate workplace-relations adviser.
Payslips need the required employee, pay and super information.
Records should be clear, accurate and available when required.
Payroll must use the employment conditions that actually apply.
Payroll corrections should leave a clear record of what was changed and why.
Many payroll problems begin with incomplete employee setup rather than the pay-run calculation itself. A repeatable checklist helps reduce avoidable corrections.
Maintain the payroll details needed to calculate withholding and report the employee correctly.
Use the rate, classification and employment settings confirmed by the employer.
Incorrect or incomplete fund information can delay contribution processing.
Confirm the pay-period inputs before the payroll is finalised.
The actual payday drives employee payment, STP and the Payday Super workflow.
Check unusual changes, new employees, terminations and one-off adjustments before submission.
A payroll process should make recurring problems easier to spot rather than carrying them from one pay cycle to the next.
Old pay rates, tax settings, fund details or employment information can continue affecting every later pay run.
Incorrect year-to-date values or missed adjustments can make finalisation and employee income statements harder to reconcile.
Under Payday Super, fund details and payment errors need attention quickly because contributions are now linked closely to each payday.
Wage expenses, PAYG and super accounts can become unreliable when the accounting file is not reconciled back to the payroll reports.
Payroll is also a record-keeping process, not only a payment calculation.
Payroll cannot calculate the correct result if the applicable rate, award, classification or entitlement has not been established.
These service areas use the same payroll liabilities and business records, so keeping them connected reduces duplicate work and unexplained balances.
Reconcile wages, PAYG and super balances back to the accounting file after payroll is processed.
Explore bookkeepingConnect payroll wages and PAYG withholding with the business's activity-statement reporting.
Explore BAS supportBuild payroll into a broader Xero accounting workflow for bank reconciliation, BAS and reporting.
Explore Xero setupKeep company payroll, BAS and annual accounting connected to the same financial records.
Explore company accountingA company paying two salaried employees has a different workflow from a restaurant with changing rosters, a cleaning company using multiple workers or a tradie business with overtime and allowances. Payroll needs to follow the actual employment arrangements and records of the business.
These answers are general information only. Payroll outcomes depend on the worker's employment conditions, tax settings, super eligibility and the records supplied by the employer.
Single Touch Payroll is the ATO reporting system used by employers to report payroll information such as salary and wages, PAYG withholding and super information from payroll software when employees are paid.
The current super guarantee rate is 12%. From 1 July 2026, Payday Super changed the timing and earnings framework for employer SG contributions, so super is now closely linked to each payday.
Employers generally now pay super guarantee on payday. The standard rule requires the contribution to reach the employee's fund within 7 business days after payday, although extended timeframes can apply in some circumstances.
Fair Work requires employees to receive a payslip within 1 working day of payday. It can be provided electronically or as a hard copy and needs to include the required pay information.
Fair Work generally requires employers to keep employee time and wage records for 7 years. Records include information about pay, hours, leave, super and other employment matters.
Payroll can be processed using the employment settings and authorised rates provided by the employer. Where the applicable award, classification, overtime, allowance or other employment entitlement is uncertain, Fair Work or an appropriate workplace-relations professional should be consulted.
Yes. Payroll creates wage expenses, PAYG withholding and super liabilities that should reconcile to the accounting file. PAYG withholding can also feed into the employer's BAS reporting.
We can help with the accounting and payroll-system side of setup, including payroll records, STP workflow, PAYG and super processing. Employment contracts, award interpretation and workplace-law advice may require an appropriate employment adviser.
Tell us how many employees you have, how often you run payroll and which accounting or payroll system you use. We can then understand whether you need payroll processing, STP support, super processing or payroll cleanup.
Regular pay runs
STP & PAYG support
Payday Super workflow
Payroll reconciliation
Do not enter employee TFNs, bank details, passwords, super account identifiers or identity documents in this general enquiry form.