Overview
This article outlines the actions you will need to complete to close off the 2021/22 financial year and prepare your system for the 2022/23 financial year. This information only applies to users of the Payroll module in Astute.
Please read this article all the way through before you start your EOFY preparations. More information is available on specific topics in the linked Help Centre articles.
Note: This article contains general advice and recommendations relating to the configuration and EOFY processes in the Astute payroll system. It is not qualified tax or legal advice and should not be relied upon or used as such.
If you have any questions relating to the correct configuration of the system for your business, you will need to contact a qualified adviser.
Before You Start
You won’t need to close off the 2021/22 financial year before you process pay runs in the new financial year. Pay runs with a Payment Date of 1 July 2022 onwards will automatically be recorded in the new financial year.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR STP REPORT SETTINGS
You will need to ensure that you have configured the STP Report Settings for all of your pay, superannuation, and deduction items correctly.
These settings are included in the STP messages that you submit to the ATO, and are used to categorise the earnings for your employees and contractors. STP Report Settings cannot be updated on a pay, deduction, or superannuation item if they have been included in a pay run marked as Paid.
If you have items with incorrect STP Report Settings, you will need to manage the adjustment following the steps in this article. Any items that you create when processing an adjustment must be configured with the STP Report Settings BEFORE you include them in a pay run.
For more information on configuring your STP Reporting Settings, please see this Help Centre article and refer to step 4 in the checklist for closing off this financial year.
Note: Astute Payroll are not able to advise on how your pay, deduction, or superannuation items should be configured. If you need clarification on this beyond the documentation above, you will need to speak to your accountant, financial adviser, or contact the ATO directly.
What’s New in 22/2023
STP Reporting
STP data will now be reported to the ATO in the STP2 File Format, which applies additional validations and reporting requirements. The process for finalising STP for the end of the financial year is the same, however you’ll notice that the reconciliation process is slightly different to previous years.
Superannuation Guarantee Contribution (SGC) Increasing
From 1 July 2022, SGC will increase to 10.5%. This means that you’ll need to update your superannuation item configuration with a new rate for this rate to be applied to employees who have been assigned the item, as long as their profile is using the default values.
Important: Rate changes made in Config will only apply to employees who have been assigned a superannuation item with the system’s default values. If you have added custom values for any employees, you will need to check for and update these manually.
You may also need to consider whether your pay and charge rates need to be updated to reflect the change to the SGC rate.
Superannuation Contribution Eligibility
From 1 July 2022, employee eligibility for SGC is changing, with the removal of the $450 minimum monthly earnings threshold. Employees will be entitled to accrue super regardless of their minimum earnings, so you will need to ensure that you update your relevant superannuation items with a Minimum Monthly Threshold limit of $0 where applicable.
There are no changes to the conditions for paying super to employees under 18 years old, as they will still be required to work 30 or more hours per week. You can check that this is configured in your super item by referring to the ‘Do not apply super when under’ values.
Payroll Tax Rate Thresholds
Payroll Tax rate thresholds will be updated from 1 July 2022, as we receive confirmation from the individual state revenue offices.
Please note that changes that apply to all portals will be made in the background by the Astute Payroll team. Where rates are applied on a sliding scale or come into effect when particular conditions are met, and the system rates do not reflect your requirements, please contact our Support team as this will need to be updated on a case-by-case basis, as reported.
EOFY Frequently Asked Questions
This year, we've published a list of frequently asked questions: a quick handy reference guide for some of the more commonly occurring questions that arise during the end of the financial year.
Please make sure that you familiarise yourself with this article, as the answer to your question may be there. If your question isn't covered by the FAQs article, please contact our Support Team, ensuring that you provide as much detail in your query as possible so that we can assist you as efficiently as possible.
EOFY Checklist
The following tables outline the steps to close off the 2021/22 financial year and prepare the system for 2022/23.
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Close Off FY 2021/22 |
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| 1.Check your employees' details |
Confirm that your employees’ details are complete and correct:
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Update incorrect or incomplete employee details by:
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| 2. Check your entity's details |
Confirm that the following entity details are complete and correct:
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Confirm that your myGovID Machine (M2M) Credential is set up and valid. You will need to repeat this process for each entity in your portal. |
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| 3. Check your Suppliers' details, if required for TPAR reporting |
Check that any Suppliers that need to be reported under TPAR are configured in your portal. Applicable Supplier profiles should have:
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⬜ |
| 4. Ensure that your pay, deduction, and superannuation items have been correctly configured for STP |
You will need to review the configuration for the following items, to ensure that they are configured completely and accurately in your portal so that you can correctly report to the ATO via STP: IMPORTANT: The STP Report Settings fields for a pay, deduction, or superannuation item will lock once they are included in a pay run marked as Paid. Until 14 June 2022, you can request that Astute Payroll unlocks and updates incorrectly configured items, which will be costed through our Statement of Work process. Please contact our Support Team with the details of the relevant items and the STP Report Settings that should be applied. After this date, you will need to manually adjust any pays that contain incorrectly configured items using lump sum pays. |
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| 4. Process final pay runs for FY 2021/22. |
Following your existing payroll processes, complete any outstanding pay runs that need to be paid on or before 30 June 2022. These pay runs must be processed and marked as Paid so that your payroll activity and employees’ STP data have complete pay and tax information. |
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Process any outstanding ETPs for the financial year. To include an ETP in the 2021/22 financial year, you will need to set the pay period on or before 30 June 2022. |
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Submit STP Update Event Finalisation |
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| If STP is enabled, and you have made STP submissions to the ATO in FY 2021/22 | ||
| 1. Check your STP Submissions for FY 2021/22 and reconcile your payroll activity against STP Updates |
Check that your financial data for payroll, PAYG tax, Superannuation and STP Update is correct. IMPORTANT: You'll need to regenerate the STP Update report first to make sure that the values are current and up to date. |
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| 2. Lock 2021-22 financial year | Ensure that payroll for FY 2021/22 year is locked. This means that no further pay runs can be processed with a Pay Date on or before 30 June 2022. | ⬜ |
| 3. Prepare and submit your STP finalisation update event |
Ensure that STP Update Finalisation information for all relevant employees is correct, and that all reportable FBAs are entered and saved. Mark all employee STP Updates as Finalised once this is done. |
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Submit a STP Update Event Finalisation message has been sent for all relevant employees and submitted to the ATO by 14 July 2022. You will need to repeat this process for each entity in your portal. |
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| 4. Prepare and submit TPAR, if required. |
If you have TPAR reportable suppliers, run the Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR) and generate a TPAR file to upload into the ATO portal by 28 August 2022. |
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Prepare the System for FY 2022/23 |
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| Once the current financial year is closed off, follow the steps below to prepare your system for the new financial year | ||
| 1. Check leave category configuration |
Review your existing leave categories to ensure that they have been configured correctly. IMPORTANT: The pay items that are paid for leave are reported to the ATO. Each of your leave categories must be configured with a unique Pay Item (eg Annual Leave is paid with a pay item called 'Annual Leave', rather than a Base Hourly item). You will also need to check that the Accrual Method set for each category reflects any updates that you make so that leave accrues correctly on the pay item. |
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For leave categories with an Accrual Method of Percentage of Time Worked, you will need to ensure that the Accrual section has the following items selected:
In the above example, the leave items 'Annual Leave' and 'Personal Leave' are selected, as these should be included in the leave accrual calculation. Their associated pay items ('Annual Leave Pay Item', 'Personal Leave Pay Item') must also be selected. Base Hourly is also selected so that it is included in the accrual calculation. The leave item 'ZA Test Leave' and the pay item 'OT 1.5' should not be included in the leave accrual calculation, and so are not selected. Please note that this is an example only. |
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| 2. Update pay and charge rates | Confirm that pay and charge rates have been updated on jobs and/or rate cards. | ⬜ |
| 3. Update superannuation rates and settings |
Ensure that your superannuation items have been configured with the correct rates and settings. If you currently use a percentage-based superannuation item for SGC at 10%, you can add a new rate to the existing item in Config to account for the increase to 10.5% (effective 1 July 2022). When you save the new rate, any employee who is assigned that superannuation item and uses the default values will automatically have their profile updated. To update the rate associated with a superannuation item:
The system will apply the new rate to any pays for relevant employees with a Pay Date on or after the Start Date you configure for the new rate. The new rate can be future-dated, so you can do this at any time to come into effect on 1 July 2022. Reminder: Updates to rates in Config will not apply to employees who do not use the default values. If you have entered custom superannuation rates in your employees’ Pay Items tabs, any changes you make in Config will not flow through. You will need to review and update these values manually in each relevant employee’s profile.
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You will also need to check the Minimum Monthly Threshold set on your SGC item, as the $450 earnings threshold is being removed. To update the Minimum Monthly Threshold so it no longer applies, enter a value of 0. This change cannot be done in advance and should be made once you have processed your last pay run for FY 2021/22, but prior to processing your first pay run for FY 2022/23. |
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