This help guide will explain how to finalise your STP in Tanda for the End of Financial Year (EOFY). Payroll Finalisations are used to complete an employee’s income statement for the end of the financial year, so they can file their tax return.
Note that the information covered in this guide is only applicable to Tanda Payroll subscribers.
PLEASE NOTE: Tanda updates mandatory super rates automatically in the new financial year. These updates will occur automatically for any pay run where the payment date is in the new financial year. For example, if a pay run is from 23-30 June, but is paid on July 2, it will be paid at the updated higher super rate.
What Does This Help Guide Cover?
What is STP Finalisation?
According to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), "Employers reporting through Single Touch Payroll (STP) need to make a finalisation declaration by 14 July each year to ensure your employees can access their finalised information to complete their tax return."
Essentially, STP finalisation lets the ATO know that you've finished paying your employees for that payroll year. In other words, it is the process by which an employer completes their STP reporting obligations for the financial year. Unless you are granted a deferral, this must be submitted by the ATO's due date, typically July 14th (though, for employers with closely held payees or a mixture of arm's length and closely held payees, September 30th).
Common Errors to Avoid
Ensure you are finalising the correct financial year. A common mistake employers make is finalising employee records for the incorrect financial year, particularly if these are being lodged after June 30th. Double check you are submitting for the correct financial year.
Ensure you submit a finalisation declaration for all employees you paid this financial year, including casuals and those who have since been terminated.
To learn more about STP Finalisation and your requirements, see this ATO resource.
Creating an STP Finalisation
Once you have completed your last pay run of the financial year and are ready to submit your STP finalisation, navigate to Payroll > Single Touch Payroll > EOFY Finalisation > Configure.
Then, select +NEW to create a new Finalisation.
You will see the following screen:
Select the Company File and Financial Year for which you want to finalise STP and click CREATE (note: if you have multiple company files, you must create finalisations for each one).
From here, you can delete your STP Finalisation if desired using the DELETE button. If you attempt to do so, you will see the following warning:
If you see an error when trying to create this finalisation, ensure that Tanda Payroll is in Live Mode, not Test Mode. If Tanda Payroll is in Test Mode, you will see the following alert in the top right corner of your screen.
For more information on setting Tanda Payroll to Live Mode, see our help guide: Running your first payroll.
Processing the Finalisation
Once you have created an STP Finalisation, click on the link under 'Company File' to be directed to the finalisation page.
On this page, you will see further information about STP Finalisation, a Declaration Statement, and a list of all employees who are currently active or who were active within the last financial year. An STP finalisation event must be submitted for any employee paid within the previous financial year.
Firstly, ensure you read the numbered points about STP Finalisation and the Declaration Statement thoroughly.
Then, refer to the table's 'STP Ready' column to determine whether each employee is STP-ready. If not, you will see a red alert icon. Hover over this icon to see more details about what needs to be fixed to make sure the employee is STP-ready. For example:
Once you have corrected these errors, use the check boxes to select all employees you would like to finalise. Note that you don't have to finalise all employees at once—see the FAQs below for more details.
After ticking an employee, the page will reload, and any errors that would prevent the STP Finalisation will be displayed. Click these links to be redirected to the appropriate page to resolve these errors. You will be blocked from finalising your STP submission until you have resolved all of these errors.
Once you have resolved these errors, select Actions > Recalculate Year to Date Balances to ensure your YTD balances are current.
You can check or update these balances by clicking the employee's name. For example:
Note that the above is for an example employee. Real employees would have actual values populating these fields.
Once you have resolved all necessary errors and are otherwise satisfied with the accuracy of the information provided on this page, click FINALISE STP.
To confirm that your submission was successful, refer to the status column in the table on the main STP Finalisation page.
You can click 'Submitted' and 'Partially Submitted' to see more details. For example:
Alternatively, click on the Company File name to see a full breakdown of the submission. For example:
For a full breakdown of your STP submission history, navigate to Payroll > Single Touch Payroll > STP Submission History.
Resubmitting a Finalisation
If you later realise you submitted incorrect information during the STP finalisation, you will need to submit an amendment. To do so, create a new finalisation event (following the steps outlined in this help guide), make the relevant updates, and submit another finalisation for the impacted employee(s).
To learn more, see this ATO resource.
EOFY Finalisation FAQs
Can I finalise some employees now, and do the rest later?
Can I finalise some employees now, and do the rest later?
Yes, you can select which employees you would like to finalise. Once this has been run, the finalisation status will be updated.
How do I finalise employees who have never been paid via Tanda, but were paid this financial year in my previous payroll system?
How do I finalise employees who have never been paid via Tanda, but were paid this financial year in my previous payroll system?
If you have transitioned from another payroll system this financial year, and there are employees who have never been paid via Tanda, it is best to finalise them in your previous system.
To finalise these employees in Tanda, you would need to upload all of their year-to-date opening balances, tax declaration, and address details, and submit an update event to the ATO before the finalisation is submitted. To submit an update event, navigate to Payroll > Single Touch Payroll > Update Event > + NEW, then follow the prompts.
To learn more, see the ATO's resource: Changing your payroll solution or employees’ Payroll IDs.
How do I record fringe benefits for my employees?
How do I record fringe benefits for my employees?
To add fringe benefits, click on an employee’s name. A menu will appear showing the employee’s year-to-date balances. You can add or edit their fringe benefits amounts here.
My employee is flagged as not being STP ready. How do I fix this?
My employee is flagged as not being STP ready. How do I fix this?
The STP-ready check ensures that an employee has all of the required fields completed on their Staff Profile required to submit to STP. This includes tax declaration and address. If your employee is flagged as not being STP-ready, the alert will explain why. You can then rectify this error.
Does Tanda automatically update the tax tables and super guarantee contribution rates for the new financial year?
Does Tanda automatically update the tax tables and super guarantee contribution rates for the new financial year?
Yes. Any updates made by the Australian Taxation Office to tax tables and minimum super guarantee contribution rates will automatically apply to your account.
Updated tax tables and minimum super guarantee rates apply to any pay run with a Payment Date on or after July 1. This means a pay run ending June 30, but paid on July 1, will be paid using the new financial year tax and super rates.