What is STP finalisation?

It is the declaration you make at the end of the financial year telling the ATO that the year-to-date figures reported through Single Touch Payroll are complete and final for each employee. Once made, those figures show as tax ready in the employee myGov account, and they can lodge their return.

Generally by 14 July following the end of the financial year, with concessions available in some circumstances including for closely held payees. Confirm the current due date and any concession that applies to you rather than relying on a remembered date.

Do I still issue payment summaries?

Not for amounts reported through STP. The finalisation declaration replaces the payment summary for those amounts, and employees access their income statement through myGov. Tell employees when you have finalised, so they know their income statement is ready.

Do I need to finalise for employees who left during the year?

Yes — every employee paid at any point during the financial year needs finalising, including those who left months earlier. Leavers are the most commonly missed group, precisely because they are no longer in front of you.

What order should I reconcile in?

Payroll reports to the ledger first, then the ledger to your lodged BAS figures (W1 and W2), then STP year-to-date to both. An error found at the third step usually originates at the first, so working in the other direction means doing the work twice.

STP year-to-date does not match my payroll reports. Why?

Nearly always one of two things: a pay run that was amended after it was filed, or a pay run that failed to file and was never re-sent. Check for rejected submissions first — a failed lodgement is easy to miss because the pay itself went through normally.

What if I find an error after finalising?

You can amend the figures and re-finalise. The complication is that the employee may already have lodged their return on the original figures and may need to amend it too. That is why the reconciliation stage comes first on this checklist — fixing before the declaration is ordinary work, fixing after is a conversation.

What do I do before the first pay run of the new year?

Confirm whether award rates change from 1 July and update them before the run, and confirm the superannuation guarantee rate applying to the pay date. Running the first July pay on last year rates creates an underpayment across every affected employee simultaneously, and it usually is not noticed until someone checks a payslip.

How long do I keep the records?

Seven years under the Fair Work Act for employee records — longer than the ATO five-year rule for general business records. Keep the final payroll reports, the reconciliations and the finalisation confirmation reference together with the year file.

FREE EXCEL CHECKLIST Last updated 28 August 2026

STP finalisation checklist for end of financial year

Thirty-nine checks before you make the finalisation declaration — complete the year, reconcile in the right order, check employee-level data, confirm the STP Phase 2 categories, then finalise. Errors are far cheaper to fix before the declaration than after.

STP finalisation checklist

Excel (.xlsx) · 39 checks · no signup

39 checks across 6 stages

Reconciliation in the order that works

STP Phase 2 category checks

Tick, owner, date and notes columns

General information only, not tax or accounting advice.

This template is general information for Australian employers. Award coverage, classifications, superannuation and reporting obligations depend on your circumstances — confirm them with Fair Work, the ATO or a registered BAS agent. It does not constitute legal, HR, or professional advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for advice specific to your business, workforce, or circumstances.

References HR Hub disclaimer Modern Awards Fair Work

Check the award rate first

A payroll sheet is only as right as the rates going into it. Estimate the correct modern award rate before you run pay — free, no signup.

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What's in the STP finalisation checklist

Six stages, ending in a declaration you can make with confidence.

1. Complete the year

Every pay run processed and successfully filed, terminations handled, and the pay run straddling 30 June allocated correctly.

2. Reconcile the figures

Payroll reports to the ledger, ledger to the lodged BAS figures, then STP year-to-date to both.

3. Employee-level data

Valid TFN or exemption, names and dates of birth matching ATO records, cessation reasons, income types, no duplicates.

4. Check the categories

Allowances itemised under STP Phase 2, salary sacrifice, reportable fringe benefits, RESC, lump sums and disaggregated leave.

5. Finalise

Authorised approval, the declaration made for every employee including leavers, and confirmation the submission was accepted.

6. Close out and record

Reports saved, reference recorded, new-year rates diarised, and records retained for seven years.

Reconcile in this order

An error found at step three usually originates at step one. Working backwards means doing it twice.

Step	Reconcile	To	What it catches
1	Payroll reports	The general ledger	Unposted or misposted pay runs
2	General ledger	Lodged BAS (W1 and W2)	A BAS that no longer agrees
3	STP year-to-date	Both of the above	Reporting that drifted from reality

If STP year-to-date disagrees with your payroll reports, the cause is nearly always a pay run that was amended after filing, or one that failed to file and was never re-sent.

What finalisation actually does

It is a declaration, not a submission — and that is why the order matters.

It marks the year complete

The declaration tells the ATO the year-to-date figures reported through STP are final for each employee.

Employees see "tax ready"

Once finalised, the figures show as tax ready in the employee myGov account. They no longer get a payment summary from you for STP-reported amounts.

Include everyone who worked

Every employee paid during the year needs finalising, including those who left months ago. Leavers are the ones most often missed.

Amending after is possible but messy

You can amend and re-finalise, but the employee may already have lodged their return by then.

Fix errors before you finalise, not after

Correcting year-to-date figures before the declaration is ordinary work. Correcting them after means amending, re-finalising, and quite possibly an employee who has already lodged a return on the wrong numbers.

That is the entire argument for the reconciliation stage sitting before the finalisation stage on this checklist.

Check the new financial year before the first pay run

Modern award rates typically increase from 1 July, and the superannuation guarantee rate has stepped up across recent years. Both apply from a specific date rather than a pay period.

Running the first pay of July on last year rates creates an underpayment across every affected employee at once. Confirm rates before that run, not after — the award rates guides carry the current figures by classification.

Who uses an STP finalisation checklist

Bookkeepers and BAS agents

A repeatable year-end process across a client book, with the notes column as the working paper.

Employers finalising their own

Where payroll is run in-house and the declaration is made by the business.

Anyone who has been caught before

Usually by a leaver who was never finalised, or a pay run that failed to file and was never re-sent.

For accountants & bookkeepers

Do you finalise STP for shift-based clients?

Casual-heavy payrolls produce the most leavers, the most amended pay runs and the most allowance categories to check at year end. Advisors who bring those clients onto RosterElf earn recurring monthly income for every employee managed.

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