Checklist for Employers for End of Year

As a bookkeeper - I love a good list , 

I don't always like what is on the list but inevitably I love to tick it off 

• that I saw it, 
• considered it and 
• perhaps did it ! 

This is my HIGH level brain dump of what I review annually - I am not defining or explaining every term or whether it applies to your business - rather I am sharing some commonalities in approach to what we should be considering for end of year. 

Choose the advice that is right for your individual circumstance. 

Here is my go to list for end of year :

Single Touch Payroll (STP)  - ensure you are opted in, reporting and filing to ATO each pay run in the software.

Pay as you Go Withholding (PAYG W)  - check the employees tax that has been with held is being remitted to the ATO (via BAS statements) IF KRS preps your BAS - we check this for you. 

Reportable Fringe Benefits - if you don't know if you have these or what to do - your accountant will be preparing any Fringe Benefits returns so consult them about this. 

Superannuation - simply put - make sure you have lodged and paid the 9.5% super guarantee that applies to your employees by the due dates. If you are making personal contributions to your super (outside payroll) ensure you consult your accountant or financial planner about the thresholds and limits. 

Superannuation Salary Sacrifice - if you have employees making contributions under these arrangements - ensure that they are set up under payroll correctly and paid. This is the employees money that they have chosen to send to their super fund so it belongs to them and needs to be paid on time. 

Superannuation Choice - Use the Super Choice Forms to offer your employees their choice of super fund - if they do not make a choice you must ensure that you send their contributions to the Default fund - if this is not happening - ask us to assist.

Payroll Tax - affects the higher level payrolls - check that you are under the thresholds of State Based Payroll Tax  - if you need to lodge and pay payroll tax - we can assist you however check here as to the thresholds https://www.sro.vic.gov.au/payroll-tax-current-rates

Workcover - so many employers just pay the bill as it arrives and do not check the wages estimates and actual numbers. The premium is calculated on your provided estimate and the actuals should be declared each year to update the calculation. This is such a forgotten task. Please review 

Employee v Contractor - another black hole - lots of contractors are really in fact employees for the purposes of Super, Tax and Workcover. Use the ATO decision maker tool on the ATO website to accurately review the status of the existing contract arrangements. 

Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR) - affects only certain industries and certain types of activities BUT the key takeaway here is you need to ensure you have ABN and address of all reportable contractors  - at this time of year we see so many invalid and fake ABN's for contractors who are no longer engaged by the business. This is a real problem when we try to complete the TPAR report to ATO .

Use ABN look up tool to check validity of the contractors when they commence. 

Entitlement Balances of leave for employees - are the calculations correct ? - run a report to check if any employees are holding excessive leave balances. Correct any mistakes in leave allocation. When an employee leaves employment this can be an expensive pay out - be prepared. 

Payslips - are you sending compliant payslips ? - check the Fair Work site as to what is required to be on a payslip

On boarding procedures for new employees - 'the fish rots at the head"  - when an employee starts, are you ensuring you get the appropriate information on the correct forms from the very beginning ? This will set you up for success. KRS can provide you with a 'live' link to our best practice onboarding docs - just drop us an email to request the link and password.

Awards and rates of pay When was the last review ? Are you paying under the correct Award and rates? Have you checked for the annual increase ? Huge implications for getting this small detail incorrect  - review Fair Work's website to check the applicable Award. 

After getting to the bottom of this list - being an employer might just seem so much harder than first thought! 

Don't despair - that's why you engage the correct professionals get their advice. 

I liken it to a Bus - the business is the 'bus' and now is the perfect time to ensure all the right people are on the 'bus' and sitting the the correct 'seats'. 

Oh and Happy end of Financial Year everyone - may your books be balanced and your results merry !