Payroll reports for your business¶

Some payroll reporting is for the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) — it tells the government what you paid and what tax you held back. But that is only one reason to run reports. Most payroll reports are for you, to help you run the business.

An internal payroll report pulls the numbers from your pays into one place, so you can see what your staff really cost, plan the cash you need, and check that each pay is right before money leaves your account.

In one line

Beyond what you send the ATO, you run payroll reports to see your total staff costs, plan cash for pay day, tax and super, and check that pays are correct.

Why this matters¶

Wages are usually one of the biggest costs a business has. If you cannot see the total cost clearly, it is easy to be caught short on pay day, or to miss a mistake in a pay. Running a simple report turns a pile of individual pays into numbers you can act on.

What you will learn¶

The difference between reporting to the ATO and reporting for yourself
The main things a payroll report helps you manage
How reports help you plan cash and check pays

Understanding the concept¶

There is no single official "internal report" defined by a regulator. These are just common reports that payroll software produces to help you manage the business. They usually help with four things.

Seeing your total staff costs. A report adds up the gross wages, plus the amounts that sit on top, so you can see the real cost of your team over a week, month or year.

Planning cash for pay day. A pay costs more than the net amount that lands in an employee's bank account. You also owe the PAYG withholding you held back, and super. Knowing all three ahead of time helps you keep enough cash aside.

Meeting your tax and super obligations. The ATO explains that under PAYG withholding an employer holds an amount back from a worker's pay and sends it to the ATO. Super is a separate amount the employer pays into the employee's super fund. A report shows you what has built up, so you can pay it on time.

Checking that pays are right. A report lets you review the numbers before you finalise a pay, and to look back afterwards to confirm exactly what was paid.

For accountants & bookkeepers

Internal payroll reports are management reports, not statutory ones — they are not the STP pay event or the activity statement. They are typically driven off the same pay-run data, sliced by period and by employee. The ATO sets the super guarantee rate as a percentage of an employee's earnings and PAYG withholding on the amounts an employer must withhold; the reports simply surface those liabilities so they can be funded and reconciled before the statutory lodgement.

Example¶

A small cafe runs pays every fortnight. Before pay day, the owner opens a payroll report for the coming pay. It shows the total gross wages, the PAYG withholding to set aside for the ATO, the super owed to the staff's funds, and the net pay landing in bank accounts. Seeing all four totals together, the owner confirms there is enough cash in the account, then finalises the pay. At the end of the month, another report totals the same figures across all pays, so the owner can see the month's staff cost at a glance.

Common mistakes¶

Thinking payroll reporting is only about the ATO — most reports are for managing the business.
Budgeting only for net pay, and forgetting the PAYG withholding and super on top.
Waiting until money is due before checking what is owed, instead of running a report early.

How this works in myaccountant¶

In the app — myaccountant produces payroll reports from your pay runs. You can see totals for a chosen period and per employee, so you can review your staff costs and the amounts owing for tax and super. You can also review a pay run before you finalise it, to check the numbers are right before anyone is paid.

Key points¶

ATO reporting is only one reason to report — most payroll reports are for you.
Reports show your total staff costs over a period.
They help you plan the cash for net pay, PAYG withholding and super.
PAYG withholding is money you hold back and send to the ATO.
Super is a separate amount you pay into employees' super funds.
Reports let you check a pay is right before and after it is run.

Learn next¶

General information only — not tax, super or financial advice.

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