Correcting a pay after it is run¶

You have finished a pay run, and then you spot a mistake. Maybe an employee was paid for the wrong hours, or an amount was entered incorrectly. It is a common worry: can I still fix this now the pay is done?

Yes. A pay can be corrected after the pay run, and doing so is a normal part of payroll. You do not have to unpick everything or start the year again. You put the figures right, and the correction is reported to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) through Single Touch Payroll (STP) — the system that reports pay, tax and super to the ATO.

In one line

You can correct a pay after the pay run — adjust it, or reverse and re-do it — and the corrected figures are reported to the ATO through STP.

Why this matters¶

Mistakes in a pay are easy to make and easy to fix, but only if you know that correcting a finished pay is allowed and expected. Understanding this removes the fear of "I have already run it, so I am stuck". You are not stuck — there is a clear path to put it right.

Understanding the concept¶

There are two common ways to fix a pay that has already been run.

Adjust the pay. You change the figures so they are correct — for example, fixing the number of hours or the amount of an allowance. This is the simplest option for a small slip.

Reverse and re-do the pay. You undo the original pay and run it again with the correct figures. This is useful when a pay is wrong in several ways, or it is cleaner to start that pay fresh.

Whichever way you fix it, the corrected information is reported to the ATO through STP. This is where STP quietly does the heavy lifting.

How STP makes this easy: year-to-date totals. Each STP report does not just send that one pay — it sends the employee's year-to-date (YTD) totals, meaning the running total of their pay, tax and super for the financial year so far. Because every report carries the up-to-date running totals, the next report can simply carry the corrected totals. In other words, a later report naturally corrects an earlier one. You do not have to send a special "cancel" message for the old figures — the new running total replaces them.

The ATO's guidance is that most corrections can be made in your next pay, or through a separate update, within the same financial year, as long as the employee is still employed. It also expects corrections to be actioned promptly once you spot them.

For accountants & bookkeepers

STP reports employee YTD amounts, so a subsequent pay event or update event supersedes the earlier figures — there is no need to reverse the prior lodgement at the ATO. The ATO's guidance is to correct YTD amounts in the next pay event or an update event within the same financial year where the payee has continuity of employment, and to act once a correction is identified. Employer-level totals also flow through to activity-statement reporting.

Example¶

Jordan runs a small retail shop and pays staff fortnightly. After a pay run, Jordan realises an employee was paid for eight hours of a shift they did not actually work. Jordan adjusts that employee's pay to the correct hours. When the next STP report goes to the ATO, it carries the corrected year-to-date total for that employee, so the earlier figure is put right automatically. Jordan also notes in the records what happened and how it was fixed. Nothing had to be undone at the ATO end — the running total simply caught up.

Common mistakes¶

Thinking a finished pay cannot be changed — it can, either by adjusting it or reversing and re-doing it.
Worrying you must "cancel" the old ATO report — you do not, because the next STP report carries the corrected year-to-date totals.
Leaving a known mistake for later — the ATO expects corrections to be made promptly once you notice them.
Fixing the pay but not keeping a record — always note the error and how you fixed it.

How this works in myaccountant¶

In the app — if a pay is wrong after a pay run, you can adjust it, or reverse and re-do it, in myaccountant. The corrected figures are then reported to the ATO through STP. Because STP reports carry year-to-date totals, the next report corrects the earlier one automatically — you do not have to cancel anything at the ATO. You can also see the lodgement status of each report.

Key points¶

A pay can be corrected after the pay run — you are not stuck.
Two ways to fix it: adjust the pay, or reverse and re-do it.
STP reports carry year-to-date totals, so a later report corrects an earlier one.
You do not need to cancel the old report at the ATO.
Fix it promptly, and keep a record of what happened.

Learn next¶

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

Did this answer your question?