STP reconciliation: separate a successful submission from a correct pay run

Published by SESAY · 2026-10-07 · General Australian payroll guidance

What to understand first

An accepted STP submission is a reporting outcome, not an independent validation of every entitlement. Reconcile payroll results, reporting categories and year-to-date values. Use the ATO correction guidance for the specific error rather than creating an unexplained balancing adjustment.

Practical checks

• Check rejected or pending submissions and assign an owner.
• Compare payroll year-to-date totals with the reported information.
• Investigate category differences even when aggregate totals agree.
• Document corrections and check the subsequent submission outcome.

Fictional example

A fictional business reports the correct overall gross amount, but an allowance is mapped to the wrong reporting category. A gross-only reconciliation misses the problem. The payroll lead reviews the mapping, follows the applicable ATO correction process and verifies the corrected employee-level information.

Your next step

Build a reconciliation that explains differences instead of forcing totals to match. Keep timing items separate from configuration errors. At finalisation, ensure the team has resolved known exceptions and can explain changes to employee income statements without disclosing another employee’s information.

How SESAY can help

SESAY can help develop STP reconciliation workpapers, exception logs and correction workflows. Lodgment authority and responsibilities remain subject to the agreed engagement.

Official sources

• ATO — Correcting information reported through STP

Sources researched 2026-10-07. Examples are fictional and use stated assumptions. Confirm current rules and your circumstances before acting. This is general information, not individual tax or legal advice. SESAY is independent of the regulators linked here.