End of Year (EOFY)

It is important you read through the GL Reconciliation Guide and EOFY Close-off Guide in early June and complete the preparation steps to avoid problems at June 30.

The purpose of the EOFY close-off process is to:

• Have you verify all data in the Employee YTD Report is correct before it is reported as FINAL to the ATO.
• Have you reconcile your GL to Marlin HR.
• Report amounts as FINAL for all employees so that the Income Statements in myGOV will be marked as TAX READY on 1 July, ready for inclusion in tax returns.
• Generate an End of Year backup of your valuable payroll information to store offsite.
• Reset all year to date figures to zero (except carry over leave balances) and move the payroll into a new tax year, ready for the first pay of the new tax year.

The EOFY close-off process must be run after completing all normal pays and adjustment pays for the tax year (as no changes are possible after the EOFY STP submission).

It is advisable to wait until the end of the last pay period in case unexpected absences require an Adjustment Pay.

You must not commence the first pay run of the new tax year until you have completed the EOFY close-off process and applied the tax scales and superannuation rates applicable to the new tax year, otherwise it will be included in the wrong tax year and possibly taxed incorrectly.

EOFY Checklists

Print the EOFY Checklist and GL Reconciliation Guide below and tick each step as you complete it to ensure nothing is missed.

EOFY Close-Off Guide

The EOFY close-off guide is the same for all versions of Marlin HR and can be downloaded below.

EOFY GL Reconciliation Guides

The EOFY GL reconciliation process are slightly different for Version 2 and Version 5 of Marlin HR.

The version you are using is shown in the bottom-left corner of the Marlin HR window.

Check which version you are using and download the appropriate checklist below.

Version 5

Version 2

EOFY Preparation (Early June)

Print and read through both Guides listed above (please read them before logging EOFY queries).

Complete the STEP 1 - PREPARATION TASKS section of the Marlin HR EOFY Close-off Guide.

Review the Employee YTD Report in Marlin HR to confirm all info for each employee is correct.

Perform a GL reconciliation now to identify & resolve any issues well before 30 June.

Label a USB thumb drive as ENDOFYEAR in readiness for the EOFY close-off process (not required if your Marlin HR is hosted by Megabus).

EOFY Close-off Process (ASAP after last Pay Day in June)

Ensure you are on Marlin HR version 2.3.5 or 5.3.5 or later before commencing EOFY close-off. These versions are due for release on 3rd June 2024.

Complete the ** STEP 2 - EOY CLOSE-OFF CHECKLIST** in the Marlin HR EOFY Close-off Guide

Final Steps (After EOFY Close-off)

After completing the Marlin HR EOY close-off process, open the payrun screen and respond YES to the automatic prompt asking whether you would like to apply the new Budget2024 tax scales.

Respond YES to the automatic prompt asking whether you would like to apply the new Superannuation Guarantee Rate (SGR) of 11.50%.

Check for any minimum wage or awards changes that become effective from 1 July 2024 and update pay rates in Employee Maintenance before commencing the first payrun.

MyGov Accounts

Since the implementation of single touch payroll (STP) reporting, employees' year-to-date tax and super information is sent directly to the ATO as each payrun is finalised, and is available to employees almost immediately in ATO online services through myGov.

The Marlin HR EOY close-of process finalises the information for the tax year and sends a "Final" STP submission to the ATO that triggers income statements in your employees' myGov accounts to change status to 'Tax Ready' from 1st July, ready for use in employee tax returns.

Payment Summaries are no longer required or produced.

It is not mandatory to have a myGov account, but features of STP will only be available to you if you have one.

You will be able to contact the ATO on 13 28 61 for a copy of your payment information if you do not have a myGov account.

Creating & Using a MyGov Account

If you have not created a myGov account, visit my.gov.au, select ‘Create an account’ at the bottom of the homepage and follow the prompts.

When your account is set up, you can add a range of services – including “Australian Taxation Office”.

Access Income Statements through myGov:

Log in to myGov using your email address or mobile phone number.

Select “Australian Taxation Office” under “your services”.

This will take you to a new page.

On your screen you will see “view my income statements”, click on this or click “income statements” under the “employment” tab at the top of your screen.

On the screen you will see the income you have earned from your employer or employers for the financial year, and the tax that has been withheld.

Tax Returns

Your income statement/s will be ready to use in your tax return when it has been marked as 'Tax ready'.

It is important that you don't use any information that is not marked 'Tax ready' as we may finalise your income statement with different amounts which means you may have to amend your tax return.

The ATO will send a notification to your myGov inbox when all of your income statements are 'Tax ready'.

EOFY FAQs

What if a pay period overlaps tax years?

The ATO specifies that a pay run must be entered in its entirety into the tax year in which the employer submits payment from their bank (i.e. the Date Paid you entered on the Payrun).

The dates of the period being paid (i.e. the Pay To Date) do not matter.

Example: The pay run for the pay period ended 30th June must be entered before completing EOFY close-off if it is paid on or before 30th June.

However, if payment will be made on or after 1st July, the pay run must be entered after completing EOFY close-off and then applying any new tax scales and superannuation rates applicable to the new tax year.

From the ATO Website:

What if the store is closed/sold?

Once all employees on the payroll have stopped working for your business and payruns have been processed to pay all outstanding amounts, you should go ahead and complete the EOFY close-off process (i.e. do not wait until 30 June) so that all amounts are reported to the ATO as FINAL and Income Statements will become TAX READY at 1st July.

Failure to do this at closure of the business may mean that you no longer have access to Marlin HR to perform the EOFY process, or megalink is not operational to send the FINAL submission to the ATO.

The Income Statements in your employees' myGOV accounts will therefore not be FINAL and will not change to TAX READY at 1st July.

How long does the EOFY close-off process take?

If you have completed the preparation steps (GL reconciliation & checked the Employee YTD Report) by mid June as recommended, you will already have resolved any issues and verified the data to that point. Following the EOFY Checklist at 30 June should then be a quick and straightforward process.

Am I on the right Marlin HR version to run EOFY Close-off?

The EOFY Close-off Instructions panel on this page will advise you of the minimum required version for EOFY Close-off for each tax year (your current version is shown at the bottom left corner of the Marlin HR screen).

In most years this version will contain the tax scales for the next tax year and any changes required to ensure that the EOFY close-off processes correctly and submits correct data to the ATO.

Where do I get new Tax Scales & Superannuation Rates?

The specified Marlin HR version for EOY close-off (see question above) contains the new tax scales and superannuation rates if applicable but does not apply them in case you have any pay runs still to be processed in the current tax year.

When you open the pay run screen after completing the EOFY close-off, a message will automatically pop up if there are new tax scales and super rate to be used for the new tax year and ask if you would like to apply them now. Respond YES to apply them.

The currently selected Tax Scales are shown in blue writing near the top of the Pay Run screen. For example, Budget2023 Tax Scales are those announced in the 2023 federal budget for use in the 2023-24 tax year.

What happened to Payment Summaries (aka Group Certificates)?

Printed Payment Summaries were replaced by electronic Income Statements for the 2020-21 tax year onwards. Employers no longer create payment summaries or manually upload an annual report file at June 30.

With STP reporting (Single Touch Payroll) Marlin HR automatically sends the required payroll data to the ATO as each payrun is finalised. Your employees are therefore able to access their year to date income statements in their myGov accounts throughout the tax year.

The Marlin HR EOY close-off process submits a special STP file to the ATO that flags the amounts reported for each employee as 'Final' and triggers the ATO system to change the status of the employee's income statement in myGov to 'Tax Ready' after June 30. Your employee or their tax accountant can then use it in their tax return.

The ATO requires employees to use a myGov account to lodge their tax returns, or to have a tax accountant lodge it for them.

You can re-print Payment Summaries generated before the implementation of STP reporting, by selecting Periodic > Previous Payment Summaries from the menu in Marlin HR.

How do I enter a Superannuation top-up at EOFY?

Sometimes a Director may ask you to enter a lump sum superannuation top-up for them at EOFY which is to be reported as a "Reportable Superannuation Contribution" (i.e. RESC) to the ATO. This is easily achieved on an Adjustment Payrun. Please see Superannuation Top-Ups.

Why are salary sacrifices to Superannuation missing?

If you find that there are salary sacrifices to superannuation missing on the Super Report and Employee YTD Report, it is most likely because you set up the deduction incorrectly in Employee Maintenance for those employees.

As salary sacrifices to super must be reported to the ATO as reportable super contributions (aka RESC), it is important that you fix these deductions before commencing your EOFY close-off. Please see Fixing Missing Salary Sacrifices to Super.

EOFY Support

The above guides provide the required information and step by step instructions, ensuring you don't miss any steps or make mistakes that could cause problems now or later.

They will answer most of your queries and prevent unnecessary delays to our response times to other calls.

If logging a ticket be sure to include details of a specific query or issue (otherwise we will email the guides to you and close the ticket).

Our Support Team is happy to assist with any queries not covered by the EOFY guides. However, at this very busy time of year we are unable to train you, perform the process for you, or watch as you perform the process.