What is payroll operations with CapEasy?
We run the operational side of payroll inside the system you already use, and book the journal entries correctly. Payroll is also the service where the line between operations and regulated filing is sharpest, so it is worth being precise about which part is ours.
Payroll operations in Australia runs on a shorter reporting cycle than most business owners expect: PAYG withholding, superannuation guarantee and gross pay all get calculated at every pay run, and Single Touch Payroll (STP) means the ATO effectively sees the numbers each cycle, not once a quarter. There's no year-end where payroll data first meets a regulator — it's already been reported by the time year-end rolls around.
Super guarantee runs on its own quarterly clock, due by the 28th of the month following each quarter's end, and it's calculated on ordinary time earnings — which isn't always the same figure as gross pay once allowances, overtime and certain bonuses are sorted out. A super guarantee shortfall that isn't caught before the due date turns into the super guarantee charge, which is materially worse than just paying the super late would have been.
The services inside payroll operations
4 services, each with its own page — scope, process and the licence line stated before you buy anything.
| Payroll processing | Pay runs prepared, checked and ready on the same cadence every period. |
| Contractor payments | Contractor records, payment runs and the data your filings will need. |
| Single Touch Payroll support | STP data prepared and reconciled for the registered agent who reports it. |
| Super guarantee processing | Superannuation calculated in the payroll system and reconciled each quarter. |
Why it matters
| Without a system | With CapEasy |
|---|---|
| People paid late or incorrectly | Pay runs on schedule, every cycle |
| Payroll journals that never tie to the bank | Payroll ledger that reconciles |
| Year-end reconciliation done from scratch | Your filer gets clean numbers, on time |
What we need from you
People
- Employee master data
- Employment contracts
- Salary structure
- Benefits and deductions
- Start and leave dates
Each cycle
- Attendance and overtime
- Leave records
- Bonus and commission
- Reimbursements
System
- Payroll software access
- Prior payroll reports
- Registration references held by your filer
How it runs, step by step
- Setup
- Employee onboarding in the payroll system
- Salary structure configuration
- Benefits and deductions setup
- Each pay run
- Gross-to-net calculation in the system
- Overtime and bonus adjustments
- Deductions processing
- Booking & reconciliation
- Payroll journal entries
- Payroll ledger reconciliation
- Liability reconciliation
What lands with you, every cycle
- Processed pay runs
- Payslips
- Payroll journals
- Payroll reconciliation statement
- A filing-ready payroll pack for your authorised filer
Who does what
Single Touch Payroll reporting and superannuation obligations sit with your registered agent. We process the pay runs and produce the records they need. Here is the licence line in Australia, stated before you buy anything — each of these is carried out by your registered BAS or tax agent:
- Work out what goes on your BAS, or advise you on it — under TASA 2009 that requires registration we do not hold.
- Lodge anything with the ATO, or deal with the ATO on your behalf.
- Determine your GST treatment, or calculate your superannuation guarantee.
- Report Single Touch Payroll as your agent.
- Give advice a registered tax agent is required to give.
Payroll operations in Australia
STP means the ATO sees your numbers every pay run, not once a quarter
Single Touch Payroll reports gross pay, PAYG withholding and superannuation liability to the ATO from each pay event, in near real time. That removes the old buffer where payroll errors could be caught and corrected before anyone outside the business saw them — an error in a pay run is visible to the ATO the same cycle it happens. Under TASA 2009 s.90-10, reporting that pay event data as your agent is a BAS service; it's lodged by your registered BAS or tax agent, not by us.
Super guarantee has its own due date, and missing it is expensive in a specific way
Super guarantee contributions are due by the 28th of the month following the end of each quarter, calculated on ordinary time earnings at the current SG rate. Miss that date — even by a day — and the shortfall doesn't just accrue interest; it converts into the super guarantee charge, which includes the shortfall, interest and an administration fee, and which isn't tax-deductible the way a normal super contribution is.
TASA 2009 s.90-10: ascertaining or advising on a liability is a BAS service — lodging isn’t the only line
The definition of a BAS service under TASA 2009 doesn't stop at lodgment. Ascertaining or advising on a client's liability — including PAYG withholding and super guarantee obligations that flow through payroll — is itself a BAS service reserved to a registered BAS or tax agent. That's why STP data is reported as agent by your registered agent, not by us: the reporting relationship with the ATO belongs to their registration.
Award and entitlement data drift is a compounding problem, not a one-off error
A wrong award classification, an incorrect penalty rate or a leave accrual calculated off the wrong base doesn't show up as a single mistake — it repeats on every pay run until someone catches it, at which point it's a back-pay calculation across however many pay cycles the error ran. Clean entitlement data hygiene at each pay run is what keeps that error from compounding in the first place.
What your registered BAS or tax agent receives from us
- A pay run summary reconciled to timesheets and rostered hours for every pay cycle.
- PAYG withholding calculated per employee, matched to current tax tables.
- A pay event data set — hours, gross pay, PAYG withholding by employee — matched against timesheets and rosters, organised for your registered BAS or tax agent to prepare and report as STP.
- Ordinary time earnings and pay data broken out by employee and by fund, ahead of the quarterly super guarantee due date, for your registered agent to calculate the liability from.
- A leave accrual and entitlement ledger — annual leave, personal leave, and any award-specific accruals — kept current every pay run.
- An award or enterprise agreement classification exception log, flagging anything that looks like a mismatch between role and pay code.
Questions worth asking before you start
Will you deal with the Australian Taxation Office on my behalf?
No. We are a consulting firm — lodgments and agent work run through registered BAS and tax agents. Anything that means dealing directly with ATO — filing, correspondence, representation — stays with your registered BAS or tax agent. What changes is how much work it is for them: they open a file that is already reconciled and coded, not one they have to rebuild first.
Exactly what lands with your registered BAS or tax agent at the end of a cycle?
Processed pay runs, Payslips, Payroll journals, Payroll reconciliation statement, A filing-ready payroll pack for your authorised filer. All of it goes to your registered BAS or tax agent — or straight to you, if you are the one reviewing before it moves on.
Who actually does the work — a person or an AI tool?
A named person on our team owns your file and reviews everything that leaves it. Software does a real share of the grinding underneath it — coding, matching, flagging the obvious gaps — but nothing regulated happens without a person’s judgement, and nothing here is signed or filed by an algorithm.
Do you file our payroll taxes or returns?
No. We run the pay cycle inside your system and book the entries correctly so whatever your authorised filer submits is built on numbers that already reconcile.
Can you handle contractor payments too?
Yes, alongside employee pay runs, with the same reconciliation discipline.
What if we run payroll across more than one country?
We can, provided each jurisdiction’s filing stays with an authorised local filer — we operate the system and the ledger, never the filing itself.
Do you lodge our STP data with the ATO?
No. STP pay event data is reported to the ATO as your agent by your registered BAS or tax agent — that's a BAS service under TASA 2009 and it requires a registration we don't hold. We compile and organise the underlying payroll data — hours, gross pay, PAYG withholding — and flag anything that looks inconsistent before your agent reviews and reports it.
Can you tell us what should go on our BAS from a payroll perspective?
No. Ascertaining or advising on a liability like PAYG withholding or super guarantee is itself a BAS service under TASA 2009 s.90-10 — it's not just the lodging that's restricted. That determination sits with your registered BAS or tax agent.
Do you calculate our super guarantee liability?
No — determining and calculating the superannuation guarantee liability is your registered BAS or tax agent's job. What we provide is the ordinary time earnings data, per employee and per fund, that calculation is built from, rather than gross pay, which can understate what's actually owed once allowances and overtime are sorted out.
What happens if we miss a super guarantee due date?
The shortfall converts to the super guarantee charge — the original amount plus interest plus an administration fee, and it isn't deductible the way a normal super contribution is. We compile the ordinary time earnings data your registered agent needs well ahead of the 28th-of-the-month due date, specifically so that scramble doesn't happen.
Does STP mean errors in our payroll are visible to the ATO immediately?
Effectively yes — STP reports gross pay, PAYG withholding and super liability from each pay event, in near real time, which is why we match every pay event against timesheets and flag anything that looks inconsistent before your registered agent reviews and reports it, rather than an error surfacing after the ATO has already seen it.
Who handles our award or enterprise agreement classifications?
We maintain the entitlement data hygiene — flagging when a pay code looks mismatched to a role or an accrual looks off — but the classification and interpretation itself sits with you and your registered agent or workplace advisor, not with payroll operations.
What do you actually hand our BAS agent at STP finalisation time?
A full year of pay event data — hours, gross pay, PAYG withholding — matched against timesheets and rosters as the year went along, with anything inconsistent flagged when it happened, so your registered agent isn't untangling twelve months of drift when they lodge the finalisation declaration in July.
What happens to a terminated employee’s final pay and any ETP component?
Terminations run through their own checklist that flags anything that looks like an employment termination payment separately from ordinary final pay, because the two carry different tax treatment. Your registered agent calculates the ETP component and the withholding that applies to it.
Does AI make any decisions about our payroll or super calculations?
No. AI matches timesheet and roster data to pay codes and flags anything that deviates from the pattern — a named person on our team reviews every flag and owns the pay run. Decisions about liability, and the STP reporting itself, sit with your registered agent.
How do you keep leave accruals accurate?
Every pay run updates the leave and entitlement ledger against the correct award or agreement base, so an accrual error gets caught the pay cycle it happens rather than compounding across a year.
What do you need from us to onboard a new employee correctly?
A TFN declaration and super fund choice form for each new starter — we extract and log those into the system as part of the new-starter checklist, alongside classification and pay code setup, before their first pay run goes out.
Are you a registered BAS agent?
No — we're not a registered BAS or tax agent, and we don't ascertain or advise on BAS liabilities or deal with the ATO on your behalf. Payroll operations compiles and organises the underlying payroll data; your registered BAS or tax agent determines liabilities, reports STP, and lodges anything that requires that registration.
