This page explains how to use the STP/calculated remuneration template. This template is designed for users with a solid understanding of payroll concepts, including payment types and employment terms.
The Workplace Profile templates are available for download on the Reporting templates page.
On this page:
- STP/calculated remuneration: How it works
- Column K: Ordinary hours
- Column L: Employee start date
- Column M: Base salary (pro-rata)
- Column N: Base salary (fixed)
- Column O: OTE (pro-rata)
- Column P: OTE (fixed)
- Column Q: Superannuation
- Column R: Allowances
- Column S: Fringe benefits
- Column T: Employee share schemes (ESS)
- Columns U to X
STP/calculated remuneration: How it works
Unlike the Unit level template, the STP file automatically calculates annualised, full-time equivalent remuneration, so you don’t need to do those calculations manually.
What you need to provide
To enable these automatic calculations, you must enter more detailed information than in the Unit level template. This information is explained under each column subheading on this page.
How the calculation works
The file compares each employee’s ordinary hours and start date against the information you enter in the ‘Instructions’ tab.
- If the employee’s ordinary hours are less than full-time, their pay will be scaled up to reflect full-time equivalent.
- If the employee’s start date is less than 12 months before the snapshot date, their pay will be scaled up to reflect a full year of work.
Payment reference table - STP/payroll
| Payment type | STP/payroll file |
| Annual leave and leave loading | Base salary (pro-rata) and OTE (pro-rata) |
| Carer's and sick leave | Base salary (pro-rata) and OTE (pro-rata) |
| Employer-funded parental leave | Base salary (pro-rata) and OTE (pro-rata) |
| Penalty rates and shift loadings (paid as part of a casual, permanent or fixed-term employee’s ordinary working hours) | Base salary (pro-rata) and OTE (pro-rata) |
| Salary-sacrificed items | Base salary (pro-rata) and OTE (pro-rata) |
| Wages/salary (fixed) | Base salary (fixed) and OTE (fixed) |
| Wages/salary (pro-rata) | Base salary (pro-rata) and OTE (pro-rata) |
| Workers’ compensation payments | Base salary (pro-rata) and OTE (pro-rata) |
| Allowances (fixed amount) | Allowances |
| Allowances (pro-rata) | If attracts super = OTE (pro-rata) If no super = Allowances |
| Associated payments on overtime earnings (penalty rates) | Allowances |
| Back pay or lump sums | OTE (fixed) |
| Bonuses (pro-rata) | If attracts super = OTE (pro-rata) If no super = Allowances |
| Bonuses (fixed) | If attracts super = OTE (fixed) If no super = Allowances |
| Cashed-out annual leave or long-service leave | OTE (pro-rata) |
| Car payments (company car) | Allowances |
| Car reimbursements (personal car) | Fringe benefits |
| Car allowance | Allowances |
| Discretionary payments (fixed) | If attracts super = OTE (fixed) If no super = Allowances |
| Overtime worked outside of expected hours | Allowances |
| Sales commission (pro-rata) | OTE (pro-rata) |
| Sales commission (fixed) | OTE (fixed) |
| Share allocations | ESS |
| Superannuation | Superannuation |
| Superannuation on fixed remuneration | Superannuation |
| Temporary performance loading or higher duties allowance | OTE (pro-rata) |
Column K: Ordinary hours
Ordinary hours are a mandatory field. They refer to an employee's normal and regular hours of work, which do not attract overtime rates. You are required to enter ordinary hours in two different places:
- The 'Instructions' tab: you must enter the full-time ordinary hours figure and the period those hours relate to (for example 38 hours per week) on the worksheet.
- The 'Upload' tab: you must enter the ordinary hours for each employee for the period outlined in the 'Instructions' tab. In the above example, a full-time employee would have an ordinary hours figure of 38, and a 0.5 FTE employee would have a figure of 19.
What if certain employees work different ordinary hours?
In the event that you have more than one full-time standard (e.g. some employees work to 38 hours per week as full-time, others work to 40 hours per week) we recommend you complete separate files for each full-time standard.
Please note: If you complete separate STP files for one legal entity, you must upload them together (i.e. as a batch) when completing your report in the Employer Portal.
What about casual employees?
Casual employees who work irregular hours can be put onto their own template set to a 'yearly' full-time standard. This will enable you to enter the exact number of hours they have worked.
- Enter the number of hours considered full-time for an entire year for your workplace in the 'Explanation' tab and select ‘Year’ as the period.
- For each casual employee enter the actual number of hours they worked in that year in the 'Upload' tab.
Why do I need to provide ordinary hours?
Providing ordinary hours is mandatory: it enables the spreadsheet to automatically convert amounts that had been paid on a pro-rata basis to a full-time standard for employees who are not full-time.
- A full-time equivalence ratio (FTE) is estimated for each employee by dividing their ordinary hours in the 'Upload' tab by the full-time ordinary hours on the 'Explanation' tab.
- The pro-rata amounts are then divided by the FTE to estimate what each employee would have been paid if they were working the full-time ordinary hours.
- If an employee commenced work within the 12 months leading up to the snapshot date, the FTE is adjusted for their length of service.
Annualising the amounts means salaries and remuneration can be analysed consistently, without hours worked and length of service becoming confounding factors.
Column L: Employee start date
Employee start date is a mandatory field. It refers to the date that each employee commenced employment with the organisation and should be entered in the date format DD/MM/YYYY.
- The employee start date should be earlier than, or the same day as, the snapshot date chosen for your Workplace Profile.
- Employees who started working after the nominated snapshot date, or ceased employment before the nominated snapshot date, must not be included.
Why do I need to provide an employee start date?
Providing a start date is mandatory for this type of Workplace Profile. It enables the spreadsheet to automatically convert amounts that had been paid on a pro-rata basis to a full-year equivalent for employees who did not work the full year.
- The template compares an employee’s start date to the snapshot date you have entered on the 'Instructions' tab.
- If the employee has not been employed for 12 months or more, the template converts their pro-rata amounts to an annualised equivalent.
This data is important for calculating annualised salary and remuneration amounts for part-year employees or those with extended periods of unpaid leave.
Accounting for unpaid leave in the STP/Payroll template
Unpaid leave can be accounted for in this file by treating the employee as a part-year employee.
- Determine the length of time that the employee has been on unpaid leave in the 12-month period up to your snapshot date.
- If the employee worked the full year (apart from the period of unpaid leave): change the start date of this employee to 12 months before the snapshot date and then add on the period of unpaid leave to adjust the start date.
- If the employee did not work the full year (apart from the period of unpaid leave): change the start date of this employee to be when they started and then add on the period of unpaid leave.
For example, for an employee with 2 weeks of unpaid leave on a file that has a snapshot date of 31/03/2024:
- If the employee worked the full year, change start date to 01/04/2023 and then add on two weeks for 15/04/2023.
- The template will recognise the employee was not being paid for 2 weeks out of the 12-month period and adjust their income up slightly.
Column M: Base salary (pro-rata)
Base salary (pro-rata) is a mandatory field. It refers to an employee’s annual salary or wage payments before tax, including salary-sacrificed items. Do not annualise the amount as this will be automatically done by the Workplace Profile template.
Base salary (pro-rata) includes payments made for (or that supplement) ordinary hours and are based on time worked. These include the following:
- regular wage or salary payments
- annual leave/leave loading
- paid carer’s and sick leave
- employer-funded parental leave
- penalty rates and shift loadings
- workers’ compensation payments.
Base salary, whether pro-rata or fixed, is not the same as an employee’s agreed salary package. You must enter the actual amounts of the items listed above into the employee’s base salary (pro-rata) column.
Column N: Base salary (fixed)
Base salary (fixed) is a mandatory field. It refers to wage and salary payments made to an employee regardless of the number of hours they work or the quality of their performance. That is, it is a fixed amount – for example, per product produced or per quarter (as a stipend) – and it is not paid on a pro-rata basis.
For example, a carpenter who is not paid their wage or salary per hour but instead per job or per product is receiving a base salary (fixed) payment, as the payment is made regardless of the time the carpenter has worked.
If you do not pay any base salary of a fixed nature for your employee(s), populate this cell with 0.
- You must enter the base salary (fixed) amount that has been paid to the employee for the past 12 months up to the snapshot date.
- Amounts recorded in the base salary (fixed) column will not be annualised to what a full-time employee would be paid for the past 12 months as they are fixed/one-off payments.
Column O: OTE (pro-rata)
Ordinary Time Earnings (OTE) captures payments made to an employee for their ordinary hours of work. OTE (pro-rata) is a mandatory column. These payments include the following:
- an employee’s entire base salary (pro-rata) amount
- over-award payments
- certain bonuses
- commissions
- shift-loading
- certain allowances.
The ATO advises that OTE payments are those used to calculate superannuation contributions. This means that if your organisation pays superannuation on a particular payment, it should be included as part of OTE. The ATO provides a good overview of what is (and is not) included in Ordinary Time Earnings.
- OTE does not include superannuation itself. Instead, it is the payments made on which super contributions are calculated.
- The OTE (pro-rata) amount must exceed or be equal to the base salary (pro-rata) amount as it includes 100% of the base salary (pro-rata) figure.
Column P: OTE (fixed)
OTE (fixed) is a mandatory field. It refers to OTE amounts that are fixed in nature (i.e. a defined sum that is not pro-rata). OTE (fixed) includes, for example, amounts paid to employees per product made or per engagement, or as a fixed amount, regardless of whether employees are full-time, part-time or casual. In this column, include the following:
- the employee’s entire base salary (fixed) amount
- back pay or lump sum amounts
- fixed/one-off discretionary payments that attract super
- sales commission (fixed).
If you do not have any of the above payments to record for your employee(s), populate this cell with 0.
- You must enter the OTE (fixed) amount that has been paid to the employee for the 12 months up to the snapshot date.
- Amounts recorded in the OTE (fixed) column will not be annualised to what a full-time employee would be paid for the past 12 months as they are fixed/one-off payments.
- The OTE (fixed) amount must exceed or be equal to the base salary (fixed) amount as it includes 100% of the base salary (fixed) figure.
Column Q: Superannuation
Super is a mandatory field. It refers to superannuation payments made to an employee’s regulated superannuation fund for their retirement. By law, an employer must pay part of an employee’s earnings into this fund. See the ATO’s definition of superannuation at Super for employers.
- Super should reflect the total superannuation paid to the employee for the 12 months preceding the chosen snapshot date.
- The amount entered should be the pre-tax amount before any salary-sacrificing.
Column R: Allowances
Allowances is a mandatory field. It refers to pro-rata and fixed payments that are not included in OTE. Examples include the following:
- overtime and any additional payments (such as bonuses) that relate to the overtime
- qualifications or special duties (for example, first aid certificate or safety officer)
- expense allowances that are expected to be fully expended
- company car payments
- car allowance.
Allowances that attract superannuation as part of the employee’s OTE should be classified in the OTE (pro-rata) column.
- Enter the allowances amount that has been paid to the employee for the 12 months up to the snapshot date.
- Amounts recorded in the allowances column will not be annualised and will be added to the total remuneration unadjusted.
Column S: Fringe benefits
Fringe benefits is a mandatory field. It refers to payments made to employees that are in a different form than salaries or wages. If the employee did not receive a fringe benefit amount you must enter 0 for this cell.
- Enter the fringe benefits amount paid to the employee for the 12 months leading up to the snapshot date.
- Amounts recorded in the fringe benefits column will not be annualised and will be added to the total remuneration unadjusted.
| Include | Do not include |
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For more information on what is considered a fringe benefit, please visit the ATO's Fringe benefits tax (FBT) page.
Column T: Employee share schemes (ESS)
Employee share schemes (ESS) is a mandatory field. It refers to interests that may be paid to employees or their associates under an ESS. If no ESS payments were made, you should enter 0 into this cell for each employee.
An ESS interest is either:
- a beneficial interest in a share of a company, or
- a right to acquire a beneficial interest in a share of a company.
The interests can be shares, stapled securities, or rights (including options) to acquire shares or stapled securities.
- Only include vested shares in total remuneration. If you have chosen to report salary data based on the financial year that ends within the reporting period, use the value from the employee share statement.
- ESS should be calculated as the vested income the employee received from the ESS in the 12 months up to the snapshot date.
- Amounts recorded in the ESS column will not be annualised and will be added to the total remuneration unadjusted.
Columns U to X
Columns U to X do not require, and will not accept, any manual input. They will automatically calculate total figures based on the data provided in Columns K through T.
Please review the final figures for base salary (Column U) and total remuneration (Column X), as these should reflect the annualised full-time, full-year equivalent for each employee. These columns will be used to calculate your organisation’s gender pay gap.
If you wish to have total control over the final figures for base salary and total remuneration, please use the Unit level template.