Checking vendor support for Australian payroll and reporting workflows

Ask the vendor to state exactly which steps its quote covers: HR data collection, transfer to payroll, pay calculation, Single Touch Payroll (STP), other payroll obligations and workforce returns. For each step, identify the responsible product or person and what remains with the employer.

An HR export or connector alone does not show that the service calculates pay, reports STP to the ATO or prepares a WGEA return. Before purchase, ask the vendor to separate those responsibilities.

Pre-Purchase Vendor Verification Checklist

Map the proposed responsibility

Name the employer’s payroll product, the relevant employing entities and the information the HR service must supply. Ask the vendor to mark each step as included in the quote, handled by another named product, completed by staff or unverified.

Ask for the quoted responsibility to be reflected in the vendor’s written scope. An HR export or connector is a different step from payroll reporting: establish whether the service performs STP reporting, supplies inputs to a payroll product that does, or has no role in that step.

Check the exact payroll connection

Request integration documentation for the proposed products, versions and modules, including transfer direction, a field list and a sample export. Check which fields move, which do not, and how rejected or corrected changes become visible.

Ask the vendor to explain any initial import, ongoing synchronisation and field limitations for each named connection. Confirm which HR fields are administrative only and which synchronise to payroll.

Ask who checks the receiving result before a pay run; a successful transfer does not establish correct pay. If the vendor says it calculates pay, ask which system applies the Fair Work Act 2009, relevant Modern Awards or enterprise agreements, and who checks the result.

Ask separately whether the quote performs PAYG withholding, superannuation or SuperStream tasks, payroll tax and workers’ compensation reporting, or only supplies information to another product or person.

A payroll reviewer still needs to establish treatment under the employer’s arrangements; detailed mapping and pay testing belong in integration work.

For employment records, including the Fair Work Ombudsman record-keeping boundary, identify which system holds each applicable record and how it can be retrieved. Ask who is responsible for providing the record after a product change.

Vendor Responsibilities vs Employer Responsibilities

Name each reporting obligation

If WGEA reporting applies, ask whether the service supplies data for the current Workplace Profile (WPP) and Workforce Management Statistics (WMS) Excel worksheets, and request a sample export.

The WPP collects workforce composition, base salaries and total remuneration; it is a snapshot of employees employed on the chosen date, not a total or average headcount.

The WMS records employee movements over a 12-month period: 1 April to 31 March for the private sector, and 1 January to 31 December for the Commonwealth public sector.

A separate WMS worksheet is required for each employing ABN, and WGEA notes changes to WMS for 2026.

Check that the vendor identifies the applicable worksheet and period, the fields its export supplies, and who assembles, reconciles, approves and uploads the return.

A report labelled headcount or turnover is not a completed WGEA submission just because the labels sound similar.

If WGEA reporting does not apply, ask the vendor to identify which other workforce returns the quoted service supports and what remains with the employer.

Australian Payroll and Reporting Obligations Overview