Apply fringe benefits to your employees
If your business provides fringe benefits to employees at the end of each financial year, you have the option to add fringe benefits directly to the employee/s within the Pending tab of the STP Finalisation page. Alternatively, you have the option to import fringe benefits using a CSV file.
Some examples of fringe benefits include:
- Allowing an employee to use a work car for private purposes
- Giving an employee a discounted loan
- Paying for an employee's gym membership
- Providing entertainment by way of free tickets to concerts
- Reimbursing an expense incurred by an employee, such as school fees
- Giving benefits under a salary sacrifice arrangement to an employee
In this article, we will cover:
- Applying fringe benefits to employees during the STP finalisation page
- Importing fringe benefits via a CSV file
- Common fringe benefits FAQs
For more detailed information regarding fringe benefits, please visit the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website here.
When you are ready to apply fringe benefits to your employees, you can easily do this in your platform when finalising your STP for the financial year.
Warning: Please ensure any fringe benefits amounts are imported prior to finalising STP.
To apply fringe benefits to employees via the STP Finalisation page:
- Navigate to Payroll > Single Touch Payroll and select Finalise 2024/25.
- Choose the relevant employees that you would like to apply fringe benefits to and select + Fringe benefit > Add fringe benefits.
Or, select the down arrow next to Finalise > Add fringe benefits if only applying fringe benefits to a single employee.
- Enter in the relevant Taxable and Exempt amounts and select Save.
- You will then see a 'Fringe benefits saved' message along with a blue icon against the employees that have had fringe benefits applied.
Hot tip: Select the Fringe benefits applied toggle to quickly filter to employees that have fringe benefits applied. Hover over the blue icon to quickly see the fringe benefit amount.
Hot tip: You can quickly adjust an employee's fringe benefits amount by selecting the down arrow next to Finalise > Add fringe benefits, update the relevant amounts and re-save.
Another way to apply fringe benefits to your employees is by importing the values via a CSV import.
Warning: Please ensure any fringe benefits amounts are imported prior to finalising STP.
To import fringe benefits:
- There are 2 ways to arrive at the import page. Either from the STP Finalisation page by choosing the relevant employees that you would like to apply fringe benefits to and select + Fringe benefit > Import fringe benefits.
Or, by navigating to the main menu and selecting Import/ Export > CSV Import.
- From the Select import type drop-down menu, ensure Fringe Benefits is selected.
Please note: You may need to choose the Fringe Benefits option if you have navigated from Import/ Export > CSV Import. - Select the 'Download Blank File' option to produce a CSV file where you can add your external fringe benefit data in the correct format.
Hot tip: Check out the Get field definitions option to determine what the expected entry is and whether or not data is required. You can also use the 'Download Sample' option to see an example of fringe benefits data in the CSV file.
- Open the blank CSV file and add in all applicable fringe benefits to upload. You will have the following columns to enter:
- Candidate Id - Unique identifier for the employee.
- Financial Year - The financial year you are importing fringe benefits for.
- Office Code ID - Unique identifier for the office code.
- Office Code Label - The office code name.
- Reportable FBT Amount - The reportable Taxable amount.
-
Reportable FBT Exempt Amount - The reportable Exempt amount.
Please note: The Office Code ID and Label columns are optional as this data will automatically apply from the data in your platform.
Hot tip: You can find an employee's ID from the Overview tab in their Employee Profile.
- After inputting the necessary information, choose your fringe benefits CSV file then select Import CSV to upload your fringe benefits to the platform. A blue line will indicate the completion of the download process.
- Once complete, you will have an 'Upload completed' message.
- Navigate back to Payroll > Single Touch Payroll > Finalise 2024/25. You will now see a blue icon against the employees that have had fringe benefits applied.
Hot tip: You can quickly adjust an employee's fringe benefits amount by selecting the down arrow next to Finalise > Add fringe benefits, update the relevant amounts and re-save. Otherwise, please ensure to update your CSV file with the accurate fringe benefit amounts and then re-upload it.
Where do I find my fringe benefits figures within foundU?
Your platform does not calculate your fringe benefits figures, these figures are calculated seperately. Once you have calculated your figures, you can apply them to the relevant employees either via the STP Finalisation page or by using the fringe benefit CSV import.
I have imported the wrong fringe benefits amounts, what can I do to fix this?
If you need to update your fringe benefit values, simply adjust the employee's fringe benefits amount by selecting the down arrow next to Finalise > Add fringe benefits, update the relevant amounts and re-save. Otherwise, please ensure to update your CSV file with the accurate fringe benefit amounts and then re-upload it.
If my platform has 2 different paying entities, do I need to do 2 different fringe benefits imports?
Within the STP Finalisation page you can simply filter to the relevant office code when applying your fringe benefits. Otherwise, you are able to supply both office codes as part of the fringe benefits import process so that this can be done in one upload.
I need to apply fringe benefits amounts for terminated employees. Can this still be done, even though they are terminated?
Yes it can! Your terminated employees will still appear to be finalised in the STP Finalisation page, those employees will have a T badge against them for easy visibility. Simply apply fringe benefits to these employees as normal.