Payroll and STP basics

Payroll is where small businesses bleed time.

Not because paying people is hard — because the compliance tail is long:
correct amounts, correct records, correct reporting.

You have one employee. You think payroll will take ten minutes.

Then you realise:
- super is a separate obligation
- leave exists
- pay cycles matter
- STP reporting needs consistency

Now payroll is a recurring stressor instead of a routine.

If you're running payroll, you need:
- consistent pay cycles
- consistent classification (wages, allowances, reimbursements)
- consistent evidence

The mistake is treating payroll like an ad-hoc payment.
It isn't. It's a record system with consequences.

STP should feel like:
"I ran payroll. Reporting happened as part of running payroll."

If it feels like:
"I paid people… and now I have to do another thing,"
your system is broken.

Self Managed aims to make payroll and reporting part of the same flow — run the pay, produce STP-ready reporting, keep your records clean.

This is not about making you an accountant.
It's about making payroll boring.

Helpful background:
- Wealth roadmap (systems > stress)
- Tax minimisation (how different entities are taxed)