Lodging a nil pay run

Hello buff_it,

Thanks for posting in the Community!

You can create an empty pay run and then lodge the pay event to the ATO after finalising the pay run. Let me guide you how:

1. Click on the Employees tab.
2. Click on New Pay Run.
3. Fill out the Pay schedule, pay period start, ending date and pay date.
4. Tick the box for Create pay run with empty pays.
5. Click on Create.

Once done, this will create the pay run with zero earnings for all employees under the pay schedule selected. And then, you can lodge the pay run to the ATO.

If the employee is still not showing on the pay event, check if the employee is not set to closely held employee and if the previous pay event the employee was not se to Is final. Here's how to check closely held employee:

1. Click on the Employees tab, and then select the employee name not showing on the pay event.
2. Click on Pay Run Defaults, and then scroll down to the area showing Closely held employee field.
3. If the employee is set to closely held, make sure to select Report employee each pay run as the reporting method.
4. Click on Save.

Then, go back to the pay event and click on Actions, and click on Refresh data.

For more information about lodging the pay event, you can check these handy articles below

• Create and lodge an update pay event
• Set up and process a pay run in QuickBooks Payroll powered by KeyPay [VIDEO]

Feel free to reply to this post if you need more help with QuickBooks Online Payroll. I'll be sure to get back and help you. Have a nice day!

Thank you that is great, going forward.

I do however have a pay run that is unfinalised (dated 19 Dec), can i update this to be an empty pay?  Or do i delete this and re -do?  Keeping in mind i have a pay run (dated 26 Dec) after that one that has figures on it.

After I've Tick the box and created pay run with empty pays, the system won't allow me to lodge STP to ATO. Pop up message: this pay event cant not be lodge because there are no employees included.

Hi wang2,

Thanks for posting in the Community. 

If an employee is a closely held employee, we'll need to check if a reporting period is selected on the employee's profile. Let me show you how to do this.

1. Go to Employees tab.
2. Select an employee.
3. Select Pay Run Defaults. 
4. If Closely held employee is selected on STP income types, choose the correct reporting method. 
5. Select Save.

For more detailed information, you can check on these articles: 

Lodge Single Touch Payroll (STP) events for closely held employees

Create and lodge a quarterly pay event for closely held employees

Feel free to drop a comment below if you need further assistance. Have a great day! 

I have the same problem. The employee is not closely held, but I cannot lodge an empty pay run. It will give the same error. I cannot lodge to ATO.

Hi kbOG1,

If you are creating and lodging a 0 pay run to the ATO, it is important to remember to enter a Note on the pay run. This will ensure that the pay run can be successfully lodged to the ATO.

To create empty pay runs:

1. Click on the Payroll tab.
2. Click on New Pay Run.
3. Select a pay schedule, pay period ending and pay date.
4. Tick box for Create pay run with empty pays.

Pay run created will show 0 earnings for all employees listed under the pay schedule selected. Make sure to enter a Note to be able to lodge the pay run to the ATO.

Feel free to reply to this post if you have further concerns about QuickBooks Online. I'll be around to help you.