Payroll

Marbles brings together Australian payroll and accounting, powered by one of Australia's leading payroll providers. Manage employees, awards, pay runs, leave, superannuation and Single Touch Payroll (STP) in one place. Once a pay run is finalised, wages, superannuation and PAYG withholding are recorded in your Marbles ledger automatically.

Availability

Payroll, including award interpretation, is being rolled out progressively to Marbles accounts from early October 2026. If Payroll is greyed out in your account, continue to use your existing payroll provider until the feature becomes available. For an urgent payroll question, or to request early access, write to hello@marbles.ltd.

How payroll works

Select Payroll in the main menu to manage your employees and pay runs. The module has four tabs: Pay employees, Employees, Leave requests and Timesheets.

  1. Set up your employees. Enter their employment details, pay rates, tax information, superannuation and leave entitlements.
  2. Run payroll. Marbles calculates wages, allowances, deductions, PAYG withholding and superannuation for the pay period.
  3. Review and finalise. Check the pay run, make any adjustments and approve it.
  4. Pay your employees. Process wages and superannuation, and issue payslips.
  5. Update your accounts. Finalised pay runs are recorded in your Marbles ledger automatically, so that your payroll and accounting records stay in step.

Getting started

Before running payroll for the first time, complete your payroll settings and add your employees.

Payroll settings

Payroll settings are maintained under Settings > Payroll settings.

  • Business details: the legal entity, ABN and payroll contact details.
  • Pay schedules: how often employees are paid, such as weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
  • Bank details: the bank account used to pay employees.
  • Superannuation: the default super fund and contribution settings.
  • STP: the details required to report payroll information to the ATO.

If you are moving from another payroll system, you may also need to enter each employee's opening payroll balances and year-to-date earnings.

Adding employees

Select Add employee and enter the employee's details.

  • Personal details: name, address, date of birth and contact details.
  • Employment details: start date, employment type, ordinary hours and pay schedule.
  • Pay details: salary or hourly rate, the applicable award, allowances and deductions.
  • Tax: tax file number and tax declaration details.
  • Superannuation: the employee's nominated fund and contribution details.
  • Bank details: the account used to pay the employee.

An employee must have the required payroll information recorded before they can be included in a pay run.

Awards and entitlements

Marbles supports Australian modern awards and employment entitlements through its integrated payroll engine. Where an award is configured for an employee, payroll calculations can include:

  • Minimum pay rates and classifications.
  • Penalty rates for weekends, public holidays and shift work.
  • Overtime and shift loadings.
  • Allowances and other applicable pay conditions.
  • Leave accruals and entitlements.

Review each employee's award, classification and employment conditions during setup, so that the correct rules are applied.

Pay runs

A pay run calculates the wages, tax, superannuation and other amounts due to employees for a pay period. Marbles calculates the amounts payable from each employee's payroll settings and the information entered for the period.

Creating a pay run

  1. Open Payroll and select the pay schedule.
  2. Create a pay run for the period.
  3. Review the employees included in the run, with their hours, earnings, allowances and deductions.
  4. Add or adjust any amounts to be included.
  5. Review the calculated PAYG withholding, superannuation and net pay.
  6. Finalise the pay run once the figures are correct.

Reviewing a pay run

Before finalising a pay run, check:

  • Ordinary hours, overtime and any additional earnings.
  • Leave taken during the period.
  • Allowances, deductions and reimbursements.
  • PAYG withholding and superannuation.
  • The net amount payable to each employee.

Once finalised, the pay run is recorded in your payroll history and its accounting entries are posted to your ledger. See Payroll accounting.

Payslips

A payslip shows the employee's earnings, deductions, PAYG withholding, superannuation and net pay for the period. Payslips can be issued once the pay run is finalised.

Paying employees

Once a pay run is finalised, the amounts payable to employees are available for payment. Where direct payroll payments are enabled, payments can be processed through the connected payment service. Otherwise, pay employees from your business bank account in the usual way.

When the payments appear in your bank feed, match them to the corresponding payroll liabilities in bank reconciliation. See Banking.

Leave and entitlements

Marbles tracks employee leave balances and entitlements through its payroll engine. Supported leave types include annual leave, personal leave and the other leave categories that apply to the employee.

Recording leave

Select the employee and enter the leave type, dates and amount of leave taken. Approved leave is included in the relevant pay run, and the employee's pay and leave balance are updated accordingly.

Leave balances

An employee's available balance, leave taken and accrued entitlements are shown on their payroll record. Balances are updated as pay runs are processed.

Superannuation

Marbles calculates employee superannuation contributions as part of each pay run, using the employee's superannuation settings, applicable earnings and the current contribution rate.

Processing superannuation

Review the contributions calculated for each employee when processing payroll. Once a pay run is finalised, the contribution amounts are recorded in Marbles and can be processed through the integrated superannuation payment service. Contributions and their payment status are tracked in your payroll records.

Payday Super

Marbles supports Payday Super, under which superannuation contributions are processed alongside employee wages. Review each pay run to confirm that the required contributions are calculated and paid within the applicable deadlines.

Single Touch Payroll (STP)

Marbles supports Single Touch Payroll Phase 2 reporting through its integrated payroll engine. STP reports employee earnings, PAYG withholding and superannuation information to the ATO.

Reporting a pay run

When a pay run is finalised, review and submit its STP information to the ATO through the payroll integration. The reporting status is recorded in your payroll history. Check that the submission has been accepted and resolve any errors before proceeding.

Payroll corrections

If a finalised pay run needs to be corrected, use the payroll adjustment or correction process. Where a correction changes information already reported to the ATO, the updated figures must also be reported through STP.

Payroll accounting

Marbles records payroll expenses and liabilities in your ledger when a pay run is finalised.

Account What is recorded
Wages and salaries Employee earnings and payroll expenses.
PAYG withholding Tax withheld from employee earnings and payable to the ATO.
Superannuation expense Employer superannuation contributions.
Superannuation payable Contributions owing to employees' super funds.
Wages payable Net wages owing to employees.

When payroll liabilities are paid, the payments are reconciled against your bank transactions, so that your payroll records, bank balances and financial reports stay connected.

Payroll and your BAS

PAYG withholding amounts recorded through payroll are available for your business activity statement. See Tax.

Payroll reports

Payroll reports cover employee earnings, wages, tax, superannuation and leave entitlements. They include:

  • Pay run summaries and employee earnings.
  • PAYG withholding and STP reporting.
  • Superannuation contributions and payment status.
  • Employee leave balances and entitlements.
  • Payroll expenses and liabilities.

Payroll amounts posted to the ledger are also reflected in your financial reports. See Reporting.

Roles and permissions

Payroll access is controlled by your organisation's user roles. Authorised payroll users can manage employee records, process pay runs, review payroll reports and manage payroll payments according to their permissions. Payroll records include sensitive employee and financial details, so limit access to the people who need it for their role. See Users and roles.