15 Jun 2026 · 9 min read
Quick Answer
SAB Autopilot runs payroll from a single chat message. It uses ATO NAT 1004 tax scales to calculate PAYG withholding, adds 12% superannuation, generates individual payslips, and emails them to employees. For five employees, the process takes under 30 seconds from instruction to payslips sent.
Running payroll for even a small team in Australia involves more compliance than most business owners expect. PAYG withholding rates depend on each employee's individual tax situation — whether they are claiming the tax-free threshold, whether they have a HELP or HECS debt, their residency status for Medicare, and their pay cycle. Get any of these wrong and you are either under-withholding (creating a tax debt for your employee) or over-withholding (reducing their take-home pay unnecessarily).
Traditional payroll software makes you navigate through menus, select pay runs, tick checkboxes, and manually check calculations. SAB Autopilot replaces all of this with a single instruction in natural language.
This guide explains exactly how SAB Autopilot handles payroll for Australian small businesses: what it calculates, how it handles different employee types, and what compliance it covers.
Before running payroll for the first time, you add each employee to the system through SAB Chat. The AI asks for: - Full name and email address - Employment type (full-time, part-time, or casual) - Pay basis (hourly or salary) - Hourly rate or annual salary - Ordinary hours per pay period - Pay cycle (weekly, fortnightly, or monthly) - Tax details: tax-free threshold claimed, HELP/HECS debt, residency status - Superannuation fund and member number
This is done once. After setup, running payroll is a single instruction: 'Process payroll for everyone' or 'Create a payslip for Sarah for this fortnight.'
The AI retrieves each employee's stored details, calculates gross pay, applies the correct ATO NAT 1004 withholding scale for their individual tax situation, adds 12% super on ordinary time earnings, and produces a net pay figure.
PAYG withholding is calculated using the ATO's NAT 1004 coefficients — the same method used by all compliant payroll software in Australia. The calculation is deterministic: given the same inputs, it will always produce the correct withholding amount.
SAB Autopilot applies the correct tax scale based on each employee's profile: - Scale 1: No tax-free threshold (e.g. second job) - Scale 2: Tax-free threshold claimed - Scale 3: Foreign residents - Scale 4: No TFN provided (highest rate, 47%) - Scale 6: Australian working holiday makers
HELP/HECS debt repayments are calculated separately and added to the withholding amount where applicable. Medicare levy reduction for low-income earners is also applied automatically where the employee qualifies.
Payslips generated by SAB Autopilot show the gross pay, PAYG tax withheld, super, and net pay in a format consistent with Fair Work Act requirements.
From 1 July 2026, the Payday Super rules require super to be paid within 7 days of every payday — not quarterly as was previously common.
SAB Autopilot calculates superannuation on every payslip at the current Superannuation Guarantee rate (12% from 1 July 2025). The super amount is shown on each payslip and tracked separately as a super liability in your account.
The platform sends automatic reminders 7 days and 1 day before the super payment deadline for each pay run. To clear the liability: 'Mark super paid for the June 20 pay run.' The system records the payment date and clears the liability.
Important: SAB Autopilot calculates and tracks super obligations but does not make super payments directly. Payments are made by you through your super clearing house or fund directly. SuperStream-compliant clearing houses (e.g. ATO's Small Business Superannuation Clearing House) process the payments.
Every payslip generated by SAB Autopilot meets Fair Work Act requirements. Each payslip includes: - Employee name and employer name - ABN - Pay period dates - Gross pay - Each deduction individually listed (PAYG tax, any other deductions) - Net pay - Superannuation amount and fund name - Hourly rate and hours worked (for hourly employees)
Payslips are delivered by email within 1 working day of the pay date — meeting the Fair Work requirement. They are also stored in your SAB Autopilot account and accessible at any time.
PDF payslips use a professional format suitable for employees to provide to lenders for mortgage applications and rental applications.
Run payroll for your whole team in 30 seconds — start free with SAB Autopilot.
SAB Account AI — ATO-compliant invoicing and payslips for Australian small businesses. From $9/mo.
Start free trialSAB Autopilot uses the ATO's published NAT 1004 coefficients directly, producing the same result as any other compliant payroll software. The risk is not calculation error but configuration error — make sure each employee's tax-free threshold status, HELP debt, and residency status are entered correctly during setup.
Yes. Casual employees receive 25% casual loading on top of the award rate. You enter their ordinary hourly rate and the system applies 25% loading automatically. PAYG withholding is calculated on the total (including loading) and super is paid on ordinary time earnings.
Basic salary sacrifice (e.g. additional super contributions pre-tax) can be recorded as a deduction in the employee profile. Complex packaging arrangements involving reportable fringe benefits or novated leases require accountant involvement and are outside the current scope.
If no TFN is on file for an employee, SAB Autopilot applies the no-TFN withholding rate of 47% as required by the ATO. The AI flags this on the payslip and prompts you to collect the employee's TFN declaration form.