New Employee Forms: TFN Declaration and Super Choice

New employee forms collect the starter’s personal details, TFN declaration and super choice so your employer client can pay them correctly. Use a secure collection method, keep tax declarations separate from general details and record which information statements the employer has given them.

The Forms Every New Employee Completes

The employee completes their personal details and tax declaration, then provides a super choice where eligible. The employer supplies the employment details and gives the required information statements. Your job is to bring those separate records together before payroll starts.

Record	Who acts	What you record in the starter pack
Employee details form	Employee	Contact details, bank details and emergency contact
TFN declaration	Employee, with the employer’s required entries	Complete or outstanding, plus the protected record’s location
Super choice	Eligible employee, after employer preparation	Complete or outstanding, with the payroll reviewer assigned
Employment details	Employer	Start date, employment type, agreed pay and pay cycle
Information statements	Employer	Statement given, delivery method and delivery date

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) names the tax form Tax file number declaration, NAT 3092. The super form is Superannuation standard choice form, NAT 13080. Use the ATO’s official forms for those tasks. An employee details form made by your practice does not replace either declaration.

Direct employees with declaration questions to the TFN declaration guide or super choice guide. Keep the starter-pack tracker limited to completion status. Individual answers belong in the protected declaration record.

The employer prepares the super choice task before sending the pack. Record whether that preparation is complete and use the super choice guide for the required entries.

A withholding declaration is a separate document for applicable changes to withholding. Avoid automatically adding it to every new starter’s pack. Refer tax-setting questions to the practitioner responsible for the declaration.

Employee Details Form Template

An employee details form collects the information you need to identify the payroll record and pay wages. Separate what the employee confirms from what the employer approves. You can copy the fields below into a document or your secure collection system.

Employee field	What to collect
Name	Legal name and preferred name, if different
Date of birth	Date of birth for the payroll record
Address	Residential address and postal address, if different
Contact	Personal email address and mobile number
Bank details	Account name, BSB and account number for wages
Emergency contact	Contact name, relationship and telephone number
Confirmation	Employee confirmation that their details are correct and the confirmation date

Employer field	What the employer confirms
Employer identity	Legal employer name and ABN
Employment	Start date, role and full-time, part-time or casual status
Fixed term	Whether a fixed-term contract applies
Pay	Approved salary or hourly rate, ordinary hours and pay cycle
Payroll handover	First pay period, practitioner responsible and due date
Statements	Required statements, delivery method, delivery date and employer confirmation

Keep the TFN out of this general employee details template. Collect it through the official declaration or the payroll software’s declaration task. Store the declaration where only staff who need it for payroll or tax work can access it.

Before creating the payroll record, compare the employee’s name with the declaration and the employer’s instruction. Check that the wage account fields are complete. Confirm that the start date and approved pay details come from the employer. Follow up conflicting details with the person who supplied them.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) requires lawful TFN recipients to explain the collection purpose and restrict access. Its TFN handling guidance also identifies email as insecure. Send a secure collection link or arrange another protected handover. Keep TFNs out of ordinary email replies and the status checklist.

A TFN format check is a separate check. A number passing that check does not establish the employee’s identity or confirm their declaration answers.

Statements the Employer Hands Over

The employer gives every new employee the Fair Work Information Statement. Casual employees also receive the Casual Employment Information Statement. Employees entering a fixed-term contract also receive the Fixed Term Contract Information Statement.

The employer delivers these statements and records that delivery. The employee has no statement fields to complete. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s information statements page identifies which statements apply.

Give the employer a delivery record with a separate entry for each required statement. Each entry records the employee, statement title, delivery date, delivery method and person who confirms delivery. A returned employee details form does not prove the statements were given.

Use the information statement timing guide for delivery deadlines and later casual-statement obligations. If the delivery record is blank, assign the follow-up to the employer.

Payroll Software Onboarding Options

Payroll software self-setup lets an employee enter their own details into the employer’s payroll system. It reduces manual collection, but the practitioner still needs the employer’s approved pay instructions and a complete starter-pack record.

Payroll option	Collection and handover	Practitioner task
Xero Payroll Australia	Xero documents a secure employee self-onboarding request and creation of a Xero user account for Xero Me	Reconcile the returned details with the employer’s payroll instructions and track pack items separately
MYOB Business or AccountRight	Employee self-onboarding collects personal, tax, super and bank details, with a completion notification	Add employer payroll information, including start date, pay cycle, wages and applicable leave
QuickBooks Payroll powered by Employment Hero	Employee Self Setup collects personal, banking, super and tax information and notifies the employer when complete	Review the returned details and finish payroll setup before the pay run

Use the collection option in your employer client’s Australian payroll product. Before inviting the employee, confirm your payroll access and who receives completion alerts. Send the invitation to the employee’s confirmed contact address.

After the employee finishes, inspect the returned details and resolve missing answers. Check the employer’s pay instructions separately. A completed self-setup task does not by itself confirm that the employer delivered the information statements.

If the employee cannot use the software invitation, collect the official declarations and general details through your agreed protected method. Keep one pack tracker whichever collection method you use.

A Checklist Before the First Pay

Complete the new employee checklist in the order below, with an owner for each action. Agree the first pay period and collection deadline with the employer before sending the pack.

1. The employer confirms the hire. Record the legal employer, start date, employment type and approved pay instructions. Resolve unclear employment instructions with the employer before entering them.
2. The practitioner sends the pack or payroll invitation. Include the general details task and the separate tax and super tasks. Tell the employee how to return sensitive information securely.
3. The employee completes their details and declarations. Where suitable, the employee can use ATO online services through myGov for the new-employment tax and super tasks. The ATO produces an employee tax and/or super details summary for the employer’s records.
4. The practitioner checks completion. Record whether each declaration is complete and where the protected copy is held. Send field-level questions to the dedicated declaration guides and record who will resolve any missing item.
5. The employer gives the required statements. Obtain the delivery record for the statements that apply to this employee’s employment type.
6. The practitioner completes the payroll handover. Enter approved employer details, review the employee record and assign every remaining issue to a named role with a due date.

The ATO online option can combine the employee’s tax and super details in one summary. It still needs a handover to the employer. Use the ATO’s TFN declaration guidance for the official declaration route. Do not ask the employee to email the summary as an unprotected attachment.

For a hypothetical new starter, the employee completes self-setup but the employer leaves the pay cycle blank. Mark employee details as received and pay-cycle approval as outstanding. Assign the employer to confirm it, then have the practitioner finish setup. This keeps a completed employee task from hiding an incomplete payroll instruction.

When an invitation remains unfinished, confirm the employee received it and arrange protected collection if needed. When tax or super information is unresolved, refer it to the payroll practitioner before applying settings. Use the Payday Super checklist for the duties that apply when paying super.

Keep employee onboarding alongside your employer-client onboarding checklist. The STP finalisation guide covers the later year-end work. For this first pay, the pack is ready when its records are complete, the payroll details match approved instructions and every unresolved item has an owner.