For employers
A benefit your people will actually use — and your payroll team will barely notice.
Novated leasing is one of the few benefits that puts real money in an employee's pocket every pay. Novate.it makes offering it a configuration exercise, not an administrative burden: set your policy once, and the platform enforces it, routes approvals, produces the payroll file and handles FBT.
Why offer it
Worth thousands to an employee. Costs the employer nothing.
On a $95,000 salary, an employee leasing a Kia EV5 Air saves an estimated $7,413 a year compared with buying it privately. That is a pay rise you don't fund.
- 01
Attraction and retention
A visible, recurring saving that competitors without a programme cannot match. Employees with an active lease have a concrete reason to stay through the term — and a straightforward path to novate again if they leave. - 02
No cost, no liability
The lease is in the employee's name; your obligation is to make deductions while they are employed. With ECM there is no FBT to pay, and if they leave, the novation simply ends. - 03
Sustainability targets
The EV exemption makes electric vehicles the cheapest cars to lease. Employers running a programme see EV uptake far above the national average — and can report on it. - 04
Control without effort
Every quote is checked against your policy by the platform. You see total exposure against your cap in real time and approve only what you choose to approve. - 05
One less spreadsheet
Deduction schedules, starts, stops and restructures arrive as a payroll file in your system's format. FBT declarations and odometer readings are collected for you.
Implementation
What your team actually does.
Four things, and three of them are optional or automated.
Sign and configure
Sign the programme agreement and set your policy in the employer portal. We pre-fill sensible defaults; most organisations are done within the hour.
Tell your people
We provide launch material — an intranet page, an email, a short session for HR. Employees self-register with their work email and are matched to your policy automatically.
Approve (if you want to)
If you've turned on approval gates, managers and administrators get a notification with the quote summary and a one-click decision. If not, nothing to do.
Run payroll
Each cycle, import the deduction file — or let the platform push it to Xero. Starts, changes and stops are all in the file with effective dates.
Policy configuration
Every rule you'd put in a policy document, as a setting the platform enforces.
Change a setting and it applies to every new quote version from that moment. Every change is recorded with who made it and when.
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Approved funders | Which finance partners may fund leases for your employees. Quotes are only ever priced against this list. |
| Mandatory services | Running costs that must be in every package — typically comprehensive insurance and registration. |
| Excluded services | Anything you don't want packaged, such as roadside assistance or minor damage repair. |
| EV FBT exemption | Confirms your organisation applies the exemption. Turns on 100% pre-tax treatment for eligible vehicles. |
| Maintenance rate uplift | A percentage added to standard servicing budgets if you prefer conservative estimates. |
| Maximum drive-away price | A ceiling on vehicle price. Quotes above it cannot be submitted. |
| Approved body types | Restrict to sedans, SUVs and hatches, or allow utes and vans — your call. |
| Annual budget cap | Total novated liability across all employees per year. The dashboard shows headroom in real time. |
| Employee maximum lease value | Per-employee annual limit, expressed as an amount or a percentage of salary. |
| Payroll system & frequency | Xero, MYOB, Micropay or custom CSV; weekly, fortnightly or monthly. |
| Approval gates | Whether quotes need a line-manager approval, an employer-administrator approval, both or neither. |
Approval workflow
Two gates. Both optional. Both audited.
Some employers want to see every lease; others want to see none. Configure it per organisation and change it any time.
- 01Novate.it
Consultant confirms pricing
Always. The quote is priced against your policy and the funder panel, and a Disclosure Pack is generated.
- 02Gate 1
Manager approval
Optional. The employee's line manager receives the quote summary — vehicle, per-pay amount, term — and approves or rejects with a reason.
- 03Gate 2
Employer approval
Optional. An employer administrator confirms the lease is within budget and policy. Rejections require a reason, which the employee sees.
- 04Both parties
E-signature
The employee and your authorised signatory sign the novation agreement electronically. Executed copies are stored for both parties.
Payroll integration
A deduction file your payroll system already understands.
Each pay cycle the platform produces the pre-tax and post-tax deductions for every active lease, with effective dates for starts, changes and stops.
| System | Delivery | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Xero | Direct push or CSV import | Pre-tax and post-tax deduction pay items created on connection. |
| MYOB | CSV import | Matches MYOB's salary sacrifice and deduction categories. |
| Micropay | CSV import | Standard deduction upload layout. |
| Custom CSV | Column mapping | For any other system — map once, reuse every cycle. |
Example row
employee_id,name,pre_tax,post_tax,frequency,effective_from,effective_to,lease_ref E10422,Natarajan Priya,683.26,0.00,F,2026-02-16,,NV-10466
Superannuation guarantee is calculated on the employee's pre-sacrifice salary, as required since 2020. The platform notes the sacrificed amount so your payroll system can apply the correct base.
FBT and compliance
Your FBT return, already prepared.
With ECM applied, the FBT on every lease is nil. What remains is record-keeping — and the platform does it.
- 01
Employee contributions tracked
Post-tax contributions are recorded per pay period against each lease, giving you the evidence that the taxable value was reduced to nil. - 02
Declarations and odometers
Employees are reminded from 60 days out and submit their odometer reading and FBT declaration in the portal before 31 March. You receive a consolidated report. - 03
EV reportable amounts
Exempt electric vehicles still carry a reportable fringe benefit amount. The platform calculates the grossed-up figure for each employee's income statement. - 04
Annual employer report
Every active lease, its taxable value, contributions received and the reportable amount — as a PDF and CSV, ready for your adviser.
Employer questions
What HR and finance teams ask us.
Does salary packaging reduce our payroll tax?
Generally, no — in every state and territory, salary-sacrificed amounts remain part of taxable wages for payroll tax, and fringe benefits are included at their grossed-up value. We'd rather you hear that from us than discover it at year end. The value of the programme to you is in attraction, retention and EV uptake, not in payroll tax.
What happens when an employee leaves?
Your payroll file includes a stop with the final pay date. The novation ends, the lease reverts to the employee, and their outstanding budgets are reconciled. There is no residual obligation on the employer. If they join another employer with a programme, the lease is re-novated there.
Does the employee's superannuation change?
No. Since 1 January 2020 superannuation guarantee must be calculated on the pre-sacrifice salary, so packaging a car does not reduce an employee's super. The payroll file flags the sacrificed amount so your system applies the correct base.
Can we restrict which cars employees choose?
Yes — by price, body type, drivetrain and age. Many employers set a price cap and exclude utes; some restrict to EVs to support a sustainability target. The rules apply automatically in the quote wizard, so employees never see a car they can't lease.
Is there a minimum organisation size?
No. The programme works for a five-person company and a five-thousand-person one; the difference is only in how many approval gates you turn on.
See it with your policy loaded.
We'll configure a sandbox with your organisation's rules and walk your HR, payroll and finance teams through a full lease — quote to payroll file — in thirty minutes.