NEWS | spherebookkeeping

SINGLE TOUCH PAYROLL

What is Single Touch Payroll (STP)?

Single touch payroll is a new legislation that changes when and how businesses report payroll activity to the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

Businesses used to report this information to the ATO once a year. Now, they need to send a report after each pay cycle (e.g. weekly or fortnightly). These reports must be submitted digitally to the ATO, using a very specific format.

Larger businesses have been doing this since July 2018, however this law will become effective for all businesses from July 1st 2019.

Some sole traders without any employees may be exempt from STP, however it is strongly advised that you check with your accountant or bookkeeper if this status applies to you. Failure to comply with STP may result in the ATO imposing financial penalties.

What do I need to do?

STP reporting can be complex, however the good news is that your bookkeeper and compliant payroll software should do most of the hard work for you.

Compliant software will report your payroll activity electronically to the ATO. It will include the correct business and employee identifiers, identify the pay period, and details relating to Wages, PAYG Withholding, and Superannuation.

Comprehensive set up of your software – this may take a little work for us to set up, but this is a one off process, and if done correctly will allow STP reporting to run smoothly. Furthermore, it will streamline end of year reporting.

Employee details will need to be checked for accuracy and completeness. There may be some additional information needed if there are any gaps in your existing master data.

You do not need to change the way you actually pay your employees. You can continue to pay them from your existing bank, in the same manner.

STP CHECKLIST – July 1st Deadline

Our aim is to make the transition to STP as smooth as possible for you. We recommend setting up STP functionality prior to the July 1st deadline in order to ensure compliance.

We can help you with each of the below

Purchase, or update, STP compliant software (MYOB, Quickbooks, Xero etc).

Comprehensive set up of your software

Update business and employee master data