Single Touch Payroll is now Live!

Single Touch Payroll (STP) is Live!

There’s not much chance that you’ve missed out on hearing about Single Touch Payroll or STP in the last couple of months. Single Touch Payroll in Australia is now well and truly running along rather smoothly, despite a lot of people unaware of their obligations until the last minute. We have detailed a definitive guide to STP and we keep it updated, so go and check it out. If you’re after new payroll software for your business, you should already be looking!

Single Touch Payroll (STP) has been live since July 2018. It is important to remember, that all businesses will need to use STP as of  July 2019, so don’t think just because you don’t need to use it now, you won’t have to think about it.

We’ve continually shared a lot of information about STP leading up to when it was initially required. However, it’s an on-going experience that is soon to be a requirement for all businesses. We thought it would be a good idea to recap just what’s going on.

Single Touch Payroll Recap

• What are the current requirements of Single Touch Payroll?
  • If you’re a business that has had 20 or more employees since April 1st 2018, you should be using STP right now to process your payroll. This is an Australian Government requirement.
  • If you’re not a business that has 20 or more employees, you don’t have to start using STP until July 1st 2019, however, you can start using it voluntarily if you wish. Once you start though, you are locked in and have to keep using it.
• Do I need special Payroll software to be able to use Single Touch Payroll?
  • Yes, you do need Payroll software that is compliant with sending your payroll data to the ATO.
  • If your payroll software has not been updated to allow for STP lodgements, you need start using one that does, such as Accentis Enterprise.
• How do I send my Single Touch Payroll information to the ATO?
  • If using Accentis Enterprise, you will need to sign up to one of our two Transport Providers, Ozedi or MessageXchange to send your data.
  • You can if you wish, manually send your STP information to the ATO, provided the service you use allows for manual uploads.
• Does it cost me anything?
  • Accentis will not charge you to send your data to the Transport Provider. We have written an API communication to these two providers to give you best possible streamlined service available.
  • The Transport Providers do charge you based on the amount of data that you need to send to the ATO. Accentis is unable to provide any information on which service will best suit your business. We have links available to find all the information for Ozedi or MessageXchange.
• Is there anything else I need to know?
  • Not really, unless you are just unsure and need someone to talk to. If that’s the case, contact us, and we’ll more than happy to get back to you with your questions as soon as possible.

Remember, as of July 1st 2019, all businesses in Australia must be using Single Touch Payroll to lodge their employee payments to the ATO. We’re here to help, so if you need us, please contact us so we can help.

Current STP requirements

There are  3 camps you can be in at the moment with STP:

1. You’re a business and 20+ staff and you’re using STP without a hitch
2. You’re a business with fewer than 20 staff, but elected to start using STP anyway, or
3. You’re a business with fewer than 20 staff and are going to wait until July 1^st 2019 to start using STP

If you’re in camps 1 and 2, you might have already posted some pay runs and sent some data along to the ATO, as required. How did everything go, no issues with a transfer or errors on the screen?

In Accentis Enterprise, you can run an STP Dashboard report to make sure everything is going along perfectly well. There shouldn’t really be any errors and it would be great to see all reports sending without a hitch. Of course, if you have any issues, we’re just an email away!

Conclusion

If you’re a business that hasn’t yet used STP, remember that come July 1^st 2019, every business in Australia regardless of the number of employees will need to use it. Now is the perfect time to read about it, learn what’s required, and find out the answers to any questions you might have. We’re here to help you if you need it, and you should definitely check out our definitive guide.

Single Touch Payroll from our perspective has been a huge success. We created a video to show how to sign up and register with Ozedi, one of our Transport Providers, so if you were thinking of choosing them instead of MessageXchange, you can follow along really easily.

If you would like more information on STP or any other service that we provide, please contact us so we can help.