13/10/2019

Single-Touch-Payroll (STP)

Single-Touch-Payroll is here and as off 30th September 2019 all business (with exception of a few) should have been switched onto STP.

Single Touch Payroll is a new way of reporting payroll information to the Australian Tax Office. Businesses used to report this information to the ATO once at the end of the financial year

Now, businesses need to send information after each pay run. And those reports must be submitted using a solution that is Single Touch Payroll compliant, such as payroll or accounting software. Xero have worked hard in becoming compliant and now have a one-stop solution for all business sizes.

With Single Touch Payroll, the payment summary annual report and the payment summary will go away, you can still create a payment summary if the employee asks, but it is no longer a mandatory requirement as they will receive a notification from their MyGov account.

So you may ask yourself, “How do I become STP Compliant”, easy follow these easy four steps;

   1. You can report your Single Touch Payroll through a payroll or accounting software, a registered tax or BAS agent who reports on your behalf or a low cost STP solution

         2. Before you can file your payroll to the ATO, you’ll first need to set up your payroll system.

         3. To be compliant with the ATO’s requirements, you’ll need to connect your Xero account to the ATO’s portal.

         4. Call us and we can take the hassle out of STP for you

Most accounting software have developed their STP solution as part of their accounting package, however if you have not used an accounting package for your payroll calculations in the past you now need to subscribe to one. Xero have developed payroll only accounting packages to help you, however we do recommend, regardless how small your business is, to implement a full accounting package so that you can manage your business better.

Once you have the right software and STP compliant, remember to “File” your payroll every-time you run one.

The time to act is NOW

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Posted in: Bookkeeping