Single Touch Payroll: Get your business ready before rules change

The commencement of Single Touch Payroll (STP) is quickly approaching with employers of 20 or more employees (referred to as ‘substantial employers’) required to be STP-enabled by July 1 this year. For those employers with less than 20 employees, the transition to STP will be required by 1 July, 2019.

Altitude Advisory General Manager Kristen Buik explains.

Single Touch Payroll: The big changes

STP is a government initiative to streamline business reporting obligations.  Employers will be required to transmit data to the ATO as and when employees are paid, including salaries and wages paid, Pay-As-You-Go (‘PAYG’) tax withheld on those salaries and wages, and what superannuation will be contributed on the employees’ behalf. In addition, employees will be able to access their updated data via the myGov portal.

While Xero is one of the software providers that will be STP compliant, there are many more that won’t be. It’s the responsibility of business owners to ensure they are reporting in line with ATO guidelines irrespective of the software they are using.

The timeline is as follows:

• April 1^st 2018– date to confirm your employee headcount
• July 1^st 2018 – STP starts for businesses with 20 or more employees
• July 1^st 2019 – STP is mandatory for all employers

Aside from a compliant payroll solution, there are other internal processes and systems that might need updating with the imposed changes. Communication to your existing team, on-boarding of new team members and ATO message capture to name a few.

One of the ways you can ensure you will be STP-ready is to have an independent review of your end to end payroll process completed by an advisor at Altitude Advisory. Please contact us here or give us a call on (08) 8172 1444 if you would like more information or would like to talk about how these changes will affect you.