Single touch payroll
Single touch payroll
Single Touch Payroll (STP) is a new requirement of reporting tax and super information to the Tax Office as you pay wages.
Every year the Tax Office is investing millions of dollars on information matching technology, analytics technology, artificial intelligence and linking with other government and non-government entities to ensure that taxpayers comply with the relevant laws.
The government is more capable than ever to find out that compliance has not been met in terms of wages, tax withheld, superannuation and workers compensation insurance, payslips being provided to employees and more.
It has never been more important to ensure you are on top of your obligations to your employees for their sake and for yours. The penalties for non-compliance can be devastating to your business.
The following information explains what Single Touch Payroll (STP) is and what you need to do as well as how to do it.
How to report through STP
- Set up STP software
There are many software providers including Xero, MYOB, Reckon and others. The fee is usually $10 per month for the payroll (and STP function).
Reckon offers a free app however the reviews on this app currently are very negative with users complaining that the app doesn’t actually function properly. The app is called “Reckon Single Touch Payroll”.
We personally use Xero: https://www.xero.com/au/pricing/plan-details/#payroll-only
When you purchase the Xero product you will automatically be taken to a set up wizard that will set your business up. You will need your business ABN, Tax File Number and contact details.
Once this is done, you will need to set up payroll and then set up STP for your business
- Pay employees through the software and file the payrun with the Tax Office through STP. See Xero: STP to file a pay run
Can Bentley Accounting manage my STP obligations
We do not provide a service to manage your STP obligations because our fees would be needlessly high. You (or your bookkeeper) should be preparing proper payruns in order to comply with Fair Work laws. These payruns should be done on STP enabled payroll software. The initial set up is the only difficult aspect and can be done quickly by using the software guides (such as the Xero guides mentioned above).
We can provide a service of setting up Xero for you to run payroll. You will need to pay the Xero subscription fees yourself. Our one-off set up fee will vary depending on the number of employees you will have. Please contact us if you are interested in this service.