Single Touch Payroll - Is your business ready?

Single Touch Payroll – Is your business ready?

and when does it need to be?

Single Touch Payroll, also known as STP or one touch payroll, is an initiative from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to encourage frequent salary reporting. This means you may be required to report salaries and wages, PAYG withholdings, and superannuation, every time you pay your employees.

What is Single Touch Payroll?

Using payroll or accounting software that offers STP, employers send their employees’ tax and super information to the ATO each time they run their payroll and pay their employees. The information is sent to us either directly from your accounting software, ie. XERO, MYOB or Quickbooks.

When does it start?

For employers with more than 20 employees the start date for using STP was 1 July 2018. There are deferral mechanisms in place, therefore if your business has 20 employees and has not started using STP please contact to see if we can assist with obtaining a deferral.

For employers with less than 20 employees it is expected that STP will start from 1 July 2019.

What do I need to do to be ready?

For some businesses, the only change you’ll need to make is reporting more frequently instead of once at the end of a financial year. If you currently use payroll or accounting software that offers Single Touch Payroll, you can start reporting any time.

If you do not have software we suggest that you contact Julius Schoenfeld via email at julius@marinaccountants.com.au or call our office on (03) 9645 9229 to discuss your options. Julius will be able to suggest a software solution that is right for your business and refer you to the accountant in the office who is an expert with this software.

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The above does not constitute personal advice and cannot be relied upon to make any investment decisions. The advice does not take into account the reader’s objectives, situation or needs. You should consider the above with a view to your personal circumstances before making any decisions