Single Touch Payroll (“STP”) legislation is now in effect which means that all businesses must submit payroll data including salaries and wages, PAYG withholding and super information every pay run (weekly, fortnightly or monthly) to the ATO from 1 July 2019 regardless of the size of their business.
Businesses with 20 or more employees have had to submit their payroll data to the ATO but the requirement will now come into effect for all business including small businesses which must report this information using software which allows for the transfer of this data to the ATO.
A major benefit of this reporting is that employers should not need to prepare payment summaries for their employees at the end of each financial year and it will give employees more confidence /visibility as to whether their employer has paid and met all of their obligations such as the payment of superannuation.
However a major detriment is that all businesses must now have access to their own STP payroll / accounting software or use a BAS agent or payroll provider with the relevant software to process every payroll run which of course is another business administration cost. The ATO have advised that they will be providing a number options for small businesses’ who don’t currently use payroll software to assist them with the transition to STP.
Smaller businesses should now be looking at reviewing their current payroll systems and if manual should be assessing their current position and exploring their options for being STP ready by comparing key features such as security, compliance, automation, reporting requirements etc. A number of software providers are looking at providing a low cost reporting product for businesses with 1 – 4 employees which will hopefully cost approx. $10 a month or less.
If you need assistance setting up your Single Touch Payroll, we have temporary staff on hand to assist you with this assignment. Simply contact our Temp Team on (07) 3211 0001