Lately, many small business owners have been interested in Single Touch Payroll (STP) even though it was first introduced by the ATO (Australian Taxation Office) as early as 2014 and officially launched on July 1, 2018.
And, fortunately for all small business owners, Syndeo Group is a well-established company offering professional services in financial assistance, management consulting, superannuation, accounting, and taxation, including Single Touch Payroll.
What is Single Touch Payroll Exactly?
To be more specific, Single Touch Payroll represents a change in how employers report their PAYG (Pay As You Go) and super contribution info to the ATO. Namely, employers are now obliged to report their PAYG and super after a processed payroll, i.e. a “payroll event”.
In other words, they should now streamline their payroll reporting using payroll software instead of reporting monthly or quarterly. So, once you do a pay run to pay your employees, you have to send the ATO your STP information through the software.
Who Has to Use Single Touch Payroll?
Since 1 July 2018, every business owner with 20 or more employees is required to report a “payroll event” using Single Touch Payroll. And, starting from 1 July 2019, every employer with 19 or fewer employees has to use Single Touch Payroll. Plus, you should also understand that the ATO includes all employees as part of your headcount including full-time, part-time and casual employees.
How to Get Started?
The first thing to do to prepare for Single Touch Payroll is to get accounting software. Or, even better, ensuring that the accountant taking care of the financial aspect of your business is compliant, and using up-to-date accounting software that is STP ready. Luckily to you and other business owners, you can find such professional and licensed accountants at Syndeo Group.
Then, once you’ve finished enabling electronic lodgement and Single Touch Payroll within the platform, reporting a payroll event is very simple. What’s even more convenient, your accountant, tax, or BAS agent can do the work for you.
What are the Benefits of Single Touch Payroll?
Fortunately for all parties involved (employers, employees, and tax agents), Single Touch Payroll offers plenty of benefits. Here are some examples of how single touch payroll can benefit:
Employers:
- The platform allows access to their PAYG W liability.
- Being able to pay PAYG W liability frequently.
- Not required to provide EOY payment summaries to employees.
Employees:
- Being able to lodge pre-filled tax returns.
- Access to tax and super info through ATO online services.
- myGov allows them to see their online EOY payment summary.
Tax agents:
- Having access to pre-filled income tax returns from the SBR2 and the Practitioner Lodgement Service.
In general, Single Touch Payroll will help to streamline the reporting process, minimise the occurrence of errors thanks to the pre-filled options, and provide easy access to new employee information.
In case you need some more information about small business accounting or financial assistance, don’t hesitate – contact Syndeo Group today!
