Single Touch Payroll: Remember to do your headcount for 1st April!

Single Touch payroll is fast approaching, and so is the first milestone in the STP timeline to help you get ready for the July 1st initiative: the employee headcount.

What’s going on with Single Touch Payroll?

As you probably know already, Single Touch Payroll is a change in the way employers will report their PAYG and super information to the ATO. From July 1st 2018, businesses with 20 or more employees will be required to report PAYG and super after a “payroll event” – essentially after payroll has been processed – rather than previously reporting monthly or quarterly. In addition to PAYG, super information will have to be reported, which previously wasn’t required.

Don’t worry - it’s nothing scary! Single Touch Payroll will make life easier, leading to transparency in payroll reporting and streamlining the process of reporting to the ATO by allowing employers to submit payroll information upon completion.

Read our previous blog: What is Single touch Payroll and how will it affect me?

So what’s next, then?

I know what you’re thinking - where has March gone?! The next milestone is creeping up on April 1st, and what you need to do is conduct a headcount to determine whether you have 20 or more employees. If you do - your payroll software will need to be STP compliant in time for July 1st 2018.

To help you out, we’ve found some information from the ATO that highlights what you should consider as an ‘employee’:

• Full-time employees
• Part-time employees
• Casual employees who are on your payroll on April 1st
• Employees based overseas
• Any employee who is absent or on leave (paid or unpaid)
• Seasonal employees

Who you don’t need to include:

• Any employee who ceased work before April 1st
• Casual employees who didn’t work in March
• Independent contractors
• Staff provided by a third party labour hire organisation
• Company directors
• Office holders
• Religious practitioners

This headcount is purely for you to figure out when your own STP deadline is - there’s no need to report it to the ATO. If you have 19 or less employees, you will not have to comply with STP reporting until July 1st 2019, however, that doesn’t mean you can’t give yourself a head start now!

‍

Getting ready for STP

The STP initiative is mandatory, so it’s important that your payroll software offers Single Touch Payroll reporting in time for July 1st. KeyPay's developers are working swiftly to implement STP reporting into the platform, and it will be ready well in time for July 1st.

Remember - STP is nothing to worry about. At KeyPay, we’re all about making things simpler for payroll professionals and employers, and Single Touch Payroll reporting is another step towards streamlining the payroll process.

Looking to find out more about how KeyPay has prepared for STP Phase 2? Take a look at our support articles.