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STP (single touch payroll) check list for businesses
All businesses with staff on payroll will need to report through Single Touch Payroll (STP) Follow the steps below to get ready for STP or talk to your TaxAssist Accountant who will be able to help you set this up.
Work out how you will report through STP
The first step is to work out how you will report through STP. This may depend on the size of your business and if you currently use payroll or accounting software.
You can submit your payroll data through your STP-enabled software such as Xero yourself or contact us at TaxAssist Accountants and we can do it for you.
Talk to your staff about STP
Check the right people in your business know about STP – especially the person or people responsible for running your payroll.
Ensure you are:
- paying your employees correctly
- calculating your employees’ super entitlements correctly
- addressing overpayments correctly
- maintaining accurate information, including names, addresses and date of birth records.
Fixing any errors in your payroll now will help you report successfully.
At the end of the financial year, you won't need to provide your employees with a payment summary (or send a payment summary annual report to the ATO) for information you've reported and finalised through STP.
You should tell your employees not to expect a payment summary and that instead their information is available via myGov or when they lodge their Tax Return with TaxAssist Accountants.
Work out who will authorise your STP reports
If you are the business owner or public officer, you're already authorised to send reports.
If someone else in your business (such as the payroll manager) will authorise reports, you'll need to give them authority to do so. You may need to record this authorisation in your payroll software. Your software provider (Xero) should provide instructions.
How we can help
If TaxAssist Accountants can set up the payroll for you but you will have to authorise each payment, this is done through Xero.
If sending your report yourself, check your software for a 'successful' status. This indicates the ATO has received the file.
TaxAssist Accountants will check all errors on your behalf if they are processing your payroll for you.
Contracting TaxAssist Accountants to process your STP weekly, fortnightly or monthly may not be as expensive as you think. Take away the stress and call us today for an obligation free quote.
Call 08 6245 7506 or make an enquiry here.
Date published 25 Mar 2024
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