Does your company employ 20 or more people?

From 1st July 2018 onwards, you will have been subject to Single Touch Payroll legislation. And, if you’re a small business which employs just a handful of people, you will be subject to STP from July 2019.

So, what is STP and what do you need to do to ensure you’re complying?

Why Single Touch Payroll has been brought in

At its simplest, STP means that employers have to report payment information, including salary, pay as you go withholding and super information to the Australian Tax Office through STP software whenever they pay their employees. The change was implemented to allow employers to provide more accurate, real-time information about how they pay their staff and also to streamline the payroll process. STP also gives employees greater visibility of their tax and super information.

How do I count the number of employees I have?

If you’re a larger company, it’s likely that you’ll already be paying STP. However, if you’re around the 20 mark and you think you should be abiding by STP, you’ll need to do a full headcount of employees on your payroll to determine the exact number. If the number of employees you have fluctuates, for example, if you’re a seasonal business, you will need to count the number of employees you had on your payroll on 1st April 2018.

What else do I need to know?

The good news is that, if you report using a payroll solution that is STP-ready (like Xero), you won’t need to make any changes – your provider will just need to send some additional reporting information to the ATO. If not, you can always switch to a new payroll provider who is STP-ready.

If you need help with your payroll, here at Propeller Advisory, a bookkeeping, accounting and virtual CFO firm in Melbourne, we can help. To find out more, get in touch with us today.