Attention employers – Single Touch Payroll is coming!
The ATO is introducing a new system – Single Touch Payroll – to help employers report their employee payment information more easily and efficiently.
What is Single Touch Payroll?
Single Touch Payroll is a new system for employers to conveniently report their employee wages, withholding and superannuation information at the time when they prepare payroll on their accounting or payroll software.
What does it mean to you?
For those who use accounting software to process payroll, this means that you will need to ensure that your current payroll system is compliant with Single Touch Payroll.
For businesses using Xero to process their payruns, Xero will be compliant with Single Touch Payroll. If you are required to, or wish to use Single Touch Payroll, you will need to sign up with Xero Payroll to ensure you remain compliant from 1 July 2018 onwards. We will keep you informed on how to do this. For businesses using Xero to run their business but maintain a manual wages record, you may wish to upgrade your subscription to enable Single Touch Payroll.
For businesses using other accounting or payroll software, you will have to contact your software provider to check if your version of the software will be compliant or not.
For businesses that do not currently use any accounting or payroll software, you may wish to start researching for an appropriate accounting or payroll solution that suits your business.
When do I need to start implementing the new Single Touch Payroll?
This depends on the number employees you pay on 1 April 2018.
Employers are required to do a headcount of their employees they pay on their payroll on 1 April 2018 to determine the date they are required to implement the new system:
If on 1 April 2018 you have 20 or more employees on your payroll then you will need to start implementing Single Touch Payroll from 1 July 2018.
Otherwise if you have 19 or less employees on 1 April 2018 you will have to implement the Single Touch Payroll from 1 July 2019. Businesses fall under this category have the option to implement the system earlier if they wish.
Note that the following employees will be included in your headcount on 1 April 2018:
- full-time employees
- part-time employees
- casual employees who are on your payroll on 1 April and worked any time during March
- employees based overseas
- any employee absent or on leave (paid or unpaid)
- seasonal employees (staff who are engaged short term to meet a regular peak workload, for example, harvest workers)
Do you need help in navigating through the Single Touch Payroll maze?
Feel free to contact us via phone, email or fill in our online form and we will be in touch!
