STP – Single Touch Payroll in MYOB AccountRight

Employers of 20 or more staff (according to a simple headcount on 1 April 2018) will be required to lodge their payroll figures to the ATO after each payrun from 1 July 2018. This will provide real-time PAYG tax figures to the ATO and remove the need for payment summaries at the end of the next financial year. The gross wages and PAYG withholding tax figures will even prefill in the employer’s electronic Activity Statement.

While most things won’t change, it’s time to check that your software is ready and online.

In MYOB AccountRight 2018.1, a new button has appeared in the Payroll section, called ‘Payroll Reporting’. Click on this to find guidance about preparing your file for STP. It will ask you to check that your own organisation details are current and complete, as well as your employee records.

It will also refer you to a new field in the Payroll Category List that links each wage, superannuation, deduction and tax type to an ATO reporting category. These work in the same way that Payment Summary amounts are categorized, and need to be linked before 1 July 2018. More detail can be found on the MYOB website: ATO Reporting Categories.
This ‘Payroll Reporting’ button will also be the one to click after you are satisfied that your payrun has been completed accurately. You will be able to lodge a new payroll report or an updated payroll report if errors need to be corrected. However, you will only be able to update the most recent payrun. If errors are found in older payruns they cannot be changed and will need to be corrected in the next payrun.

The figures sent to the ATO are year-to-date figures. So the last payrun for the financial year will effectively provide the amounts that used to show in Payment Summaries / Group Certificates. We highly recommend that your bookkeeper or accountant review your file before you submit the last payrun in the financial year.
The figures provided to the ATO become available in my.gov.au for each employee throughout the year. The figures also prefill in their individual tax returns. Payment Summaries will only need to be provided for any wage payments that were not reported during the year. The ATO is planning to roll STP out to employers of less than 20 staff from 1 July 2019, but voluntary participation is encouraged at any time.

Find more information about STP on the ATO website.

If you have any concerns about preparing your software for STP, or would like some support with your first lodgement, please don’t hesitate to contact your bookkeeper or accountant. That’s what we’re here for!