THE FACTS
1st April 2018: Confirm headcount – how many staff do you have on your payroll? Less than 20, sit tight it’s not your turn yet… More than 20, you will need to implement Single Touch Payroll from 1 July 2018.
1st July 2018: For businesses with 20 or more staff Single Touch Payroll starts NOW - Note, you can opt in with less than 20 if you’d like…
1st July 2019: Everyone joins the party regardless of staff numbers! (subject to legislation passing.. so stay tuned!)
Source: Xero Dec Quarter 2017 Payroll Update webinar
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU?
Single Touch Payroll is the government’s way of capturing data in real time for PAYG, Superannuation etc – it also means staff won’t be chasing you for payslips and PAYG summaries as this is all accessible via their myGov portals.
This is a streamlined system that will allow your accounting software or payroll software to report straight to the ATO when you publish your payrun. This means you need to cross your Ts and dot your Is before hitting SUBMIT. The ATO is working with software developers to ensure their systems meet the requirements.
“When you pay your employees through your Single Touch Payroll-enabled solution you will be reporting payments such as their salaries and wages, allowances, deductions (for example, workplace giving) and other payments, pay as you go (PAYG) withholding and super information to the ATO at the same time.”[1]
Does your payroll cycle or frequency have to change? NO. You can pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly on your preferred day of the week as normal.
[1] https://www.ato.gov.au/about-ato/about-us/in-detail/strategic-direction/streamlined-reporting-with-single-touch-payroll/?anchor=Employers1#Employers1
Not online yet? If you are using manually payroll processing or simple manual recording methods – it’s time to upgrade so you can get set up properly and used to the technology that you’ll need to use by 1 July 2019. Need help getting ready, let us know! You can find Single Touch Payroll solutions that are ready to use here!
Visual? Here is a video about the changes from the ATO's website...
