We have been working closely with the ATO for a number of years with the implementation of Single Touch Payroll (STP). Since July 2017 we have been successfully submitting our Payroll information each pay day.
Working with the ATO is a collaborative effort and is seeing them fully engaged with Industry which is resulting in obtaining outstanding outcomes. I have been involved in the Payroll Industry for over 30 years and to date, I have not experienced this level of engagement before. As a result of the ATO's efforts, they are providing a solid foundation to enable us to meet the desired outcomes in a more timely manner.
We have now released a version of e-PayDay (V18.20) that supports the currently documented STP requirements including the most recent file specification (PAYEVNT.0003 2018). Single Touch Payroll is a huge change for everyone involved and is an extensive undertaking for all Digital Service Providers (DSP). Phase 1 has required many thousands of hours of consultation with the ATO which is still ongoing.
Are we there yet?
No, absolutely not. Single Touch Payroll is work in progress and will be for a number of years. The version we are releasing now is not finished but is a great starting point, enabling real-time reporting of Payroll information directly to the ATO. We will be releasing frequent updates to e-PayDay from this point forward to meet the never-ending changes that are required to meet the ongoing requirements.
As a DSP, I see it as our job to ensure that the introduction and the design of Single Touch Payroll be as seamless as possible. Our design, where possible, should follow the natural business process and does not involve any unnecessary steps or additional work. There should be minimum changes required to the natural payroll process with the introduction of STP, therefore, a nominal amount of training is required.
Using this philosophy there has been very little change, and to date, there has been a minimum of requirements within the STP design that does not fit into the existing functionality of e-PayDay. The natural payroll processes previously within our design is what STP is all about and is a perfect fit. We have endeavoured to make the implementation of STP as seamless as possible to minimise the impact for all involved.
As a result of the introduction of Single Touch Payroll there has been a number of changes that may affect your existing payroll processes so please spend some time reading about STP to learn how it affects you.
We are here to help you through the transition and to provide for the optimum level of service from our support team, all STP Support Requests can be logged online.
Find out what is in the latest Single Touch Payroll enabled version of e-PayDay.
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