STP for small businesses is coming: why not start now?

DANGER!! The STP epidemic is on the rise and infecting payroll at an alarming rate…

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OK, but seriously, what is Single Touch Payroll and how will it affect small businesses?

Single Touch Payroll (STP) is an ATO initiative introduced on July 1 2018 for employers with 20 or more employees. This year on July 1, it will also be mandatory for small businesses with 19 or fewer employees.

STP was introduced in order to streamline business reporting for salaries and wages, PAYG withholding, and super information. Businesses used to report this information to the ATO annually, but with the introduction of STP, small businesses will be required to report these payments every time they pay their employees.

What symptoms will my payroll experience as a small business?

How are you currently processing payroll?

If you’re currently using an excel spreadsheet or even paper to process your payroll, you won’t only be spending hours each week getting it done, but it will be almost impossible for you to report your employees’ payroll information to the ATO after each pay run manually.

Or, you might be using a system that doesn’t currently offer STP reporting, and may not be ready for the July 1 deadline. If your current software / process doesn’t have the capacity to support Single Touch Payroll by July 1, you will need to look for another provider.

What are the after-effects of STP?

As a small business, STP reporting might seem like a scary pandemic, but there are many benefits to the new process once you find the right provider.

Mainly, it’s going to streamline your reporting process by being able to submit payroll information upon completion. The ATO will be able to pre-fill the BAS (W1 and W2) for employers, meaning no risk of errors, and no need to double check data at the end of the Financial Year.

Another great benefit is that you won’t have to worry about generating payment summaries for employees at the end of the year, either, because STP reports will keep record of wages paid, taxes deducted and super contributed. Win-win!

KeyPay is just what the doctor ordered for STP

And we have been since July 2018! In fact, we already have small businesses with under 20 employees running STP with KeyPay, just because they can! Why not get ahead of the game?

We’ve built STP in KeyPay to be as simple and efficient to use as possible – and it’s super easy to set up. Take a look at our STP videos to see how it works in the platform, or catch a glimpse of how it is easily set up below.

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Single Touch Payroll may seem scary, but it's really just a way to streamline your reporting processes and make life easier in the long run.

A lot of small businesses will have to switch to a digital payroll provider that is STP enabled before July 1. So why not use a system that will save you hours of payroll admin in the process? We've got the antidote!

KeyPay automates the flow of data from employees across rosters, timesheets, leave management and reporting, right through to payroll - securely in the cloud. Fully STP compliant, we eliminate traditionally manual processes, freeing up time to add value to your business.

Looking to find out more about how KeyPay has prepared for STP Phase 2? Take a look at our support articles.