Update: For the very latest on Xero and Single Touch Payroll, visit our STP landing page.
Single Touch Payroll (STP) is changing the way employers report to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). STP becomes mandatory from 1 July 2018 for employers with 20 or more employees, and is optional for all other employers.
We’re working closely with the ATO to roll out STP in Xero Payroll over the coming months. It will make it simple to set up and process pay runs in compliance with the new requirements.
To get ready, just confirm your headcount on 1 April 2018 to know whether you’re required to comply with Single Touch Payroll from 1 July 2018.
If you’re running your own payroll
- Review and update your organisation details such as the ABN address if required.
- Review and update all your employee details such as dates of birth, tax file numbers and residential addresses.
If you’re managing payroll for your clients
- Review and update your practice details such as your ABN, addresses, and registered agent numbers if required.
- Review and update your client’s organisation and employee details.
- Review your internal processes to make sure you have your clients’ permission to lodge their payroll information with the ATO. You may need to amend your standard engagement letter and your internal procedures manual.
How STP looks in Xero
Xero will have a simple set-up process for Single Touch Payroll. During the STP setup, Xero will display your software service ID (SSID).You’ll need to provide it to the ATO in one of two ways. Either:
- call the ATO and notify them of the SSID, or
- login to ATO Access Manager (using AUSkey) and nominate a software service provider
Once you’re setup, the option to report a payment to the ATO will be presented for each pay run and your payroll information will be filed with the tax office.
Also, due to the filing requirements for STP, you’ll only be able to revert the latest posted pay run for each pay calendar after you’ve opted in.
Want to know more?
Check out the Single Touch Payroll video from ATO or visit ato.gov.au/SingleTouchPayroll.
In the coming weeks, we’ll keep you updated to make sure you have the information you need and are aware of any key dates relating to the rollout.
Please see the thread around request for contact report to include TFN:
AU Payroll – Employee list showing TFN
https://community.xero.com/business/discussion/37820567
Has there been a revision to the report we can access?
Where clients don’t have an Auskey to report the SSID to the ATO, can you please advise the ATO contact number they need to call to advise the SSID?
What is Xero’s Software ID number for registration with ATO?
@Monique – No.
@Margie – It will be provided as a part of the set up for STP when STP is made available.
@Tracy – It It will be provided as a part of the set up for STP when STP is made available.
Is there an updates as to the date it will be made available?
Will employers issue 2018 payment summaries as per previous years, or will they appear on employees My Gov accounts?
Can you provide more specific information to users preparing for the STP?
The above information says “Review and update all your employee details such as dates of birth, tax file numbers and residential addresses.”
We are reporting superannuation details also – is there a list of fields Xero can provide that are mandatory within the employee’s details?
I am trying to avoid updating/reviewing files more than once, and would hate to wait until the first lodgement to receive errors and have to update more fields to comply.
Being the end of financial year doesn’t exactly help with short time frames if errors are found on 1 July 2018.
When will the SSID be provided? Time’s ticking…
Are you in a position to advise when the STP update will be available? less than 8 weeks to go and we are yet to see or hear of when this will happen.
Hi Xero,
Any new updates on this? It’s already the second week of May..
https://www.xero.com/blog/2018/05/single-touch-payroll-coming-xero-ready/
Thanks James.
We’ve published a new blog with updates on STP in Xero. Please have a look and let us know what you think of it.
If we manage multiple client’s payrolls, do we need to call the ATO to notify them of the SSID for each individual client or can we do this online? I had a look at Access Manager and it is only showing the company my AusKey is linked to, not any of the clients we have on the portal.
Hi, L. You’ll use a single SSID — the one for your practice — for all of your clients. You can either call the ATO or use the ATO access manager to set this up. However, the opt-in process in Xero has to be done individually for each client.
How do you find the SSID if you did not make a note of it during setup?
Hi Toni. Once you’re in the pay runs page, click the ‘Single Touch Payroll settings’ button in the top right corner, which will take you back through the opt-in screens. Just click through these screens until you get to the final page and you will find all of the SSID information needed to connect.