STP Finalisation Time!

STP, the old single touch payroll and this time it’s final! The ATO expects all single touch payroll finalisation to be submitted by July 14, but are you asking yourself “illumin8, how do we do this efficiently and effectively?” well never fear, our bookkeeping manager Simone has you covered with this handy step by step guide.

Let's get stuck into it.

Review. Reconcile. Process. Think of those three as being the most important words to remember when it comes to STP finalisation. Of course, we're not going to leave you high and dry with just those three words, so here’s the steps in more detail:

Review:

1.      Ensure the Legal/Trading Name, ABN and postal address including postcode are correct.

2.     Ensure Payroll Settings are correct – review Earnings & Deductions.

3.     Ensure Employee Details are correct.

Reconcile:

1.      Ensure all pay runs for the financial year have been posted and filed.

2.     Run Balance Sheet and ensure the Wages Payable Account is 0 and if not, determine what the discrepancies are.  Also check the PAYG Withholding & Superannuation Payable Account balances are correct.

3.     Run Payroll Activity Summary Reports and General Ledger Reports to check that the Wages, Allowances and Superannuation on the General Ledger Reports agree to the Payroll Activity Summary Report.

Process:

1.      Within Xero, go to the payroll menu and select Single Touch Payroll.

2.     Click on the Finalisation tab and ensure all employees appear on the list.  Also select “Show Terminated Employees for RFBA”.

3.     Review each employee’s year to date summary by checking this against the Payroll Activity Summary Report for each employee.  Also, enter any required Reportable Fringe Benefits Amounts if applicable.  Please note, if any adjustments to be made please refer to the below link.

4.     Select all the employees to finalise and export the data to CSV by clicking Export to CSV, for record keeping purposes.

5.     Once happy click Finalise and Submit to the ATO.

So there it is! All you need to know about finalising STP and the process on how to do it. As many are probably aware already, STP phase two is also on the way and keep your eyes peeled for another blog in the coming weeks.

If you're looking for even more information around finalising your STP, hit the link below.

STP Finalisation Checklist