Getting ready for STP Phase 2

There are many things that won't change under STP Phase 2, like:

• how and when you lodge your STP reports

• the types of payments you report

• your tax and super obligations

• end of year finalisation.

You'll need to enter some additional payroll details

To report successfully under STP Phase 2, the ATO require some additional employee and payroll details to be entered into MYOB. You'll be guided to enter this information when you first set up STP or when you make the move from STP Phase 1.

• New ATO reporting categories
  ATO reporting categories help the ATO classify the wage, deduction and superannuation payments in your employees' pays. For STP Phase 2, there are some updated and new ATO reporting categories to better classify your employee payments. This includes some new ATO reporting categories like Overtime and Bonuses and commissions that might previously have been reported as Gross payments. Similarly, leave payments were previously reported as gross payments, but now they have their own, more specific ATO reporting categories. Learn more about assigning ATO reporting categories.

• Income Type and Country of origin
  The ATO need to know what type of income you'll be paying each of your employees. For a lot of employees this would typically be Salary and wages, but other choices include Closely held payees, Labour hire, or Seasonal worker program. If you choose Working holiday maker, you'll also need to choose the employee's Country of origin. You'll find the Income type field via Card File > Cards List > Employee tab > open an employee's card > Payroll Details tab > Taxes tab > Income Type.

  

  
  

• Lump sum E payments need the financial year they relate to
  If you've paid a lump sum E payment (an amount of back payment that accrued, or was payable, more than 12 months before the date of payment and is $1200 or more), you'll need to advise the ATO which financial year the payment relates to. For all the details, see this help topic.

Some of your payroll processes will change (for the better!)

• Tax file number declarations
  Under STP Phase 2, when a new employee starts working for you, you won't have to send the ATO a tax file number declaration. Instead, the ATO will be provided all the required information when you report the employee's first pay run via STP. You'll find the Tax File Number field via Card File > Cards List > Employee tab > open an employee's card > Payroll Details tab > Taxes tab > Tax File Number.

• Termination reason
  When you process a final pay for an employee who's leaving your business and you report this termination through the STP reporting centre, you'll need to select the Termination reason. This is now a requirement for both the ATO and Services Australia. Learn more about terminating an employee in Single Touch Payroll reporting.

Your end-of-year reports are clearer

After moving to STP Phase 2, your end of year reports will reflect STP Phase 2 information (Payroll command centre > Payroll Reporting > EOFY finalisation tab).

• The YTD verification report lists the new ATO reporting categories. In STP Phase 1 this report showed the aggregated gross wages, but it now shows the disaggregated values.

• The Summary of Payments report (accessible by clicking the ellipsis  button for an employee > View summary report (PDF)) only lists payroll categories that have been used for the employee in that payroll year. Previously all of the employee's payroll categories were listed, even those with $0.00 values.

Every business is different and there's some information required as part of the move that only you will be able to provide. Therefore, MYOB can't move you automatically.

There's a handy assistant in AccountRight that guides you through the move (see above for the details). And if you need more help moving to STP Phase 2, we recommend speaking to an accounting advisor.

After the move, you'll notice these changes:

• When you access the STP reporting centre, it'll open in the web browser version of AccountRight (Payroll command centre > Payroll Reporting > Payroll Reporting Centre) and you'll see a label showing you're reporting on STP Phase 2.

  

• When terminating an employee in the STP reporting centre, you'll choose a Termination reason.

  

  
  

• There's a new Send update event button in the STP reporting centre to send your employees' latest year-to-date payroll totals to the ATO. Previously you could only do this by recording a zero dollar ($0) pay.

  

You'll complete the move to STP Phase 2 online (via a web browser) so you can integrate with the ATO's online services. This is only possible if your company file is online.

If your company file is offline (saved on your computer or a network server), you'll need to put your company file online to move to STP Phase 2. Having your file online is included with your subscription, so there's no extra cost.

You can check in the STP reporting centre (Payroll command centre > Payroll Reporting > Payroll Reporting Centre). If you don't see this label, you're on STP Phase 1.

When you look at the EOFY finalisation tab or the YTD verification report in the STP reporting centre for the current or last payroll year, you might notice the values don't look right. This can happen if you've recently moved to STP Phase 2.You can easily fix this by sending an update event. If needed you can do this for the current and previous payroll years.

1. In the STP reporting centre, click the STP reports tab.

2. Choose the Payroll year (for the year where the values don't look right).

3. Click Send update event.

4. When prompted to send your payroll information to the ATO, enter your details and click Send.