Single Touch Payroll has been around for a while now and effectively replaces the need for you to issue payment summaries to each of your employees; this is because the data from each pay run processed throughout the year has been communicated to the ATO and once finalised will appear in your employee's myGov account as 'tax ready'.

So what do you need to do to ensure a smooth finalisation process? Here are some steps to take;

1. Check that all of your business details including your ABN and authorised contact person are correct in your accounting software

2. Ensure all of your employee details are correct and that you have noted termination dates for any employees that left during the year

3. Review any salary sacrifice payments to super for the correct Reportable Employer Superannuation Contributions (RESC) amount

4. Check with your tax accountant if any Reportable Fringe Benefit Tax (RFBT) amounts need to be included for any employees

5. Review your payroll settings to ensure payment types are assigned to the correct ATO categories for reportable wages, PAYG etc

6. Review any JobKeeper Top Up amounts and make sure they are being included correctly

7. Cross check the payroll figures to your financial statements eg wages and super in your Profit and Loss Statement and the PAYG and Wages Payable amounts in your Balance Sheet detail - it's important that everything reconciles before you finalise with the ATO

The usual due date for having this submitted to the ATO is the 14th July, however the ATO acknowledges that we've all had (and continue to have) quite a year of it so they have extended this deadline to the 31st July - but please keep in mind that the sooner you finalise this the sooner your employees will have the information they need to complete their tax returns!

If you need any assistance at all please don't hesitate to email hello@fuelbusinessconsulting.com with the subject line 'STP Help Needed' and we'll be in touch!