Press Release: Complacency over Single Touch Payroll Deferral Dates
The latest stats from the ATO show nearly 50% of large employers are yet to implement Single Touch Payroll (STP) and many are leaving their implementation run late.
With only months to go to comply with deferred STP reporting deadlines that could be a real worry.
The Single Touch Payroll experience so far
For some, Single Touch Payroll really is as easy as pushing a button. But for many businesses working with legacy systems, multiple data sources and complex pay arrangements it can take upwards of three months to be ready. Companies that leave their run too late are putting themselves at risk of non-compliance and missing their deferral dates all together. As one of the largest STP sending service providers, and the first to be certified STP compliant by the ATO, SuperChoice is in a position to see the effort required first hand. Here’s what we are seeing:
Employers are holding off implementing Single Touch Payroll because they didn’t budget for it. Many are planning to wait until closer to the deadline to start preparations. Many employers are over-confident about the quality of their payroll data. They underestimate the effort (and time) it takes to become STP ready.
Data fields don’t always match up. Some employers find out their current payroll data fields do not match what the ATO need, or they find out the data they hold is old or incomplete. Stopping them successfully submitting a report without errors.
Problems with data fields are only discovered when they first submit their STP Pay Event report, (or if using our STP platform, when testing in an environment that mimics the Live ATO feed).
With less time until the deferral date time pressures placed on payroll teams, IT Departments and service providers to get ready on time are increasing significantly.
Our view is that without urgent action, many of these employers are at risk of non-compliance. There will simply not be enough time factored in to make necessary changes to their payroll, test the new STP reports and deploy before the end of the deferral period.
“With everyone treating their deferral date as the new deadline it creates additional pressure on support and infrastructure. If employers run into problems, they may be competing for resources from their STP providers and their own IT support to get ready on time. I’m not sure employers are aware of the risk they are taking by not preparing now. Our advice is to get into a test environment sooner than later.”
Stuart Korchinski, CEO, SuperChoice
Avoid the risk There’s a wave of employers coming through who need to get ready for Single Touch Payroll.
It's time to start your Single Touch Payroll implementation and we can help. To find out more or register for our free test environment visit the Single Touch Payroll page. [if !supportLineBreakNewLine] [endif]
