Missing commencement date
Sometimes an STP report will be partially accepted and an error will be reported to indicate that an employee’s Commencement Date is missing from the file.
In this case the Commencement Date must be entered in the employee’s file under the Personal Details tab:
Once this data has been corrected, generate the STP file again using Option 3. Update Individual.
Select and tick the box for the relevant payee from the list displayed, then click the OK button.
Wrong income steam type
Sometimes employees may be accidentally classified with the wrong Income Stream Type. This may cause errors when submitting the STP report.
If labour hire employees should be salary and wages
Most employees will be Salary and Wages (SAW).
Labour Hire (LAB) employees are typically those with their own ABN such as small business owners and sole traders.
According to ATO rules, employees classified as Labour Hire (LAB) cannot be paid overtime or allowances. The Income Stream Type for these employees may need to be changed to SAW.
First change the Employment Basis Code and Income Stream Type to the correct value for each relevant employee under the Single Touch Payroll tab. The Employment Basis Code is usually Full Time, Part Time or Casual for Salary and Wages (SAW) employees.
Next, the historical payslips for each employee will need to be updated for the whole financial year. Go to Accounts > Generate STP for Submission and select Option 4. Data Correction:
Click on OK. The following screen will be displayed:
Enter the Start and End dates for the current financial year, then select the relevant employee from the drop-down list and click on Refresh. All the employee’s payslips for the financial year will be displayed (NOTE: the example below shows old test data only).
Update your employee’s Income Stream Type to SAW, then click on Save.
After the data has been updated for each employee, generate the STP file again using Option 3. Update Individual.
Select and tick the box for each relevant payee, then click the OK button.
If working holiday makers(WHM) are classified incorrectly
Visitors with a working holiday permit must be classified as Working Holiday Makers (WHM).
The ATO treats these employees differently to Salary and Wages or Labour Hire employees so it is important to enter the correct Income Stream Type.
If a WHM employee has been classified incorrectly, first change the Income Stream Type to WHM for the relevant payee under the employee’s Single Touch Payroll tab.
Important: For Working Holiday Makers (WHM), an Income Country code must also be entered. This is the employee’s usual country of residence (i.e. NOT Australia).
Under Accounts > Generate STP for Submission, select Option 4 Data Correction, then click on OK:
The following screen will be displayed. Enter the date range, then click on Refresh to display all the payslips generated for the period selected.
Make the required data changes, then click on Save.
Under Accounts > Generate STP for Submission, select Option 3:
Select and tick the box for the relevant payee/s, then click the OK button.