STP troubleshooting

The STP category for your leave entitlements can be updated at any point. You can also choose what time period you'd like the updated category to apply to. 

  Hot tip: The most common incorrect categorisation of leave entitlements is Workers' Compensation and Paid Parental Leave being reported as 'Other Paid Leave'. 
 

To update the STP category for a leave entitlement:

1. From the main menu, navigate to Payroll Settings > Leave Configuration. 
2. To the right of the entitlement you'd like to update, select the edit icon and then Change STP category. 
3. Select the correct STP category from the drop-down menu. 
4. Select the financial year the changes will apply to.
   • If changing this after June 30, you will have the option to apply to 'last financial year' or 'this financial year'. 
5. Optionally, preview related payslips.
   • This helps to know that the changes you're making will affect the people you're expecting it to. 
6. Apply change.
7. If the entitlement has been used in the financial year specified, STP packets will be created to apply your changes. These will need to be submitted. 
8. If these changes were made in relation to a reconciliation, you can re-reconcile immediately. 
   
   

The STP category for your pay items & allowances can be updated at any point. You can also choose what time period you'd like the updated category to apply to. 

  Hot tip: The most common incorrect categorisation of allowances is ones marked as 'gross' or 'not reported' instead of a specific allowance. 
 

To update the STP category for a pay item or allowance:

1. From the main menu, navigate to Awards & Agreements > Pay Items / Allowances.
2. Select the appropriate tab and locate the item you want to change. Select Edit > Change STP category.
3. Select the STP category & sub-category (if appropriate) from the drop-down menu/s. 
4. Select the financial year the changes will apply to.
   • If changing this after June 30, you will have the option to apply to 'last financial year' or 'this financial year'. 
5. Optionally, preview related payslips.
   • This helps to know that the changes you're making will affect the people you're expecting it to. 
6. Apply change.
7. If the pay item or allowance has been used in the financial year specified, STP packets will be created to apply your changes. These will need to be submitted. 
8. If these changes were made in relation to a reconciliation, you can re-reconcile immediately. 
   
   

The STP category for your deductions can be updated at any point. You can also choose what time period you'd like the updated category to apply to. 

  Hot tip: The most common incorrect categorisation of deductions is Salary Sacrifices reporting as Gross Deductions. 
 

To update the STP category for a deduction: 

1. From the main menu, navigate to Payroll Settings > Deductions. 
2. To the right of the deduction you'd like to update, select the edit icon and then Change STP category. 
3. Select the correct STP category from the drop-down menu. 
4. Select the financial year the changes will apply to.
   • If changing this after June 30, you will have the option to apply to 'last financial year' or 'this financial year'. 
5. Optionally, preview related payslips.
   • This helps to know that the changes you're making will affect the people you're expecting it to. 
6. Apply change.
7. If the deduction has been used in the financial year specified, STP packets will be created to apply your changes. These will need to be submitted. 
8. If these changes were made in relation to a reconciliation, you can re-reconcile immediately. 
   
   

The office code or paying entity assigned to employees can be changed at any point from the employee profile overview. Sometimes, you may find that the paying entity that is being reported for the employee is incorrect.

Unlike many of the other items we want to rectify, the entity under which the employee was paid will not necessarily be the same for the whole financial year. As such, you can specify which payslips should have been paid from which paying entity/office code.

  Please note: The instructions below are for changing the paying entities on already processed payslips. If you are looking to change office codes/paying entities for future payslips, please refer to this article instead. 
 

Change an employee's office code for past pay periods 

To update the paying entity for an employee's previously processed payslips:

1. Navigate to the relevant employee profile via People > Approved People or from the global search function. 
2. Within the employee profile, navigate to Financial > select the relevant year either
   • YTD or a
   • Previous YTD
3. Select Edit history > Office code.

4. Within the Edit office code tool, select the new office code from the drop-down list, choose the relevant payslips that must be changed and select Save change.

   

5. You'll now see the relevant payslips listed under the new office code, in the drawer.
6. Upon reviewing the PDF of payslips that have changed office codes, you'll notice that it still lists the previous office code. Please reload the PDFs of these generated payslips from the Pay page to update the PDFs. (see demo below).
7. STP packets will be created to apply your changes. These will need to be submitted. 
8. If these changes were made in relation to a reconciliation, you can re-reconcile immediately. 

  Please note: Before making any office code changes, please ensure that all pending STP submissions for the employee have been submitted. When the payslip is updated, a new STP submission will be created with updated year-to-date data for you to submit to the ATO.

  Please note: Office code changes that are for the same paying entity will show no change in the employee's YTD information and will require no STP submission. Office code changes that are for a different paying entity will show in the employee's YTD information and will require an STP submission.

Both paying & non-paying entity office code changes will show in your payroll reporting.

  For information on submitting STP submissions, please refer to our Single Touch Payroll article here. 

Important next steps

After changing the office code for an employee, make sure to follow the next steps to ensure that the process is completed effectively.

• For the Payroll team - If there are any existing upcoming draft payslips for the employee whose office code has been changed, these should be reprocessed so that the new office code details are used.
• For the employee - Encourage your employees to log in to their Employee App and simply re-save their TFN Declaration. When the next payroll is generated, it updates the ATO with the relevant information.

The income type associated with an employee differs from all other items above in that it requires input from both the employee and an admin.

The employee specifies this detail on their tax file declaration (typically as either Salary & Wages or Working Holiday Maker), and an admin will also set this value when approving the employee. Although we have checks in place to help mitigate issues, it can be pretty confusing for employees, and the wrong selection will be made from time to time. Thankfully, this can be rectified easily. 
 

To update the income type for an employee:

1. Navigate to the employee's profile > Financial > YTD.
2. To the right, select Edit history > Income type. 
3. Here, you will find all the payslips for the financial year, grouped by the paying entity. 
4. Make your selection to update.
   • Selecting the checkbox to the left of the paying entity will select every payslip paid under it. 
   • Selecting the arrow to the right will allow you to select individual payslips. 
5. Select the New income type from the drop-down menu. 
6. Save change.
7. STP packets will be created to apply your changes. These will need to be submitted. 
8. If these changes were made in relation to a reconciliation, you can re-reconcile immediately. 

If you've encountered an issue with STP that isn't covered above, please don't hesitate to let us know. When you reach out to support with your query, please provide the following information:

• The employee/s that are affected
• The incorrect values
• What the incorrect values should be
• The payslip/s or payroll items you believe to be the cause

With the information we gathered during our initial contact, we can dive into your issue and provide a resolution more quickly. 

I have a gross deduction that should have been set up as a salary sacrifice. What is the best way to rectify this?

Although you can edit the deduction itself and change the type to a 'salary sacrifice', this will not update the STP category for any deductions that have already been processed. The best method for rectifying this will be to use the instructions above to change the STP type and update the processed deductions for the financial year. 

Why do I have 2 income types reported for some employees?

Typically, this happens when an employee doesn't really understand the documentation they are filling in. If they select the incorrect type and are paid under it, when this is changed to the correct income type manually, you will end up with 2 STP records for the employee. 1 for the incorrect income type originally selected and 1 for the updated income type. 

The correct process for changing income types is to follow the steps laid out above. 

I have an employee who was meant to change over to a different paying entity on a specific date. Something happened and they were missed for a few weeks. How do I solve this?

You can select the individual payslips with the incorrect paying entity and update those to the correct one. This is done from the employee profile.

I've changed the STP category on some things. How do I know this has worked?

Refer to the STP report! This report will show you the STP data, even when it is in a pending state. This means that you can make changes to how things are reporting, run the report, and you will immediately see the updated results.