Setup Considerations: Single Touch Payroll (AUS)

You can use this topic to help make decisions when planning your configuration and use of Single Touch Payroll (STP). It explains:

Why to set it up.

How it fits into the rest of Workday.

Downstream impacts and cross-product interactions.

Security requirements and business process configurations.

Questions and limitations to consider before implementation.

Refer to detailed task instructions for full configuration details.

What It Is

Single Touch Payroll (STP) is the way that you report payroll information including tax and superannuation obligations for your employees to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Workday supports STP Phase 2 reporting.

Business Benefits

Single Touch Payroll enables you to:

Meet the legal requirements for reporting worker salaries and wages, and superannuation liability to the ATO.

Increase efficiency by streamlining the process of managing and submitting STP reports.

Reduce the need for separate reporting to other agencies, such as Services Australia.

Use Cases

Report worker payments to the ATO using STP.

Questions to Consider

Questions	Considerations
Which earnings and deductions do you need to report to the ATO?	To ensure accurate reporting, identify the earnings and deductions to map to specific STP categories.
How much data do you need to transfer from previous systems?	For correct YTD amounts on employee payslips and consolidated financial reporting, transfter this year's data from your previous software. If you start using Workday: At the start of a tax year, you don't need to transfer YTD amounts for your payees for STP purposes. During a tax year, consider transferring YTD amounts. Also decide whether you want to transfer YTD amounts for inactive and terminated employees, or employees terminated within the tax year. If you don't transfer YTD amounts, calculations that use those amounts will be incorrect. These may include Superannuation MSCB Cap calculations, and PAYG Withholding on lump sum payments including bonuses and backpays. If you plan to transfer your YTD amounts, confirm that your previous system allows you to generate and submit a zero dollar YTD update event, to zero out. Transferring your YTD amounts will affect how you configure your BMS ID and will add complexity.
Have you started using Workday partway through a tax year?	If you started using Workday partway through a tax year, consider: Were you previously reporting STP Phase 2? Will you use the same Business Management (BMS) ID? How you want worker income statements to display in MyGov.

Recommendations

Workday Payroll for Australia and the STP function is designed to assist you with the pay and tax reporting required by the ATO. However, you should independently verify your obligations required by the Australian Taxation Office.

Requirements

Configure statutory tax and superannuation calculations in Workday.

Use Workday to calculate payroll results.

Limitations

Workday doesn't support:

Updates for tax years that weren’t submitted using Workday.

Income types other than salary and wages or working holiday makers.

Tenant Setup

No impact.

Security

Configure these domains in the Australia Payroll functional area.

Domains	Considerations
Process: STP (Run) - AUS	Enables you to process STP data.
Process: STP (Reports) - AUS	Enables you to report on STP submissions.
Process: STP (Approve) - AUS	Enables you to approve and submit your STP reports to the ATO.
Set Up: Payroll (STP) - AUS	Enables you to define your Single Touch Payroll configuration.

Reporting

Reports or Dashboards	Considerations
All AUS STP Reports	View all STP reports that you have generated using Workday and their status.
Preview AUS STP	Verify the details of an STP report before you approve it.
View AUS STP Reporting Categories	Verify calculation types against the STP Reporting categories: Earnings. Deductions. Pay component related calculations. Pay Component Groups.

Connections and Touchpoints

Features	Considerations
Companies	Workday uses data from your company tax details in STP reports. Examples: Organization name. Organization ABN. PAYG withholding branch. Postcode and country of the main business location of the organization. Name and business contact details of the nominated person to be contacted about STP reports. The ATO might direct questions about STP submissions to this contact.
Pay components	Workday reports data from pay components, earnings, and deductions in STP reports.
Payroll ID	When moving to Workday from a legacy payroll system, load workers legacy payroll ID when you record their details. After Workday generates their new Workday payroll ID, you can't go back and load the legacy ID. Workday uses the payroll ID as a unique identifier to track worker compensation from hire to termination. For continuity in STP reporting, ensure that a worker's payroll ID doesn't change regardless of job changes or transfers within an Australian employer reference.
Terminations	To ensure accurate reporting for terminated workers, follow the Workday recommendations for entering a worker's: Last day of work. Pay through date. Termination date.
Workers	Workday declares personal worker data in STP reports. Examples: Home address. Personal email address. Date of birth. First, middle, and last names. Personal phone number. Tax File Number. Title.

Workday offers a Touchpoints Kit with resources to help you understand configuration relationships in your tenant. Learn more about the Workday Touchpoints Kit on Workday Community.