Finalise STP with Quickbooks to migrate to new payroll software.

Hi ShowTime, 

Thank you for reaching out and welcome to our community!

There are a few options when changing payroll systems during the financial year:

Option 1

You have been reporting STP from QuickBooks Online/KeyPay, want to migrate YTD figures, and uses the original/previous BMS ID to report STP going forward. The process here will be:

• Change the BMS ID in this payroll system to that of the previous payroll system's BMS ID;
• Copy over the employees' payroll ID used in the previous payroll system to the STP Payroll ID field in this system. If you do not have access to the employees' payroll ID, you can ask the employee to access their MyGov account and follow these steps:
  1. Click on "employment"
  2. Click on "income statements"
  3. Click on the dropdown arrow
  4. Retrieve the "employee number" from there; 
• Import YTD figures into this payroll system using the opening balances feature;
• Lodge an update event to report the YTD totals imported. Alternatively, you can just wait to lodge your first pay event as this will include the imported YTD totals for the employees within that pay run.

Option 2

You have been reporting STP from QuickBooks Online/KeyPay and wants to migrate YTD figures using the new BMS ID -

• Import YTD figures (for both active and terminated employees) from your old payroll into the new payroll software using the opening balances feature (NB. nothing to do with STP but Leave balances can also be transferred this way if you like)
• zero out the employee YTD values from the old BMS ID (previous payroll software) and then report this via an update event in the old system where you also tick the box "Mark as final" for each employee (this will notify the ATO that there will be no further payments for these employees from the old BMS ID)
• You can do an update event to report the YTD totals imported OR just continue to create/lodge pay events as normal as the first pay event will include (and update) the YTD totals anyway.  NB. if there are any employees in your payroll account that have been terminated in the current financial year you will definitely need to lodge an update event to lodge their YTD data, because they won't show up in any "current" pay events you lodge using this payroll system.

Option 3

You have been reporting STP from QuickBooks Online/KeyPay, and do not want to migrate YTD figures, but wants to use the new BMS ID -

• Use the ‘Mark as final’ option for all employees when lodging the last pay event in the previous system using the original BMS ID (this will notify the ATO that there will be no further payments for these employees from the old BMS ID)
• Do NOT import YTD earnings to the new system (you may need to import YTD figures for leave balances)
• There is no need for an update event in the new system, you can just start reporting STP from the first pay run (which will be the next consecutive pay period after the last one that was reported in the old system)

Thank you and please let us know if you require any additional assistance.

Thanks for your response.

I had previously found the below instructions (option 1) but my new payroll system doesnt appear to have an option to add the employees payroll ID so wasnt sure if it would all work correctly...

Thanks for coming back, Showtime. 

Since the new payroll system doesn't have an option to add the employee's payroll ID. It would be best to contact their support to further assist you with this one. You'll want also to try other options recommended by Intuit Zac when changing payroll systems during the financial year. 

In QuickBooks Onlne, if the company uses QuickBooks Payroll powered by KeyPay to lodge pay events to the ATO under Single Touch Payroll (STP), you will have to lodge a Finalisation Event to send the final year-to-date figures to the ATO. To start this process. juyts follot the steps below:

1. Go to the Employees tab.
2. Select the Reports section (between Approved Leave and Payroll Settings).
3. Select Single Touch Payroll under the ATO Reporting column.
4. Click Create Update Event.
5. From the drop-down menus, select the financial year and pay schedule.

If employees have been paid on multiple pay schedules throughout the financial year, just complete the finalisation event for the pay schedule the employee is assigned to. Before you lodge the Finalisation Event:

1. Navigate to the Update Event created above. To access it from the STP page, click on the number in the ID column.
2. Confirm payroll data by clicking on the Actions button, then Excel. You can reconcile this report with other payroll reports such as the Detailed Activity Report to ensure figures match.
3. Resolve Errors in the Warnings tab.
4. Enter Reportable Fringe Benefit Amounts (if applicable), by clicking on the pencil icon in the RFBA column next to each employee.
5. Mark employees as ‘is final’, by ticking the ‘Is Final’ box for each employee. This is  to indicate to ATO that the employees have no further payments to be made in the financial year. It will also update the employee’s income statement to ‘Tax Ready’ so they can lodge their tax return.
6. Request Client Authority if you are lodging as a Tax/BAS agent.

Then, lodge the Finalisation Event by clicking on Lodge with ATO. If you need further assistance about this one, please contact our Payroll Support Team. They'll pull up your account in a secure environment and help you with this one. Feel free to visit our Payroll page for more insights about managing your payroll in QBO.

I'd like to know how you get on after trying the steps or after contacting our support, as I want to ensure this is resolved for you. Just reply to this post and I'll get back to you. Take care always.

I want to finalise  STP for they year have not gone to a new payroll software or do I just go into the ATO and start doing it

Hi what user ID,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

If you don’t have a current payroll software, the ATO have provided options on how to report STP. Please refer on this ATO website for more information about STP finalization and reporting: https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Single-Touch-Payroll/How-to-report/

Hope this helps answer your question. Feel free to reach out again if you have any other questions.

Hi,

I have a question regarding Option#2.

• zero out the employee YTD values from the old BMS ID (previous payroll software) and then report this via an update event in the old system where you also tick the box "Mark as final" for each employee (this will notify the ATO that there will be no further payments for these employees from the old BMS ID)

How do we zero out employee YTD values in QBO? Please explain.

Thanks

Hi ehsanabbasi,

You can create and lodge a reset earnings event if you would like to zero out the YTD values of an employee. You can follow these steps for your reference: 

1. Select Employees from the left menu.
2. Select the Reports tab, then select Single Touch Payroll in the ATO Reporting section.
3. Select the arrow dropdown icon next to Create Update Event, then select Create Earnings Reset Event.
Note: If the Create Earnings Reset Event option is greyed out, it means you have not lodged any successful events for that financial year. Therefore, you cannot create an earnings reset event as there is no information to reset.
4. Read the information box that explains the purpose of an earnings reset event, then select Continue.
5. Select the Financial Year, employing entity and, if applicable, the specific employees you wish to create a reset event for, then select Create.
6. The Earnings Reset Event will appear, with all earnings set to $0. This is what will be reported to the ATO once lodged.
7. Select Lodge with ATO.

Once done, you can create and lodge an update event where you also tick the box "Mark as final" for each employee (this will notify the ATO that there will be no further payments for these employees from the old BMS ID)

For more information, you can check on this article: Transition options available with STP reporting.

Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any other questions. 

What is QBO SSID please?

Hello Vanessa03s,

Thanks for joining this thread. Are you referring to your unique software ID for your Single Touch Payroll? If so, you can get the information in your Payroll Settings. Here's how:

1. Click on the Employees tab.
2. Click on the Payroll Settings.
3. Click on ATO Settings.
4. Select Electronic Lodgement & STP tab.
5. From there you'll see your Software ID.

Also, you can check this article to learn more about How to set up Single Touch Payroll.

Message us back if you need more help with QuickBooks Online. I'll be around to help. Have a nice day!