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How to resolve payroll items incorrectly reported to STP

While reconciling your payroll & STP data you may come across instances where payroll items have been reported incorrectly. Many payroll items can be updated by you and resubmitted via STP. 

This article will cover how to update STP categories for the following items:

  • Leave entitlements
  • Allowances & pay items
  • Deductions
  • Paying entities (office codes)
  • Income type
  Tip: To review the ATO's requirements on STP reporting categories, check out their helpful resource.
Leave Entitlements

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. 

  Tip: The most common incorrect categorisation of leave entitlements are 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 Rules. 
  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. 

Allowances & Pay Items

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. 

  Tip: The most common incorrect categorisation of allowances are 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're wanting to change. 
  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. 

Deductions

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. 

  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. 

Paying Entities

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, which paying entity the employee was paid under will not necessarily be 1 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 below instructions are for changing 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. 


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

  1. Navigate to the employee's profile > Financial > YTD.
  2. To the right, select Edit history > Office code. 
  3. Here you will find all of 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 all you to select individual payslips. 
  5. Select the New office code 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. 

Income Type

The income type associated with an employee is different from all other items above in that it requires input from both the employee & 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 quite 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 of 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. 

How to get help

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

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

With the above information provided in the first contact with us, we can dive into your issue & provide a resolution faster. 

FAQs

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. 

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