Table of Contents

FAQ - Reckon Accounts STP

Q: I have received an error from the ATO in response to my STP lodgement. What do I need to do?

The ATO operates Single Touch Payroll on a partial rejection basis. That is, employees which have valid data within them are processed even when there is a employee with invalid data. The only time the ATO will block a entire file processing is when there is a problem with the company data such as for example invalid ABN, software ID not registered or the software id registered, not matching the ABN provided. 

In the instance where you have a employee with invalid data that causes a error, there is two options that you have to correct this:

  1. Resolve the issue in the accounting software (for example if the ATO gives a error relating to phone number, update the phone number in the software record for the employee), and then submit a update event only including the affected employees
  2. If the employee is going to be paid again in the near future, it is OK to submit the updated data in the next pay run report to the ATO.

Q: Do I need an Auskey to use Reckon GovConnect?

The only time you require a business or tax agent auskey to use Reckon GovConnect is to register the Software ID with the ATO - if you are doing this with the ATO access manager. If you do not wish to use Auskey, you can call the ATO to register your Software ID. The phone number is 1300 852 232. You will need Reckon Limited’s ABN which his 14 003 348 730 and the Software ID which was generated in your govconnect application.

Please note: For Reckon Accounts Hosted users, you will notice a Software ID listed inside Hosted itself, this is separate and not related to Single Touch Payroll services. Please do NOT use the Software ID listed inside Reckon Accounts Hosted itself for Single Touch Payroll, only use the Software ID in GovConnect STP

Q: How do I register my Software ID with the ATO access manager?

First open https://am.ato.gov.au and click Login

Once you click Login the following screen will appear. In the Select the drop down box, choose your local Auskey. If your local Auskey is not found you may need to re-download it. Once you have selected a credential from the list, click Continue

Once the screen loads, click Notify the ATO of your hosted service.  

In the ABN field enter 14003348730 and click Search. Reckon Limited should then appear in the software service provider list. Click Reckon Limited.

You then need to enter the Software ID from your Reckon GovConnect STP application found at portal.reckon.com

Click on Reckon GovConnect, open the business you have registered, and click Company & Adviser Info. You will then see your Software ID listed. Note: You will need to have set up your STP application in the Reckon Customer Portal prior to this step. 

Once you have done this, click Next. The Software ID is now registered and you should be able to submit Single Touch Payroll data via Reckon GovConnect.

Please note: For Reckon Accounts Hosted users, you will notice a Software ID listed inside Hosted itself, this is separate and not related to Single Touch Payroll services. Please do NOT use the Software ID listed inside Reckon Accounts Hosted itself for Single Touch Payroll, only use the Software ID in GovConnect STP

Q:  I am a Tax Agent/Bookkeeper that runs the payroll entirely for my client as a outsourced solution. Should I sign up for Reckon GovConnect myself or have the client do it?

If you as the tax agent/bookkeeper run the payroll entirely outsourced it probably makes most sense for you to setup the Reckon GovConnect system and then report for your client.


 

Q: Can I as a tax agent submit the data on my clients behalf? Do I need to use my Tax Agent Auskey?

Yes, once you setup your details in the Company & Adviser section of Reckon GovConnect, the transmissions will be sent as if reported from the agent. You only need to use a Tax Agent Auskey if you are registering a Software ID via ATO access manager.

 


Q: Do you foresee any issues with the submission of Reportable FBT for an employee in the 2018/19 year where the employee was terminated in the 2017/18 year and a Reportable FBT entry has to be entered before the final pay event. Will this terminated employee in 2017/18 still show up in the 2018/19 Final Pay Event submission?

As of 29-March-2019 we’re waiting for confirmed requirements from the ATO. As the FBT year is between April and March, compared to payroll financial year (July-June), it causes some difficulties for everyone. We’re waiting for ATO to give us final requirements so we know how to handle these. Once we’ve received the confirmed specifications, we will start implementing them for RA 2019 R2.

And then we got to know from ATO later that we just need to post YTD of everything that's reportable using Update event
and that includes FBT as well
and we're already collecting that info and adding to our update event file.

The changes we had to do were:

  1. Show ALL employees of the chosen FY
  2. Export all the pay data as per Update event format
  3. Mark all the YTD amounts as Final (true)
  4. Make sure PayDate and PayPeriod dates are correct


Q: Will you be introducing a 'Final Pay' option before the end of the financial year?

For our EOFY tickbox we’re planning to use the same STP screen. Ticking this box will show ALL the employees that were paid in the financial year. You can then choose the employees data that you want to export, and RA will mark them as “final pay”. 


Additional Resources

Reckon GovConnect STP Webinar FAQ - June 2018


How did we do?

BAS Prefill - Reckon Accounts

BAS W1 Prefill on the ATO Business Portal displays the incorrect balance of Total Gross with Salary Sacrifice

Related Articles

Powered by HelpDocs (opens in a new tab)

Powered by HelpDocs (opens in a new tab)