Single Touch Payroll (STP) - Employer reconciliation 277-24011011

The STP new reporter intray generates when an employer first starts using STP to report child support deductions/garnishees for their employees.

To action the intray, review all information reported in the STP submission. This increases the likelihood of successful future auto reconciliation.

STP data

To review the STP data, from the organisation:

• go to Reconciliation menu
• select STP mismatch submissions to open the STP mismatch list

The STP mismatch list will display the STP submissions with exception errors. If there are no exception errors the STP submission will auto finalise to the reconciliation report list with an ERR status of INIT. Note: only the latest 3 months is displayed, if no information displays, use the Mismatch List Find to extend the pay date range (twelve months is the maximum range that can be entered).

Employer mismatch errors and warnings

To review the employer mismatch errors and warnings:

• go to Reconciliation menu
• select STP mismatch submissions to open the STP mismatch list

Highlight the pay date with submission lodgement status of EXCEPTION ERROR.

Select Mismatches

This will open the Employer Mismatches and display the warning and errors for the employer.

For all STP New Reporters the employer mismatch list will display the employer mismatch of Employer has commenced reporting through STP. Check YTD Amounts are correct. This is an active warning mismatch, check this warning before creating the ERR.

To action, see Table 3, Step 14.

Employee mismatch errors and warnings

To review the employee mismatch errors and warnings:

• go to Reconciliation menu
• select STP mismatch submissions open the STP mismatch list

Double click the pay date with submission lodgement status of EXCEPTION ERROR to open the STP Mismatch Summary. If no customers are viewable, an Information Detail box will display ‘No Records Found’ select OK. This indicates there are no customers with a mismatch.

If there are customers listed:

• highlight one and
• select mismatches

This will open the employee mismatches and display the warning and errors for the highlighted customer.

Repeat this for each customer reported by the employer.

To action Employee mismatches, see Table 4.

Child support deductions reported through STP have exception treatments. The exception treatments prevent auto reconciliation where there are inconsistencies and errors. These are identified by error and warning messages.

The error and warnings will appear at the employer and employee levels when:

• data does not match Cuba as expected, or
• the data processing finds anomalies

Before updating the submission lodgement status to READY FOR ERR to create the Employer Reconciliation Report (ERR) Service Officers must investigate and action all 3 types of mismatches:

• Errors
• Warnings, and
• Information

Mismatches with a status of error will prevent the ERR creating.

Where employer contact is needed to confirm information, see Table 2, Step 3

Note: pay events without mismatches, are visible in the STP Data Submission windows.

To review and action:

• employer mismatches, see Table 3
• employee mismatches, see Table 4

Before creating the Employer Reconciliation Report (ERR) Service Officers must investigate and action all 3 types of mismatches:

• Errors
• Warnings, and
• Information

Mismatches with a status of error will prevent the ERR creating.

Note: pay events without mismatches, are visible in the STP Data Submission windows.

Select the mismatch error and warning to display.

To review the employer mismatch errors and warnings, from the Organisation window:

• go to Reconciliation menu
• select STP mismatch submission to open the STP mismatch list
• highlight the pay date with submission lodgement status EXCEPTION ERROR
• select Mismatches

To review and action employer mismatches, see Table 3.

To review the employee mismatch errors and warnings. From the Organisation window:

• go to Reconciliation menu
• select STP mismatch submission to open the STP mismatch list

Double click the pay date submission lodgement status of EXCEPTION ERROR to open the STP Mismatch Summary window.

The STP Mismatch Summary only displays customers with exception errors as the default display. To view all customers in the submission, untick the Filter Customer STP Payevent Details box in the General Details section of the STP Mismatch Summary window.

Highlight the customer.

Select mismatches.

This displays the warning and errors for the employee.

Repeat this for each employee reported by the employer.

To review and action employee mismatches, see Table 4.

Review all employer and employee mismatches before contacting the employer. This will help to resolve all mismatches in one conversation.

Service Officers must:

• make sure they are speaking to the appropriate person by asking for their full name and position/title before discussing personal information
• remind the employer of confidentiality requirements of the discussion
• tell the employer the call may be recorded and listened to for quality assurance and training purposes
• offer a receipt number for outbound calls

If the Organisation Contact window does not list a contact name, confirm the appropriate contact details with the employer and update Cuba.

Note: when speaking to an employer do not divulge payer information to anyone except the known payroll contact person or, in their absence, a colleague dealing with payroll.

To review and action:

• employer mismatches, see Table 3
• employee mismatches, see Table 4

Contact the employer to confirm the pay date/pay cycle.

Pay date/ pay cycle is incorrect

• Update the employer pay cycle in Cuba. Make sure the pay date selected is at least 10 days into the future
• Create an EW Account Cleansing intray so the incorrect pay cycle can be ended when no longer in use
• Keep the employer locked until the pay dates reported using STP align to the correct pay cycle in Cuba

If the employer cannot amend their reporting, see Table 5.

Employer has reported in the incorrect field for the deduction type

• When the employer has incorrectly reported a s72A as EW, or
• EW as s72A. Note: s72As do not have expected pay dates and pay cycles

Check that the employer has reported in the correct deduction field for the customer notice that is in place. If the employer reported in the incorrect deduction field, contact the employer to ask them to update their reporting. This includes updating the year-to-date (YTD) reporting by transferring the YTD data from the Child Support Deduction field to the Child Support Garnishee field or vice versa.

Check if a recently delinked customer has been reported or a customer with a withdrawn s72A garnishee has been reported and final payment/s have been received.

• If there is an expected EW deduction for the customer for the pay date reported, the customer must remain in the STP submission to reconcile the final deduction
• If the total actual derived amount is different to the expected amount, the Service Officer must update the variation reason code before updating the STP submission to READY FOR ERR
• If there is no expected deduction amount for the customer for the pay date reported, and an amount has been reported, keep the customer in the STP submission, and
• update the variation reason to last deduction (LDED). The EW ERR creates when the submission status moves to FINALISED
• for s72A submissions update the status to READY FOR ERR. The s72A ERR creates when the submission status moves to FINALISED

Contact the employer to:

• let them know, they do not need to make any more deductions
• confirm that the EW notice has ended or the s72A garnishee notice has been withdrawn

Check if the employer withholding status is ‘EW not appropriate’, if Yes, clear the link.

This mismatch creates when either:

• one employee is reported and has no EW link/s72A notice, action as per Item 2, or
• the employer has reported on an organisation with no links and the employee they reported for is linked to an associated organisation

Contact the employer to find out which organisation ABN the employee should be linked to. A delink and relink may be needed.

To reconcile the deduction/s reported in the STP submission, update the:

• ERR in the employer record, where the customer is linked, with:
• the actual deduction for the customer as $0.00, and
• update the variation reason to DUPZ
• STP submission where the employer has reported the customer with:
• variation reason DUPL, and
• update the submission status READY FOR ERR. The ERR creates when the submission status moves to FINALISED
• Reassign the payment to the correct employer account, if needed

Review S72A notice

Section 72A notices are trackable if the notice is issued after the organisation started STP reporting for that customer/s.

An STP s72A UPDATE NOTICE RQD intray alerts the Service Officer to review the s72A customer.

Investigate if there is still an active s72A garnishee notice with the employer for the employee/s listed in the intray.

If the customer has no debt and the s72A notice is:

• not withdrawn, withdraw the notice
• withdrawn, contact the employer to confirm they received the withdrawal notice and explain they can stop deducting. Confirm the amount advised in the pay event received was not submitted/deducted in error

If the customer has debt, ES will:

• contact the employer to explain they:
• will receive a withdrawal notice for the current garnishee (s72A) and a new garnishee (s72A) at the same time
• need to make the payment to the employer account using the payment reference number on the new s72A garnishee notice
• create STP s72A UPDATE NOTICE RQD CUS intray on the customer. Copy and paste the following instructions:
• Contact the customer to advise – withdrawal of the current s72A notice and re issue of a new notice, which will enable updated payment details to be provided to employer and the deductions to be tracked against the notice
• Payroll ID not to be included
• Route the intray to:
• Region: NATIONAL
• Office: NATIONAL OFFICE
• Stream/Team: NO SNON NAT ICS COMPL
• Position: STP S72A REVIEW

Action needed

• Update the actual amounts in the STP Mismatch Summary as advised by the employer
• Document the ERR using the STP reconciliation template including the outcome of the employer discussion in the STP Mismatch List window
• Change the s72A submission to READY FOR ERR. The s72A ERR creates when the submission status moves to FINALISED
• Update any outstanding unreconciled ERRs with the s72A payments received. Note: no future ERR for $11.00 is needed as the employer is reporting via STP

This can occur for an STP New Reporter, when the employer reports a pay date where Cuba has already created an ERR that includes the pay date reported by the employer.

Delete the pay date/s reported via STP from the MANUAL ERR.

This will enable the STP submission to be actioned.

Documentation must be added to the STP Reconciliation template to explain why the pay date/s was deleted from the manual ERR.

Record a document using the suggested text:

Pay Date/s XX/XX/XX for employee/s XXXX deleted from manual ERR (EMP Rec no.XXXXX) to enable STP submission to be actioned.

This can occur when a duplicate report is received for a pay date already reported and the ERR for that pay date is not reconciled.

See Resources page, Table 2, Item 3.

For any employee/s not reported, a warning message will populate before navigating to the STP Mismatch Summary window to check employee mismatches.

To view the notepad, select Cancel to the warning message.

The notepad Subject heading will display as EWNR, and the notepad will provide a list of expected deductions not reported for each employee. The notepad will include the following details:

• Employer 9-digit CSID
• Submission ID
• Pay date
• Employee CSID
• Employee Name and
• Expected amount

For each employee not reported, the actual amount will derive as zero as there will be no reported YTD. The deduction variation reason will display as STPN.

Action needed

• Check the customer/s with reason code STPN in the STP Mismatch Summary window
• Contact the employer to discuss the variation and why they were not reported in the submission
• Update the variation reason from STPN to the correct reason code
• Update the submission to READY FOR ERR
• When the submission status moves to FINALISED, the ERR is created

If the employer confirms that they reported the deduction, see Table 9 in Single Touch Payroll (STP) – Issue management.

The inability to derive correctly can occur if there is a gap between reporting pay dates.

This occurs when the employer:

• has missed reporting a pay date
• may have changed software products, or
• has updated a previously reported submission

Contact the employer to confirm the deduction where derivation has not occurred.

Employer has reported for a pay date more than 9 days in advance. Expand the date range to view.

See Status reason code description.

The employer has deducted more than the gross amount earned by the employee. Contact the employer to confirm the deduction amount.

Check the ABN in Cuba and whether the employee reported is on one of the other associated employers.

Confirm with the employer which CSRN is correct before deciding to assign the submission.

See Table 5 in Single Touch Payroll (STP) – Issue Management.

This warning is due to the employer transitioning to STP Phase 2 Reporting.

No action needed.

A submission has been lodged for a pay date already reconciled in Cuba.

• Document in the ERR using the STP reconciliation template noting the outcome of any discussion
• Set the STP submission to RECORD ONLY and document in the STP Mismatch List notepad using the STP reconciliation template > record only.

The employer has cancelled the STP submission.

Contact the employer to understand why they cancelled the event. Ask them how/why they cancelled the STP submission?

Are the funds available on the customer account and not been disbursed to the other parent?

• Yes: process a downward adjustment to remove the expected disbursement for the funds to be applied to the employer excess cash account
• No: Is the customer still employed and deductions are still expected?
• Yes: This will allow for the reduction of the amount reconciled in the previous pay date by the excess amount previously applied, seek SSO help before adjusting the current pay date. If an adjustment is made in the current pay date, add a document in the ERR to explain the variation to the customers expected amounts
• No: Where the customer is no longer employed, and the employer error has led to a mistaken disbursement there are limited circumstances where the error can be corrected via a Consolidated Revenue Debt submission. When considering using consolidated revenue funds to correct an error, consider the individual circumstances of the case and facts of what occurred. Seek SSO help when a consolidated revenue submission is needed

See Table 8 in Employer withholding reconciliation and top up.

The ERR for the CANCELLED STP submission is at INIT status.

Has there been a deduction made?

• Yes, confirm the deduction amount. If the deduction amount is different to the expected amount:
• update the reason code
• document using the STP Reconciliation template
• once payment is received reconcile the ERR
• No,: confirm the reason why no deduction was made.
• Update the actual amount to zero and add the correct reason code
• Document using the STP Reconciliation template
• If the customer is no longer employed, delink the customer

The derivation for the YTD is needed.

To derive the deduction, the reported YTD can be balanced to the reconciled plus expected deductions for that financial year.

Example:

Employer A has reported their first STP submission for pay date 01/08/24 for employee B. The actual deduction derived is $250.00, the Total Submitted Amount is $50.00, and the reported YTD is $250.00.

Cuba has derived the actual deduction as $250.00 as there was no previous YTD amount to subtract from the reported YTD.

Employee B had $200.00 reconciled for July 2024 pay dates plus the expected deduction for pay date 01/08/24 is $50.00. This equals $250.00 which balances to the reported YTD for pay date 01/08/2024.

The actual deduction can be corrected from the reported YTD of $250.00 to $50.00 which balances to the Total Submitted Amount on the submission.

Document the source of the YTD and how the figure was calculated in the STP Reconciliation template in the Derivation field.

Contact the employer if unable to match the YTD figure in Cuba with the details the employer reported. Ask the employer for a break-up of the deduction amounts for the STP pay date including any unreconciled pay dates.

The employer has lodged a submission for a reconciled pay date and the amount submitted is different to the reconciled amount.

Contact the employer to discuss the variation.

Determine if the ERR needs to be adjusted.

ERR needs to be adjusted upwards:

• Complete the adjustment upwards template
• Process the adjustment using funds from excess cash or Top Up. If Top Up is used, document the decision in the adjustment upwards template

Note: if funds are not available for use, top up cannot be used before the second Wednesday of the month.

ERR needs to be adjusted downwards:

• Check if the customer is still employed and deductions are still expected. This will allow for the reduction of the amount reconciled in the current pay date by the excess amount previously applied, seek SSO help before adjusting the current pay date
• If an adjustment is made in the current pay date, add a document in the ERR to explain the variation to the customers expected amounts
• If the funds are still available on the customer account and have not been disbursed to the other parent, process a downward adjustment to remove the expected disbursement for the funds to be applied to the employer excess cash account

Where the customer is no longer employed, and the employer error has led to a mistaken disbursement there are limited circumstances where the error can be corrected via a Consolidated Revenue Debt submission.

When considering the use of consolidated revenue funds to correct an error the individual circumstances of the case and facts of what occurred is considered in every instance.

Seek SSO help when a consolidated revenue submission is needed.

See Table 8 in Employer withholding reconciliation and top up.

The full file replacement will appear as a possible duplicate pay date.

One of the pay events in the submission will display a status of CANCELLED, the other will display a status of ACTIVE.

They will both be for the same employee, disregard the CANCELLED pay event. Once all other mismatches have been actioned, set the STP submission to READY FOR ERR for the ACTIVE pay event.

This occurs when a STP Pay Date Exception is keyed in the STP Pay Date Exception window. This adds a FLAG PAYD indicator on the employer.

When this indicator is added, all STP data is sent to the STP Mismatch List window and has a status of EXCEPTION ERROR. Use the FLAG PAYD indicator when either a specific pay date, or a selection of pay dates in the future need to be put aside for exception handling.

Where the pay date/s no longer need to be put aside for exception handling the indicator end date must be updated to the current date.

The employer’s indicator has been updated to Insolvent.

Contact the employer to confirm deduction information.

Check if the employees have ceased employment and end Employer Withholding and/or withdraw s72A.

Use the Insolvency referral macro to refer the employer to the Debt Liquidation Officer.

This occurs when;

• the employer lodges their first STP submission for child support, the total actual amount reports as the YTD amount
• there is a match outcome other than ‘M’, derivation to calculate the total actual amount has not occurred
• there is a variation, the actual amount is different to the expected deductions
• the employer has reported the s72A deduction as EW, there is no expected amount for s72A. See Table 4, Step 11 for the switch process

Before contacting the employer to confirm the deduction/s, check the

• difference in the YTD amounts and the employee/s Mismatch List window, and
• Match Outcome, see Single Touch Payroll (STP) - Match outcomes

Check the STP DG Errors and Warnings window.

See STP Digital Gateway errors and warnings on the Resources page.

This may occur if:

• the employer did not deduct the expected amount
• there are other issues with the STP data received for this employee
• the employee/s identity does not match in the Employee Mismatch List, the actual amount will be displayed as zero

This mismatch in most instances will occur when an employer first reports, as derivation is unable to occur automatically. Find out the actual deduction by:

• looking at all reconciliations for the financial year
• Check previous ERR notepad/s, any correspondence, other notes and the Hold Auto Reconciliation window for details of variations
• asking the employer for a breakup for the STP report and any previous unreconciled pay dates

If the employee/s identity does not match in the Employee Mismatch List:

• confirm the employee’s identity
• look at the total submitted amount and the customer’s previous YTD and subtract from the reported YTD to work out the amount deducted. The total submitted amount, and the derived amount deducted must balance

See Single Touch Payroll (STP) - Match outcomes.

This is a known error.

If this occurs, SSO needs to lodge an SD via mySupport using the Cuba Application and Child Support System Issues form.

Suggested text:

Subject:

STP Employer - Variation Reason Code has incorrectly derived

Text:

STP variation code (PEA/CAS/NEM) should not have applied as there was a variation between the YTD and previous actual amount.

Check the STP data submission window to confirm the name provided in the STP report and check the Match Outcome of the employee.

To view the Match Outcome and match score of the employee, in the STP Mismatch Summary window:

• highlight the customer’s name and
• select Mismatch

See Single Touch Payroll (STP) - Match outcomes

These checks may help:

• identify minor spelling discrepancies, e.g., first and middle name reported in the same field
• a space or special character (hyphen, apostrophe) in the name

Check the other particulars match such as the employee’s:

• STP TFN matches Cuba TFN
• payroll ID matches (if available).

Check:

• any previous mismatch/ERR notepad or correspondence for details of variations
• if there is a hold on auto reconciliations with a notepad explaining the employer was going to process a correction, after child support approval

If satisfied despite the name mismatch, the STP data is reported for the correct customer:

• record a document using the suggested text:

Subject: STP Mismatch - Name Details

Details: Name in STP data:

Name on Cuba:

Employer has confirmed this is the employee's name on their records and all further STP submissions will be submitted with this name.

Or

Name updated by employer, who has confirmed a typographical error had occurred, all future STP submissions should match the Cuba record.

• save the document in the Organisation Details window, as a reference for future occurrences of this mismatch

If it appears the name mismatch is an error made by the employer, check:

• the employee details in Cuba for known alias or preferred names
• if the employer has been contacted in the past about the name mismatch

If the employer has not been contacted in the past, contact the employer to ask them to update the spelling of the name to prevent this mismatch happening again.

Do not contact the employer continuously for each STP pay event.

Note: as EW does not accommodate aliases, and the legal notices must be correct, refer to a SSO in these circumstances to determine if the employee should be linked. The SSO can refer the issue to the site PSM who can email National ICS, if needed.

If the name discrepancy needs investigating, including ICP checks, customer contact etc. Refer to the customer owning office for follow-up in line with CMA.

• Create a General Follow Up intray on the customer’s record
• Ask for the customer’s name to be reviewed and/or updated in line with Updating Child Support customer information

Check the current pay cycles and pay date in Cuba for this employer.

If there is more than one active pay cycle listed, check to make sure they are needed.

• End any pay cycle/s no longer needed
• If unsure, contact the employer to confirm the correct pay cycle. E.g., if there are multiple pay cycles listed in the pay cycle list window or if the pay cycle mismatch is unexpected
• Update the employer pay cycle in Cuba if the current pay cycles are incorrect. Make sure the pay date selected is at least 10 days into the future
• Create an EW Account Cleansing intray so the incorrect pay cycle/s can be ended when no longer in use
• Keep the employer locked until the pay cycle reported using STP, aligns to the correct pay cycle in Cuba

There may be instances when the pay cycle cannot be matched, due to software issues.

If the employer cannot amend their reporting, see Table 5.

Some employers may have created new payroll IDs from the start of STP reporting.

Check notepads relating to previous contact with employer about payroll IDs. If there are no notes:

• contact the employer to confirm the correct payroll ID
• update Cuba for all linked employee/s

Note: payroll IDs that are generally 20 characters long, numerical, alphabetical and include symbols will not fit into Cuba. They appear to be a long alphanumeric combination e.g., 46EX11AM-PL12E-402F-ABC-4F13B62122ED. This indicates the employer is not using any payroll IDs. In these instances:

• do not contact the employer
• the payroll ID can’t be updated

Employees with active garnishee notices (s72A) in place, do not have payroll IDs and will continue to mismatch.

This may indicate the employer has made an error when submitting the data and not updated payroll ID for each linked employee.

• Check the payroll ID for each customer in the same submission, to identify which employees are impacted
• Contact the employer to:
• confirm the details of the submission to make sure accurate data is applied to the correct employee, and
• educate them on the importance of using the correct payroll ID. This is critical when amounts don’t match
• Update the Cuba record, if the payroll number recorded in Cuba is not the same as the employer has provided

This may indicate:

• there is no current payroll ID in place for linked employee/s and the employer is now using the option in the STP reporting fields to use a payroll ID, or
• the employer has incorrectly entered the payroll ID of an employee not linked for child support

Check notepads relating to previous contact with the employer about payroll IDs, to work out if this is an ongoing issue.

• If there are no notepads, contact the employer to:
• confirm the accuracy of the details submitted
• educate them on the importance of using accurate payroll IDs
• After confirming the payroll ID with the employer, update Cuba if needed

Note: payroll IDs that are generally 20 characters long, numerical, alphabetical and include symbols will not fit into Cuba. They appear to be a long alphanumeric combination e.g., 46EX11AM-PL12E-402F-ABC-4F13B62122ED. This indicates the employer is not using any payroll IDs. In these instances:

• do not contact the employer
• the payroll ID cannot be updated

Employees with active garnishee notices (s72A) in place, do not have payroll IDs and will continue to mismatch.

Check the employer has reported the amount as a garnishee (s72A) and the amount received matches the expected periodic amount.

If the amount received does not match the expected periodic amount, contact the employer:

• Ask why there is a variation, given the notice is for a periodic amount
• Explain they need to deduct the periodic amount in the notice

Document the discussion with the employer in the STP Reconciliation template for that STP pay date reported.

Note: PEA does not apply for s72A notices.

Check:

• the STP Data Submission window to confirm the TFN provided in the STP report
• Cuba:
• to make sure the employee has a valid TFN recorded
• for other employee details to make sure accuracy of reported employee

If not satisfied the details of the employee are correct, refer to the customer owning office for follow-up in line with CMA.

• Create a General Follow Up intray on the customer’s record
• Ask for the customer’s details to be reviewed and/or updated in line with Updating Child Support customer information

Check to see if the reported pay date has been reconciled to a payment. This can occur if the payment is received and matches before the STP submission is received, see Table 6 in Single Touch Payroll (STP) – Issue management.

If not, check the:

• DG Errors and Warnings window for error Code 1003. This indicates the agency has received a duplicate event, or
• STP Mismatch Summary window as any amounts associated with a duplicate event will be $0.00

Check the reported YTD and the previous YTD figures. If there is a difference, note how much that amount is and check to see if it has been used in an ERR.

This may indicate the employee is linked to the incorrect employer (perhaps an associated employer). If so, contact the employer, to confirm the correct organisation ABN the employee should be linked to. If the customer is linked to the incorrect employer, delink and relink the customer.

Note: long term use of DUPL/DUPZ must not occur.

This may occur if the employer has selected the incorrect deduction type to report child support deduction/s. Employers must select:

• child support garnishee field to report a S72A
• child support deduction field to report EW

Check and investigate the notice in place for the employee/s.

Contact the employer to explain:

• the difference between a child support deduction notice (EW) and a child support garnishee (s72A). See Conversation Guide for Employer Services Staff
• for s72A first time reporters they must now pay to the Employer Payment reference number

Ask the employer to update their reporting to report in the correct field from the following pay date, including updating the YTD reporting to the correct field. The employer may need to contact their software provider if they are unsure how to correct this.

Document the conversation in the STP Mismatch List window. This notepad will automatically transfer to the ERR when it is created.

The Switch function is used to correct link/notice:

• s72A that was reported as EW to create an s72A report
• EW that was reported as s72A to create an EW report

Once the switch function is used for an employee, they cannot be switched back.

If a Switch is needed:

• from the STP Mismatch List window > highlight the relevant entry > double click to go to the STP Mismatch summary window
• highlight the customer/s who have been reported incorrectly and select Switch. This will create the correct report with an STP status of EXCEPTION ERROR
• make sure the amount in the actual column matches the employer total appropriately, not the year to date. If there are multiple employees a breakup may be needed.
  Note: the switch function switches the selected customer only, and that customer will be set to RECORD ONLY on the incorrect EW deduction
• update the actual amounts in the STP Mismatch Summary as advised by the employer. Where both deduction types were reported for the employee/s update the
• deduction amount in the correct report, and
• STP submission Status for the incorrect report to RECORD ONLY
• document the switch action taken in the STP Mismatch List notepad

Contact the employer to discuss the variation and why they reported a negative amount.

This can occur when the reported YTD is less than the previous YTD, resulting in a negative deduction amount being derived.

Contact the employer to confirm the correct deduction amount.

Note: a negative deduction amount can occur when the employer submits the pay events out of pay date/pay cycle sequence, therefore it is important to check the pay period reported in the STP Data Submission.

When Cuba receives an STP submission, it will check for pay date and pay cycle misalignment and automatically update the pay date on the submission to align with the expected Cuba pay date, if certain criteria is met.

The STP pay date auto assigned intray will create when Cuba has addressed the pay date exception by auto assigning the STP submission to the expected pay date in Cuba

Contact the employer to confirm the correct pay date/pay cycle.

Pay date/pay cycle is incorrect

• Update the employer pay cycle in Cuba. Make sure the pay date selected is at least 10 days into the future
• Create an EW Account Cleansing intray so the incorrect pay cycle can be ended when no longer in use
• Keep the employer locked until the pay dates reported using STP aligns with the correct pay cycle in Cuba

If the employer is unable to update/amend the pay date pay date due to an ongoing/known issue:

• document this in the STP pay date misalignment window, and
• add an STP pay date misalignment indicator

To add the STP pay date misalignment indicator:

• Go to Reconciliation menu
• Select STP Pay Date Misalignment indicator
• Select New to create the STP PDAT EXEMPT indicator, the end date will be auto set to 31/12/4000

This will create the STP Pay Date Indic Review Req intray. The review date for this intray defaults to current date + 12 months. When this date is reached contact the employer.

Is the employer able to update\amend the pay date?

• Yes, end the STP Pay date Misalignment indicator by updating the end date to the current date
• No, update the review date to current date + 12 months

Note: when the date is reached, the intray will only appear in the Service Officers intray list. Before this date, the intrays will appear on the employer.

The STP pay cycle misalignment intray will create when Cuba has addressed the pay cycle exception.

Contact the employer to confirm the correct pay cycle.

Pay cycle is incorrect

• Update the employer pay cycle in Cuba. Make sure the pay date selected is at least 10 days into the future
• Create an EW Account Cleansing intray, to make sure the incorrect pay cycle can be ended when no longer in use
• Keep the employer locked until the pay dates reported using STP align to the correct pay cycle in Cuba

If the employer is unable to update\amend the pay cycle due to an ongoing\known issue:

• document this in the STP pay cycle misalignment window, and
• add an STP pay cycle misalignment indicator

To add the STP pay date misalignment indicator:

• go to Reconciliation menu
• select STP Pay Cycle Misalignment indicator
• select New to create the STP PCYC EXEMPT indicator, the end date will be auto set to 31/12/4000

This creates an STP Pay Date Indic Review Req intray. The review date for this intray defaults to current date + 12 months. When this date is reached contact the employer.

Is the employer able to update/amend the pay date?

• Yes, end the STP Pay cycle Misalignment indicator by updating the end date to the current date
• No, update the review date to current date + 12 months

Note: when the date is reached, the intray will only appear in the Service Officers intray list. Before this date, the intrays will appear on the employer.

STP data from the ATO does not have reason codes. Where possible Services Australia data team create reason codes based on the STP data received from the ATO.

Select the reporter.

For subsequent STP reporters, the following reasons codes are derived:

• Protected Earnings (PEA)
• Casual Employee (CASL)
• Workers Compensation (WRKC)
• No Longer Employed (NEM)

Note: employers are not able to enter deduction variation reasons when submitting a pay event via STP.

Where the derived amount is different to the expected amount, and a reason code has not auto derived, contact the employer to confirm the reason for the variation.

After confirming the reason for the difference, select the appropriate reason code from the reasons dropdown menu in the STP Mismatch Summary window for the relevant customer/s to explain the discrepancy.

For first time STP reporters, the derivation of the deduction will not occur.

Check the reported STP YTD amount to manually derive the actual deduction for each customer.

To derive the deduction, the reported YTD can be balanced to the reconciled plus expected deductions for that financial year.

Example:

Employer A has reported their first STP submission for pay date 01/08/24 for employee B. The actual deduction derived is $250.00, the Total Submitted Amount is $50.00, and the reported YTD is $250.00.

Cuba has derived the actual deduction as $250.00 as there was no previous YTD amount to subtract from the reported YTD.

Employee B had $200.00 reconciled for July 2024 pay dates plus the expected deduction for pay date 01/08/24 is $50.00. This equals $250.00 which balances to the reported YTD for pay date 01/08/2024.

The actual deduction can be corrected from the reported YTD of $250.00 to $50.00 which balances to the Total Submitted Amount on the submission.

Contact the employer if unable to match the YTD figure in Cuba with the details the employer reported. Ask the employer for a break-up of the deduction amounts for the STP pay date including any unreconciled pay dates.

If the amount reported for each employee is different to the expected amount, confirm the reason with the employer.

Before updating the submission lodgement status to ERR:

• document the derivation calculation of the deduction/s to explain how the actual deduction figure was arrived at in the STP reconciliation template
• add the document to the STP Mismatch List notepad for the relevant pay date

When the status moves to FINALISED, the ERR is created.

For the accuracy of the reconciliation and customer matching, all Match Outcomes other than ‘M’ need investigation and follow-up.

Where the actual/derived amount for a customer is $0.00, however, the reported YTD and previous YTD have changed, the match outcome for the customer must be checked as Cuba is not able to derive the deduction amount when there is no match for the customer

To review and action Match Outcomes, see Single Touch Payroll (STP) - Match outcomes.

A split submission is when multiple STP submissions are received for the same employer, for the same pay date for all employee’s they deduct child support for.

Cuba functionality only allows for one EW submission to be finalised to the Reconciliation Report List per pay date.

When STP EW split submissions are received the Digitally Enabled Process (DEP) will attempt to merge multiple submissions into one submission.

See Table 2 in Single Touch Payroll (STP) - Issue management.

Note: Section 72A deduction type submissions are not included in the merging process.

When the DEP is unable to merge split submissions manually merge the child support deductions into one submission.

Update the other submission/s reported for the same pay date to RECORD ONLY and document in the STP Mismatch List notepad using the STP Reconciliation template > Record only.

An update event is a correction to a submission previously made to Child Support.

There are 3 types of STP update events:

• Employer updates
• Child support updates and
• ATO updates

Update events help to reduce the creation of consolidated revenue debt and/or mismatched data.

For the accuracy of the reconciliation, investigate all update events. To investigate and action update events see Single Touch Payroll (STP) - Update events.

Cancelled events and Full File Replacements

Cancelled events occur when some pay events in the same STP submission are cancelled and a new submission is received for the same pay date.

The STP Submission status will display as CANCELLED and needs investigating.

A Full File Replacement allows an employer to replace an entire submission if they make a substantial error when reporting. An STP RECONCILIATION REVIEW intray will create with details of the replaced submission. This intray is created to differentiate between a Cancelled Event and a Full File Replacement.

The STP Reporter indicator can be ended when an employer confirms they are no longer reporting deductions through STP.

An employer may stop reporting through STP when they;

• change software providers and the new software does not support STP reporting
• change the channel in which they report deductions (i.e. the employer is reporting via ADP or returns to reporting manually)
• use online (CSBOS) and ask to go back to reporting deductions via CSBOS

Note: if an employer asks to go back to reporting online, add the online reconciliation channel preference. Updating the channel preference will allow the employer to submit deduction amounts via CSBOS.

Change the CSBOS channel preference

From the Organisation window:

• go to CSA Online menu and select Account Management
• select Channel Preferences

The preferred product channels list box shows the channel preference the employer is currently using.

Update the channel preference

From the Products and Services dropdown menu:

• select RECONCILIATION
• select ONLINE in the channel box and select ADD
• save the selected preference

After saving:

• RECONCILIATION will be added to the preferred product channels list, and
• the ONLINE RECON indicator will display on the Organisation window

Do not end the STP Reporter indicator if:

• there have been no STP submissions received, See Table 8 in Single Touch Payroll (STP) – Issue management, or
• the employer has no linked customers or a current s72A notice

To end the STP reported indicator

From the Organisation window:

• go to the reconciliation menu and select STP Reporter Indicator. The STP Reporter indicator window will open
• in the History box, highlight the STP Reporter start date, to enable the END date box
• update the end to date to the date the STP Reporter indicator is ending
• document the reason for ending the STP Reporter Indicator in the STP Reporter notepad and save

After ending the STP reporter indicator, Cuba will automatically create the monthly ERR on the first day of every month where the employer has linked customers, and unreconciled pay dates in the previous month.

There are 2 triggers to know a payer is no longer employed (NEM):

• STP CUSTOMER CESSATION ADVICE intray
• NEM code displays in the STP Mismatch Summary

When cessation notification is received via the STP Customer Cessation Advice intray, check the intray notepad to identify the submission ID and pay date the cessation advice is reported in.

The intray notepad includes:

• Submission ID
• Pay date
• Employer 9-digit CSID
• Employer ABN
• Employee 9-digit CSID

The cessation date and reason are displayed on the View STP Details List window.

To go to the STP Details List window:

• from the Organisation window > Reconciliation > STP Mismatch Submissions
• highlight the pay date documented in the STP Customer Cessation Advice intray notepad > Go > STP Data Submission

The STP Data Submission List will display.

• Highlight the pay date documented in the STP Customer Cessation Advice intray notepad > Go > View STP Detail List

The View STP Detail List window will display.

To view the Cessation Date and Cessation Reason, scroll to the right in the STP record Details group box.

Scroll across, to view the code as below.

If the Cessation Code = R, T, I, F, V, C or D set the variation reason to NOTEMP.

There are different codes for varying reasons as follows;

• R - Retrenched
• T - Transfer
• I - Ill Health
• F - Dismissal
• V – Voluntary cessation
• C - Contract cessation
• D - Deceased

If the Cessation Code is D and date of death is within the pay event submission, an STP CESSATION DECEASED ADVICE intray create automatically on the employer record and the customer record, with a review date of 2 days. The intray on the customer’s record automatically routes to the Deceased Customers Team to action as a high priority.

If the Cessation Code is R, T, I, F, V or C, an STP CUSTOMER CESSATION ADVICE intray creates automatically on the relevant employer record, with a review date of 7 days.

After viewing the cessation date and cessation reason in the submission, check the NEM reason code has auto derived, if not, adjust the reason code for the customer/s from the reason dropdown menu in the STP Mismatch Summary window.

A reason code is needed if the actual amount is different to the expected amount and Cuba has not auto derived the NEM reason code.

Before updating the submission lodgement status to READY FOR ERR:

• document the cessation advice in the STP reconciliation template
• add the document to the STP Mismatch List notepad for the relevant pay date

When the status moves to FINALISED, the ERR is created.

Delink the customer and document the cessation details in the Employer Withholding (linking) macro. Add the document to the Employer Relationship window notepad.

If the cessation reason reported by the employer is EMPLOYER INITATED – TRANSFER the employee has ceased employment and transferred to another employer who is part of a franchise/associated entity, contact the employer to confirm the new ABN and employment details for a relink.

If the new ABN is associated, lock the organisations and report as associated following the How to report associated employer process.

After actioning the customer cessation advise, delete the STP CUSTOMER CESSATION ADVICE intray.

Action any follow up work generated as a result of actioning the cessation notification, in accordance with the Customer Management Approach (CMA).

• Bundling can be used when multiple STP pay events have been received for the whole month, set to FINALISED and the ERRs are in the reconciliation report list
• Bundling of pay dates is only available when actioning Employer Reconciliation Reports (ERRs) created from STP Reports
• When an employer is reporting STP and remitting deductions per pay date, it is recommended to REC MATCH to the payment, not bundle
• Bundled pay dates will appear in the Payer Employer Withholding Enquiry window with a status of Deleted (DLTE)
• Bundling can only occur if the:
• unreconciled STP ERRs are of the same status i.e. SAVE or INIT
• Create Officer ID is SCSTP, and
• deduction type is the same e.g., EW or s72A
• STP pay dates can be bundled if they have:
• been created, but are not yet reconciled
• gone to exceptions reporting and have been set to FINALISED (after moving the status to READY FOR ERR)
• Bundling is helpful to identify any discrepancies in the Actual Amount and the payment received. As it then displays at the summary level for the month for the linked payers

• To have the STP ERR display for the month as a whole, or
• To have any STP exception reports show together when actioning them at the same time. This can support reconciliation for large STP Employers when an employer provides a monthly reconciliation report
• To be able to see Payer records at a summary level

To summarise the bundled ERRs into one ERR:

• go to the Reconciliation Report List
• highlight the ERRs at INIT
• select Bundle

• When bundling, only the notepad/s attached to the first pay date for that month will transfer across to the bundled ERR
• To view all notepads, go to the STP Mismatch List window

In the bundled ERR notepad document that:

• the ERR has been bundled, and
• each individual STP pay date notepad is in the STP Mismatch List window