Single Touch Payroll (STP) - Update events 277-24011622

An update allows employers, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), and Child Support to correct previously reported STP submissions.

STP updates provide the most up to date information regarding a submission.

When Cuba is looking for the latest pay event, this will be:

• the last submission received in a previous financial year, or
• if for the current financial year the Pay Date is <= the current date plus 9 days

Note: employers must not make a downward adjustment without contacting Child Support for approval.

Refer to a Service Support Officer (SSO) for help.

If more advice is required, the SSO can refer the enquiry to the PSM via email to National Intensive Collection Services (National ICS) for help, making sure to include the submission row ID in the email.

Follow up work for STP Updates are managed in accordance with the Customer Management Approach (CMA).

When an Update Event is received, one of the following intrays generate:

• STP ATO/EMP UPDATE YTD OR MATCH F/U RQD
• STP CS UPDATE RCVD ERR AT UNR
• STP CS UPDATE RCVD ERR AT REC

View the intray notepad for details about the update. Information may include:

• Submission ID
• Employee name/9 digit CSID
• Financial year
• Changes to the match outcome
• Other specific details relating to the update event e.g. lower or higher YTD amount

When needed a Hold Auto Reconciliation will automatically generate on the employer and create an intray. This will stop auto-reconciliation.

An additional reason is added to the Hold Auto Reconciliation window detailing the reason why the hold was set to inform the user that it was due to an STP Update event.

For:

• Employer updates, go to Step 3
• Child Support updates, go to Step 4
• ATO updates, go to Step 5

An Employer Update triggers when an employer updates their records via STP for a pay date they have already submitted.

Employer Updates can only relate to an update in the employee Year to Date (YTD) amount. Employers cannot provide update details of the specific period. When the employer update is received, the Pay Date, Period Start Date and Period End Date will usually be the same date.

Employers:

• can adjust the employee YTD upwards without child support authorisation
• should not adjust the employee YTD downwards without child support authorisation

If an employer did not receive authorisation before making a downwards adjustment and the funds have been transferred to the receiving parent, the adjustment may not be considered.

To view the update details, go to Step 6

This update generates when new information is received, and a system re-calculation is needed. The changes are made internally by child support systems and links to a pay period.

The most common re-calculation is the Actual Amount, which is calculated on the YTD amounts in the submissions.

E.g., The employer submits the employee YTD amounts, and the child support system calculates the difference and displays this as the Actual Amount. If the employer then provides new information there may be a change to this calculation which will show as a Child Support update.

Note: the date on the child support update will not always display as the related STP submission. Different dates display when the original STP submission has a new pay date allocated. View the pay event related to the Child Support Update in the Compare Events window.

To view the update details, go to Step 6.

The ATO sends new information to Child Support.

The most common update is advice of Low Confidence Indicator (LCI) in the data received from an employer.

An LCI is received when the ATO does not have confidence in the STP data. This may be due to a known error such as a duplicate employee record.

The LCI will remain on the employee profile in the Low Confidence Indicator window until the:

• ATO removes the indicator, or
• financial year ends

To view the update details, go to Step 6

View all updates for deductions and garnishees in the STP Update Event window. Access the STP Update Event window from the:

• Organisation front screen > Reconciliation > STP Update Events
• Organisation front screen > Reconciliation > STP Mismatch Submissions:
• Highlight a record in the list
• Select Go > STP Update Events
• CSA Main Menu > Accounting > Employer Reconciliations > STP Data Submission:
• Key the Australian Business Number (ABN)
• Highlight the record
• Select Go > STP Updates Events

Multi CSRN Employers

Some employers have one ABN and multiple Child Support Reference Numbers (CSRN). All update events will display in the STP Update Events window for every CSRN with the same ABN that have employer attributes. Only one intray will generate on the most relevant CSRN.

Actioning the update on the relevant CSRN and changing the status to ACTIONED will automatically apply the change to all the CSRNs that share the same ABN.

Identify the update event type in the STP Update Events window. The Type column of the STP Events Received screen displays as:

• Emp Update
• CS Update
• ATO Update

The Related Deduction Records screen shows what event type the update is being compared to and the status:

• Pay Event Deduction (PED) will have the status:
• Active (ACTV), or
• Finalised (FNLD)
• An ERR will have the status:
• INIT, or
• REC

The Update Event will have the status:

• Unactioned (UPUA) or
• Actioned (ACTN)

Identify the update event to determine if a change needs to be made to the employer account.

Unactioned update events, automatically display when the STP Update Events window opens.

To compare the update event to the original pay event select Compare in the STP Update Events window.

The STP Events Received box displays the update event/s.

To view the pay event related to the update event:

• Highlight the update event (if there is more than one update received for the pay date, highlight each update event individually for each customer)
• The Related Deduction Records box enables and displays the related deduction record:
• The Pay Event Deduction (PED) and/or
• An Employer Reconciliation Report (ERR) if it has been created

The PED status will show if it is ACTV or FNLD.

The ERR status will show if it is INIT or REC.

• Select the relevant deduction record. The Compare button is enabled
• Select Compare events to display the Compare Events window

If an ATO LCI has been received a ‘Y’ displays in the LCI column.

To sort unactioned STP Update Events access the Sort function from the STP Update window. The sort function allows the user to sort ascending or descending by:

• Pay date
• Update type
• Status (Unactioned, actioned, info only)
• Create date/time

To view all STP Updates Events, access the Find function by using the magnifying glass in STP Update Events window. The find function allows the Service Officer to:

• search by CSRN
• filter by status/event type, and
• search by pay date

Information Only is a status that sits in the background of the STP Update Events window. To view the information only updates, select Information only status in the Find Function.

The Compare Event window displays details of the original submission and the update event side-by-side. Updated information from the original submission is displayed in red, highlighting the changes to review.

Child Support Updates can be updated from this window if:

• the ERR has a status of INIT/SAVE, or
• there is an active mismatch with a status of EXEMPTION ERROR

The Update functionality from the Compare Events window will automatically go to the most appropriate window to action the Child Support Updates.

ATO and Employer updates cannot be updated from the Compare Events window as they do not relate to specific pay periods. The Compare Events window specifies the related pay period and pay date in the details of the original pay event in the right column. Changes to ATO and Employer Updates are made in either the:

• STP Mismatch Summary window, or
• Reconciliation Report Summary window

When a child support update event is received, determine if the new information should be used.

STP CS UPDATE RCVD ERR AT UNR intray

For details about when this intray creates, see Resources page, Table 4, Item 15 in Single Touch Pay (STP) - Employer reconciliation.

If work has not started on the STP submission and the employer has not been contacted, the child support update is the more accurate information. Use this information when addressing any EXEMPTION ERRORS.

Amend the ERR/mismatch from the Compare Events window by selecting update.

Go to Step 14.

STP CS UPDATE RCVD ERR AT REC intray

For details about when this intray creates, see Resources page, Table 4, Item 16 in Single Touch Pay (STP) - Employer reconciliation.

Complete a review of the updated information to determine if an update to the deduction amount for the customer is needed.

Contact the employer to discuss the variation/s, displayed in red, in the Compare Events window if:

• the ERR for the pay date has been FINALISED, and reconciled using funds received or top up, and
• funds have been sent to the receiving parent

If the child support update is for a:

• higher amount (upward adjustment) and the ERR has been finalised, go to Step 13
• lesser amount (downward adjustment) and the ERR has been finalised, go to Step 13

When an ATO or employer update event is received determine if the new information should be used.

A STP ATO/EMP UPDATE YTD OR MATCH F/U RQD intray creates. For details about this intray, see Resources page, Table 4, Item 14 in Single Touch Pay (STP) - Employer reconciliation.

Complete a review of the updated information to determine if an update to the deduction amount for the customer is required.

• Review the intray notepad to identify the STP submission the update event relates to, check the submission ID
• Review the unactioned update event/s in the STP Update Events window for each customer
• Compare the update event to the ERR and/or Pay Event Deduction (PED). The variations will display in red

Employer contact may be needed if:

• the change in the YTD amount cannot be accounted for
• there are other existing issues such as unexplained variations

After confirming the details of the update event changes:

• can be made to either the:
• ERR with a status of SAVE/INIT, or
• STP submission with a status of EXCEPTION ERROR
• in the ERR via an adjustment if the ERR has a status of SUB/REC

If the employer update is for a

• higher amount and the ERR has been finalised, go to Step 13
• lesser amount (downward adjustment) and the ERR has been finalised, go to Step 13

If the update event intray notepad is advising the YTD amount reported is higher than previously reported, it may mean that there have been no previously reported pay events for the customer/s for that financial year.

Check the:

• STP Reporter indicator to determine when the employer started reporting via STP
• customers STP Historical Information as there may not be a previous YTD amount to compare to
• This means there have been no reported STP pay events received for that employee in the past
• This may occur when the employer is finalising their end of financial year STP reporting

No action is required when there is no change to the YTD between the employer update and original pay event submission for both deduction/garnishee. This is received as an ‘information only’ update

Go to Step 14.

Investigate all LCI’s received by checking the STP submission data for accuracy. This includes checking the:

• customer information
• employer information
• reported deduction or garnishee amounts

Contact the employer to obtain the actual amount for that employee while they have a LCI associated with their STP reporting. If the employer advises they need to adjust any ERRs that are already reconciled, go to Step 13

Upward adjustment

• To make an upward adjustment see the Employer Reconciliation Reports (ERRs) for non STP employers Cuba Process Help
• Adjust the ERR using funds received or top up. Note: top up cannot be used before the second Wednesday of the month
• Document the decision in the relevant ERR notepad, using the adjustment documentation template

Downward adjustment

If the employer has provided incorrect deduction amounts, and disbursement of the higher amount has occurred, contact the employer to follow up on how the adjustment/error occurred.

If the employer requires funds to be refunded or the employer remitted a lesser amount due to the adjustment and disbursement was made via top up, then a consolidated revenue debt will create.

There are limited circumstances where the error can be correct 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.

Refer any adjustments that will create a consolidated revenue debt to the site PSM.

See Table 8, Step 3 in Employer withholding reconciliation and top up

After actioning the relevant update event/s, in the STP Update Events window, update the status in the Status Update group box.

Updates can be done on single or multiple rows.

Highlight the relevant update event/s with a status of ‘Unactioned’ and select Update.

The status defaults to Actioned.

This can be reversed by highlighting the relevant row/s and selecting UNACTIONED and then select Update.

There are 2 update reports that are sent to National ICS daily. The reports are for events not stored and processed in Cuba.

If an employer advises they sent through an Update Event, and it doesn’t appear in Cuba, escalate to an SSO. The SSO can request the report from National ICS via their site PSM if necessary.

Update and Delta Pay Events Report

• Only events that have a valid Tax File Number (TFN) or ABN can be matched in Cuba and display in the STP Updates Events window
• Any Update Event received with an invalid ABN will be set to a status of DISCARDED. This can happen when the employer uses a Withholding Payer Number (WPN) instead of an ABN

Digital Gateway errors and warnings report

Before information is displayed in Cuba, the Digital Gateway (DG) team:

• process all submissions from the ATO
• derives Child Support YTD deduction amounts, and
• checks for specific errors and warnings

Any submission that does not have amounts in the Child Support deduction/garnishees fields of the ATO transmitted data are not forwarded to Cuba.

Errors and warnings identified by the DG are displayed in the DG Errors and Warnings report.