Answer
If you notice a Failed message in your STP (Single Touch Payroll) mailbox, please do not panic. In most cases, this does not mean that your STP submission was rejected by the ATO. It usually means Lightning Payroll was unable to collect the ATO's response within the available response-checking window.
The STP mailbox can show these statuses:
- Transmission Successful
- Transmission Unsuccessful
- Sent / Awaiting Response
- Failed
- Manually Completed (a Failed message you have confirmed with the ATO, see below)
The colour of the STP button shows the status even before you open the mailbox. The colour by itself is not usually an issue. If Lightning Payroll detects a problem that needs your attention, it will show a pop-up alert. If no pop-up alerts are appearing, there is usually nothing you need to do immediately.
Transmission Successful
This means the ATO has accepted the STP submission. No further action is normally required.
Transmission Unsuccessful
This is the main status that normally requires action. It means the ATO has rejected the submission, so something needs to be corrected and resent.
If this happens, Lightning Payroll will continue alerting you on the Pays screen until the issue is resolved. This is different from a Failed response check.
Sent / Awaiting Response
This means the STP submission has been sent, but Lightning Payroll has not yet collected the ATO's response. In many cases the response is available quite quickly, but the ATO can take up to three days to provide a response.
Failed
A Failed STP message does not mean your file failed to reach the ATO. It means Lightning Payroll was not able to collect the ATO's response, whether successful or unsuccessful, within the available response-checking window.
Once a message has been marked Failed, Lightning Payroll will not check for its response again. Reopening the Single Touch Mailbox will not retrieve it, and there is no resend or retry button for a failed response check. This is expected: the submission itself has already gone to the ATO, and only the response receipt was missed. To confirm the lodgement arrived, check the ATO's own records using the steps below.
Once you have confirmed that the ATO received the submission (for example via Pays >> Single Touch >> Check ATO STP Records), you can click Mark Complete beside the Failed message in the Single Touch Mailbox. This only changes how Lightning Payroll records the message and nothing is sent to the ATO. If you marked it by mistake, click Undo Manual Complete to return it to Failed.
This is usually nothing to worry about unless it happens repeatedly. A Failed response check is not the same as an ATO rejection. If the ATO actually rejects the submission, Lightning Payroll will normally show this as Transmission Unsuccessful and alert you because action is required.
Lightning Payroll will trigger a response check when you open Pays >> Single Touch >> Single Touch Mailbox more than two minutes after sending an STP submission. This is a good habit to get into, as it helps confirm whether the submission has been accepted.
It is rare for an STP response to take longer than a few minutes, although the ATO can take up to three days to provide one. If the response has not appeared straight away, you can check again later.
The desktop app can also check for responses when you close the program, while the online and mobile versions check overnight.
Using more than one computer or platform
One common cause of a Failed response check is using Lightning Payroll on more than one system or platform, for example using both the desktop version and the web version, or using the desktop software on multiple computers.
The ATO only makes each STP response available to download once. Once one system has collected the response, the ATO removes it from their end. This means another system using a different or unsynchronised database may not be able to collect that same response later.
For example, if one computer successfully downloads the ATO response, but another computer has not been updated with the same backup or database, the second computer may still show the message as Failed because it missed the response.
How to confirm whether the ATO received your STP submission
For extra peace of mind, you can log in to the ATO's Online Services for Business and go to Employees >> STP reporting to view your STP submission history.
If the ATO shows the submission as received, there is usually nothing further you need to do in Lightning Payroll.
When should I contact support?
Please contact Lightning Payroll support if:
- You are repeatedly seeing Failed STP messages.
- You see a Transmission Unsuccessful message.
- The ATO portal does not show the submission after waiting for the ATO response period.
- You are unsure whether you are using the same database across multiple computers or platforms.
In most cases, a single Failed STP response check is not a cause for concern.
