How Do I Send Single Touch Payroll From the Lightning Payroll Web or Mobile App?

The Lightning Payroll web and mobile apps submit Single Touch Payroll (STP) directly to the ATO over the internet. No ATO Machine Credential (M2M) file is required. Before your first submission, you must register your company's SSID with the ATO so it can authenticate cloud-based submissions. See How Can I Send STP Using Lightning Payroll? for SSID registration steps.

Submitting STP From the Pays Screen

1. Open the Pays screen and navigate to the pay run you want to submit.
2. Make sure all pays in the run are marked as complete before submitting.
3. Click the Single Touch menu, then select Submit Payroll To ATO.
4. The Single Touch Selection step loads. Select the employees to include and confirm the event type:
   • Create a new/pay event ÔÇö sends additional year-to-date figures for a pay run not yet reported.
   • Create an update event ÔÇö refreshes existing year-to-date figures for a period already sent.
   • Adjust incorrect pay/new event parent totals ÔÇö corrects the gross (W1) or tax (W2) total of a previously sent event without resending employee figures.
5. If the pay run has pays processed across more than one date, choose the correct Processed Date from the drop-down. The financial year and available employees update automatically.
6. If this is the last pay run for these employees in the financial year, tick Final pay for the financial year?
7. If you are submitting on behalf of a client as a tax agent or intermediary, tick Submit as a third party/tax agent? and choose Submit as a Registered Agent or Submit as a Business Intermediary.
8. Click Next. On your first submission, a Declaration modal appears. Read and accept the declaration to continue. A separate Cloud Software Authentication & Authorisation Declaration also appears; accept it to authorise Lightning Payroll to transmit on your behalf.
9. Lightning Payroll validates the submission data. Any issues are listed on the validation screen. Resolve them and click Retry if needed.
10. The Single Touch Payroll Preview screen shows the employee records that will be sent. Use Detailed Report or Summary Report to review the figures before submitting.
11. Click Submit to send to the ATO.

Checking Submission Responses

After submitting, open Single Touch >> Single Touch Mailbox from the Pays screen to review the ATO's responses. The mailbox shows all submissions, their status, and any error or warning messages returned by the ATO. Click any row to see the Employee Records and ATO Responses (Errors/Warnings) for that event, and download a PDF record if needed.

Finding Your SSID

Your SSID is displayed beside your company name in the top navigation bar of the web and mobile apps. You need this to register Lightning Payroll with the ATO before your first cloud submission. See How Can I Send STP Using Lightning Payroll? for full registration instructions including using ATO Access Manager.