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Single Touch Payroll reporting error: Accepted with errors

You must be reporting to the ATO via STP Phase 2

If you haven't already, you need to move to STP Phase 2 to stay compliant with the ATO. But we have you covered – see how easy it is to move.

If a submitted payroll report has a status of Accepted with errors, this means that the ATO has accepted your payroll information, but some information needs fixing before your next pay run.

This can happen when some (but not all) employee information doesn't meet the ATO's requirements. And it's typically pretty easy to fix.

After fixing whatever caused the issue, the Accepted with errors status will remain for the submitted report. But the next time you do a pay run, or if you send an update event, the employee's latest year-to-date payroll totals will be sent to the ATO.

1. Find out what needs fixing

  1. In the STP reporting centre, click the Accepted with errors status to see information about the error.

  2. Identify the affected employee and what needs fixing. There's a brief description and an error code that can help identify what's wrong.
    Here's an example:

    Example accepted with errors message

2. Fix the error

Depending on your error code, here's how to fix it.

CMN.ATO.PAYEVNTEMP.000239

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This error has the description Cessation Reason Code must be provided which means a terminated employee hasn't had their Termination reason reported to the ATO. This can happen if you terminated an employee in the current, or previous, payroll year before moving to STP Phase 2.

But it's easy to fix this in the STP reporting centre.

  1. Open the STP reporting centre (Payroll menu > Single Touch Payroll reporting).

  2. If you've finalised the terminated employee, undo their finalisation:

    1. Click the EOFY finalisation tab.

    2. Choose the Payroll year the terminated employee was finalised.

    3. Select the terminated employee.

    4. Click Remove finalisation and notify the ATO.

    5. Enter your details and click Send.

  3. Undo the employee's termination.

    1. Click the Employee terminations tab.

    2. Choose the Payroll year the employee was terminated.

    3. Click Undo to remove the employee's termination.

    4. Enter your details and click Send.

  4. Redo the employee's termination.

    1. Click Add termination.

    2. Enter the termination details (including the Termination reason) and click Notify the ATO.

      Example employee termination details

    3. Enter your details and click Send.

  5. If you removed the employee's finalisation at step 2, you can re-finalise them.

    1. Click the EOFY finalisation tab.

    2. Choose the Payroll year the terminated employee was finalised.

    3. Select the terminated employee.

    4. Click Finalise and notify the ATO.

    5. Enter your details and click Send.



CMN.ATO.GEN.XML03

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This error means there's missing or invalid information in MYOB that you'll need to update. Do you use AccountRight? Your help is here.

To fix the error:

  1. Check the error details in the STP reporting centre to find out which employee and field has an issue.

  2. Find that field in MYOB.

  3. Update the field with the required information in the correct format.

Field

Where to find it

Required information for this field

Employee Tax file number

Payroll menu > Employees > click the employee > Payroll details tab > Taxes tab > Tax file number

Must be a valid tax file number with 9 digits between 0 and 9

Employee Postcode

Payroll menu > Employees > click the employee > Contact details tab > Postcode

Must be 4 digits between 0 and 9. If it's a 3 digit postcode, add a 0 at the start

Allowance name

Payroll menu > Pay items > Wages and salary tab > check the name of each allowance

Tip: Use the ATO reporting category column to see which pay items are allowances.

Only these characters are allowed:

A-Z
a-z
0-9
! @$ % & * ( ) - = [ ] ; : ' " , . ? /

Employee Income type

Payroll menu > Employees > click the employee > Payroll details tab > Taxes tab > Income type

Choose the employee's Income Type from the dropdown list. If you choose Working holiday maker, also choose the employee's Home country (Country code)

Employer ABN

Payroll menu > Single Touch Payroll reporting > ATO settings tab > Business details for the ATO section > ABN

Must be a valid ABN with 11 digits between 0 and 9

Employee Suburb/town/locality

Payroll menu > Employees > click the employee > Contact details tab > Suburb/town/locality

Only these characters are allowed:

A-Z
a-z
0-9
! @$ % & * ( ) - = [ ] ; : ' " , . ? /

Employee Phone

Payroll menu > Employees > click the employee > Contact details tab > Phone

Only these characters are allowed:

A-Z
a-z
0-9
! @$ % & * ( ) - = [ ] ; : ' " , . ? /

Employee Address

Payroll menu > Employees > click the employee > Contact details tab > Address

Only these characters are allowed:

A-Z
a-z
0-9
! @$ % & * ( ) - = [ ] ; : ' " , . ? /

Employee First name

Payroll menu > Employees > click the employee > Contact details tab > First name

Only these characters are allowed:

A-Z
a-z
0-9
! @$ % & * ( ) - = [ ] ; : ' " , . ? /

Employee State/territory

Payroll menu > Employees > click the employee > Contact details tab > State/territory

Choose the employee's state/territory from the dropdown list

Employee Surname or family name*

Payroll menu > Employees > click the employee > Contact details tab > Surname or family name

Only these characters are allowed:

A-Z
a-z
0-9
! @$ % & * ( ) - = [ ] ; : ' " , . ? /

Registered agent number (RAN)

Payroll menu > Single Touch Payroll reporting > ATO settings tab > Business ABN connected to the ATO section > Edit STP business details > follow the prompts to set up STP again and enter the correct RAN

Must be a valid RAN with 8 digits between 0 and 9

Employer Phone

Payroll menu > Single Touch Payroll reporting > ATO settings tab > Business contact details for the ATO section > Phone

Only these characters are allowed:

A-Z
a-z
0-9

Employer Business Name

Payroll menu > Single Touch Payroll reporting > ATO settings tab > Business details for the ATO section > Business name

Only these characters are allowed:

A-Z
a-z
0-9
\.,?(){}:;'|-_=/@#$%*=&"

Employee date of birth

Payroll menu > Employees > click the employee > Payroll details tab > Employment details tab > Date of birth

Choose the date using the calendar selector or enter in the format dd/mm/yyyy

ABN branch code

Payroll menu > Single Touch Payroll reporting > ATO settings tab > Business details for the ATO section > GST branch number

If your business doesn't report GST for multiple branches, your ABN branch number will typically be 1 or 2, but check with the ATO if you're unsure.

Authorised sender

Payroll menu > Single Touch Payroll reporting > ATO settings tab > Business contact details for the ATO section or Agent contact details for the ATO section

Only these characters are allowed:

A-Z
a-z
0-9
@$%&\*()_-=;:'",.?/ 

Business contact first name/surname or family name

Payroll menu > Single Touch Payroll reporting > ATO settings tab > Business contact details for the ATO section

Only these characters are allowed:

A-Z
a-z
0-9
\.,?(){}:;'|-_=/@#$%*=&"

Once you've updated your payroll information, your employees' latest year-to-date payroll information will be sent to the ATO the next time you do a pay run. Or you can send an update event to the ATO at any time as described in the FAQs below. 

My error code is something else

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If the error description is clear enough and you can work out what needs fixing, you can update the affected employee's details.

Otherwise, check the error code and take a look at this help topic for a solution.

To update an employee's details

  1. Go to the Payroll menu > Employees.

  2. Click the name of the employee to be updated.

  3. Click the applicable tab to make your changes. For example, if you need to update their tax file number, click the Payroll details > Taxes tab. See Adding an employee for more details about each tab.

  4. Make your changes.

  5. When you're done, click Save.

Once you've updated an employee's details, their latest year-to-date payroll information will be sent to the ATO when you do their next pay run. Or you can send an update event as described in the FAQs below.

Need some help?

If you get stuck, contact our support team for help.

FAQs

How do I send an update event to the ATO?

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You can sync your payroll totals in MYOB with the figures held by the ATO. This is a quick way of ensuring the ATO has the current year to date payroll figures for your employees.

If you're reporting via STP Phase 2, you can send an update event from the STP reporting centre. Otherwise you'll need to record a zero dollar ($0) pay for each employee whose year to date payroll totals you want to send to the ATO.

Am I reporting via STP Phase 2?

You can check in the STP reporting centre (Payroll command centre > Payroll reporting > Payroll Reporting Centre). If you don't see this label, you're on STP Phase 1. How do I get ready for STP Phase 2?

STP reporting centre with phase highlighted

Sending an update event for STP Phase 1

You can send an update event for an employee by recording a $0 pay. This type of pay is also called a void pay and it's like any other pay, but all hours and amounts will be zero.

When you record a $0 pay, the employee's latest year to date payroll totals will be sent to the ATO.

  1. Start a new pay run (Payroll menu > Create pay run).

  2. Set the Pay cycle to Unscheduled.

  3. Ensure the Date of payment is in the payroll year you're sending the update event for.

  4. Select only the employees you want to send an update event for.

  5. Because you set the pay cycle to Unscheduled, you'll notice all hours and amounts are removed from each employee's pay (which is just what we want). Here's an example.

  6. Complete the pay run as you normally do and declare it to the ATO. Need a refresher?

Sending an update event for STP Phase 2

Update events are listed in the Single Touch Payroll reporting centre with your other payroll submissions, but with zero (0.00) amounts

  1. From the Payroll menu, choose Single Touch Payroll reporting.

  2. Click the STP reports tab.

  3. Choose the applicable Payroll year.

  4. Click Send update event.

    STP reporting centre with send update event button highlighted

  5. When prompted, enter your details and click Send.

Update events are listed in the Single Touch Payroll reporting centre with your other payroll submissions, but with zero (0.00) amounts