Twenty years ago, over a beer in a local Bondi pub, Peter Nawn and Paul Sharpe were confronted with a problem by their tradie mates. These tradies were looking for an easy way to comply with payroll and tax rules. They wanted flexible solutions that did not get them bogged down in paperwork, and that gave them freedom to focus on their jobs. There wasn’t anything around at the time that addressed these issues for them, but they were thankful for the easy-to-use spreadsheets that Peter and Paul made for them.
Fast-forward two decades, and many of these tradies still haven’t found anything better or more cost-effective than their trusty spreadsheets. In fact, Australian Taxation Office (ATO) research suggests that there are 100,000 small businesses which do not use any software at all for payroll purposes, and another 137,000 using outdated, non-compliant software.
But the message from micro and small businesses hasn’t changed a lot: they don’t want complicated solutions to small problems. So, after spending 20 years in accounting, innovation and IT, Nawn and Sharpe have combined their talents to build a sophisticated but simple app-and-website solution: Easy Payslip.
“This is the first payroll app in the market to have a fully stand-alone mobile technology that translates complex HR and payroll accounting system requirements into a simple app that employers can use wherever, and whenever they like, and on whatever device they like”, says Sharpe, now operations director.
“Our proprietary system captures relevant data from the employer and in turn reports back to both employer and employee the information each needs to meet their regulatory requirements.”
The app incorporates specific employee entitlements, tax and superannuation, and real-time syncing between Android and the Apple mobile operating system iOS and the website.
This gives freedom and mobility to non-office-based businesses, and flexibility and simplicity to many office-based and part-office-based employers who would rather spend less time in the office.
With the ATO’s announcement that all small businesses need to comply with the new Single Touch Payroll (STP) rule from 1 July, the solution aims to make being STP-complaint a simple and easy process, and one able to be done anytime, anywhere, on any device.
Much like the GST, complying with new tax rules, contemplating setting up new accounting software, and the steep learning curve required is far more than an inconvenience for time-poor small-business owners – it is an unwelcome imposition, and requires skills that can be very different to the ones business owners are trained in, or use to serve their customers.
“It is not surprising that these small businesses are not embracing STP as enthusiastically as the ATO had hoped,” Nawn says.
“These businesses are seeing this is just another set of hoops that they need to jump through.”
A recent YouGov galaxy survey of 517 business owners required to comply with the new ATO regulation found that 70 per cent had “no idea what’s ahead of them” and more than half (55 per cent) had “little knowledge” about how to comply with STP.
Solving these problems for small businesses has been the driving force behind Easy Payslip’s goal to provide business with the simplest way to overcome these challenges.
“Easy Payslip is working to educate as many companies as we can and then to assist them to be STP-ready” says Nawn.
“While originally we had strong take-up from tradies, retailers, and the hospitality industry, we are now seeing growth in professional services customers such as lawyers, doctors, vets and IT businesses. We speak to all our customers when they sign up, and many of them tell us they don’t want to completely change their systems and the way they do things because of one new rule. They love the idea of a simple solution to a simple problem, which allows them to continue running their business as before.”
