With the changes to Superannuation being rolled out over the last year and a half and having to be finalised by the 30th June 2016.  Lots of changes are having to be made by Accounting Software Providers.  If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to make sure that your business is compliant.

In a previous blog we have already discussed what is needed to be SuperStream Compliant, but just for a quick run down. To be SuperStream complaint you need to lodge and pay superannuation electronically, through either a Clearing House or your Payroll Program.

Lodging through a Clearing House

If you are lodging through a Clearing House then you will need to load all your employee’s information into the Clearing House and then each month/quarter you enter the superannuation amounts into the Clearing House, lodge it and then pay it via BPay.

Some Payroll Programs will allow you to export a file you can automatically upload into your Clearing House so that very little data entry is required.

What does your Payroll Program offer?

Most of the major Accounting Software Programs have been updated to allow for SuperStream and the majority of Standalone Payroll Programs have also been updated to allow for SuperStream.  Some of these Accounting Software Programs have set themselves up so that a Clearing House is not needed, the information is distributed directly from the Accounting Program. Lets let’s look at some of them on an individual basis.

MYOB

MYOB has what they call Pay Superannuation.  Pay Superannuation allows you to make super payments directly from you AccountRight program.  Pay Superannuation fully complies with SuperStream requirements.  Pay Superannuation is completely free as it is built into the Software.

You can pay both APRA regulated and self managed super funds from Pay Superannuation.  They do note that your APRA fund must be registered with them for you to be able to process Super through the Pay Superannuation system, but I have looked at the list and it seems that the majority of Superannuation Funds are registered with Pay Superannuation.

If you choose not to register for Pay Superannuation, then you will need to manually process your Super through Clearing House.

MYOB has a YouTube Video that you can watch so you can understand how their Pay Superannuation works.  You can watch it HERE.

Like with setting up a Clearing House, there are a few steps involved in setting up for Pay Superannuation.  They are:

  1. Sign up for Pay Superannuation
  2. Make sure all the details for all Superannuation Funds are set up correctly in your MYOB File
  3. Make sure all your Employees Super details are correct in your MYOB File
  4. Process and Pay Superannuation.

And you can also check the status of your superannuation payment process at a later date.

For MYOB’s AccountEdge (MAC users) and for MYOB Essentials, you can use the Pay Superannuation process as well.

Reckon Accounts

Reckon Accounts has joined with National Australia Bank (NAB) to provide their SuperStream option through a product called NAB Super Pay.  All the requirements of SuperStream are to be set up in Reckon (like MYOB), but when you are processing a file you import the file into NAB Super Pay.

You can pay both APRA regulated and self managed super funds from NAB Super Pay.

There are two really good YouTube videos to watch for this process.  Reckon has one on how to set up their Software so it easily integrates with NAB Super Pay and NAB has one about how their Super Pay works.  You can watch the Reckon one HERE and the NAB one HERE.

NAB Super Pay costs $11.00 a month and then $0.28c per transaction.  This does seem unfair, but if you look at how much it would cost you, in the time it takes to manually process through a Super Clearing House, it is quite cost effective.

The process of setting this all up is similar to MYOB, where you:

  1. Sign up for NAB Super Pay
  2. Make sure all the details for all Superannuation Funds are set up correctly in your Reckon File
  3. Make sure all your Employees Super details are correct in your Reckon File
  4. Process and Pay Superannuation.

In the past Reckon had a product called SuperLink.  It appears that if you used this in the past you can still use it and be SuperStream Compliant, but it doesn’t appear that you can purchase this product anymore and use it.  NAB Super Pay is the way forward for Reckon.

Reckon stand alone Payroll Program and Accounts Program are the only ones that are SuperStream Compliant.

Xero 

Xero offers a product called Auto Super.  Auto Super allows you to make your payments directly from Xero.  Auto Super complies with SuperStream requirements.  Auto Super is completely free, but is only available in Xero’s premium package ($60 per month – payroll for 10 employees).

You can pay both APRA regulated and self managed super funds from Auto Super.

As with the other Accounting Programs, Xero has an excellent YouTube video about their Auto Super product. You can watch it HERE.

The process of setting up for Auto Super is similar to the other products:

  1. Register for Auto Super
  2. Make sure all the details for all Superannuation Funds are set up correctly in your Xero File
  3. Make sure all your Employees Super details are correct in your Xero File
  4. Process and Pay Superannuation.

If you are using the Xero Starter or Xero Standard products, you will have to use a Clearing House and process Superannuation manually.

QuickBooks Online (QBO) 

Within QuickBooks Online payroll is processed through a product called KeyPay.  KeyPay is a simple and easy to use Payroll Processing Product.  For KeyPay to become SuperStream compliant they have integrated with ClickSuper.  ClickSuper is the product that you use to automatically process superannuation lodgements and payments from.

This all may seem a bit buggy but it seems to work quite well together.

You can pay both APRA regulated and self managed super funds from ClickSuper.

Automated Super payments are available for all users and quarterly Super processing is included at no additional cost.  But if you wish to process super more regularly (like Monthly), there is an additional $0.25c per employee per batch submission.

The process of setting up ClickSuper is similar to the other products but with one additional step:

  1. Register for ClickSuper
  2. Connect KeyPay with ClickSuper
  3. Make sure all the details for all Superannuation Funds are set up correctly in your QBO File
  4. Make sure all your Employees Super details are correct in your QBO File
  5. Process and Pay Superannuation.

Payroll up to 10 employees is available in all levels of QBO products, from SimpleStart to Plus. And ClickSuper is integrated into all these levels as well.

I would love to hear from you what you are using for SuperStream compliance and how it is working out for you.