Published on the 18/06/2014 | Written by Newsdesk

Australia’s SuperStream regime comes into force from 1 July this year which will require superannuation contributions to be sent and received electronically – and business has been warned to get ready…

Australian employers, APRA regulated funds and the trustees of self-managed superannuation funds have been warned by the Australian Taxation Office that the clock is ticking toward compliance with the soon to be released SuperStream regime.

While small businesses have until July 2016 to demonstrate full compliance, larger businesses employing 20 people and more have just a year to get their systems in order. The ATO however notes that there is nothing to stop companies complying ahead of the deadline and claims that there could be advantages for those organisations which implement the necessary changes ahead of the final date.

Early trials of the system will start in July, although funds have until November before they have to be ready to receive contributions using the new standard.

According to the ATO over 800,000 employers make superannuation guarantee contributions on behalf of employees, and will be affected by the changes.

The SuperStream system introduces common data items and electronic communications between employees and super-funds.

All superannuation contributions must be made electronically with data sent to the super fund and the payment made electronically through the banking online network, with the two elements linked by a payment reference number to facilitate reconciliation.

Companies which use a superannuation clearing house that already handles superannuation and super payments electronically may only have to provide additional data in the payroll file sent to the clearing house such as the funds’ unique superannuation identifier, bank account details, electronic service address or employee tax file number.
Employers with 19 or fewer employers can use the free small business superannuation clearing house.

For organisations which take a more DIY approach to super, it may be necessary to update accounting and payroll systems ahead of the ATO’s SuperStream compliance deadlines.

While many accounting and payroll systems have implemented changes needed to be compliant with SuperStream, companies need to ensure that they have migrated to the latest versions of the software and have implemented business processes to ensure that they comply with SuperStream. Xero has already upgraded its product to be SuperStream compliant; Reckon and MYOB have committed to do so by July.