Pay superannuation

Managing your employees' superannuation details can be stressful, especially with the ATO requirement to pay super at the same time as payroll. Delays in onboarding from not knowing an employee's super fund, or payment bounce-backs from incorrect details, only add to that stress.

That's why foundU has partnered with Flare for superannuation stapling. 

Superannuation stapling is a government initiative designed to reduce the number of super accounts an employee accumulates over their working life. Rather than employees defaulting into your business's nominated super fund when they're onboarded, you're required to find and use their existing "stapled" fund instead.

To keep onboarding running smoothly and ensure super is paid correctly and on time, foundU automatically performs a stapled fund lookup for each new employee you onboard. To make this happen, you'll need to authorise Flare, our super stapling partner, to perform these lookups on your behalf. This is done through the ATO Access Manager Portal.
 

To authorise Flare within the ATO Access Manager Portal:

1. Your business's Principal Authority or Authorised Administrator will need to log in to ATO Access Manager.
2. Within the Access Manager, navigate to the ‘Who has access to my business’ section.
3. Locate the blue banner, then select ‘Appoint new business’ within it. 
4. Enter 46 607 120 892 in the ABN search box. This is the ABN for Flare HR Pty LTD, not your business ABN. 

5. You’ll then be redirected to the page below.

   

6. Scroll down and grant the required permissions (Employee commencement form) so Flare can request your stapled super fund details on your behalf. (See the blue ticks in the image for clarity.)

   

  Tip: You'll need to repeat this process per paying entity. Once logged in to the ATO Access Manager, the whole process will take about 5 minutes. 

Don't have access to ATO Access Manager? 

You'll need to be the Principal Authority or Authorised Administrator in RAM (Resource Authorisation Manager) with full access to the ATO. If that's not you, pass these instructions to your business owner, finance team, or payroll team.

  Please note: If your business doesn't authorise Flare, stapled fund lookups won't be available for your business, and your employee onboarding experience will result in manual super lookups.

Paying superannuation on top of everything else in your pay run can feel like just another compliance box to tick, especially now that Payday Super requires it to happen in step with payroll, not weeks later.

That's why foundU has partnered with Beam, so super payments happen directly from your platform, with fewer manual steps and fewer chances for a payment to bounce back.

  Interested in using Beam? Check out our set-up guide, Beam - Superannuation integration.

If you're registered with Beam, you will automatically trigger a Member Verification Request (MVR) to confirm and verify that an employee's super fund details are correct. This helps identify potential issues before super contributions are submitted and paid, significantly assisting you with Payday Super compliance. 

Verification is triggered by 2 key actions:

• When a new employee is approved after onboarding
• When an employee's super fund details are updated

  Please note: Super funds are required to respond to requests for verification within 24 hours.

Admins and employees will only be notified if any errors are identified during the verification; these errors will be flagged in three places: 

• On the employee's profile when viewing their 'Financial' tab
• On the dashboard, via a call-to-action card
• On the home page of the Employee App, via a call-to-action card 

It is important to review your superannuation settings before you start paying your super so you can determine things such as your Superstream file format (if using an external clearing house), and whether you want to allow for employer additional super contributions or superannuation salary sacrifice for your employees. 

  Please note: These settings affect all entities within your foundU platform.
 

To access your Superannuation Settings:

1. In the main menu, navigate to Payroll Settings > Superannuation. 
2. Here you will see your superannuation settings. You will have the following settings to configure:
   • Default Super rate (%) - The default super rate percentage. This cannot be lower than the minimum super rate percentage. 
     
       Hot tip: foundU automatically updates your default super rate in line with any legislated increases each year, so there’s nothing you need to manage.
      
   • Default Super Fund - Select your business's default super fund. 
   • Pay superannuation on every hour for under 18 employees - Enable this setting to allow super to be paid on every eligible hour of work completed, rather than requiring a threshold of 30 hours per week.
   • Allow employer additional super contribution - Choose whether admins can make additional employer contributions to their employees' superannuation fund.
   • Allow employees to create or edit superannuation salary sacrifice - Choose whether employees can choose to make additional pre-tax contributions to their superannuation through a salary sacrifice arrangement.
   • Exception Batching - When enabled, batch exception payments will be made separately with an extended due date. All other payments will follow the standard 7-day schedule that is required for QE Day (Payroll date) payments.
   • Superstream Format - This is the format of your Superstream file used for uploading to your clearing house. Your clearing house will tell you which format they require for the file. 
   • Superannuation Employer ID - This is the unique identifier that is provided by your superannuation fund.
     • This field is required if you are using the Superstream to pay superannuation. If you are paying with Beam, you can leave this field blank. 
   • Superannuation File Reference - This is a unique identifier that is provided by your superannuation fund. It is used in the Superstream file you upload to your chosen clearing house to ensure your payments are processed correctly.
     • This field is required if you are using the Superstream to pay superannuation. If you are paying with Beam, you can leave this field blank. 
3. Once you've made the relevant changes, select Save Settings.

Beam set up and settings

Beam is foundU's free integrated solution for fast, easy superannuation payment processing. Beam provides Australian businesses with a 5-star clearing house experience, regardless of which default super fund they use. 

  If you haven't yet registered to use Beam, check out our Beam - Superannuation integration guide for detailed instructions on getting set up. 

Once you have generated payroll, your Superannuation page will automatically populate with the super totals you need to pay for your employees. 

There are two ways you can pay your superannuation:

• Use our free Beam integration to pay your employees' superannuation directly from the platform, or
• Upload the Superstream file to your chosen clearing house

Below, we will take you through the key things you need to know about either method, before outlining the steps to action the payment. 

Pay via Beam

foundU has partnered with Beam, a free clearing house built into your platform, so super payments go out directly from foundU with fewer manual steps and less chance of a payment bouncing back.

You can set up and configure Beam per entity, and choose to process all or just some of your entities as needed. 

Once you have registered your business entity with Beam, paying superannuation is easy, and all your employees' super notifications will be sent directly to your platform. 

  Please note: If transitioning to Beam, please ensure that any batches that you do not want to pay through Beam have been processed before registering with Beam.
 
 

Pay via a clearing house

If you have chosen to pay super through your own external clearing house, you can manage this on your platform using the Superstream export. 

This export works by uploading it to your external clearing house. The clearing house then makes the payments to the employee's individual superannuation funds. 

Before using the Superstream export, it is important that you review your platform's superannuation settings, including your selected Superstream Format. 

  Please note: If you have the incorrect Superstream Format selected, you will receive an error when trying to upload your file to your clearing house. 

For more information and the steps on how to do this, check out our section above on Superannuation setup and settings. 
 

Paying superannuation

Regardless of which method your business uses, the steps to navigate to your superannuation page remain mostly the same.
 

To pay a super batch (Beam or clearing house):

1. In the quick menu, navigate to Payroll > Superannuation.
2. In pending, your superannuation batches will be displayed per paying entity. You can also use the filter to adjust your view to a specific date range, paying entity or employee.
   
     Hot tip: You can select on the overdue, due soon, or upcoming badges in the top-right to quickly filter your view. 
   
   
3. Select the 'Review' button located to the right of the batch. You will be able to view the paying entity, Payroll Date, and total super amount of the batch. 
   
     Hot tip: You can also review the superannuation details for an individual employee by selecting the arrow to the right of the employee. This will show you the following totals for the individual employee:
   • Super guarantee
   • Super salary sacrifice
   • Employee personal
   • Employer additional
   • Total
     
     

From here, what happens next depends on your chosen payment method. 
 

Paying via Beam: 

1. Select the Beam option from the floating action bar at the bottom of the page. 
   
     Please note: After selecting Beam, if your Beam account is not set up, you'll be prompted to do so, starting with selecting an entity. Ensure you enter a refund account; otherwise, you'll be prompted to finish reviewing your superannuation settings first. 
    
2. You'll then be prompted to choose a payment method, e.g., direct debit, EFT, or BPAY.
   
     Please note: If using EFT or BPAY as your payment method, ensure you use the batch payment details exactly as provided. Each payment will have a unique reference number, different from the next payment. This is how Beam can link the payment to the relevant batch. For your convenience, there is a copy button next to each detail.
   
   
3. The batch will move into the Processed tab. In the Status column, you will see:
   • Awaiting Payment - Payment is waiting to be sent. Use the Pay details for EFT and BPAY payment methods. 
   • Awaiting Clearance - This will display once the payment has been made, but needs to be cleared through Beam.
   • Paid via Beam - Payment has been accepted via Beam. 
     
     

Paying via a clearing house: 

1. Select 'Superstream' from the floating action bar at the bottom of the page. Optionally select the checkbox to include line item breakdown in your report, before selecting Download CSV. 
   
     Hot tip: You can optionally select individual employees to process by selecting the checkbox next to their name before downloading the Superstream file. 
   
   
2. A CSV file will then be downloaded and ready to upload into your clearing house.

3. Select 'Mark Processed'. This will move the batch to the Processed tab. This action is best practised to ensure your Pending page stays clean and you don't accidentally overpay your employee's superannuation. 

   

4. Once you have confirmation of payment from your clearing house, select Actions > Paid to change the status of your batch to Paid.
   
     Hot tip: From the Actions menu, you can also re-download the Superstream file or export it as a CSV. 

Using the SuperStream report

If you prefer to view your employee's superannuation in a report style format, you can do so from our SuperStream report which is found by navigating to Reports > Financial > SuperStream. 

With this report, you can filter by specific dates and view the following information for each employee:

• The total Superannuation Guarantee amount
• The total Salary Sacrifice amount
• The total Employee Personal Super Contribution amount
• The total Employer Additional Super Contribution amount
• The employees Super Fund details 

  Please note: This report defaults to displaying results on an Accrued Basis (by period end date), you will need to select the Cash Basis checkbox for the results to display as so. 

If you make an adjustment to an employee's generated payslip, this can create a negative super batch for them. If the adjustment is made after you've already paid the employee's super for that pay period, the negative amount will automatically merge into the next available eligible batch for the employee. 

Pending negative batches are easily recognisable on your Superannuation page by the orange warning symbol. 

Where a negative balance cannot be fully offset by a single batch, the remaining balance will automatically carry forward and continue to be applied to future eligible super batches until it has been fully reclaimed. 

  Please note: A negative balance can only be carried forward for up to 12 months from the original QE day date (payroll date).

You can easily view and track how negative balances have been applied over time by navigating to the 'Processed' tab and hovering over the warning symbol. The payment will also be highlighted with the status set as 'Auto Merged'.  

Clearing negative batches

In some cases, you might not want, need or be able to reclaim the superannuation that has been overpaid to the employee — for example, if the employee is no longer working with you and there's no future batch for the negative amount to come out of. In this instance, you will need to clear the batch so that it does not auto-merge forward. 

To clear a pending negative batch:

1. From the Superannuation page, find the negative batch and select Review.
2. The review page will show the individual employee and their negative superannuation balance. From the taskbar at the bottom of the page, select Clear and, if you are certain you want to remove the batch, select Clear Batch. 

Contact us: If you have cleared a negative batch by mistake, you will not be able to undo this. For assistance in retrieving the batch, please reach out to our support team at help@foundu.com.au.

You can export your super information at any time from the platform. Once processed, batch details can be exported as a CSV File for reporting.
 

To export information from a super batch:

1. In the quick menu navigate to Payroll > Superannuation.  

2. Navigate to the Processed tab and on the batch you would like to export and select Actions > CSV Export. 

   

3. Once exported, you will see the following information in the CSV file:
   • ID - Employees foundU ID
   • Superfund - Employees chosen Superfund
   • Member ID - Employees Superfund member ID
   • Employee
   • Period Start
   • Period End
   • Super Guarantee - Super guarantee amount
   • Salary Sacrifice - Salary sacrifice amount
   • Employee Personal Super Contribution - Employee personal super contribution amount
   • Employer Additional Super Contribution - Employer additional super contribution amount
   • Total - Total amount of super paid
   • Payment Type - Payment type of the batch e.g. direct debit
   • Payroll Date - Date the payment needs to be in the employee's account
   • Processed On - Date the payment was processed

  Hot tip: You can also view a full breakdown of your employee's superannuation paid from our Standard and Advanced Payroll Activity Reports. 

When paying employee's super, it's important that you are kept up to date on any changes, reminders or activities, to ensure super remains compliant. If your business uses Beam to pay superannuation, you may find some additional notifications are available for you within the platform. 

You can easily manage these communications and their content from your main menu > Communication > Communication Content page. 

  Learn more about how you can customise the content of these notifications in our dedicated guide, here! 

Below, we will outline the available templates on that page; you can use the search bar to find them within your platform. 

All Platforms

• Admin Super Details Changed

• Superannuation Batch due for payment reminder

Platforms Using Beam

• Batch sent to Beam for processing

• Batch sent to Beam was cancelled

• Batch sent to Beam returned a warning or error

• Superfund member ID updated by Beam 

• Superannuation refund received from Beam

• Superannuation Batch sent to Beam returned a status update

• Superannuation Batch - Direct debit dishonour

When paying your employees' superannuation through Beam, foundU has many built-in checks to ensure your data flows smoothly, and you will receive communication from the platform if there are any errors.

If you're processing Beam for the first time, you may experience some initial errors. The following outlines common scenarios that may arise and how to resolve them quickly and easily.

  Please note: If you pay your superannuation via an external clearing house, any errors with your employee's super payments will not flow through to your foundU platform.
 

Employee's Details Don't Match

If you receive a notification that an employee's superannuation batch has been returned due to mismatched details, it is likely because incorrect personal or tax file details were entered on their profile. 

The details used to verify an employee's super fund are determined at the individual fund level. For this reason, we recommend that you direct your employee to confirm their details with their fund provider and then update the required information in their Employee App. 

  Hot tip: Your employees can manage and update their own details, saving your managers time by removing these extra tasks! For security purposes, the only detail your managers might need to update on an employee's behalf is the employee's login email address. 

Invalid Super Fund Details

The most common cause of error is when employees enter an incorrect super fund USI. This could be due to the company changing its USI details. This can happen when super companies merge or go out of business. 

In this scenario, your employee would be notified by their super fund of these changes before they occur. 

  Hot tip: Onboarding new employees with Flare super stapling switched on can help reduce how often this happens, since foundU looks up the employee's actual existing fund rather than relying on manually entered details. See Superannuation stapling and member verification above for how to set this up. 
 

There are 2 ways you can update the employee's super fund details:

• Employee profile > Financial - Admin users can update the employee's super fund details directly from the employee's profile. When updated by an admin user, the employee will receive an email communication notifying them of this change.
  
  
  
    Permission Reminder: You will need to have 'Manage Employee Financial Details' enabled in your user access to be able to make these updates. 
• Employee App - Employees can easily manage and update their financial details through their Employee App. This is the preferred method to ensure that employees are aware of and responsible for any financial changes and updates.  

Employer or Batch Error

If you receive a notification that your super batch returned with an error due to your entity details, you may need to update them. 

After submitting a batch, if you're missing details in your business details setup (entity), or there's an issue within your batch, it will be returned to pending on your Superannuation page, with an error displayed.

To update your entity details with Beam:

1. Navigate to Payroll Settings > Superannuation, and scroll down to the Beam section
2. Find your entity, and select Update > Update organisation details. This will take you externally to Beam, where you can update your details. 
3. Once updated, you will be directed back to your foundU platform, where you can resubmit your super batch. 

I've set up multiple Office Codes in my platform. Why are they not all appearing as individual Paying Entities on my Superannuation page?

Where you might have multiple Office Codes, if any of your Office Codes share the same ABN, they will appear under the one entity name on your superannuation page. 

All superannuation to be paid for that Paying Entity, will be group under the one batch. If your Office Codes each have a different ABN attached, they will appear as seperate batches on your superannuation page. 

When the super percentage guarantee goes up, will I need to update this in my platform for is to take effect?

If the super guarantee percentage goes up on July 1st, we at foundU will automatically update this across all platforms! This means nothing to action for you!

You can always review the current super guarantee for your platform by accessing Payroll > Superannuation.

What happens to my employee's super payment amount if I make an ETP payment or if, after processing payroll, I make an adjustment?

Once you make an adjustment (ETP), in Payroll > Superannuation, you can see the difference by selecting the batch and proceeding to the review screen. Here, you can view the breakdown of the employee's super amounts, with an "ADJ" displayed in yellow next to it to indicate the adjustment. You can then process your superannuation payment as usual.

I've made my super payment, however, I realised that I had an error on a payslip and made an adjustment, and now I have a negative super amount, what do I do?

Negative superannuation amounts automatically merge with future super payments for that employee, meaning less stress and manual handling for you! 

Check out our section on Managing negative superannuation amounts above for more information about how to handle negative super. 

It's my employee's last payment payslip as they're no longer working with us. I had an error on a payslip and did an adjustment, and now I have a negative super amount, what do I do?

In this scenario, as you won't have future super batches for the employee to take the negative amount, you'll need to either collect the super payment from the super fund (or write off the amount), depending on your business requirements. In foundU, you can clear the negative amount, which will mark the payment as processed and require no further action.

Check out our section on Managing negative superannuation amounts above for more information about how to clear negative super batches.