What does ATO’s SuperStream reform mean for employers?

Product Manager Sally Higgs and Product Strategy Manager Dale Dixon, MYOB, talk about how MYOB has turned hours of processing into minutes using SuperStream.

MYOB has been working diligently since the announcement of the ATO’s SuperStream reform to make sure that when their customers use their product it is an easy and seamless experience to get started. It also ensures that through payroll employers will be compliant with their superannuation obligations.

“As a key component to the MYOB suite of business tools, we have developed software that is compliant to the SuperStream data standards to ensure users, including employer payroll providers, will be able to meet their obligations,” say Higgs and Dixon.

“Through direct integration with our existing payroll service we have been able to automate the process of making superannuation payments down to the click of a couple of buttons.

“Historically, our customers would have been required to note down the super contribution that needed to be paid after completing a payroll and then pay each fund individually, either by writing out and posting cheques or transferring money to each super fund.”

Employers and payroll can now do all of this in one easy process, select Pay Super, choose which contributions they wish to pay and then approve. MYOB will take care of the payment and transmission of the information through to the superfund.

While the employer still has the responsibility for ensuring they are able to make compliant superannuation contributions, MYOB is providing a service for them that is integrated into their payroll and accounting services.

“All the employer needs to do is register for the Pay Super payroll service as part of their accounting and business package.  Our system then ensures that they have captured all mandatory data about their employees, prompting them to add the information if it is missing.

“To further assist this we have dedicated software development, user experience and support teams focussed on delivering the simple to use super payment product that is compliant with regulations and legislation.”

So what does SuperStream mean for employers? Superannuation payments will be much simpler to process. A process that could sometimes take days to process can now be reduced to minutes. The employer will have certainty that they have met their obligations and that the contributions have been paid.

Employers will no longer have to manually create super payment reports and write cheques to post to funds. They can then focus on running their business rather than processing superannuation contributions.

“Once it is fully implemented Superstream will have a positive impact across the board as it removes delays associated with manual payments and information transfer.

“It also reduces cost in business through the removal of time consuming processes, allowing businesses to focus on productive activities. We feel these efficiencies will flow through to the entire value chain from the employers to the superannuation funds.”

Source : Business First Magazine  MYOB  October 29th, 2014