There are some rules around how employers must pay super:
- Super Guarantee (SG) contributions must be paid at least four times a year, by the quarterly due dates.
- Contributions must be paid and reported electronically in a standard format, ensuring you meet SuperStream requirements.
- Super payments must go to a complying super fund and most employees can choose their own fund.
- There may be penalties for late super guarantee contribution payments or if no super contribution payments are made when they are legally owed to employees.
You can read more about paying super and your obligations as an employer on the ATO’s website here.
We are only able to accept employer contribution payments via a clearing house as this is the SuperStream compliant method and ensures we have all the information required to allocate member contributions correctly.
A clearing house can also make paying super much easier as it allows you to make contributions for multiple employees and across various super funds in one payment.
If you use a payroll software, you may wish to ask your system provider if it is SuperStream compliant. Some payroll systems cover both information and payments, but some cover information only and you may need to pay super contributions to each super fund separately. Even if you have previously paid super contributions by EFT or BPAY, you may not be reporting your SuperStream data electronically in a standard format.
You can use the ATO’s SuperStream certified product register to check if your payroll software is compliant or find another SuperStream compliant solution.
The ATO also has a handy Step-by-Step Guide for ensuring you are paying super contributions compliantly.