SuperStream – its happening for ALL sized businesses now!
Deadlines seem to come up so fast! It seems that we were only recently doing the mad scramble to get all of our larger businesses over the line for SuperStream. Businesses with 20 or more staff were destined to have their staff paid via SuperStream by the 30th June 2015. Whew, with that one completed we took a breath.
No longer have our staff at WiseClick exhaled than now we are looking down the barrel of the same task for all of our clients with less than 10 staff. Yes this may well be you! If you have from one to ten staff then here is the wake up call. If you have over ten staff then you are late for school already!
“Any super payments made after 30 June 2016 by business will be required to be made electronically through their chosen SuperStream media”
If we look at this logistically then we suggest that you TEST RUN YOUR NEW SUPERSTREAM PAYMENT METHOD on or before the 28th April 2016 (that’s in just TWO short months).
YES that is next quarterly superannuation payment, we suggest that you attempt to do this through SuperStream as we are finding that some links and numbers are missing for most people and that takes a bit of time. No one wants to be rushed with new technology.
Okay, Hope that I got your attention. Now I would like to say. “Don’t stress its easy AND it’s a REALLY GOOD steps forward to save you HOURS of time each time you pay super”. WiseClick staff have been setting up this for our clients for near on two years now so just call us for a short screen sharing session to get you started.
What is SuperStream?
I really wanted to put this in layman’s terms for you. SuperStream really is a good thing for us. The ATO has research showing that there were two main obstacles for business when they pay their super:
- Its hard, time consuming and generally not fun for people with very little time to spare.
- Cash flow
With this information in hand, SuperStream was born. Imagine this for a moment. Imagine that it becomes so easy to pay your super that it literally takes you five mouse clicks and a text message to pay. You will find it so easy that you could say that problem # 1 above has been removed.
Then as a business owner you decide that you have had enough with the stress at the end of the quarter trying to manage your cash so that you have enough for the quarterly BAS AND the quarterly super payment at the same time. What about this…. You change your habits and start to pay your super monthly so you know the cash in the bank is yours; wallah, # 2 cash flow above is now better for you as well.
Obstacles that the ATO dealt with whilst instigating this?
OLD FASHIONED SUPER FUNDS THAT JUST WANTED CHEQUES OF COURSE.
Well the ATO has taken the hard line and put the burden on superfunds instead of small business for a change. They MUST accept payment electronically now, all of them. Most of your funds will accept payment for their members and also members of other funds at the same time. Default superfunds have now become your clearing houses.
Acceptable ways to pay your super electronically.
- Your Payroll Software – Our favourite and we would argue, the quickest and easiest way. BOTH MYOB and Xero are right up to date with this legislation and are literally five mouse clicks and a text message authoriser.
We can set you up in a matter of 1-2 hours (call the WiseClick office to book in).
- Your default super funds online system – An example – you get password access, download their excel sheet, update staff amounts then upload the excel sheet and pay via BPay.
- Small Business Super Clearing House.- You get password access, type in amounts you want to pay. Print a BPay code and make payment via BPay
Please don’t stick your head in the sand over this one. I am unsure what will happen after 30 June 16 but it all of a sudden becomes very easy to know who is doing the correct thing or to shut down all old avenues to pay super so please be very careful. A phone call to us costs nothing. Late superannuation fines become very costly with your payment becoming non deductible and plus charges on the late days for each staff.
More details here on the ATO link Preparing for SuperStream
One more word of warning.
What happens if you are sitting on unpaid super that is past due?
Please make sure that you have paid all of your super up to date by the 30th June 2016. This means that the only super that you should have due by 30 June 16 is for the period April to June 2016, payable on the 28th July 2016.
Under the old standards, late payments could sometimes go under the radar.
I am expecting NOT any longer. As a general rule it is cheaper for the owner of a business to take out a bank loan to ensure that super is paid on time as opposed to late fines and fees on unpaid super. If things are hard and you just want to ignore them then the best way to get over those hurdles is to take one step at a time. Step one – Call us! We have dealt with this before and can help you through the smoke with overdue super. Call our office for a friendly chat with one of our BAS Agents, at the very least make an informed decision to be late with your super and let us tell you exactly how much it is going to cost you in the long run.
Thanks for reading.
Chat soon, Cheryl
