Process and Export Superannuation Contributions

Overview

The process for exporting outstanding superannuation contributions to your gateway or fund is managed through two reports.

The SuperStream Contributions Report is used to export the SAFF file containing the contributions to be paid. The SuperStream Payments Report is used to record the payment reference and complete the payment to the gateway.  

Customise the SuperStream Contributions Report

The first step in processing superannuation contributions is to select which payments you are processing from the SuperStream Contributions report. 

If you only want to export a subset of the payments that appear in the report, you will need to filter the report from the Report Settings drop-down.

You can use these filters to change which payments are reported for export (eg midway through July, you may wish to export payments for the April-June quarter but not any payments from the start of July onwards). You can also filter for a particular Permission Group, or limit the report to only a subset of superannuation items that you have configured in your portal. 

The Report Settings summarisation filters can also be used to change how the on-screen reporting is sorted. By default, the report lists contributions by employee, but can be changed to Summarise By Fund.

However you choose to summarise the on-screen report, the exported SAFF file will include one row per employee per fund. 

Validate Contribution Data

Each employee in the SuperStream Contributions report must be compliant for SuperStream. Compliance errors associated with any employees or contributions are marked with a red 'i' icon, with the number of associated errors listed in the right column. 

You can click the Validation Errors link to view more details on an error. 

If you have a number of employees showing errors, you can use the SuperStream Compliance report to action the corrections that are required. 

Once the configuration and employee information are valid, you are ready to export the payments to the SAFF file. 

To do this, select the employees that appear in the report then click Export > Export SAFF.

Once the file is downloaded, you can submit it to your gateway or fund. You will need to confirm directly with your gateway how they want this file submitted (eg through an interface on their website). 

Payment to your Gateway or Fund

After providing the SAFF file to your gateway or fund, they will provide you with a Unique Payment Reference Number or will decline the file.

Rejected SAFF File Submissions

If a file is rejected, the gateway will provide you with the reasons for rejection and you will need to communicate with them directly for any further clarification. 

When a SAFF file has been rejected, you will first need to delete it from With selected... > Delete. This will release all payments that were a part of the export back into the SuperStream Contributions report. 

Once the payments are released, you can rectify the errors that have caused the SAFF submission to be rejected. You will need to resolve these problems before you generate a new SAFF file. 

After correcting the problems, return to the SuperStream Contributions report and follow the process to export a new SAFF file.

Successful SAFF File Submissions

Once your gateway or fund accepts the SAFF file, you will be provided with a Unique Payment Reference Number. This is the number used as a payment reference when you transfer funds from your nominated account to the gateway account you have configured in your Company Management > Payroll settings.

To enter the Unique Payment Reference Number against the related export, first locate the export in the SuperStream Payments report then click Edit. Enter the reference number and click Save. If you have multiple exports ready for payment, you will need to repeat this process for each export.

Process a Superannuation Payment

If you are processing your superannuation payments directly out of Astute, you will need to follow the steps below. Payments made directly from your bank account (eg BPAY) do not require the process below, as they are paid externally from Astute. 

When you are ready to process a payment:

1. Tick the checkbox next to the exports you wish to pay.
2. Click With selected... > Download ABA File. 
3. Select the bank account you wish to pay the exports from.
4. Select the Payment Date. This is the date that the payment will be deducted from your nominated account, so you will need to ensure that there are sufficient funds available.
5. Click Confirm to generate the ABA file
6. Upload the ABA file to your bank and the selected transfers will be made from your account into the gateway's account.

Once you have uploaded the ABA file to your bank and the transfer has been made, the payment process is complete. Please note that Astute Payroll does not have visibility over when superannuation payments have been processed and allocated by a gateway or fund, so you will need to contact the gateway or fund for this information.