Australian SMEs remain non-compliant with SuperStream requirements

08 Jun 2016

With less than one month until the deadline for SuperStream compliance, one-third of Australian small businesses (SMEs) are still running a risk of potentially not complying with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) regulations.

The SuperStream is legislation is aimed at improving the efficiency of the superannuation system. Under SuperStream, employers must make super contributions on behalf of their employees by submitting payments and reporting electronically in a consistent and simplified manner.

Whilst all employers are required by law to comply with this legislation by the 1st if July this year, MYOB’s latest Business Monitor research of more than 1000 Australian SMEs found that one quarter were unaware of the deadline, 17 percent of operators had not yet complied and 13 percent were unsure.

This figure was the highest amongst construction and trade businesses with an overwhelming 31 percent of SMEs in this industry not having complied with the ATO’s SuperStream requirements.

When asked why operators had not yet met the SuperStream obligations, more than a quarter (27%) of SMEs found the process confusing, and a further 23 percent felt they did not have enough information.

“SuperStream is the law for SMEs from 1 July, and it’s concerning to see so many at risk of non-compliance with the deadline just a few weeks away. Employers need to be taking action now to ensure they get their implementation right by 30 June,” says James Scollay, MYOB General Manager of SME Solutions.

“The great thing about SuperStream is that it really simplifies workflows so, when customers move to the latest version of any MYOB payroll product they will have the tools to be fully complaint and, in many cases, will also be able to spend less time dealing with employee data issues and fund queries and reduce the cost of processing contributions and payments.

Businesses that are looking for more information on this should talk to their Accountant or Bookkeeper as they will be able to inform operators what’s required to be compliant and help them make any necessary changes to their systems and processes” says Mr. Scollay.

Businesses need to be ATO SuperStream compliant by 30 June 2016. For more information about meeting these requirements, click here.

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For further comment or other information please contact:

Saba Chowdhury, MYOB PR Manager

M: +61 400 300 913 / E: saba.chowdhury@myob.com

Louise Halloran, Account Manager, Ogilvy PR

P: 02 8437 5357 / M: +61 407 044 727 / E: louise.halloran@ogilvy.com.au

About MYOB

MYOB Group Ltd (ASX: MYO) is a leading cloud based business management solutions provider. It makes business life easier for approximately 1.2 million businesses across Australia and New Zealand by simplifying accounting, payroll, tax, practice management, CRM, job costing, inventory and more. MYOB provides ongoing support via many client service channels including a network of over 40,000 accountants, bookkeepers and other consultants. It is committed to ongoing innovation, particularly in cloud computing solutions, and in 2015 was awarded the BRW award for the most innovative large company for 500+ employees and placed 2nd in BRW’s Most Innovative Companies Award list across all categories nationally. For more information, visit investors.myob.com.au/Investors/ or follow @MYOB on Twitter.

About the MYOB Business Monitor

After six years of conducting the MYOB Small Business Survey we've enhanced it to better reflect the profile of Australian businesses. We've now incorporated medium businesses, along with the sole traders and small businesses that were already part of the survey. We're pleased to present the new look MYOB Business Monitor.

The MYOB Business Monitor is a national survey of over 1000 Australia's business owners (and directors) conducted twice a year by Colmar Brunton.