How do I find a super clearing house?

Superannuation can be a complicated topic at the best of times; and managing super is another task that is essential when you employ staff. The terminology involved doesn’t help, but here’s a simple explanation of one name you’ll come across – super clearing house.

What is a super clearing house?

A super clearing house is an online portal that businesses use to pay their employees’ super contributions in bulk, together with the contribution information for all their employees. The clearing house distributes super contributions to your employees' super funds on your behalf.

Your staff members can choose to have super contributions paid into their own funds, but you are required to provide a default fund for those who don’t provide details of their fund or who don’t have a fund. This default fund (an example of which is our own BT Super fund) must comply with the Government’s ‘MySuper’ initiative (a simple low-cost super option). 

You are required to send super contribution payments and data electronically in a standard format called ‘SuperStream’. As referred to above, the way you can do this is through an online portal called a super clearing house. 

To understand more about your super obligations as an employer, read our handy guide to paying super to employees article or refer to the Working out if you have to pay super page of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website.

Where do I find a super clearing house?

Many super funds offer a super clearing house service, so it’s a good idea to check for this feature before you appoint one. Some small business payroll systems (such as MYOB and Xero) incorporate the service too.

Our BT Super solution uses QuickSuper as our super data and payment system to make it easy to manage your staff super payments in a secure, online environment, with same day processing for transactions to BT Super accounts*. QuickSuper is wholly owned by the Westpac Group.

*not applicable to other superannuation accounts.

Does the ATO provide a super clearing house?

If your business has 19 or fewer employees or an aggregated turnover of less than $10 million per year, you can use the ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH).

The service is free for eligible businesses, however your financial institution may charge fees for Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) or BPAY® (using a credit card) payments.

The SBSCH can be accessed by both businesses and their tax professionals through the MyGov website.