Superannuation Funds require contribution information detailing how payments are allocated to their members. The Append Superannuation file option is used when you wish to report details for two or more superannuation funds to the same Superannuation Fund Administrator or through a Clearing House.
SuperStream, a package of measures designed by the Australian Government to improve the efficiency of the superannuation system, imposes a new standard in superannuation reporting. As the data standards require you to forward superannuation remittances electronically, you need to set up a File Layout and attach it to your Funds.
If you already have File Layouts set up, contact your Superannuation Funds or Clearing House for advice on their file specifications (i.e., what fields are required).
Use Append File to report contributions for two or more superannuation funds in the one file.
To combine information for Superannuation into one file, ensure that the funds you wish to append contain the same output file name and path.
Go to Payroll, Maintenance, Superannuation, File Layout.
Edit the layout and click the File Detail tab.
Check the Name of Output File, Extention of Output file and Path of Output File.
Ensure the file layout is attached to all relevant Superannuation Funds.
Go to Payroll, Maintenance, Superannuation, Fund.
Click on the File Layout tab and ensure the correct File Layout has been selected.
Files are generated through Superannuation Processing. This process collates superannuation values owed to each superannuation fund as at a date. Before starting this process, ensure that you back up your data and that you have deleted or renamed any previous superannuation files created by this process.
To generate a superannuation file:
Go to Payroll, Transactions, End of Period, Superannuation Processing.
From Notification Method, select File.
Use Fund to select the Funds to include.
Select Payroll Company, Location and Pay Frequency or leave as <All>.
Enter the Process to Date.
Tick Pay to Fund if you are ready to pay the outstanding super. This function will mark the Super as processed and they won't appear as Contributions Due if you run or preview Super Processing again.
Tick Append Files to produce one file per file path and name.
Select the Contribution Start and Contribution End dates and choose the Number of Periods that are included in this process.
Enter a Unique Reference. This links the data sent in the Superannuation File to the contribution payment. For more information about the format and requirements for the Payment Reference number, refer to the ATO website, www.ato.gov.au.
Select Display Options and Order.
Click File.
After the first Fund has been processed, you will receive a message asking if you wish to append to the existing file. Select Yes or Yes to All. When Yes is selected, all Funds that have the same file name will be appended to the specified file.
If the previous file that was sent to the Super Fund for processing (i.e. last month’s file or last quarter’s file) still exists in the specified directory, selecting Yes at this prompt will append your current superannuation Fund details to a previously processed file.
If No is selected, processing for Funds with the same file name will stop.
The existing file should be manually removed or renamed from the specified location so that a new file can be created before processing can continue. If the Append files option is not ticked and the file exists, you will be prompted to overwrite the file.