Answer
As an employer, you must first offer eligible employees a choice of superannuation fund. If they don’t exercise their choice, you must check whether they have a “stapled super fund” (an existing account tied to them that follows them from job to job) via the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Stapled super funds for employers outlines the rules.
Once you have the correct super fund (either the employee’s choice, their stapled fund, or your nominated default fund if neither applies) you can register a new super account in Lightning Payroll.
How Super Fund Details Are Retrieved
Super funds no longer provide their bank account details directly. Instead, they provide a USI (Unique Superannuation Identifier) for the specific fund option the employee is enrolled in. Lightning Payroll uses this USI to query the ATO database and retrieve the fund’s current banking and SuperStream details automatically. Note that Self-Managed Super Funds (SMSFs) are handled differently and do not have a USI.
Registering a Super Fund for a Single Employee
In the desktop app: Open the employee record and navigate to the Superannuation Fund tab under Super.
In the online (web/mobile) app: Open the employee record and go to Super >> Superannuation Fund.
From this screen:
- If the desired super fund already exists in your system, select it and proceed to register the employee under it using Create New Super Member Registration.
- If the fund does not already exist, click Create New Super Fund (Online Search). Enter the fund’s USI, search the ATO database, and save the fund. You can then register the employee under it.
- For a Self-Managed Super Fund, click Create Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF) (online app) or Create Super Fund (SMSF/Manual Entry) (desktop app) and enter the fund details manually.
Registering Multiple Employees with a Super Fund
When you need to create accounts for multiple employees under the same fund at once, go to Settings >> Super Fund Providers and click Create Multiple Super Accounts.
- Ensure the super fund already exists in your system. If it does not, add it first using the online search as described above.
- Follow the prompts to select which employees will have accounts created under the fund.
- Send the registration request to the fund. The fund will respond within a few days with a member number for each employee. You can check responses in the SuperStream Mailbox.
Editing an Existing Super Fund
If a super fund changes its USI or ABN, create a new fund entry rather than editing the existing one. This keeps an accurate record of the funds and accounts used for past deposits and messages. See Should I Create a New Super Fund or Edit the Existing One When the USI Changes? for more detail.
SMSFs are an exception: their details can be updated in place. Go to Settings >> Super Fund Providers and click Edit Provider next to the SMSF entry.
