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Automated Super Payments using Beam

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Elaine Faith Banaag
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All eligible users (full admin users) can make automated super payments via the Reports > Super payments page (N.B. before you can make automated super payments your business must first be registered with Beam).
 
This article will cover the following topics:

Filtering a super batch

From the super payments page, you can create a new batch payment by clicking the 'New Super Payment Batch' button in the top right corner. You will then need to set the parameters you would like to filter the super batch for. The following parameters are: 

  1. Date Range - You can choose a date range by Month, Quarter or a Custom Range. It's important to note that pay runs are identified by their paid date NOT the period date.

    N.B: Regardless of the date range you choose, super batches will only contain super that has been processed in a pay run (accrued as SG or by deduction eg. salary sacrifice) and super contributions that have not already been paid (in a previous batch for the same date range).

  2. Employing Entity - If you have more than 1 employing entity (EE) in your business you will need to select the EE you would like to filter the batch for.
  3. Pay Schedule  - You can filter the batch for ALL pay schedules or you have the option to filter by an individual pay schedule.
  4. Contribution Type - You can filter the batch for ALL contribution types or you have the option to filter different contribution types separately (Super Guarantee, Salary Sacrifice, Member Voluntary and Employer Contribution).

Once you have set the parameters for the batch, click on 'Filter'. 


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Creating a super batch

You can now create the batch by clicking on the 'create batch' option in the right hand corner:

 
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Once the batch is created there will be a few action items that will have the options available according to the status of the batch. The action items include the following: ‘validate’, ‘submit’ and ‘delete’:
  • Validate: After applying the fixes for any errors you will need to validate the batch again;
  • Submit: The submit option will validate the batch and if it passes validation then the batch will be submitted;
  • Delete: You can delete the batch at any point, but you will need to be aware that a deleted super batch cannot be recovered or restored and any changes that had previously been made will not be saved. 

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If you have created a batch but have not submitted the batch to beam within 24 hours, an action item will appear on your business dashboard as a reminder to complete the batch process by submitting the batch to Beam. 
 
While the batch is being created, another validation will occur. Any errors will be highlighted in red at the top, followed by any warnings in yellow:
 
 
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You will notice the option to validate is still appearing in the left corner. Any errors will need to be rectified prior to submitting the batch. After the errors have been fixed you will need to validate the batch again. Alternatively, you have the option to exclude the employees with errors and submit the batch (click on the Fund Name and then click on the 'Exclude from batch' option next to the employee's name). 

Once all the validation errors have been rectified the 'submit' option will appear as an Action item.

The validation process

While the batch is being filtered the initial validation will occur. This validation process will separate the employees into those that have passed the initial validation (their names will appear in GREEN) and those that have failed the initial validation (their names will appear in RED). You can view more information by clicking on the option 'click to view'. Any employees that have failed the initial validation will have an error / warning message attached. An "error" will prevent the affected contributions from being included in the batch, however, if there are other contributions you can still submit the batch. An error will need to be rectified before the employee can be included in the batch. A warning will not prevent affected contributions from being paid - you can still submit the super batch.
 
 
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Payment options

When you click on 'submit' a pop-up screen will appear where you will need to select the payment details for the batch. N.B. Beam transactions will appear as Precision CH (clearing house) or Precision Administration Services Pty Ltd. There are 3 options for payment (there is also the option to 'use these options as a default' for future batches):

  • Direct Debit;
  • Direct Credit (EFT);
  • BPAY.  
N.B: Beam does NOT accept international transfers for batch payments. They do not have a SWIFT code.

 

Direct Debit

If you select direct debit as the payment option you will be prompted to select the bank account you would like the funds to be debited to. 

  • If you submit the contribution before 3.30pm AEST on a business day, Beam will debit the nominated account on that day, if you submit the contribution on or after 3.30pm AEST on a business day, or on a non-business day, Beam will debit the nominated account on the next business day,
  • Funds debited from the nominated account(s) will be sent to the nominated superannuation fund(s) within 5 business days, which includes the time it will take for the funds to clear.

Direct Credit (EFT) and BPAY

For EFT (Bank Transfer) and BPAY payment options, the payment details will be blurred out until you tick the acknowledgement.  You need to ensure you use all correct payment details for each batch and your payment is cleared by your bank and paid by the due date.

  • EFT (Bank Transfer): There is a different payment reference number for each batch submitted.
  • BPay: There is a different customer reference number for each batch submitted.
NB. If you make a mistake on your banking details and either the payment reference number or amount you use does not match EXACTLY then your payment cannot be automatically matched to your batch and your batch will be CANCELLED.  Your payment cannot be manually matched.
 
REFUND of an unmatched payment can take up to 12 business days from the date Beam receive the payment.  The payment is refunded back to same bank account/originating bank account it was paid from.  Remember check your relevant bank accounts because you may use a different bank account for payments (ie different from your refund bank account on your superannuation settings page).  
  • Please ensure you enter the correct payment reference number/customer reference number (only use the 18 character number and do not add any letters or number e.g. 'Ref' or '1') within your banking reference / description fields so that your payment can be automatically matched to your batch. 
  • If you fail to send a payment that automatically matches your submitted batch within the expected timeframe (3 days) email notification is sent on day 3.  If you receive this email you should check the information you provided on your banking details - proof of payment - bank receipt/remittance.
  • A batch is automatically cancelled if a matching payment is not received by day 10 following the batch submitted date. After a batch automatically cancels (ie due to no payment or incorrect information on your payment details) an email notification is sent to the email contact on the business details page and Beam UI. 

Once you tick the acknowledgement, the details will become visible. There is also a ‘copy to clipboard’ option next to each of the detail fields which allows you to copy the payment information from here:

 

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An email notification will be sent to the payroll admin with the beam payment instructions if you select EFT or BPAY payment options. Example below:

 

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Batch status progression

You can access the details of any created/submitted super payment batches on the Reports > Super payments page. From here you can see the batch ID, the Date Created, the Date Submitted, the Payment Total, the Status and the Clearing House of each batch. Clicking on the ID number will open the batch submission details.

The batch status will change as it progresses through the various stages: 

  • Created: batch has been created, this has not yet been submitted to beam. 
  • Submission accepted: batch has been submitted to beam and accepted.
  • Awaiting payment: awaiting for manual payment if direct credit/EFT or BPay payment method has been selected or awaiting for direct debit. If direct credit/EFT or BPAY payment method then this is up to the user to pay it. 
  • Awaiting clearance: this status indicates that the request to direct debit the bank account or manual EFT/BPAY has been successfully acknowledged and awaiting clearance from the bank. The usual 5 business days clearance for direct debit, 3 business days for EFT and BPAY. 
  • Reconciled: this indicates that the corresponding payment has been recovered and cleared from the employer. The payment is matched to the batch within  24 hours before the contribution is sent to the fund. 
  • Sent to fund: this occurs once all outbound transactions have been successfully sent to the employee's destination fund. 
  • Sent to fund with response: this occurs after the outbound transactions have successfully been sent out to the employee's destination funds. It indicates that one or more of those destination funds have provided informational responses back. 
  • Sent to fund with refund: this occurs after the outbound transactions have successfully been sent out to the employee's destination funds. It indicates that one or more of those destination funds have rejected and refunded one or more contributions. Refunds once processed may take up to 12 business days depending on your bank's processing times.   You will need to correct the employee/s super fund details then to make your super payment again you will need to create/submit a new batch for the same contribution date range.
  • Cancelled: this indicates the contribution process has been cancelled due to a dishonour, being manually cancelled by the user, or no payment after 10 business days from the batch submitted date. If your batch is at a cancelled status, then you can recreate/submit the batch for the same reporting contribution date range. You should always ensure your super batches have been successfully submitted to Beam and paid 5 business days before the deadline to prevent any cancellations or delays to your batch.
  • Failed: this indicates that something unexpected has happened during the submission to beam. If your batch is at a failed status, then go back into the batch and submit the batch again. 
  • Refunded: means that ALL the payments within the batch have become non-compliant in the time between when you submitted the batch and when the batch moved into RECONCILED status, so Beam has had to refund the entire payment.

The following article provides more information on warnings and errors that can cause super batches to be returned: Beam Errors on submitted Super Batches 

Accessing Beam data within a super batch

You will have the option to access Beam data within the super batch by clicking on the 'batch data' button that appears at the top right of the page IF the super batch status is one of - awaiting payment, awaiting clearance, reconciled, sent to fund, sent to fund with response, sent to fund with refund, cancelled or refunded. The data will not be accessible when the status is one of new, submitted, submitted for processing or submission failed. 

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Note the raw data is view only, and is not able to be edited or deleted. Below is an example of the raw data structure.

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Cancelling a super batch

If you have made a mistake and need to cancel your super batch, you can do so provided the status of the batch is AWAITING PAYMENT. You are able to cancel the batch by clicking into the relevant super batch and clicking the 'Cancel' button as shown below:

NOTE:  Remember, you must wait about 10mins and ensure the batch status updates to CANCELLED before creating a new batch.

 

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The following conditions apply in relation to cancelling a super batch:

  • If the payment method was Direct Credit/EFT or BPAY and the status is still AWAITING PAYMENT and payment hasn't actually been made, you can cancel the batch;
  • If the payment method is Direct Debit and the status is still AWAITING PAYMENT then the timing of the batch upload is important - the cut off time is 3.30pm (AEST) and Beam could debit the nominated account any time from that time on, so you are not able to cancel after this time. The system will show an error in this case;
  • If a batch was submitted before 3.30pm AEST on any business day, you can only cancel it before 3.30pm AEST on that same day;
  • If a batch was submitted on or after 3.30pm AEST on any business day, or on a non-business day, Beam will debit the nominated account after 3.30pm AEST on the next business day, therefore you can cancel it up to 3.30pm AEST on the next business day 
  • If you have used the incorrect PRN (payment reference number), the batch will be automatically cancelled after 10 business days but you can manually cancel this earlier in order to create a new batch and pay the contributions again while you wait for their original payment to bounce back. Beam will automatically refund any payment that can't be reconciled to a super batch, this can take up to 12 business days.

NB. You won't have the option to delete a batch if the status of a batch is - Awaiting Clearance, Sent to Fund, Reconciled, Cancelled. 

Batch refunds and cancellation notifications

Email notifications are sent to you where a refund and or cancellation has occurred on a batch that was submitted. The refund and cancellation email notification will be sent to the contact person's email address entered in the system's Business details screen (Payroll settings > Business details) and the Beam's UI contact details screen (Payroll settings > Superannuation). N.B. the email addresses entered within Business details and Beam can be different email addresses. 

An example for the refund email notification:

 

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An example of the cancellation email notification:

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Reporting on super batches

Reporting on your super payments can be done using the super contributions report. To access this go to the Reports > Super contributions and set the parameters you would like to run the report for. Then click 'run report'. 

N.B: You have the option to toggle the filter for a Date Range or a Super Batch:

 

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If you have any questions or feedback please let us know via support@roubler.com.

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