Automated Super Payments using Beam – Payroll Support (AU)

Please note that before you can make automated super payments your business must first be registered with Beam.

All eligible users (full admin users) can make automated super payments following these simple instructions:

N.B: There is no functionality to add a 2 person approval process when processing super batches.

1. Click on the Reports tab on your payroll dashboard > then 'Super Payments';

2. This will take you to the 'Super Payments' page. From this page, you will need to create a new batch payment by clicking the 'New Super Payment Batch' button in the top right:

3. You will then need to set the parameters you would like to filter the super batch for:

Date Range - You can choose a date range by Month, Quarter or a Custom Range. Please note: pay runs are identified by their paid date NOT the period date.
Please note: 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).
Employing Entity - If you have more than 1 entity in your business you will need to select the EE you would like to filter the batch for.
Pay Schedule - You can filter the batch for ALL pay schedules or you have the option to filter by an individual pay schedule.
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'.

4. 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) Any employees that have failed the initial validation will have an error / warning message attached (click on the option - Click to View to see the message).

When you validate a super batch the information provided for each contribution is checked and it's at this point you may see a message show up on the batch - the message will either be an error or a warning:
- an "error" WILL prevent the affected contributions from being included in the batch - ie. if there are other contributions you can still submit the batch, but the affected contributions will not be included. 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.

See this article on errors in a super batch - Beam Super Payment Errors and Warnings

5. You can now create the batch by clicking on the Create Batch option in the right corner:

NOTE- 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.

If you have created a batch however 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. The example is shown below:

6. 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. 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. Or, you do have the option to exclude the employees with errors (see Step 7) and submit the batch. See this article for more information on the possible errors and how to fix them - Beam Super Payment Errors and Warnings

7. To exclude an employee from the batch you will need to click on the Fund Name and then click on the 'Exclude from batch' option next to the employee's name:

NOTE- If you have excluded an employee by mistake you can include them back into the batch again by clicking on the 'Include' option next to the employee's name:

8. Once all the validation errors have been rectified the Submit option will appear as an Action item. When you click on 'Submit' a pop-up screen will appear where you will need to select the payment details for the batch. There are 3 options for payment: Direct Debit, Direct Credit (EFT) and BPAY. (There is also the option to 'use these options as a default' for future batches)

NOTE: 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. NB. Beam transactions will appear as Precision CH (clearing house) or Precision Administration Services Pty Ltd.

9. For EFT (Bank Transfer) and BPAY payment options, the payment details will be blurred out until you tick the acknowledgement.

For EFT (Bank Transfer) payment option there will be a different Payment Reference Number for each batch submitted.

For BPAY payment option there will be a different Customer Reference Number for each batch submitted.

NOTE: Please ensure that the Customer/Payment Reference Number is entered correctly within the banking payment reference field in your internet banking website so that the payment can be matched to your super batch. NB. If incorrect Customer/Payment Reference Number information is used your payment will not be matched to your super batch - the batch will be cancelled (due to non-payment) and your payment will be refunded (this can take up to 12 business days).

NB. Beam transactions will appear as Precision CH (clearing house) or Precision Administration Services Pty Ltd.

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:

NOTE: If you do NOT tick the acknowledgement on the first screen (Super Batch Payment Details) the details will still be blurred when you go to the Current Payment Details screen within the batch. If you do tick the acknowledgement on the first screen (Super Batch Payment Details) the details will NOT be blurred when you go to the Current Payment Details screen within the batch.

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

11. You can access the details of any created/submitted super payment batches back on the main Super Payments page (from the Reports tab). 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.

You may also notice that once you are registered with beam, the beam logo will appear on the super payments screen:

12. 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.
CANCELLED - this indicates the contribution process has been cancelled due to a dishonour 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 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.

13. Reporting on your super payments can be done using the super contributions report. To access this go to the 'Reports' tab > 'Super Contributions' > set the parameters you would like to run the report for > Run Report.

NOTE - You have the option to toggle the filter for a Date Range or a Super Batch:

Update New Super Fund Details to an Employee's Un-Processed Contributions

Where an employee updates their super fund details, the admin payroll will need to confirm with the employee whether the updated super fund should apply to the other un-processed contributions as well.

If the employee does want their newly updated super fund details to be applied to all un processed contributions this can be done from the employee's record > Super Funds page.

In the below example the employee was previously contributing 100% of their super contributions to one fund. The employee's super fund details were then updated to be split between two funds at 50% each. Once the funds have been updated, click on the ‘Update Contribution’ button:

You will need to confirm yes/no to updating the un processed contributions.

Yes - this will update the super fund for all non-processed contributions, and in the new batch.
No - this will NOT update the super fund for all non-processed contributions, it will only update the fund in the new batch.

There is also the option to apply the updated super fund to non-processed contributions within the batch as well. To do this, generate a new batch, find the employee from the list and select the ‘Click to view’ option > this will expand the super fund details > select ‘Choose Fund for Automatic Payments’

You will then be prompted to Choose a super fund. Click on the fund name to update/apply contributions in the batch. If the employee has multiple funds they will all appear in this list.

Note: if the user wishes to cancel, then click on the ‘x’ icon on the top right or ‘Close’ button on the bottom right.

You will need to confirm yes/no to updating the un processed contributions.

Yes - this will update the super fund for all non-processed contributions, and in the new batch.
No - this will NOT update the super fund for all non-processed contributions, it will only update the fund in the new batch.

Batch Refunds and Cancellations 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 and the Beam's UI - contact details screen. Note - the email addresses entered within Business details and Beam can be different email addresses.

Examples below:

Business details screen, more information on Business details, refer to the article here.