Your Future, Your Super deadline looms; compliance confidence low among SMEs, finds MYOB

More than half (53%) of Australian small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are unaware of the Your Future, Your Super legislative reforms which are set to come into effect on November 1 and one third are confident they can be compliant by the deadline, according to fresh data from MYOB.

The sectors with lowest awareness of the reforms, which require employers to look up the existing super fund of any new employees who fail to nominate an account during onboarding, were manufacturing and wholesale (59%) and retail and hospitality (57%). Construction respondents were most likely to rate their understanding of the legislation as average to poor (68%).

The research, undertaken with more than 520 SME owners and operators, found many respondents were not set up to implement the new requirements, with 60% stating they use paper forms to capture Tax File Number (TFN) and superannuation information. Paper onboarding rises to 71% among respondents from the manufacturing and wholesale industry.

With three in 10 SMEs onboarding a new employee at least once a month, and survey respondents estimating Your Future, Your Super could take an average 12.7 hours extra in compliance time a month, MYOB’s General Manager for Financial Services, Andrew Baines, urges business owners to arm themselves with information about the legislative change ahead of November 1.

“Our data demonstrates 64% of small business owners will handle Your Future Your Super themselves and just 17% say they plan to appoint an accountant or bookkeeper, so it’s critical SMEs read up on their obligations ahead of the incoming deadline.

“This legislative move to give individuals control of their superannuation funds is great news for Australians. SMEs recognise this; 60% believe Your Future, Your Super will benefit their new employees. However, with just 27% seeing Your Future, Your Super as a good thing for their business, it is clear there is more that can be done to improve business owners’ comfort levels with legislation compliance ahead of the deadline.

MYOB has partnered with Sydney-based fintech Flare to help businesses to provide a streamlined solution for Your Future, Your Super compliance requirements. Flare’s super selection platform allows employees to make an active choice of fund at the point of onboarding, ensuring employees are engaged with their super, and removing effort for employers to conduct stapled fund lookups. Every employee can port in a pre-existing superannuation account from any fund, or switch easily to a fund better suited to their needs.

Daniel Cohen, Co-Founder of Flare, says the new compliance considerations that come with Your Future, Your Super present SMEs with an opportunity to review their total employee onboarding process.

“For businesses that aren’t set up with digital onboarding and super selection, stapled fund lookups will not only cost time and money, but also open potential for errors and cybersecurity breaches – and give rise to penalties for non-compliance with the new rules.

“Flare has collaborated with MYOB to integrate our full digital onboarding suite into its products. This solution not only helps reduce cost and risk for employers, but also benefits employees by ensuring they engage actively with their superannuation and make the right choice of fund for them. Driving this engagement with superannuation helps every hardworking Australian live their best financial life and enjoy better retirement outcomes.”

With 55% of SMEs stating they are not yet ready to be Your Future, Your Super compliant, MYOB and Flare are uniting to provide a comprehensive educational program in the lead up to November 1, incorporating webcasts outlining the legislative changes, and tips on how to streamline their compliance.

Businesses can link here to register for MYOB and Flare’s joint webinar on the 29 October.

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For more information please contact:

Collette Betts, MYOB, AU Corporate Affairs Manager
E: [email protected]

About MYOB

MYOB is a leading business platform with a core purpose of helping more businesses in Australia and New Zealand start, survive and succeed. MYOB delivers end-to-end business, financial and accounting solutions direct to businesses employing between 0 and 1000 employees, alongside a network of accountants, bookkeepers and consultants. For more information visit myob.com or follow MYOB on LinkedIn.

About Flare 

A Sydney-based fintech, Flare builds market-leading onboarding, benefits and employee engagement solutions for the workplace, and financial products designed to help Australians live their best financial lives. Over 2500 companies use Flare’s technology to save time, build culture and improve employee retention for their 650,000 workers. Employees can access these solutions through Flare and most leading HR and payroll platforms, and directly through Slate, an innovative workplace financial services brand that helps Australians plan for a secure future. For more information, visit flarehr.com and follow @flareaus on Instagram.