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How to contribute

Last Updated : 25 Jul 2011

This page provides information about:

1. How to make contributions,
2. How to report contributions, and
3. File specifications (for producing compliant electronic files from your own payroll system).

How to make contributions

How to report contributions

No matter how many employees you contribute to AGEST for, you must report basic information about your superannuation contributions. This includes:

1. Who has submitted the contribution
   For example, your business name and your AGEST employer number
   
2. Which employment period the contributions relate to
   For example, the start and end date of the period the super payment covers;
   
3. Who the contribution is for
   For example, the name, date of birth and the AGEST member number (if you have it) for each employee for whom you contribute.
   
   If you are contributing for a new employee/member, you should also provide their Tax File Number (in accordance with the relevant laws) and their mailing address so that AGEST can write and welcome them (if they are not already a member); and
   
4. The type of contributions made
   For example show the break-up of any superannuation guarantee, salary sacrifice or personal after-tax contributions.
   
5. Payment details
   Finally, you should note the amount you paid, when and how it was paid. This will enable our team to match your report to the relevant contribution for processing.

It is important that you provide all of the details above each time you make a contribution to AGEST. This ensures that we can correctly process contributions to members accounts.

This information is required every time even if you only make a contribution for one employee. AGEST cannot assume that because you may have paid for one person previously that all future contributions will only be for one person.

Where full details are not provided, AGEST will attempt to contact you for the missing information. If contributions are unable to be processed within 90 days of receipt, they will be refunded in accordance with superannuation law. This may result in you failing to meet your superannuation obligations.

To make reporting contributions easier, we provide a number of options including:

File Specifications

Our file specifications are outlined below.  Where possible, you should prepare your superannuation file in accordance with these options.  If you are unable to produce a report in one of these formats, you may be able to create your own report, providing it complies with the four requirements below and you pass your file to us for testing and approval (contact details are at the bottom of this page).

If no suitable report can be created from the above list or the requirements outlined below, you will need to use our paper-based scannable return or our online service to manually enter contribution details.

As reports must be electronic, they cannot be submitted on paper.  You may post a disk or send your file by email, however, you should be aware of the inherent security risks associated with sending employees' personal information through these unsecured gateways.

We strongly recommend all employers use our secure and encrypted online web service to upload and transfer reports.

Employers should ensure they have appropriate arrangements in place to review who has access to these services on a regular basis.

Please note that your report must not contain any NEGATIVE values for any employees. Files that contain negative values will be returned to the employer for correction and re-submission.

All employers who need to recover contributions that have been overpaid will need to seperately request a refund from us for those overpaid contributions.

The total of your report/s must be equal to the sum of monies you have remitted to our bank account for that particular pay period. This means that you cannot underpay contributions, with the expectation that previous overpayments will be used to balance a report.

Reports that do not balance with the funds received will be returned for correction and resubmission.

Wherever practical, employers should try to remit one contribution and one report for each pay period.

This will ensure that our matching and loading of your information is straightforward.

Need more information or to test a file format
For more information about contributing to AGEST Super or if you need to test a file, please contact us on 1300 724 378 or by email to employers@agest.com.au.