Super reform big business for Aussie integrator

Australian multinational integrator Presence of IT has partnered with eCommerce provider ClickSuper to enable businesses to be compliant with the forthcoming superannuation technology reform.

From 1 July, the SuperStream programme will be phased into the Australian superannuation industry to completely digitise the transfer of money from employers to super funds.

A government-commissioned super system review reported 38 percent of businesses still deliver super by cheques only, while 22 percent use a combination of electronic and physical means.

Marco Franse, specialist consultant at Presence of IT, told CRN that assisting employers to comply with SuperStream is a significant opportunity for integrators.

"This is a big change coming," said Franse. "And a lot of employers are underestimating the effort required to comply."

ClickSuper compels employers to deliver data in a standard format named XBRL and for super funds to accept them in that state. There are also data transmission security requirements.

Shaun Flannery, chief technical officer at Presence of IT: "There are two issues that large ERP vendors may currently find difficult to support, and that is the transformation of the data file to XBRL, and the packaging and sending of transactions using the secure protocol."

"By working with employers running SAP or Oracle ERP systems, we can help them build a roadmap to compliance across both financial and payroll applications," said Flannery. "The process can be fully automated, thereby eliminating the need to re-enter employee data, or jump into a separate payment mechanism for superannuation contributions."

Franse told CRN that Presence of IT's partnership with ClickSuper was "the natual choice" as many of its Oracle and PeopleSoft customers had already used the company as a clearing house.

"ClickSuper is also one of the founders of the SuperStream transaction network," said Franse.

ClickSuper CEO Robin Beauchamp said that there is "a major paradigm shift happening" in the local superannuation industry that had "clung onto outdated modes of processing".

Large employers with 20 or more employees that volunteered earlier this year will hop onto the SuperStream framework between 1 July and 2 November. Franse said that all other employers must be compliant by 30 June 2015.

Presence of IT is a reseller headquartered in Sydney, where it was founded in 1999. The HR ERP specialist now has offices around Australia as well as Singapore, USA and Canada.