Ange

Welcome to Super Simple Chats. Rest's very own podcast. We will be speaking to industry experts about all things super. Trying to make it understandable and relatable for everyday Aussies. After all, it's one of the biggest assets you'll ever have.

We're recording this podcast on Gadigal land. We pay our respects to elders past and present.

Any advice you hear on this podcast is general in nature and doesn't take into account your financial situation, needs or objectives. Issued by Retail Employees Superannuation PTY LTD. Before deciding to join or stay, consider the relevant FSG, PDS and TMD at rest.com.au/pds.

Phil

So we've all got our favourite cafe that we go to. I've got a few mates who run cafes, and, you know, you see them run off their feet. You hardly ever see them take a break. Sometimes even on a Sunday. Makes you think that running a business, not just a cafe, but any kind of small business, it's just... full on this, all this stuff to think about. And so you barely have time to think about what's going on with super.

So we're going to do an episode all about running small businesses and super joining me today is Chrissy, my co-host here. And we've got our small business expert, Matt, from Rest. Hey, Matt.

Matt

G'day, how are you going?

Phil

But before we ask you some questions, I got a few questions for you, Chrissy.

Chrissy

Oh okay

Phil

have you thought about running your own business?

Chrissy

Yeah, I think everyone has

Phil

What would your small business be?

Chrissy

A bookstore.

Phil

Got a name for it?

Chrissy

Chrissy's collection.

Phil

It’s got a good ring to it.

What about you, Matt? Have you ever thought about starting a small business?

Matt

Well, I mean, look, I. I would love to, I was born raised a family that's had a small business pretty much since I've been born. I've worked at those small businesses, my wife has a small business as well. So, while I'd love to, I'm probably a little bit busy in the super space, to be honest. But. But I think, you know, I've been working in super for 15 years now, so it's probably a little bit late to sort of turn that corner, but you never know. See what happens in the future.

Chrissy

You might have a career in publishing.

Matt

Yeah. I don't think it would be in books, though.

Phil

No competition for you, Chrissy,

Matt

More likely super or something like that. Oh now podcasts, I'm back for season two. I must have done something right on the first one.

Phil

The fans loved you, they wanted you back

Chrissy

It's got to be pretty good having so many small businesses in the family, and who also have a super specialist on tap.

Matt

You'd think so? But, yeah, they don't ask for too much advice.

Chrissy

Yet.

Matt

Or information, I should be clear, not advice.

Chrissy

But For those of us who aren't lucky enough to have a super specialist at home, let's start at the very beginning. Let's say my book store is just opening. What are the main things that I need to start thinking about when it comes to super?

Matt

Yeah, it's a good question. And look, I, I've been working super for a while. Most of that is sort of been in workplace super, which is dealing with businesses of all size: small, medium and large sort of enterprise businesses. And there's probably three key things I would always say to any business of size.

First thing is, when you start onboarding employees there’s something you need to provide your employees, which is called a standard choice form. Now that sounds a little bit scary, right? But it really is, a standard choice form. It's just a form that your employees need to complete within 28 days of starting with you, which just nominates their superannuation fund. So you need to collect this from them.

Now, the second thing you need to consider, if you if you don't collect that standard choice form, which I just talked about, is you will need to do what's called a stapled search, which sounds a little bit weird as well. Now, stapling is a relatively new law to superannuation, and stapling was introduced, basically because a lot of employees over the years were collecting multiple super funds. So what a staple search does and you do this for an ATO link, which we I'm sure we could pop somewhere in the chat or if I'm pointing here or somewhere, somewhere here, staple search basically just allows you to find your employees existing super funds, which is a positive thing, right? Because, you know, over the years of working in super, I've been in many a workplace where I've done, sort of, workplace education. We've spoken to somebody and they've got sort of ten, 15 super funds. So you know, that's not good for anybody. And, you know, when it comes to super, there's certainly fees and sometimes insurance premiums that that are withdrawn from your super account.

So sort of having 10,15 accounts, I mean, unless you've got some sort of strategy behind it, which I don't think you probably do, is probably not a good choice. So a staple search allows your employer to find your existing super fund. But if you're an employer and you don't want to sort of get bogged down with that administrative burden of having to do that stapled search, then get them to complete that sort of standard choice form when they start.

So they're the first sort of two things. Now, the third thing is, well, now you've got your employees on board. You figure out what you got to pay them is, how do I pay these superannuation contributions? Now, like like most funds at Rest, we use what's called a clearing house. A clearing house basically is an online portal where it allows you to basically log in and pay your contributions to your employees, regardless of where the super fund is. And that's important as well, because there's a lot of super funds out there. And instead of you having to go and pay your super contributions to all those individual funds directly, you can just do it through this clearing house portal. There's something called the Small Business Clearing House, which we'll probably touch on a bit more detail today, which is another portal.

Or you can actually sometimes engage with your payroll provider, your payroll software. Some of those payroll software solutions actually have clearing houses products inbuilt to them. But you just need to be wary of those sometimes. Like they can be a cost, sort of additional cost to your sort of standard payroll packaging. there's plenty of options available to you.

But as I said, as always, I through this podcast is engage with the respective super fund, because they're there to help you. And as I said, we've got we've got a clearing house solution available to you. So they're the three probably key things, I know that's a bit.

Crissy

A lot, I still can't remember the first one.

Phil

Watch this podcast again.

Matt

So standard choice form, staple search and then figure out how you going to pay you super contributions. As I said, this thing called a clearing house. Very, very, you know, sort of friendly to use online portal for most part. And there's plenty of solutions available. You know, I'm sure, I'm sure Google would be able to help you all. Look, if you're starting a business from scratch, you've probably engaged an accountant at some point as well, or a business advisory sort of firm that, you know, they will certainly be able to point you in the right direction there. So they're the three things. But jeez, bit of an intro there, wasn't it? Sorry about that.

Phil

Oh mate, that's why we got you here!

Chrissy

Okay. And so when do I need to start thinking about that kind of stuff. Is it when I've got novels flying off the shelf? Or is it when I'm starting to grow and bring on new employees?

Matt

Straight away, Chrissy. I mean, obviously immediately, first thing you're going to do when you start a business is think about superannuation. Look, I know that's probably not the case. But, you know, obviously being a little bit biased working in super, we'd love you to start thinking about it straight away, but, the reality is you're probably not. But as you start to bring on board employees, obviously this is when you're going to really need to start considering, you know, these, sort of those three key things that I talked about. And particularly paying super as well, is probably the real key part of that piece there too.

One of the things to consider as well is, if you are starting a business and you're a sole trader as an example, that's an occasion where you don't actually have to pay yourself super contributions if you don't want to, I mean.

Chrissy

Which we don't recommend.

Matt

I mean, look, it's it's it really is up to you. Look, I was literally on the phone, to one of my mates who's a sparky, Jimmy. G’day Jimmy. Just before we jumped on this podcast, and I was chatting to him that we were jumping in the studio talking about this and said, oh, by the way, I probably mentioned the whole sole trader thing. You don't have to, but, you know, it's probably beneficial for you in the long run from a retirement point of view. And look at as well, if you do start making personal contributions to your super as a sole trader, there could be some tax concessions at the end of financial year as well to reduce your taxable income as well. So, you know, that's something, you know, if you're making additional you're making contributions to your super, sole trader. Then speak to your accountant. You know, the end of financial year because as I said, there might be a little bit of tax relief for you there too as well. So, certainly something to consider. You know, as a sole trader, particularly.

Chrissy

So let's go back to my bookstore. We'll use that as a great example. Yeah. So let's say things are getting a bit busy, you know. Romancy books flying off the shelf. And I'm looking to expand. So I want to start cafe. I'm going to...

Phil

Can I work for you?

Chrissy

Have you got experience?

Phil

Heaps, heaps of experience.

Matt

No wait, you said you're a barista, or was it barrister? Am I getting them mixed up?

Phil

I can drink coffee, I mean, make coffee. Hire me, please.

Chrissy

We'll do taste testing? So say I expand my bookstore and I'm bringing on Phil as a barista. Do I need to pay him super?

Matt

Is that because of his legal skills? Am I getting these mixed up? Is it the same thing? Okay.

Chrissy

Look, we're small business owners. We wear many hats.

Matt

Yeah. You do. Actually, you're not wrong. Actually, and I'm saying that particularly, you know, with my family business and my wife's business. Well, you wear pretty much every single hat, right?

When you start bringing on, you know, your full time or part time employees, casuals, etc. This is when you're going to be starting to make sort of more regular, you know, super payments required to and you're required to make super contributions to what's called eligible employees. an eligible employee is essentially someone that's over the age of 18 and earning any income. You know, you're paying them a salary. So you have to pay them super.

On the flip side, people that aren't officially considered eligible employees or anyone that's under the age of 18, so you don't actually have to pay under 18 year olds if you if you don't want to. But if they start working more than 30 hours a week, that's when they become eligible employees.

look, I've worked with businesses over the years, who just pay all their employees regardless of age. Obviously, that's a, you know, that's an amazing benefit, you know, starting to get those...

Chrissy

Starting younger is better, yep.

Matt

Starting to get those contributions rolling in early. The power of compound interest is a beautiful thing, right? but at the same time as a business I understand obviously, you know, there's a lot of expenses running a business. So you don't actually have to pay those, those under 18s. Unless they're working more than 30 hours a week, but your over 18s, soon as they start receiving a salary, you've got to pay them super.

Chrissy

I've been in super for a good few years now, long enough to see a couple of occasions pop up where employers might have missed super guarantee payments. Just how bad would that be for a small business owner if they did accidentally forget one time?

Matt

Yeah, look. And unfortunately it is the reality of the super system. There are businesses, that that do miss their payments. They pay late, pay to the wrong super fund, etc. so you know, you you wouldn't be alone as a business that does that. But look, the end of day, it's, it is seen as a bit of a No-No. And you know, as a business, you need to do everything you can to sort of get those super contributions back on track, I can't reiterate this point more. Super funds will will want to help you through that process. So they'll guide you through that process. So please reach out to your respective super fund to sort of, you know, get those back on track because in the day it's your employee's money. They've worked hard for it. And they deserve that to have in the their super in a, at a suitable time as well. So yeah, I think just as I said, engage with the super fund to sort of help you get back on track with those.

Chrissy

Yeah. And we all make mistakes, right? Human error.

Matt

Correct. Only human as you know, running a business is tough. So many things. So many things, so many curveballs going on. You know, so I appreciate it's probably not top of mind, but as I said, if you're listening to this podcast, as I said, the advice is, yeah, just engage with your super fund.

They will want to help you get that back on track as soon as possible.

Phil

So if you are one of those business owners like Chrissy's collection, she's got so busy that she's trying to manage employing me and stuff. She's made the mistake and she hasn't quite paid me on time, whatever, is there a fine or a charge involved? Or is it just like a slap on the wrist?

Matt

Yeah. Look, there is. You know, if you don't pay your super on time or you miss payments, there is something called the super guarantee charge, which you will have to pay, and On top of that, you have to lodge what's called an SGC statement, super guarantee charge statement with the ATO as well, which I don't know, a lot of people, when they hear the word ATO, they get, chills down their spine. And I... and look, yeah the ATO are doing a good job, apologies to the ATO, if I cause any offence. And look I know for me, even when I lodge my personal tax return end financial year and I get to say a few emails at the end of that, a few weeks later, I think oh geez, what have I done here?

Chrissy

Nothing strikes fear into me more than logging in to Hotmail and seeing a myGov notification.

Matt

I know, tell me about it. I mean, I think I get most of my ATO emails actually not from the ATO these days as well, they seem to be some sort of spam.

Phil

Don't click on that link, Matt

Matt

I know, I don't click on that link, I know, but look as yeah, you do need to lodge that statement. you're busy enough running a business. So if you can avoid that work by paying you super on time. Obviously that's beneficial for everybody involved. Right. So yeah that's the key.

Chrissy

And how costly would it be?

Matt

It's more than likely going to be more than what you were initially owed to pay your employees as well, because there will be a penalty charge, interest and administration fees on top of that super that you were supposed to be paid as well. So you probably don't have too much spare money running a business or getting a business up or running your bookstore as an example. There's going to be lots of expenses. Brand new Harry Potter series coming up I imagine. Is that even still a thing? Is there any more books?

Phil

Stay in super, Matt. Stick to super, I think you're okay.

Matt

I'm clearly not a bookworm, clearly not a bookworm. So, yeah. Look, I think, you know, there's additional money you probably don't have spare. You know, just pay super on time and you can avoid all those charges, right?

Phil

It's interesting you're talking about the ATO, I've actually had some good interactions with them. So if you're listening out there, love your work.

Matt

Me to as well. So yeah, I've probably been painting myself in a bad light.

Phil

There's got to be some support, right? If a business is trying to do the right thing, who can they reach out to for help?

Matt

I've mentioned a few times, you know, we'd love to. At Rest, we'd love to speak with you. We we do have a business help center, actually, just on our website, we've had a page dedicated directly for employers and even things like, you know, franchises and franchise laws and things like that as well. So all the information is available. We're actually building a sort of, SG calculator at the moment as well to help you with those, those payments, calculate those, those payments as well. So look there's plenty of resources. I mean, Google's you're best friend sort of go down that path. But as I said, if you if you go to our website at Rest, you know, we've got plenty of resources available.

As I said as well, look, if you, if you do have an accountant, I'm really offloading a lot of work to the accountant here at the moment, so...

Chrissy

Season three

Matt

Yeah, season three, we'll bring the accountant in. We'll bring him in, there's plenty available for you. It's, as I said, just finding the time as well, which is another, you know, non luxury of running a business as well to to speak with them. But there's, there's so many ways to engage with the super fund. It doesn't necessarily have to be either over the phone. there's plenty of tools at your fingertips if you need it.

Phil

And Chrissy obviously you'll just call Matt up for that sort of stuff.

Chrissy

Yeah. I'll just tap him on the shoulder.

Phil

But you guys actually appreciate getting those sort of calls from businesses.

Matt

Yeah, we love it. Yeah. I'm as said, I've. This is the space that I've been working in as, workplace super is the sort of the team that I've been working in for a long time now. We love, we love being at a support business. I mean, that's why I've got a job, you know, this is what I'm here to do. And, you know, we really pride ourself on sort of helping businesses with, you know, their transactional obligations. And then there's another element to, super as well that we love to do in my team. And that's sort of that financial literacy piece. You know, obviously this is somewhat of that from a business perspective, but also from an employees perspective. There's a really big financial literacy gap in Australia. And just sort of understanding the basics. So we actually do a lot of sort of workplace education and super in the workplace, super 101 education sessions, very rewarding. And as I said, if you're listening to this podcast, and you'd like to hear more about that, please feel free to reach out to us after this. We'd love to chat with you more about it.

Chrissy

That's definitely why I work in super like I believe in the value of the product.

Matt

Yeah, it's, it's there to support you and it’s really important. But I appreciate for most people super is... as an employee or an employer, as I said, we're, very realistic, in terms of the priority and the pecking order. But, you know, there's a lot of things you can do as a business and an employee sort of early on that'll make a massive difference. You know, down the line.

Phil

So Matt obviously you love helping out small business owners. But does the government provide any services, particularly for small businesses in this area?

Matt

Yeah, yeah. I mean, there's plenty I think just from a transactional point of view, and making those super contributions. There's something called the Small Business Clearing house. That facility, as I said, if you've got, employees with, multiple super funds across, you know, various industries that they've accumulated, then you can actually log on to the small Business clearing house and make those contributions there. Unfortunately, though, that's closing down. So, yeah. So it is closing down, the end of June 2026. What are we now, 2025 yet? Okay, that's my brain ticking over. So yeah. So about a year away, the small business clearing house is closing down. So you will, you know, unfortunately, you'll only be able to use that for another year if you're jumping on now, although using it now, we'll have to find another solution. And look, at Rest we're building out a new actually clearing out solution in the future. And I'm sure we can touch on that in a bit more detail to you. So, you know, as I said, feel free to reach out to us if you, you know, need some support around that too

Phil

So, I hear talk in the office and around the super world that we're about to go into payday super. So just to ease small business people's minds about about the interim time. Can you tell us about what's planned in this transitional phase?

Matt

Yeah, look. At the moment you would've heard a lot of talk from my team, the Workplace Super team. We don't stop talking over my side, so apologies for all the noise!

Chrissy

We hear you.

Matt

But look, here we are, we're in the process of actually building, a new payday super solution, partnering with a sort of tech provider at the moment. So just have to watch this space.

Phil

Awesome. It sounds really helpful. So we'll put some links in the show notes, of course. And we won't put your personal line in there, but we'll have some sort of help for you.

Matt

I mean, you can if you want.

Phil

Oh, excellent, great.

Chrissy

We obviously know about Payday Super because we work in the industry. But for those that don't know, I just want to spend a bit more time going into detail about what it is and what it's going to mean for small businesses, for businesses around Australia.

Matt

Payday Super is yeah, it's one of the biggest shifts in the super industry from a business point of view, an employer's point of view, that I've seen for some time. Just to give you some context as well, when I first started working in super, you know, 15 years ago, showing my age a little bit, this hairline is receeding at an incredible rate.

And that was, you know, when I first started working it was actually in a Rest call center, actually. So. Yeah. So a long time I've been working with Rest. A lot of the, the calls in the call center back in the day were around where businesses, small businesses like yourself, your bookstore, I'm sure, spoke to many a bookstore back in the day. And they were asking, you know, how do I go about paying contributions? What's the right way to do it? And back then you could actually send in a contribution on the, remittance on the back of a cheque. And this is, ten, ten years ago, people still sending in checks, with a remittance on the back of it. And, you know, trying to allocate that accordingly, you know, is, absolute nightmare. So since then, super streams come into effect, which is basically employers having to sign their contribution digitally with a data standard as well. And now Payday Super is probably just that next iteration. And what payday super, the difference between payday Super and what it is now, is at the moment super and for a long time is only required to be paid quarterly.

So you only have to pay it, you know, four times a year and you actually have 28 days after the quarter to actually make those contributions as well. So there's plenty of time. So I've had many conversation with Rest members and you know, just, you know, small businesses, employees or businesses, employees where they've said, well, Matt, I can see on my payslip that I've got super paid to me, but I've just checked my Rest account and it's not in there. And that's because the employee doesn't actually have to pay it until the end of the quarter. So it's sort of withheld till then. Payday super, you actually have to pay it on, you know, receipt of paying your employees salary or wages. So it's a really big shift in the industry to be honest. You know, imagine going from quarterly to weekly, you know, as a business that's a, that's a big...

Chrissy

Huge admin burden.

Matt

Yeah, it's a huge admin burden, which is why, super funds and, and providers need to come up with some new technology to be able to help businesses and support businesses with that as well, because, I mean, can you imagine sending a cheque, you know, pretty much every day to your employees like it was back in the day, right?

So it’s a big shift in the industry. And as I said, if you think about your bookstore Chrissy, as an example, you know, it's not just the how, how regularly you're gonna have to pay these contributions, almost like a cash flow thing you need to consider as well. Because if you've gone from quarterly to weekly, all that money that you might have had, you know, sort of in your accounts to, to pay for electricity bills and, you know, the coffee shop that this guy over here is running as well, you know, and all the free coffee he's drinking too. So...

Phil

Allegedly

Matt

Allegedly, you know, there's some other things you need to consider as well. So, yeah, payday super is it's a it's a really big shift in the industry. I'm certainly having a lot more conversations with businesses around it now, and, you know, how they sort of get ready and gear up for it come July 2026?

Phil

And is it definitely going to happen or is it just being talked about at this stage?

Matt

Yeah, it's it's it's not law yet. But it's certainly being considered. But I think most businesses, are sort of working with their super fund or super funds at the moment to get ready for it, which is probably a good sign that it it might come in. July 2026.

Chrissy

And so with Payday Super coming in what there'll be further changes to the super guarantee charge?

Matt

Yeah there is some changes coming to the SG charge, gee that's a mouthful. And look, to be honest, it can be a little bit complicated. So with the magic of podcasts and links, can we just pop like a link somewhere here

Chrissy

So before we jump off topic, why is the government making these changes?

Matt

Yeah, probably two key things, I think. First one being accountability. We've mentioned a few times today employers underpaying superannuation, not paying, paying into the wrong fund. So it does make employers businesses a lot more accountable. And I know that's an additional burden. So if you're listening to this podcast it's not me making these changes. It's, it's a legislative change. But look it, it does once you sort of get into a groove, I think as a business you sort of get a bit more familiar and paying it more regularly might be somewhat easier for you. I said technology pending as well, obviously.

And then the other part is obviously transparency as well. So as I mentioned that example, that Rest member that I talked about, he showed me their payslip and they said the super was in there, but I couldn't see it in their Rest account. Well with payday super, it's more than likely it's actually going to be in their account.

And from an employee's perspective, super members perspective, they're going to get that that power of compound interest ticking away a lot earlier. There's more regular payments going in. And as you can see, and you know, once if you see money going into any account, your bank account, super fund, you're probably gonna get a little bit more interested in it as well, which is what we want. Right? So I think you're probably going to start being naturally more engaged with your super with more payments going in. So, it can be you know, obviously it's I think it is a positive thing, to be honest.

Phil

It does make sense, doesn't it, the whole idea. Like it's just a whole like, you know, if you're wanting to see what your, where your balances is at, just download the app, that sort of stuff. It just makes sense to making that much more of a digital experience. Yeah. Assuming that's what's going to happen with payday super.

Matt

There's more technology coming around the corner, whether it's clearing houses or sort of payroll providers, payroll systems, they're all having to enhance the technology. And, you know, for, an employees or a member's point of view that technologies, already available to be able to sort of view, you know, your super if your wrist members example, you can look at your super app..

Chrissy

I like to do it every day.

Matt

I mean, a lot of people, a lot of people do. And you know, when there's, when markets are sort of bouncing up and down as well, like that's when a lot of people like to look at their super.

Chrissy

It's a good time to learn about the markets though when you see it fluctuating.

Matt

100%. Yeah. And a lot of people, that's when the penny sort of drops, oh my super is invested and, why is it bouncing around type thing. And that's when we obviously want to chat to you about, you know, why it's doing that. And, but it makes a bit more real. So yeah, having that, that app, you know, particularly the, the Rest app, obviously a little bit biased. It's pretty good.

Chrissy

I think I definitely had that misconception of like super being a savings account.

Matt

Yeah, a lot of people do.

Chrissy

Most people do. Yeah.

Matt

Yeah it's savings for retirement. Yeah.

Chrissy

So I feel like we've covered a lot, but before we wrap up, is there anything else that you want to leave people with?

Matt

Yeah, there's there's a lot obviously we've we've covered today just sort of, business and super but particularly payday super as I said, is probably one of the biggest things coming around the corner. You know, I can't stress this enough. Engage with the super fund. Obviously reach out to us. Can I give my team, like a shameless plug or is that...

Phil

I think you're going to anyway

Matt

.. Is that frowned upon? I'm going to do it anyway. So I'm a... (makes heart hands, laughing) Super Solutions at Rest. But you can literally reach out to my team. Feel free to email Super solutions (all one word) at rest.com.au. You'll literally hear from myself or my team. We'd love to be able to support you with that. I know at the moment, we've we've actually already run one payday super webinar, at the back end of last year for our Rest employers. And we're, we're going to be running these more regularly as we sort of gear up into, July 2026 as well. So, so we'll be communicating that to all our employees. If you're listening to this right now, you want more information, I'm sure we'll be able to sort of, yeah get in touch with you as well. You can reach out to me. I've now got my team's email out of the, in the universe.

Sorry, team. But look, all jokes aside, we'd love to support you, but that's that's probably the biggest thing. Engage, engage with your super fund as your accountant is probably another point of contact as well. Business advisory groups there's so much support available for you. And. Yeah, we want to chat to you too.

Phil

So Chrissy, after hearing all of this sort of stuff, are you still going to start your bookstore. Do you still feel like it's too tricky?

Chrissy

I don't think I'm done with the space of super. Yeah, right. Okay. I think I'm going to stay in superannuation.

Phil

But the idea of running a small business, hopefully this has helped make it a bit easier, a little bit simpler, hopefully.

Matt

Definitely.

Phil

Or listen to this podcast again.

Matt

Obviously.

Phil

But if you have enjoyed today's episode, please make sure to like, follow, and subscribe.

Chrissy

And if you'd like any more information on the things we spoke about today, make sure to check the show notes.

Phil

And that is...

Phil and Chrissy

Super simple.