My husband and I have a painting business where we employ one other painter and at times contract in a plasterer. I am responsible for the running of the office.

 

I’m finding that I am working much longer hours than we initially planned or thought would be necessary, and though this in itself doesn’t worry me (it is still not equivalent to a full time office role), I do wonder whether I am working efficiently?

 Our suggestion is:

Before we delve into possible solutions, it is worthwhile considering if your business has been expanding and therefore increasing the amount of paperwork.

If this doesn’t appear to be the case, there are a few things you could look into:

• As a first step, try and calculate what it is that is taking up most of your time; e.g. are you are spending a large amount of time completing BAS, invoicing or some other task?
• Networking – talk to other people in the housing industry. It’s likely that your accounting systems would be similar and you may be able to compare some of your office procedures. If you would like to talk to other business partners, contact your local HIA office and see when the next get-together is. As simple as it seems, sometimes changing your work style can make a big difference.
• Are you confident you have the best electronic systems in place for your needs and if so, are you getting the most out of them? It’s not unusual for small business owners to purchase electronic programs off the shelf and self install but it can be a worthwhile expense having a professional do the initial setup; e.g. have your accountant load your accountancy software.
• Knowledge is power! You can enhance your skills or learn new ones. HIA offers a number of workshops that you may find helpful in this regard. Click here for more information.

You asked:

I am advised by the ATO that employers are required to lodge their employee’s 9% SGC as a minimum Quarterly (by the 28th of the following month).

 

However two of the five funds nominated by our employees into which we lodge quarterly are telling us we have a legal requirement to lodge their SGC monthly – they quote this is a legal requirement under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993.

 

Who is right? What should we be doing – quarterly or monthly?

 

Thanks for this Q&A facility.

 Our suggestion is:

Introduction

Employers are obliged to make superannuation guarantee contributions on behalf of each of their employees. ‘Employees’ includes ‘labour only’ or ‘substantially labour only’ contractors.

 

Superannuation guarantee contributions are calculated as nine per cent of the employee’s ‘ordinary time earnings’ and are paid by an employer directly to the employee’s superannuation fund.

 

How often do I have to make superannuation contributions?

 

At the very minimum, an employer must pay superannuation contributions to a super fund every quarter. The due date for each quarter is as follows:

 

Quarter	Due Date
1 January to 31 March	28 April
1 April to 30 June	28 July
1 Jul to 30 September	28 October
1 October to 31 December	28 January

 

Employers may be required, by an award or by a super fund’s trust deed, to pay those contributions more often.

 

An employer is required to comply with the terms of an award because the terms of the award represent the minimum conditions of employment that are required by law.

 

An employer will be required by law to comply with the terms of a trust deed if they have agreed to pay superannuation contributions into that super fund (for example, under the ‘Choice of Super’ laws).

 

The Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993

 

This is separate from any obligation the employer has to make compulsory contributions on behalf of its employees.

 

This Act only deals with a very specific situation, namely, where an employee has requested the employer to pay some of his or her after tax (or ‘nett’) wages into his or her superannuation fund.

 

If your employee has asked the employer to make such a payment, then the employer must make that payment by the 28th day of the following month.

 

An example:

 

Employer A pays Employee B an annual wage of $26,000, which is paid on a fortnightly basis:

 

                                      Gross wage                            $1000

          Less:                    PAYG                                        110

          Equals:                 Nett wage                          _     $890

 

Employer A has offered Employee B ‘Choice of Super’, and Employee B has chosen Super Fund C. Employee B has also asked Employer A to take $50 out of each fortnightly pay and send that to Super Fund C. Let’s say that Super Fund C requires fortnightly payments.

 

Employer A is obliged to send the following payments to Super Fund C:

• Superannuation Guarantee Contribution of $90 (being nine per cent of gross wages) per fortnight; and
• $100 or $150 per month (depending on whether the month contains two or three pay days), by the 28th of the following month.