XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks Online
Country Restriction: Australia only
Risk Type: Payroll Risk
Business Function: Payroll
Overview
This XBert checks that the employer superannuation you have accrued for each employee matches the Super Guarantee (SG) you are legally required to pay on their ordinary earnings. It flags any employee whose super for a quarter falls well short of what the SG rate should produce. Unpaid or underpaid super can become a Super Guarantee Charge to the ATO, which includes interest and is not tax deductible, so catching a shortfall before the quarterly due date protects both your client and the business.
What it does
For every employee, XBert groups their pay runs by quarter (the period over which Super Guarantee is assessed). It adds up the ordinary-time earnings (OTE) that super is payable on, applies the correct SG rate for that period, and compares the result to the employer super actually accrued for the same employee and quarter. If the accrued super is materially below the expected amount, XBert raises this alert.
How it works
XBert calculates the expected super as the date-effective SG rate multiplied by the employee's ordinary-time earnings for the quarter. The rate it applies steps up over time in line with the legislated schedule (for example 11.5% from 1 July 2024 and 12% from 1 July 2025). It then compares this to the employer super recorded.
The alert is deliberately conservative so that normal rounding and timing differences do not trigger it. It only fires when the accrued super is more than a generous tolerance below the expected figure and the dollar shortfall is meaningful (not a few cents). To avoid false alarms, XBert ignores:
Earnings that super is not payable on, such as overtime, termination, redundancy and ETP payments, lump sums, back pay, leave loading and unused-leave cash-outs.
Contributions that are not employer Super Guarantee, such as salary sacrifice and voluntary member contributions.
Quarters where an employee has only a small amount of ordinary earnings, where a shortfall would not be significant.
Employees who were terminated before the quarter began, whose final payouts can distort the figures.
Records that carry no employer super at all, such as contractors or directors, because these legitimately have no Super Guarantee and cannot be told apart from a genuine non-payment without employment-type data.
In short, it flags an employee who clearly does receive super but whose accrued amount for the quarter is well below the SG rate applied to their ordinary earnings.
Example/Use Case
Priya is paid ordinary wages of $25,000 over the September quarter. At the 12% Super Guarantee rate, her employer super should be about $3,000. When the bookkeeper reviews the quarter, only $2,100 of employer super has been accrued, leaving a shortfall of around $900. Because that gap is well beyond a normal rounding or timing difference, XBert raises the alert. The bookkeeper checks the pay runs, finds a super line was missed on one pay, posts the adjustment, and ensures the full amount is paid to Priya's fund before the quarterly due date, avoiding a Super Guarantee Charge.
Accounting software
This XBert runs on Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online. It works best where the payroll data records detailed earnings types (richest in Xero), which lets it identify ordinary-time earnings precisely. Where earnings detail is sparser, it still applies the same checks safely.
Which countries it supports
This XBert is available for Australia only, as it is based on the Australian Super Guarantee rules and rates set by the ATO.
Processes
Business area: Payroll. To resolve this XBert, work through the following steps:
Open the affected employee's pay runs for the quarter shown in the alert.
Confirm the ordinary-time earnings that Super Guarantee should apply to, excluding overtime, termination and leave-loading amounts.
Check the employer super recorded against the expected amount (the SG rate that applied for that quarter, applied to those ordinary earnings).
If super was missed or understated, post the correcting super amount in your payroll software.
Make sure the full super owing is paid to the employee's fund before the quarterly Super Guarantee due date to avoid a Super Guarantee Charge.
If the figure is correct (for example the difference relates to non-OTE earnings or a salary-sacrifice arrangement), confirm the records are accurate.
Once the super has been corrected or confirmed, mark the XBert as resolved.