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What is a SMSF Electronic Service Address (ESA)?
07 June 2018
All superannuation guarantee payments are required to use SuperStream, allowing standardisation of payments and information no matter who is your employer and the nature of your super fund. SuperStream sends the money and the accompanying information together in an electronic format. This allows your employer to pay all of their employees in one transaction, even if they use different super funds. This also makes sure that payments are processed efficiently and with fewer errors than the way payments were processed in the past.
In order to receive this information, you need an Electronic Service Address, which functions as the mailbox for your SuperStream messages. This will take the form of a URL or an IP address, like the address used to access a website or computer. An email address is not a valid ESA.
How do I get an ESA for my SMSF?
You can obtain an ESA from your SMSF administrator, tax agent, accountant or bank. You can also obtain one from a dedicated SMSF messaging provider. ESA services are usually either free or low cost.
Once you obtain an ESA, you need to provide the address to your employer. This will enable you to receive contributions and their associated messages and keep your SMSF in compliance with the technical specifications for access the super network.
Failing to obtain an active ESA can result in your super contributions being redirected to your employers default super fund. Make sure that you only use an ESA you have permission to use from the provider!
Before you worry about your SMSF’s Electronic Service Address, make sure your super account is giving you the best value for money by comparing superannuation accounts with Canstar. The sponsored table below displays a snapshot of superannuation accounts on Canstar’s database with links to providers’ websites. These results are based on a person aged 30-39 with a super balance of less than $55k:
