HeroClear onboarding setup guide

Customers complete HeroClear setup themselves inside EH Payroll. The key steps are:

1. Register and enter your business and banking details
2. Choose your payment method (automated via Direct Debit, or manual via PayID)
3. For Direct Debit: sign the Direct Debit Request (DDR) form electronically
4. Verify your bank account via micro-deposit
5. Set up a Default Superannuation Fund
6. Complete Final Verification - HeroClear then becomes active

The setup requires you to enter banking information, sign Direct Debit documents (if applicable), and verify your bank account via micro-deposit - all steps that require direct access to your business bank account.

1. Log in to Employment Hero Payroll.
2. Click on Business (the suitcase icon) on the left hand side navigation menu.
3. Click on Payroll Settings.
4. Click on Payments.
5. Click on HeroClear Settings tab.
6. Click on the Get started button. 
7. Read the important notice, then tick the checkbox to confirm. 

8. Acknowledge the terms by clicking I Understand to proceed.

9. Select the Superannuation tile.

10. Click Continue to next step.

11. Click on Set up automated payments.

12. Add your organisation's business bank account name, BSB and account number, and click on Link.

13. Add the details in the modal, including bank details and authoriser information, then click on Continue.

14. Here you will see the authorisation pending screen. Navigate to your email to set up the next section.

15. In the email that the authoriser will have just received, click on Review and Sign.

16. Click on Click to Sign.

17. Add your signature and click on Insert.

18. Click on Continue if the top right-hand side of the screen.

19. Click on I agree.

20. Back in Employment Hero Payroll, click on Verify Account.

21. You will have received an amount under $1 to the connected bank account. Add the amount and click on Verify Amount.

22. Click on the X to return to the HeroClear screen, or click on Set up Another Direct Debit.

23. Next you will need to add your organisation's default super fund. Click on the Add my super fund search bar.

24. Once you've added your super fund/s, click on Continue with selected funds.

25. Click on Continue to complete setup.

26. Click on Enable HeroClear.

27. HeroClear is now enabled on your account.

If you plan to use manual PayID payments for HeroClear, we recommend completing a test transaction to verify the connection.

What to expect

For security reasons, some banks may place a hold on your first deposit for up to 24 hours. Subsequent payments should be instant which is why we recommend this test payment.

Test payment instructions

Please follow the instructions shown in the onboarding flow to complete the test payment and verify your funding method.

What Is This Feature?

Businesses using HeroClear previously had no way to require financial sign-off before superannuation payments left their account. HeroClear Payment Approvals adds a mandatory approval step to the super payment flow, so a trusted person (like a CFO or Finance Director) must review and authorise each payment batch before it's processed.

Who Is Involved?

There are two key roles:

Primary Approver The main person responsible for reviewing and authorising super payment batches. They must accept their role before the approval gate activates. Any Managed User in the payroll account can be nominated by a Payroll Admin. The Primary User must be a user on the file under Managed Users.

Backup Approver Steps in if the Primary Approver has not acted within 4 hours. Must be a different person from the Primary. They also receive an invitation and must accept their role, but their acceptance alone does not activate the approval gate — the Primary must accept first.

Which Payments Does This Apply To?

The approval gate only applies to super batches funded via Direct Debit or PayTo. Batches using other payment methods proceed without an approval gate.

How Does Setup Work?

The Payment Approver setup step is located in the optional section at the bottom of the HeroClear onboarding screen, below the PayID Test guidance. It can be skipped during onboarding and configured later from settings.

If there are no eligible Managed Users to select, the admin sees a message explaining that Managed Users need to be added to payroll first, with a link to do so.

Multi-entity organisations: Payment approval setup is scoped to the entity currently selected in the HeroClear entity dropdown. Configuring approvers for one entity has no effect on other entities. The same person can be nominated as approver across multiple entities, but setup must be completed separately for each.

What Emails Are Sent, and When?

The Approval Flow (Step by Step)

1. Payroll Admin submits a super batch via HeroClear

2. The batch pauses at a new "Awaiting Payment Approval" step in the processing timeline — it does not proceed to processing until an approver acts

3. Primary Approver receives an email and logs in to review

4. Once the approver acts, the "Awaiting Payment Approval" step is replaced — approved batches show "Payment Approved" and continue; rejected batches show "Payment Rejected" and stop

5. Once approved, payment is automatically processed via Direct Debit or PayTo — no further action is needed from the admin

Approving a Batch

The approver can approve from the review screen. A confirmation prompt is shown before the approval is finalised. After approving, the approver sees confirmation that the payment has been approved and will proceed.

Rejecting a Batch

The approver can reject a batch and optionally provide a reason. A confirmation prompt is shown before the rejection is finalised. The rejected batch cannot be amended or resubmitted — the admin must create a new payment batch to try again.

The Review Screen

The review screen shows the organisation name, employing entity name (for multi-entity orgs), pay period, total super payment amount, and number of employees. The approver can expand to see a full per-employee breakdown with individual contribution amounts. The review screen is desktop only — it is not available on mobile.

Managing Approvers (Admin Settings)

Key things to know for support tickets:

• The admin can replace or remove approvers at any time. When changed, the newly nominated person receives a fresh invitation to accept their role.

• Changes to approvers take effect for the next payment batch — any batch already awaiting approval is not affected.

• The admin can enable or disable the approval gate from settings. Disabling it removes the gate for future batches immediately, but does not affect any batch already awaiting approval.

• If a nominated approver's access is revoked or they leave the organisation, the payroll admin receives an alert to reconfigure approvers. In-flight approval requests are held in pending state until new approvers are set up.

Key Limitations to Be Aware Of

• SMS notifications are not available — email only for this version.

• Leave-based escalation (e.g. primary approver being on leave) is not supported in this version.

• The feature currently covers superannuation payments only — wages payments are not in scope yet.

• The approval gate only activates once the Primary Approver has accepted their invitation — a pending primary means no gate.

A Direct Debit Request (DDR) is a legally binding authorisation form that gives Employment Hero (via Zepto, our payment processor) permission to debit your nominated bank account for super contributions. Without a signed DDR, automated direct debit cannot proceed.

The DDR must be signed electronically via the link sent to the nominated authoriser — scanned or pen-signed copies are not accepted under any circumstances.

Check the authoriser's inbox, including junk and spam folders. The email comes from Employment Hero and references "HeroClear" and "Direct Debit Authorisation". An automatic reminder is sent after 3 days. If the email still cannot be found, contact Employment Hero support to have it resent.

No. If incorrect details were entered, you will need to cancel the setup and restart from the beginning.

No. The DDR must be completed electronically via the link in the email. No exceptions apply.

The DDR template uses "Company" as a generic legal label and is legally enforceable against a sole trader entity. If you prefer not to sign a DDR, you can use manual PayID payments (no DDR required) as an alternative until this is resolved. Contact Employment Hero support for assistance.

Once setup has progressed past certain steps, you cannot go back to edit earlier sections. If you need to change a critical detail (such as the authoriser), you must cancel the current setup and restart.

Yes — a default super fund is required. You cannot skip this step during HeroClear setup. You can, however, go back and change your Default Super Fund after setup is complete.

Zepto is Employment Hero's third-party payment processor. They handle direct debit authorisation and clearing. You may see "Zepto" appearing in bank statements or verification emails — this is expected and normal.