The Payroll classic platform will cancel your Beam super batch payment if it cannot match the payment you made to the relevant batch payment. There are a few reasons this might happen:

• Incorrect payment reference number used.
• Incorrect payment amount sent.
• Beam did not receive the payment you made by the due date (10 business days after your batch submitted date, not created date).

If you make a mistake when paying your batch and the payment details you use do not match what you provided exactly or you are late making a payment, then the platform can not automatically match your payment to your super payment batch. We will refund any unmatched payments.

This article contains details as a guide on the following topics:

• Proof of payment
• Checking for an Automated Status Notification
• Refunds for unmatched payments
• Different payment options:
  • Direct Debit
  • Bank Transfer (EFT)
  • BPAY

Proof of payment

If you notice your super batch status has not updated to Sent to Fund within the timeframes provided, the first thing to do is cross reference your proof of payment with the submitted batch payment details. Proof of payment, I.e. bank remittance/payment receipt, should typically include the payment date, amount, reference number, BSB, account number and payee name. If the payment details you provided to your bank are incorrect and/or do not match the batch payment details provided by Beam, we will refund your payment.

Checking for an automated status notification

You should check your emails for notifications about payment details for your submitted batch. There are several reasons you will receive an email:

• Unmatched/No payment: If you have failed to send a payment that matches the exact details on your batch payment within 3 business days of the submission, you will receive a reminder email. You should check your bank payment receipt/remittance to ensure that you have used the correct payment details for the batch. The platform will automatically cancel a batch if a matching payment is not received by day 10 of the submission date.
• Direct Debit - Dishonour: We will email you notifying you if your bank dishonours your payment when Beam attempts to debit the funds. We give you various payment methods (BPAY or EFT) and payment details advising payment needs to be received by day 5 of the submission date, or else your batch gets automatically cancelled. If your Direct Debit payment fails and you make no successful follow up payment, then we will automatically cancel the batch payment.
• Bank Transfer (EFT) or BPAY: We will send you an email when you submit a batch payment, notifying you of the correct payment details you need to use for each submission. If you cannot send your payment to Beam with the correct payment details within 3 business days from the batch submission date, we will send you a reminder email. If you get an email and you have made a payment, you need to check your bank payment receipt/remittance payment details to ensure the payment details match exactly your batch payment. We will automatically cancel the batch payment if we do not receive payment with incorrect details by day 10 of the batch submission date.
• Underpayment - EFT or BPAY: If the payment you made is less than the batch total amount, we will send you an email notification that gives you 5 days to send us the make-up payment before we automatically cancel the whole batch payment and refund the initial payment received back in full.
• Overpayment - EFT or BPAY: If the payment you made is greater than the batch total amount and you used the correct payment details, the overpaid amount gets refunded automatically. EFT received as an NPP/Osko payment gets refunded back in full on the day received.

Refunds for unmatched payments

If you make a payment that Beam cannot can not match to a submitted batch payment, we will issue a refund to your bank account. This may not be the same bank account as the designated refund account on your Superannuation Settings page. If you have employing entities set up in your payroll file and registered with Beam, you will find the Employing Entity Beam settings on your Employing Entities page. 

We will start a refund within 10 business days after Beam receives a payment that they cannot match to a super batch payment. Allowing for bank clearance times of 1-2 business days, it can be up to 12 business days before you see the refund in your bank account.

Different payment options

We suggest you consider setting up and using the Direct Debit payment option for your super batches. It eliminates any potential human error in making payments for your super batches. To set up and manage your Direct Debit account(s) go to your Superannuation Settings page.

Direct Debit

To use the Direct Debit payment method, we need to make sure you are a registered employer with the ATO. This can be done via a successful STP (Single Touch Payroll) event. If you have not submitted a successful STP event, this will result in the following error occurring when submitting the super payment and you will need to select another payment option to continue: “Prior to using the direct debit payment option, a pay event must be successfully lodged via Single Touch Payroll. Please select another payment option.”

If your Direct Debit payment fails and you make no follow up payment, then we will automatically cancel your batch payment. We will email you notifying you if your bank dishonours your payment when Beam has attempted to debit the funds.

We will give you alternative payment methods (BPAY or EFT) and payment details advising payment needs to be received by day 5 from batch submission date or your batch gets automatically cancelled.

We will process a direct debit from your account:

• If you submit your batch before 3.30pm AEST on a business day, Beam will debit the nominated account on that day.
• If you submit your batch on or after 3.30pm AEST on a business day, or on a non-business day, Beam will debit the nominated account on the next business day,

We recommended this payment method because of its automation. Unlike bank transfers with the direct debit payment option, you have provided Beam with your direct debit bank account and permission to debit the payment for the submitted batch rather than you making the payment to them via EFT or BPAY.

Common reasons for direct debit failure/dishonour include:

• You registered the incorrect BSB and account number with Beam.
• There were insufficient funds in your account for the batch payment.
• The bank has a block on the direct debit account.

Bank Transfer (EFT)

When we cannot match an EFT payments because of incorrect payment details to your batch payment, we will automatically cancel your batch payment. EFT payments can take between 1-3 working days to get to Beam from your bank account.

This payment option requires that the correct payment reference number and total amount for each batch payment. The most common reason that an EFT payment will not match your submitted batch payment is because the payment reference number was incorrect. Reasons include:

• It was missing/incorrect: You should only enter the 18 character payment reference number and do not add any other numbers, letters or words, eg Ref, Super Q4 or a single number 1. You should cross reference the proof of payment with the payment reference number provided within the submitted batch. You can copy and paste the correct payment reference number directly from the batch into your banking details to prevent errors.
•  Incorrect line used: This can be a bank issue caused when providing two lines when making the payment reference and description. We normally recommend you enter the submitted batch payment reference number in both lines to eliminate any chance of using the incorrect one.
• Each batch you submit has a unique payment reference number. You should not save the payment reference number along with the account details in your internet banking, as you may inadvertently use it on a payment for your subsequent batches.

The date of the payment can be a factor:

• If you make a payment close to/on the due date, then you may not have allowed for bank clearance days and this will cause the cancellation of your batch because Beam will not receive your funds before the due date.
• If you make a payment on a created batch before you submit the batch, you will not have any correct payment for eg payment reference number. We provide payment details to you only once you submit your batch payment.

You did not provide the exact amount to the cent. This can vary dependent on the method used by the bank, with Osko or PayAnyone being the two most common forms.

• With an Osko payment, if it is an overpayment, we will reject the transfer and issue a full refund.
• If you make an underpayment, we will contact you via email and advise you of the underpayment amount and request you to make a payment for the balance owing. If Beam does not receive the balance owing payment within 5 days, we will automatically cancel your batch payment and issue you a refund.

We also can not match an EFT payment if you enter the BSB and account number provided by Beam incorrectly. You can cross-reference your payment reference number with your proof of payment. We recommend submitting the batch when the funds are ready to be paid, not before or after.

Submitting the batch will not assist you if you do not send the payment to the fund before the ATO's quarterly superannuation deadline. Creating the batch when the funds are available might make your super payments late, but it will be quicker than waiting for a refund to create a new batch because of the automatic cancellation of your first attempt at a batch payment.

BPAY

When we cannot match a BPAY payment because of incorrect payment details to your batch payment, we will automatically cancel your batch payment. BPAY payments time frame can be up to 3 working days to reach Beam from your account.

Some of the same reference number issues can apply to BPAY. However, there are more restrictions at a banking level that cause issues, including missing a payment reference number, and letters are not in a valid format.

Some reasons you might see a BPAY payment cannot match a submitted super batch are:

• Incorrect customer reference number.
• Incorrect BPAY merchant selected.
• You made a payment too close to/on the due date. This means you have not allowed for bank clearance days and this will cause the cancellation of your batch.

As Bpaying your super batch is not foolproof, we advise cross-reference the BPAY receipt with the payment details supplied within your submitted batch if issues arise. As with bank transfers (EFT) it is best practice to only submit the batch when you are ready to make the payment and you should make the payment as soon as possible after submitting your batch payment.

If you make an underpayment BPAY, this will cause a notification sent via email advising you about it and providing payment instructions. If Beam does not receive the balance owing payment within 5 days, we will automatically cancel your batch and refund your underpayment.