FirstChoice Employer Super Clearing House for Reckon Accounts Hosted users

The ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) will close on 30 June 2026. If you currently rely on this service to pay employee super, you’ll need to move to a new clearing house before this date to stay compliant.

To support you through the change, Reckon has partnered with Colonial First State to offer Reckon Accounts customers free access to the FirstChoice Employer Super Clearing House - a simple, trusted alternative that works alongside your existing payroll process.

What this means for your business

Simply register with Colonial First State to activate your free access to FirstChoice Employer Super Clearing House. You have the option to use the fund as your default if you choose, but there is no obligation to switch – making the transition to Payday Super easy!

How it works

Paying super remains straightforward:

Sign up as a participating employer with FirstChoice Employer Super to access the clearing house.
Run payroll in Reckon Accounts as usual and export your SAFF file.
Upload the file and make a single payment.
CFS distributes payments to your employees’ super funds automatically.

Super made simple!

Why choose FirstChoice Employer Super Clearing House?

You can pay super with a single payment across multiple funds, with built-in checks to reduce errors and easy reporting. Plus, keep your existing default fund and be ready for Payday Super!

Register your interest

This offering will be available to Reckon Accounts and Reckon Accounts Hosted customers ahead of the SBSCH closure. Register your interest and we'll keep you updated.

Comments

CastleBookkeeping

This is quite disappointing. With Reckons main competitors (Myob & Xero), the payday super solution is completely integrated. Payroll role is done & super payment can be instigated without having to download / upload files & login to another service. It seems in Reckons solution you need to run payroll, then download a file, then login to First Choice, then upload the file before making payment. It is also unclear whether First Choice makes the payment (Direct Credit) or if you have to login to internet banking to make the payment (Direct Credit). Remember this will soon be required to do for every payroll run.

So to compare:

Myob & Xero payday super solution

Login into Xero or Myob
Run payroll
Submit super within software which automatically makes payment

Reckon Accounts payday super solution

Login to Reckon Accounts
Run payroll
Download the file
login to First Choice
Upload the file to submit
Login to Internet Banking (if Direct Debit is not available)
Make the payment

So, Reckons statement 'Super made simple!' is definitely not true compared to it's competitors.

Rav

Hi @CastleBookkeeping

Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback and I understand where you’re coming from, especially with Payday Super becoming a requirement for every pay run very soon.

In terms of your comparison, while it’s easy to compare this directly with those competitors, it’s important to recognise that the comparison isn’t quite apples-for-apples. Those platforms are fully cloud-native products built on modern web architectures, whereas Reckon Accounts Desktop and Reckon Accounts Hosted are based on a completely different technology framework and operating model.

Because of that, a fully embedded, in-product clearing house solution was never on the roadmap or a viable option for Reckon Accounts Desktop or Hosted, the codebase simply won't allow for it. Instead, our partnership with Colonial First State provides Reckon Accounts customers with compliant access to the FirstChoice Employer Super Clearing House at no cost and without the need to switch their default super fund either. This ensures you can meet upcoming Payday Super obligations with a secure and established super provider.

To clarify your payment question, FirstChoice Employer Super Clearing House facilitates the processing and distribution of super payments to employee funds.

If what you’re looking for is a fully integrated, in-product super clearing experience comparable from a technology standpoint to Xero or MYOB’s cloud offerings, that capability has been available for quite some time in Reckon One through our integration with Beam. Reckon One is cloud-native and therefore a more direct comparison when evaluating integrated payroll and super workflows.

I completely understand that workflow efficiency is important, particularly with the increased frequency coming into effect with Payday Super soon. Our focus with Reckon Accounts Hosted & Desktop is to provide a compliant, cost-effective pathway for customers within its existing architecture to meet their super obligations in particular those who may have been using the SBSCH. At the same time, we have a fully integrated option for super processing within Reckon One for those who prefer a more embedded workflow.

Thanks again for your feedback.

Marilyn Strauss

I have registered my interest and have been using the ATO superannuation clearing house. I pay weekly wages to my staff. I have 2 SMSF in my payroll list which I assume I have to pay direct into their bank account weekly as I cannot see how Colonial first state would know their bank account details. I would like someone to clarify.

Rav

Hi @Marilyn Strauss

SMSF's can be included in the SAFF export from Reckon Accounts and the bank account & ESA details for the SMSF can be entered in the record for it within your Reckon Accounts file.

I'd recommend checking out the guide linked in the opening post on exporting your SAFF file (or just click HERE) and review the steps on getting configured for SuperStream and in particular, the section on SMSF's.