What is an Electronic Service Address (ESA)
An electronic service address (or ESA) is a special internet address that’s used to send and receive data about things like contributions and rollovers involving SMSFs.
It’s not an email address. Technically it’s a web address but it won’t look like one – it will be a series of letters and possibly numbers. For example, if you’re a Heffron client, the ESA for your SMSF will be smsfdataflow (it’s case sensitive – in this case, it’s all lower case).
The same ESA is used for all our clients. In fact, lots of super funds use the same ESA.
Why is an Electronic Service Address (ESA) important?
Legally, there are certain superannuation transactions that can only be made in a particular way following a standardised format called “SuperStream”. The SuperStream protocols impact both the way money is transferred (it must be electronically) and how information about the transaction is sent (it must also be sent digitally, in a specific format and only to recognised providers). This is where your ESA comes in – it tells other people which SuperStream message provider is used by your SMSF. (Larger funds that are not SMSFs don’t have an ESA, they have something called a “USI” (Unique Superannuation Identifier) instead.)
As soon as you set up your SMSF, you need to let a few other organisations know your ESA:
- Your employer – all employers, no matter how small, must send information about your super contributions via SuperStream. There are very limited exceptions here and generally they only apply if you work for yourself. If you’re a Heffron client, we’ll include a form to give your employer in your initial fund documents that tells them your fund’s ESA (or gives you the information you need to enter directly into your employer’s payroll or HR system).
- The ATO – there are some things the ATO will communicate with you via SuperStream too. If you’re a Heffron client we’ll do this for you.
- Other super funds that are going to transfer money into your SMSF (which is called a rollover). When you request the rollover, they will ask you for your ESA once they know the money is going to an SMSF.
Sometimes moving your SMSF to a new accountant will mean your ESA also changes – check this when you make a switch as it will be important to give updated details to your employer (your new accountant will probably tell the ATO for you).
