Our team of escape room novices go up against the Assassin in the Pub.
At IQ Group, we come to work every day with one purpose – to educate and advance the way Superfunds can support their members. But the workplace is about more than just the job, it’s also about the people you work with.
One of the ways we build trust and bonds between our staff is through fun, regular team-building activities. Our staff get to enjoy a regular range of fun activities organised by our talented Social Club. Over the past year, we have participated in some amazing lunches at restaurants around the CBD, an elegant evening on the Vivid Cruise, a hilarious night at Kinky Boots in the Capitol Theatre, and most recently, a cryptic evening at Escape Hunt Sydney.
To our dismay, we had found all lower difficulty rooms were sold out, meaning our group of enthusiastic Escape Room novices would have to try their luck with an advanced room – The Assassin in the Pub. With two Assassin-themed rooms available, we split into two groups to see who could make it out first!
Based on the real-life Razor Gang’s of 1920’s Sydney, we had to solve a series of clues to identify the killer of Bruhn, a Razor Gang leader.
We were handed out walkie-talkies to contact the Game Master for help, leaving us feeling like a group of true agents on a mission. With 60 minutes on the clock to solve some creative puzzles and physical tasks to reveal clues, the team got to work. The room was very professionally run, with an ambiance that took you back in time – and we thankfully found had a good set of puzzles for amateurs as well!
But after 60 minutes of laughs and cryptic clues – and neither of our two teams escaping – the hunt was over.
Here is what some of the team players had to say about the experience:
A really enjoyable experience with colleagues. Not only did we get to apply our collective intellect to some tricky non-super problems, but it was enlightening to see how well everyone worked together and you got a real sense of everyone’s hidden talents and strengths.
When you are in a group of BA’s it was fun to take a step back and watch the analytical brains at work- truly inspiring. In our group – yes the Sicilian did it (we picked him the moment we walked in the room) and without the slight hiccup with the bottles (no pun intended) I think we would have got out of there with minutes to spare.
Wouldn’t mind doing another one!
-Leigh Bell
I wasn’t sure what to expect but was curious about the Escape Hunt challenge – it turned out to be a great experience. A group of 5 of us got the opportunity to work together to solve the very cryptic puzzles to try to get out of the room in the time provided. We didn’t get out but I’m sure if we did it again we definitely would!
We take a look at what the ATO’s new event-based Super Fund Reporting means for you.
The biggest change to fund reporting to the ATO is about to become a reality – and implementation is going to cost the super industry many millions of dollars. While there are plenty of reasons to support more frequent reporting, the challenges are also substantial and shouldn’t be underestimated.
The move from annual, aggregated reporting to transactional, event-based reporting is the final stage of SuperStream. Improving the transparency of the super system for the ATO and consumers is a really big deal – a big project with big implications.
More reporting, more often:
The new reporting services have the unspectacular names MAAS (Member Account Attribute Service) and MATS (Member Account Transaction Service). MAAS largely deals with account details, and MATS with contribution details.
Together, they will replace member contribution statements, lost member reporting and retirement phase reporting, and will ultimately generate much more up to date information that can be seen by fund members on myGov. These new services will make it faster and easier for the ATO to track employer superannuation compliance.
Driving Project Development:
In addition to improved tracking of employer superannuation compliance, these key changes will allow the government to:
– Fully implement 2016 budget tax measures
– Support contribution reporting under Single Touch Payroll
– Provide a data feed for a new online choice of super fund form
– Help the ATO monitor employer superannuation guarantee compliance
– Support further development of SuperStream
Following a year of discussion with the super industry about these projects, the ATO announced their decision to proceed at an industry workshop on 29 August. Details of the design are currently in development, with the services expected to be available for testing from July 2018. The plan is for complete data to be reported by 1 July 2019.
The program of work needed for the new reporting framework will be extensive, time-consuming and expensive. Like SuperStream, the industry will have to make a big upfront investment with the return on that investment being received over the long term – much of that benefit being for members, the ATO and the community as a whole.
Impact on Superannuation Funds:
From a fund’s perspective, the advantages of these changes include the removal and consolidation of many existing reports, an increased flow of superannuation payments, and improvement in system integrity overall. On the other hand, funds and administrators need to plan for considerably more frequent reporting to the ATO. This will impact systems, processes, procedures, and even the nature of engagement with both employers and employees. Hopefully, the development of MATS and MAAS will allow these services to be the main way superannuation payments are reported to the ATO.
With the introduction of MATS and MAAS, super reporting shouldn’t have to be a necessary part of Single Touch Payroll (STP). Reporting based on confirmation that contributions have been allocated to accounts should provide greater member benefits than that would have been provided under STP super reporting.
A decision to remove super reporting from STP should be made by the ATO, and the super industry should be encouraging them to do this.
Over the past 6 years IQ Group has been at the heart of SuperStream, and during the last 15 years no other consulting firm has delivered as many superannuation projects. We offer a specialist team able to draw on their deep industry knowledge to help make implementation a cost-effective and compliant reality.
For more industry insights like these, make sure you’re following us on LinkedIn and check out our other recent posts here. If you would like to find out more about these changes or how we can help, leave us a comment below or contact us at info@iqgroup.com.au.
Recent Comments