The biggest change to employer super obligations in decades started on 1 July 2026. Payday Super is now law. If you pay staff, your quarterly super rhythm is gone.
What actually changed
Previously you could pay super quarterly. From 1 July 2026 you must pay super guarantee every time you pay your employees — weekly, fortnightly, monthly, whatever your pay cycle is.
Three things to understand:
- Super is due each payday, aligned to your ordinary pay run
- The contribution must be received by the employee’s fund within 7 business days of payday — received, not sent
- The rate is 12% of the employee’s qualifying earnings
“Qualifying earnings” is a new term
Super is no longer calculated purely on ordinary time earnings. Qualifying earnings is broader: it includes ordinary time earnings, all commissions, salary sacrifice contributions, and other amounts previously counted in salary or wages for super guarantee purposes. If your payroll software has been calculating on OTE, the base it uses needs to be checked — this is not just a timing change.
Seven business days is the number that matters
The deadline is about when the money lands in the fund, with enough information for the fund to allocate it to the right member account. Clearing houses, bank processing and fund allocation all sit inside those seven days.
If the contribution is not received in time, the super guarantee charge applies. Under the old quarterly system a few late days were survivable; under a payday cycle a slow clearing house can put you in breach on every single pay run.
What to check before your next pay run
- Your payroll software is Payday Super ready. Most major providers have updated. Confirm yours has, and that you are on the current version.
- Your clearing house. The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closed on 30 June 2026 and is no longer accessible. If you were using it, you need an alternative now. Whatever you use, ask how long it takes from your submission to funds landing in the member account.
- Employee fund details are correct. Under a payday cycle, a wrong USI or member number fails weekly instead of quarterly. Clean this up now.
- Your cash flow. This is the one people underestimate. Super stops being a quarterly lump you can plan around and becomes a per-pay outflow. If you were quietly using the quarterly gap as working capital, that buffer has gone.
- New employees and stapled funds. Different timing can apply for new starters while fund details are being established.
The cash flow point, honestly
For a business with a $40,000 monthly wage bill, super at 12% is roughly $4,800 a month. Under the old rules you might have held three months of that — around $14,400 — before paying it. That float is now gone permanently.
It is not new expenditure. It is the same money, paid sooner. But if your working capital was quietly relying on that lag, the transition period is where the pressure shows up. It is worth modelling before it bites.
What happens if you get it wrong
The super guarantee charge applies where contributions are not received within the required window. Several things about it changed on 1 July 2026:
- It is now assessed by the ATO — you no longer lodge a super guarantee statement yourself
- It is calculated on qualifying earnings rather than salary and wages
- Interest compounds daily at the general interest charge rate, rather than a flat 10% per annum
- It now includes an administrative uplift amount, which can be reduced if you make a voluntary disclosure and the ATO has not taken prior action
- It is now tax deductible — under the old quarterly regime it was not
Penalties also changed: they are now 25% or 50% of the unpaid super guarantee charge depending on prior penalties, replacing the old maximum of 200%.
None of that makes being late cheap. Daily compounding interest on a weekly or fortnightly cycle adds up fast, and the administrative uplift exists specifically to make early disclosure the better option.
Need a hand with this?
If you employ staff and have not reviewed your payroll and clearing house setup since 1 July, that review should happen before your next pay run. We can check your configuration, model the cash flow impact, and sort out fund details that will otherwise fail weekly.
Related reading
- FBT traps that catch small employers
- Division 7A pitfalls: taking money out of your own company
- Asset protection for small business owners: what works and what doesn’t
- Working from home deductions 2025–26: the 70 cent rate explained
- Our full range of services
Sources
This article is general information only and does not take your personal circumstances into account. Rates and thresholds are current for the 2025–26 income year unless stated otherwise. Speak to us before acting on anything you read here.
Samrat Sharma & Associates 