For decades, employers could pay super once a quarter, up to 28 days after the quarter ended. That's over. From 1 July 2026, super guarantee is tied to each payday. Pay wages on Thursday, and the super for those wages has to land in each employee's fund within seven business days.
The change is good for employees, who no longer wait months for super that may never arrive. For employers, it means smaller, more frequent payments, a tighter deadline, payroll software that has to be set up properly, and a charge that applies to each missed payday rather than each quarter. This guide explains the rules, works through real dates, and lists the steps every employer should have in place.
What is Payday Super?
Payday Super is the law that requires employers to pay super guarantee contributions at the same time they pay wages. It applies to qualifying earnings paid from 1 July 2026.
| Old rules (to 30 June 2026) | Payday Super (from 1 July 2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| When super is due | 28 days after each quarter ends | Received by the fund within 7 business days after each payday |
| What super is calculated on | Ordinary time earnings | Qualifying earnings |
| Rate | 12% | 12% for 2026–27 |
| Contribution cap per employee | Maximum contribution base, per quarter | $270,830 of qualifying earnings per year (2026–27) |
| If you miss it | Lodge an SG charge statement yourself | The ATO assesses the charge for each payday |
| SG charge deductible? | No | Yes, for paydays from 1 July 2026 (GIC and penalties still aren't) |
| ATO's free small business clearing house | Available | Closed permanently from 1 July 2026 |
What are qualifying earnings?
Qualifying earnings replace "ordinary time earnings" as the base for super guarantee. In broad terms they're the employee's ordinary time earnings plus amounts they have salary sacrificed. Most things you'd think of as normal pay are in: ordinary hours, most allowances, commissions, shift loadings, directors' fees. Overtime for hours outside ordinary hours is generally out. Annual leave loading is in, unless you have written evidence it's tied to lost overtime opportunity.
The ATO has issued new guidance on qualifying earnings, and some of it was still in draft at the time of writing. If you have unusual pay items, check them with us.
When is super due under Payday Super?
The standard deadline: 7 business days
The contribution must be received by the employee's fund, with the information the fund needs to allocate it, within 7 business days after the payday. The ATO calls the payday the "QE day", the day qualifying earnings are paid. The payday itself isn't counted.
Note the word received. Sending the money on day 7 isn't enough if it takes two days to arrive.
New employees and new funds: 20 business days
The first contribution for a new employee, or the first contribution to a new fund (for example, when an employee changes funds), is due within 20 business days after the payday. After that, the 7-business-day rule applies.
Bonuses, back pay and other out-of-cycle payments
If you pay a bonus, commission, allowance, back pay or advance outside your regular pay cycle, the super is due with the next regular payday's contribution. Payments to people who are paid irregularly (such as a contractor paid on invoice who counts as an employee for super) aren't out-of-cycle. Their deadline runs from the day they're paid.
What counts as a business day?
This is the part almost everyone gets wrong. For Payday Super, a business day excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and any day that is a public holiday for the whole of any Australian state or territory, wherever your business is.
So a Sydney employer's deadline is pushed out by Melbourne Cup Day (a Victoria-wide holiday), Northern Territory Picnic Day, and Western Australia's King's Birthday, even though nobody in Sydney has the day off. Holidays that cover only part of a state, such as Royal Hobart Regatta, don't count.
Worked examples: real Payday Super due dates
Counted with our business-day calendar, which reproduces the ATO's own published examples. Always confirm against the ATO's page for any date that matters.
| Payday | Situation | Due date | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 22 October 2026 | Regular weekly pay | Mon 2 November 2026 | 7 business days, no holidays |
| Thu 29 October 2026 | Regular weekly pay | Tue 10 November 2026 | Melbourne Cup Day (Tue 3 November) is a whole-of-Victoria holiday, so it's skipped for every employer in Australia |
| Thu 5 November 2026 | New employee's first pay | Thu 3 December 2026 | 20 business days |
| Thu 24 December 2026 | Pay before Christmas | Thu 7 January 2027 | Christmas Day, Boxing Day (Saturday) with an additional Monday holiday on 28 December, and New Year's Day are all skipped |
| Thu 30 July 2026 | ATO's own example | Tue 11 August 2026 | Northern Territory Picnic Day (Mon 3 August) pushes it out a day |
Here's the Melbourne Cup example day by day:
| Day | Counts? |
|---|---|
| Fri 30 October 2026 | Business day 1 |
| Sat 31 October and Sun 1 November | No (weekend) |
| Mon 2 November | Business day 2 |
| Tue 3 November | No (Melbourne Cup Day, whole of Victoria) |
| Wed 4 to Fri 6 November | Business days 3, 4, 5 |
| Mon 9 and Tue 10 November | Business days 6 and 7 |
Key point: Don't build your process around day 7. Pay super on payday, or the day after. The ATO's own advice is the same. A process that pays on payday never has to count holidays.
What happens if you miss a Payday Super payment?
For paydays from 1 July 2026, there's a new super guarantee charge (SGC), worked out for each payday and each employee. It has four parts:
| Component | What it is |
|---|---|
| Final SG shortfall | The super you didn't pay on time, reduced by any late contributions you make before the ATO assesses you |
| Notional earnings | Interest on the shortfall at the general interest charge rate (11.51% a year for October to December 2026), compounding daily from the day after the deadline |
| Administrative uplift | Up to 60% of the final shortfall plus notional earnings, which can be reduced, potentially to nil (see below) |
| Choice loading | If you didn't follow the employee's choice of fund: 25% of the contributions for that payday, capped at $1,200 per notice period |
How it's assessed and paid
- You no longer lodge an SG charge statement for paydays from 1 July 2026. The ATO calculates the charge and issues an assessment.
- The SGC is paid to the ATO, not the fund. It's due on the day the assessment is made.
- If it's unpaid 28 days after assessment, the ATO issues a Notice to Pay. Fail to pay that within 28 days and a late payment penalty of 25% applies (50% if it happens again within 24 months), plus GIC.
- SGC for paydays from 1 July 2026 is tax deductible. GIC on late SGC and the late payment penalty are not.
How to reduce the charge
- Pay the missed super to the fund as soon as you find the problem. Late contributions made before the ATO assesses you reduce the final shortfall, and with it the uplift. Keep paying until an assessment arrives.
- Lodge a voluntary disclosure statement before the ATO assesses you. The earlier you disclose, the bigger the cut: a disclosure lodged within 30 days after the payday can reduce the uplift by up to 40 percentage points. The ATO's streamlined form covers paydays from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027.
- Keep a clean record. If the ATO hasn't made an SGC assessment against you for a payday in the past two years (assessments for periods before 1 July 2026 are ignored), the uplift can be reduced further, potentially to nil.
The difference is large. In the ATO's own worked examples, an employer who pays the missed super quickly and then discloses faces a small fraction of the charge faced by one who discloses but doesn't pay the missed super.
The ATO's first-year approach
For paydays from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, the ATO has said it won't direct compliance resources at employers who try to pay on time and in full and fix errors promptly. That's an approach to enforcement, not a change to the law. The charge is still calculated the same way. Don't rely on it as an excuse to be late.
Directors are personally exposed
Unpaid super guarantee charge is one of the amounts the ATO can recover from company directors personally through a director penalty notice. If the SGC isn't paid, and especially if super obligations go unreported, directors can lose the ability to escape the penalty by appointing an administrator. Read our guide to director penalty notices.
What about super for June 2026 and earlier?
Earnings paid up to 30 June 2026 stay under the old quarterly rules.
- Super for the April to June 2026 quarter was due 28 July 2026.
- If you missed it, the old SG charge statement was due 28 August 2026, and the late payment offset isn't available for that quarter.
- If either date was missed, lodge the statement now and pay. The longer it's left, the more nominal interest and penalties accrue. Our super guarantee charge agent calculates the charge under both the old and new rules.
The ATO's Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closed permanently on 1 July 2026. It can't be used to make payments. If you relied on it, you need a different way to pay, usually through your payroll software or your default fund's clearing service.
What should employers do now? A checklist
- Confirm who counts as an employee for super. That includes some contractors paid mainly for their labour. Our employee vs contractor guide explains the test.
- Update payroll settings. In Xero or MYOB, make sure super is calculated on qualifying earnings and set to pay with each pay run. Check every pay item's super setting, not just wages.
- Choose a payment method that pays fast. Some payroll platforms now pay super through the New Payments Platform, which can reach funds the same day. Get your provider's processing time in writing.
- Collect fund details before the first pay. A new employee has 20 business days, but only for the first contribution. Get their choice of fund form (or stapled fund details) at onboarding.
- Pay super on payday. Don't schedule it for day 6.
- Reconcile weekly. Check that each pay run's super left your account and wasn't returned by a fund. Returned or unallocated contributions count as unpaid.
- Budget for the cash. Super that used to sit in your account for up to four months now leaves within a week of each payday.
- Have a "missed payment" plan. Pay immediately, then decide on a voluntary disclosure within 30 days of the payday.
- Record directors' fees and bonuses as paydays. A year-end bonus is a payday too.
How does Payday Super affect cash flow?
Hypothetical, round numbers.
A café pays $20,000 of qualifying earnings a fortnight. At 12%, that's $2,400 of super per pay run.
Under the old rules, the café paid about $15,600 of super each quarter, up to 28 days after the quarter ended. On average, super money sat in the café's account for around two months.
Under Payday Super, $2,400 leaves within a week of each payday. That's a one-off cash flow hit of roughly $10,000 to $15,000 in the first few months while the old and new timing overlap, then a smoother pattern after that. The café's total super cost hasn't changed. Its working capital has.
If your business was using super as a short-term buffer, it can't any more. A cash flow forecast shows how big the gap is.
How BPAG helps with Payday Super
On our Business Insights and Fractional CFO plans, weekly payroll for up to 10 staff is included, and Payday Super is built into every pay run. See our payroll and Payday Super service and pricing.
- Set-up and review. We check your pay items, super settings and payment method, and fix them before the next pay run.
- Every pay run. Super is paid with wages, and we reconcile that it reached each fund.
- Missed payments. Our super guarantee charge agent calculates the charge under the old quarterly rules and the new Payday Super rules, including notional earnings and the uplift. Your accountant reviews it, works out whether a voluntary disclosure is worthwhile, and prepares it for you to sign.
- Award checks. If your pay rates might be wrong, super will be wrong too. Our award underpayment audit agent checks each employee's pay against the award and works out back pay and the super shortfall. A person reviews every finding. See our award compliance service.
The agents draft; a qualified accountant checks and signs off. If you run a small team and your payroll software already pays super with each pay run, you may not need us for this at all. A quick review of your settings is often enough.
Frequently asked questions
Is Payday Super law?
Yes. Payday Super is law and has applied to qualifying earnings paid from 1 July 2026. Earnings paid up to 30 June 2026 stay under the old quarterly rules, with the final quarterly payment due 28 July 2026.
Does Payday Super apply to small businesses?
Yes, to every employer, whatever its size. If you pay someone who is an employee for super purposes, including some contractors paid mainly for their labour, you must pay their super within the Payday Super deadlines. There's no small business exemption.
Do I pay super on a director's fees?
Usually yes. Directors' fees are generally qualifying earnings for super guarantee, so super is due within 7 business days of the day the fees are paid. If fees are paid once a year by journal entry, the 'payday' is when they're actually paid or credited, so plan the super at the same time.
Is there still a maximum super contribution base?
Yes, but it's now annual. For 2026–27, once you've paid an employee $270,830 of qualifying earnings in the financial year, no further super guarantee is required for them that year. Many employers still pay on the full salary by agreement.
My clearing house says payment was made on time but the fund received it late. Who's responsible?
You are. The test is when the fund receives the contribution with enough information to allocate it, not when you sent it. Build in time for your clearing house or payroll provider to process the payment, and check their processing times in writing.
What if a new employee hasn't told me which fund to use?
Ask for a choice of fund form at onboarding. If they don't choose, request their stapled fund details from the ATO through Online services for business, and if they don't have one, pay to your default fund. The first contribution for a new employee has 20 business days, which is usually enough time if you start the process on day one.
Official sources
General information only, current as at 18 October 2026. It is not personal tax, legal or financial product advice and doesn't take your circumstances into account. Talk to us before you act. Where a recommendation needs a licensed financial adviser or a solicitor, we work alongside them.