Payday Super Is Here

Nyssa Gower
Jul 6
2 min read

What small business owners need to know

Swirling compliance of SGC 12% for SMEs and the ATO.

What is Payday Super?

Hopefully you already know because it started on 1 July 2026.

You are now required to pay your employees superannuation on every single payday, not at the end of the quarter.

Why is everyone making such a big deal about this?

Unfortunately, a lot of employers have been using superannuation as part of their business cash flow.

Tip: When you're next making a decision to hire, do your budget to make sure you can afford to pay their superannuation and PAYG withholding on the same day as their wages.

How long do I have to Pay Super (SGC) now?

You need to pay on the same day as wages. The superannuation funds need to have received the funds within 7 days of your employees wages being paid. If you don't pay on the day, it's unlikely to reach the superfund in time.

What if I don't pay on time?

The old penalties were a walk in the park compared to what they are going to do to you now. Of course, it's all fire and brimstone with the ATO chasing you with scary pitchforks, but basically just don't not pay on time. If you want more devil in the details, have a look at the ATO website.

ATO pictured as the devil collecting penalties on late payday super.

Do I pay super on all earning types?

No. The ATO has retired the old primary calculation base, ordinary time earnings (OTE), and replaced it with a new term, qualifying earnings (QE). Don't let the new name freak you out. It's actually a clearer, more modernised version of the old rules.

What's included:

Base salary
Casual loadings
Shift penalties
Paid leave
Regular bonuses
Standard commissions

What's excluded:

Overtime
Genuine expense reimbursements (i.e. meal allowance)
Standard redundancy/severance payouts

Assuming you're one of our clients that uses Xero, this does most of the heavy lifting for you, sorting between what has SGC included and excluded for you, provided you have mapped it correctly in your payroll section of your software. A quick summary table has been included below to assist.

Tip: Double check your payroll settings.