Explainer · Rules & costs
Payday Super, three months in: the deadlines employers are measured against
Super must now reach the fund within seven business days of payday. The rules, the ATO's first-year compliance approach and the 28 October date to watch.
Payday Super is almost a full quarter old. Since 1 July 2026, employers have had to pay super guarantee with every pay run, and the money has to reach the employee’s fund within days, not by a quarterly deadline.
For small employers the practical change is bigger than the headline. The deadline is measured by when the fund receives the money, the ATO’s free clearing house has closed, and the penalty system has been rebuilt. Here is where things stand, and the date to watch next.
The rule
Super guarantee now has to be paid for each payday. It counts as on time only if the employee’s fund receives it, with the information it needs to allocate the money to the right member account, within 7 business days of the payday.
A business day excludes weekends and any public holiday that applies across a whole state or territory. A holiday that covers only part of a state still counts as a business day.
There are longer deadlines in some cases:
- New employees or a new fund: 20 business days after the payday, for the first contribution.
- Out-of-cycle payments: 7 business days after the next regular payday.
- Natural disasters: the deadline can be extended to 20 business days.
Super is now calculated on “qualifying earnings”. These are ordinary time earnings plus commissions, salary sacrifice and other amounts previously treated as salary or wages for super guarantee.
The Fair Work Ombudsman notes that paying super late may also breach the Fair Work Act, an award or an enterprise agreement.
“Paid” means received by the fund
This is the change most likely to catch employers out. The ATO says super is paid only when it reaches the employee’s fund, not when you send it. Funds must allocate or return contributions within 3 business days. If you use a commercial clearing house, allow for its processing time too.
The ATO’s advice is to pay as close to payday as possible rather than late in the 7-day window.
The clearing house has gone
The ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closed to new users on 1 October 2025 and closed permanently on 1 July 2026. Employers can no longer view or download their records there, and money sent to it after closure is returned. If you relied on it, you need another way to pay: your payroll software, a commercial clearing house or a fund’s employer portal.
What your payroll software must report
Through Single Touch Payroll, employers now report each employee’s year-to-date qualifying earnings and super liability on or before each payday.
There is a transition period. Until 30 June 2027, the ATO will still accept pay events that report super liability and ordinary time earnings from software that hasn’t been updated. From 1 July 2027, reports without both qualifying earnings and super liability will be rejected, and penalties may apply. If your software isn’t updated yet, the ATO advises keeping detailed records of your calculations.
If a payment is late
For paydays from 1 July 2026, employers no longer lodge super guarantee charge statements. The ATO now assesses the charge. It is made up of:
- the shortfall
- notional earnings, at the general interest charge rate, compounding daily
- an administrative uplift of up to 60%
- any choice loading.
The charge is tax deductible for qualifying earnings paid from 1 July 2026. If the assessed charge isn’t paid on time, penalties of 25% or 50% of the unpaid amount can apply. The old late payment offset is gone.
If you miss a payment, act quickly. A voluntary disclosure lodged within 30 days of the payday, and before the ATO makes an assessment, can cut the administrative uplift by up to 40 percentage points. It can fall further, potentially to nil, if you haven’t had an ATO-initiated super guarantee charge assessment in the past two years.
How the ATO says it will treat the first year
The ATO has published a first-year compliance approach (PCG 2026/1), covering 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. It sorts employers into three groups:
- Low risk: you tried to pay on time and in full, and fixed any problem as soon as reasonably practicable, leaving nothing unpaid. The ATO says it expects no further review.
- Medium risk: any unpaid super is fixed within 28 days after the end of the quarter in which the qualifying earnings were paid.
- High risk: unpaid super is not fixed by then. These cases get the ATO’s highest priority.
On our reading of that guidance, for pay dated July, August and September, the 28-day mark falls on 28 October 2026. The ATO has not published that date itself, so check the guidance or with your adviser. It is a compliance priority, not a legal deadline: the legal deadline is still 7 business days after each payday, and the charge applies to any late payment.
Leftovers from the old system
Super for the June 2026 quarter was due in funds by 28 July. Employers who missed it must lodge a super guarantee charge statement under the old rules, without the late payment offset. Pay dated from 1 July falls under Payday Super, even if it covers work done before that date.
Checklist
- Pay super in the same pay run as wages, and plan cash flow around it.
- Confirm your payroll software is ready to report qualifying earnings and super liability through Single Touch Payroll.
- Replace the ATO clearing house if you haven’t already.
- Keep employee fund details up to date, and have a process to fix fund error messages quickly.
- Check July to September contributions reached funds, and fix any gaps now rather than waiting for 28 October.
- If you miss one, fix it and consider a voluntary disclosure within 30 days of the payday.
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Sources 13 sources
- ATO: About Payday Super
- ATO: Payment deadlines for Payday Super
- ATO: Debunking Payday Super myths for employers
- ATO: Making super payments
- ATO: The SBSCH has closed permanently
- ATO: Single Touch Payroll reporting under Payday Super
- ATO: What happens if you don't pay super correctly
- ATO: Making a voluntary disclosure for Payday Super
- ATO: Getting it right – compliance in the first year of Payday Super
- ATO: How to manage super during the changeover
- ATO: Payday Super checklist for employers
- Fair Work Ombudsman: Payday Super – new rules starting 1 July 2026
- Parliament of Australia: Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Bill 2025