From 1 July 2026, you’ll have to pay super into your employees’ fund for each payday.
Act now to ensure you’re ready by:
- preparing your payroll and cashflow processes
- checking your software will support reporting qualifying earnings (QE)
- checking your employees’ information is correct – if you’re receiving errors now, you need to review this data and fix the errors before 1 July
- understanding how long it takes for your super payments to reach employees’ funds
- knowing where rejected payment errors could appear and how to fix them immediately
- leaving the ATO’s Small Business Super Clearing House (SBSCH) and downloading your transaction history, if you’re a current user
- understanding the consequences of late payments
- knowing the key dates.
Tips to prepare your payroll and cashflow processes
- Take time to understand what changes you may need to make to your payroll management and cash reserves.
- Employers who currently pay quarterly may have multiple super payments due in July 2026. This includes super payments due for each payday as well as the final quarterly super payment due 28 July.
- Manage cash flow. Review your expected pay cycles for July to understand the impacts of paying super each payday. Set aside additional funds if needed.
- If you outsource payroll or bookkeeping, discuss potential cashflow impacts with your service providers early.
Tips to ensure your software supports reporting
- From 1 July, you must report both QE and super liability in Single Touch Payroll (STP).
- Reporting QE may require configuration or updates in your payroll software.
- Check your product to understand what you need to do to report both QE and super liability amounts in STP.
- Subscribe to your digital service provider’s (DSP) website or newsletter for updates.
- If you haven’t heard from your software provider by May, contact them to confirm what you need to do to report QE from 1 July.
Tips about the timing for super payments
- Super must generally be received by the super fund within 7 business days after payday.
- For new employees or payments to a fund for the first time, you will have 20 business days.
- Minimise any potential timing issues by paying super on each payday. Don’t leave it to the last day of the 7 business days after payday to make your super payment.
- Speak with your payroll provider, clearing house (if you use one) and your super fund to understand:
- how long your clearing house will take to process payments
- whether payments are processed via New Payments Platform (NPP), Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS) or direct debit
- how you will be able to find error messages (in your payroll product, fund or clearing house portal)
- how long it takes for a payment to return if rejected
- and review your contributions processes to ensure they remain compliant with the SuperStream changes.
Tips about finding errors and fixing them
- You will need to be able to identify and fix errors quickly to meet the 7-business day timeframe and avoid the super guarantee charge (SGC).
- Take action now to understand error messages for rejected super payments, where to find them and what you need to do to fix them.
- If and how errors are presented can vary between different products and across payroll providers. Employers can check their payroll provider’s help content or review documentation.
The key dates
- 28 April 2026 – January to March quarterly super payment due.
- 11:59 PM AEST 30 June 2026 – SBSCH access ends. Download all records before this time.
- 1 July 2026 – Payday Super starts. Super must be paid for each payday.
- 14 July 2026 – STP finalisation for 2025-26 (no change to this process).
- 28 July 2026 – final quarterly super payment due.
- 29 July 2026 – all super payments will be allocated towards Payday Super super guarantee (SG).
Note: Between 1 July 2026 and 28 July 2026 transitional rules apply to allocate any contributions made to outstanding quarterly payments first, before being applied to payday periods.
Visit ato.gov.au/paydaysuper for all the latest information.