Previously, employers could pay superannuation quarterly and stay onside with the law. This ended on 1 July 2026. Payday super for small business is not a tweak to the old system: it is a different system, and it comes with far sharper visibility for the ATO. If you employ anyone, here is what changed and what to do about it.

What is payday super?

From 1 July 2026, employers must pay their employees’ super at the same time as their wages, instead of quarterly. Every pay run now includes super. The rule applies to all employers, from a cafe with two casuals to a company with two hundred staff.

There are two parts to the obligation. You must pay super each pay cycle, and the contribution generally needs to arrive in the employee’s fund within 7 business days of payday. That second part trips people up: paying on time is not enough if the money is still sitting with a clearing service a fortnight later. Processing time now matters.

Why does this carry more risk than the old system?

Under the quarterly system, late super often surfaced only if an employee complained or an audit came along. Now the ATO uses Single Touch Payroll data and fund reporting to match what you declared against what actually arrived, in close to real time. Late or missing super is visible without anyone lifting a finger.

The consequences of falling behind have not softened either. Missed super triggers the superannuation guarantee charge, which adds interest and administration components on top of the super you owe. And remember that deliberately underpaying workers can now be a criminal offence under the wage theft laws that commenced in January 2025, so payroll compliance generally deserves more respect than it used to get.

What happened to the Small Business Super Clearing House?

The ATO’s free Small Business Super Clearing House closed permanently on 1 July 2026. If you were one of the many small employers using it, you need an alternative: most payroll software (Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks and others) has super payment functionality built in, and commercial clearing houses are also available. If you have not yet moved, this is urgent, because you cannot run payday super through a service that no longer exists.

What should you do this month?

Five practical steps.

1. Check your payroll software is set up for payday super: Most major providers have updated; you may need to switch the setting on and confirm the payment method.
2. Confirm the timing: Test how long your super payments take to land in funds. If your provider batches payments weekly or fortnightly, that may already put you outside the 7 business day window.
3. Plan for the cash flow change: Super that used to leave your account four times a year now leaves with every pay run. For a business paying weekly, that is 52 outgoings instead of 4. Update your cash flow forecast so the change does not surprise you.
4. Fix any arrears now: If you are behind on super from earlier quarters, deal with it before the new monitoring makes it conspicuous. Speak to your accountant about the correct process.
5. Check your employment contracts: If your contracts describe super as paid quarterly, they are now out of date. It is a small fix, but current contracts are the cheapest kind of insurance. Our commercial contracts team can review your employment terms as part of a broader contract health check.

Does this affect contractors too?

Sometimes, and this catches people out. Contractors paid mainly for their labour can be employees for superannuation purposes even if they invoice you through an ABN. If you engage contractors regularly, it is worth having the arrangement reviewed, because payday super applies to anyone you are required to pay super for. If you are unsure whether your contractors are caught, that is exactly the kind of question we can answer quickly at a fixed fee through our start-up one-stop shop.

The bigger picture

Payday super landed alongside a cluster of other 1 July changes, including a minimum wage rise (award rates up 4.75%, and the National Minimum Wage now $26.44 an hour) and expanded anti-money laundering rules. It is worth checking your pay rates, payroll processes and employment contracts against all of them together, not just the super change.

If anything in your payroll or contracts needs attention, book a free consultation. We will tell you exactly what needs fixing and quote a fixed fee before any work starts.