Payday Super is Coming: Three Checks to Make Now
27th May 2026
By FTMA Supporting Partner, First Super
With 1 July approaching, now is the time to make sure your business is ready for Payday Super. Under the new rules, employers will need to pay super at the same time as salary and wages, and contributions must be received by an employee’s super fund within 7 business days of payday. This tighter turnaround means your systems and cash flow need to be ready for the shift.
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Payday Super webinar – Preparing your business for 1 July
First Super’s George Aligianis covers what Payday Super means for you, including the key changes, the timing rules, payroll and cash flow impacts, and practical steps to help your business prepare before 1 July.
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We know you have plenty of compliance to manage, and Payday Super is another significant change to work through. To help you get ahead of the change, here are three areas we recommend reviewing today.
1. Review your cash flow and approval process
Paying super every payday instead of every quarter is the biggest change for most employers. It means super becomes part of every pay run, not a separate quarterly task you can plan around.
That changes a few things. Your cash flow needs to handle smaller, more frequent outgoings, and approvals need to keep up with payroll every cycle. It also means anyone who signs off payments needs to be around when payday hits or have a backup ready to go.
It’s worth mapping your current process end to end, from payday through to the contributions landing in your employees’ super accounts, because that’s where delays tend to show up. Typical hold-ups include only one person signing off the bank file and being on leave when payday hits, approvals only happening on certain days of the week, or a clearing house taking a few days to process payments.
If a payment is late or short, the ATO may apply the Super Guarantee Charge (SGC), which is the original contribution plus interest and admin fees. Getting the timing right matters. If your business has the flexibility, it’s worth considering paying super more frequently before 1 July. It gives your payroll, approval process and cash flow a chance to adjust before the new rules begin.
2. Plan now if you use the ATO clearing house
The ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) is closing permanently on 1 July. If you’re using it now, you’ll need to move to a SuperStream-compliant alternative before then, either payroll software with a built-in super payment function or another clearing house. It’s also worth downloading any reports you might need for your records before 1 July, as you won’t be able to access the system after that. First Super offers a clearing house to our registered employers that lets you manage all your employees’ super payments in one place. To find out more, click here. Whichever option you go with, it’s worth getting it sorted sooner rather than later.
3. Review your employee data and onboarding
More frequent payments mean less room for errors. That could be as simple as a mismatched name, an old tax file number (TFN), or an incorrect Unique Superannuation Identifier (USI). Under the quarterly system, you might catch and fix something like that with time to spare, but under the new rules the same mistake could delay or reject a contribution and push you outside the 7-business-day window.
Ask your payroll team to run a data check on the basics, including employee names, dates of birth, TFNs and super fund details. While you’re at it, take a look at your onboarding too, because making sure a new starter’s fund choice is captured properly upfront will save time later. It’s also worth having a clear plan for what happens when a contribution is rejected, including who picks it up, who looks into it, and who resubmits.
We’re here to help
If Payday Super is raising questions for your business, talk to us. First Super’s Employer Services team can help you understand the changes, review your set-up and get ready for 1 July.
You can also visit our Payday Super hub for practical guidance, FAQs, key updates and webinar details.
Visit the hub: firstsuper.com.au/payday-super
Call Employer Services: 1300 943 171
Email: employers@firstsuper.com.au
For the latest information, visit ato.gov.au and search for ‘Payday Super’.
Issued by First Super Pty Ltd (ABN 42 053 498 472, AFSL 223988) as Trustee of First Super (ABN 56 286 625 181). This article contains general advice only and does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider whether the advice is appropriate for you and read the Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination before making any decisions. A copy is available at firstsuper.com.au/pds.
