How PayHow Payday Super Is Tracking Six Weeks In
Payday Super started on 1 July 2026, and most employers are now several pay runs into the new rhythm. Six weeks in feels like a good point to check that everything is landing the way it should. This is a short reminder of how the timing works, and the few things worth looking at while the year is still young.
Key facts
1 Jul 2026 — Payday Super Started
7 Business Days — Contribution Receipt Window
28 Aug 2026 — June Quarter SGC Statement
3 Rulings — Finalised by the ATO
In Brief
Super now needs to reach your employees’ funds within 7 business days of each payday. The ATO has finalised most of its guidance and is taking a supportive approach through the first year. The main thing to check is that your contributions are arriving inside the window, not just leaving on time.
Where things stand
The new rules have been in place since 1 July. Super is paid with wages rather than quarterly, and a contribution counts as on time when the employee’s fund receives it — with enough information to allocate it — within 7 business days of payday. A longer 20 business day window applies to a new employee’s first contribution, or the first payment into a new fund.
The ATO has since finalised three of its four Law Companion Rulings on the new system, covering the transitional rules, which contributions count, and how the super guarantee charge is worked out. The remaining draft deals with qualifying earnings, and is expected to be finalised in due course.
Its compliance approach for the first year, set out in PCG 2026/1, runs to 30 June 2027 and is deliberately supportive. Employers who are making a genuine effort to pay on time, and who fix small errors promptly, are not the focus.
One date still worth checking
The June 2026 quarter was the last one under the old quarterly system, and it was due in employees’ funds by 28 July. If everything arrived in full by then, there is nothing further to do.
If something fell short, the fix is a little different from what you may be used to. Rather than paying the fund late, you lodge a super guarantee charge statement and pay the ATO. That is due by 28 August 2026. Payments made to a fund from 29 July onwards are applied to Payday Super amounts instead, so they will not clear a June quarter gap.
Worth Knowing
If your June quarter super was short, the correction goes to the ATO rather than to the fund. An SGC statement for the quarter is due by 28 August 2026.
What is worth checking now?
Whether contributions are arriving, not just leaving
The deadline runs on the date the fund receives the money, so your real window is shorter than 7 business days once your clearing house takes its processing time. Check a couple of recent pay runs against fund receipt dates and you will quickly see how much room you have.
How your new clearing arrangement is holding up
The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closed on 1 July. If you moved to a payroll integration, a fund service or a commercial provider around then, six weeks of data is enough to tell whether it is comfortably inside the window or only just making it.
Anything unusual in your pay runs
Bonuses, commissions, back-payments and off-cycle payments each create their own payday for super purposes. If you have paid any of these since July, it is worth confirming the super followed within the window.
This article is intended as general information only and does not constitute tax advice. Every business owner’s situation is different. Please give us a call if you have any questions about how these changes apply to your circumstances.
Having difficulty with any of this?
Payday Super is a real change to how payroll runs, and a few bumps in the first months are normal. If something is not working the way you expected, please reach out, our team is happy to take a look with you.