From 1 July 2026, the way Australian businesses pay superannuation changes permanently. Super will no longer be paid quarterly. Under the new Payday Super legislation, contributions must be paid on every payday and reach the employee’s super account within seven business days.
This is the most significant reform to Australia’s superannuation system in decades. It affects every Australian employer — regardless of size, industry or location. And the ATO has new real-time visibility tools to enforce it.
This guide is written specifically for mid-market Australian businesses. It covers exactly what is changing, what the penalties look like, who inside your business is affected and how, what MYOB Acumatica Payroll does to handle it, and what steps to take before the deadline.
At a glance: what changes on 1 July 2026
- Super frequency: from quarterly to every payday
- Deadline: contributions must reach the employee’s fund within 7 business days of payday
- Calculation base: changes from Ordinary Time Earnings (OTE) to the new Qualifying Earnings (QE) definition
- Reporting: QE must be reported to the ATO through Single Touch Payroll on every pay run
- SBSCH closes: the ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closes on 30 June 2026 — businesses must move to an alternative before then
- New penalties: the Super Guarantee Charge applies per pay run, with penalties up to 200% of the SGC
- ATO compliance: real-time data matching starts 1 July 2026
What Is Payday Super?
Payday Super is a legislative reform that requires Australian employers to pay the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) at the same time as salary and wages, on every payday.
Under the current rules, employers must pay quarterly — with due dates of 28 October, 28 January, 28 April and 28 July. Contributions can take up to 90 days after an employee is paid to reach their super fund.
From 1 July 2026, that window closes. Super moves with pay, every time.
The legislation — the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Act 2025 — was passed by Parliament in November 2025. The obligation is law. The 1 July 2026 start date is confirmed.
The reform exists partly because the ATO estimates unpaid super to be over $6 billion annually. Payday Super gives the ATO real-time visibility through STP data to monitor compliance at a per-pay-run level, not just quarterly.
Five Things That Change on 1 July 2026
1. Payment frequency
Super must be paid on every payday, not quarterly. If your business runs weekly, fortnightly or monthly pay runs, each one triggers a super obligation. That obligation must be met within seven business days — meaning contributions must be received by the employee’s super fund within that window, not simply submitted.
For new employees or the first contribution to a new fund, the deadline is 20 business days instead of seven.
2. Qualifying Earnings replaces Ordinary Time Earnings
The calculation base changes. Super is currently calculated on Ordinary Time Earnings (OTE). From 1 July 2026, it is calculated on Qualifying Earnings (QE), a new term that brings together OTE and additional payment categories.
In practice, QE is broader than OTE. Some payment categories that were previously outside OTE, such as certain leave loadings and allowances, may now count as QE. For most pay runs, the SG amount goes up slightly because the base is larger.
Every pay item in your payroll needs to be reviewed and correctly classified against the QE definition before 1 July. Your payroll configuration determines what gets reported to the ATO and what gets paid.
3. Reporting through Single Touch Payroll
Both qualifying earnings and super liability must be reported to the ATO through STP on every pay run from 1 July. The ATO will use this data to cross-check that super payments are reaching super funds on time.
This is a material shift in ATO visibility. The current quarterly framework means problems can go undetected for up to 90 days. Under Payday Super, the ATO sees every pay run in near real time.
4. The Maximum Contribution Base moves to annual
The Maximum Contribution Base (MCB), the earnings ceiling above which no SG is required, currently operates quarterly. From 1 July 2026, it moves to an annual threshold.
For high-income earners, this means SG may be payable in July and August but stop partway through the year once the annual threshold is reached. Cash flow models for these employees need updating. MYOB Acumatica’s online calculation engine handles the threshold change automatically, no manual reconfiguration is required.
5. The ATO's Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closes
The SBSCH closes to all users on 30 June 2026. Businesses currently using the SBSCH must transition to an alternative SuperStream-compliant clearing house before that date.
For MYOB Acumatica users, the two options are MYOB Pay Super (integrated, via SuperChoice) or your own preferred external clearing house. For most businesses, MYOB Pay Super is the simplest path because it is native to the platform.
What Are the Penalties for Non-Compliance?
The new Super Guarantee Charge (SGC) applies when contributions are not received by the employee’s fund within seven business days of payday.
Unlike the current quarterly SGC framework, which aggregates exposure across a whole quarter, the new SGC is assessed per qualifying earnings day, meaning each late pay run creates its own SGC liability.
The SGC includes the unpaid super, interest and an administrative uplift. Penalties on top of the SGC can reach up to 200% of the SGC amount in serious cases. Repeat offences attract higher penalty rates.
If the super fund cannot accept a contribution, the fund has three business days to return it. The employer is then responsible for resubmission within the original seven-day window. An error does not pause or reset the deadline.
ATO's first-year compliance approach: PCG 2026/1
The ATO has published PCG 2026/1, a practical compliance guideline covering 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. Employers who make genuine efforts to comply and correct errors quickly will be treated as low risk.
This is not a free pass. The law applies from day one. The PCG simply indicates how compliance resources will be prioritised during the first year. From 1 July 2027, the full regime applies without the first-year buffer.
Who Is Affected and How
Every Australian employer currently liable for the super guarantee is affected. There are no exemptions based on business size, industry or location. The change also extends SG obligations to some contractors paid mainly for labour.
Payroll managers
The quarterly super liability that builds on your books throughout the quarter will no longer exist. Each pay run triggers its own obligation. Super ceases to be a separate quarterly task and becomes part of the standard post-pay-run workflow: run payroll, submit super batch, confirm receipt.
Adjusted contributions tools in MYOB Acumatica handle corrections for underpaid or overpaid super separately, so adjustments do not disrupt the main pay run process.
HR and onboarding teams
New starters’ super fund details must be captured and validated before their first payday. Onboarding workflows that previously had days or weeks of leeway now need to meet tighter timelines.
Super fund validation services confirm that a fund is active and able to receive contributions before each batch is submitted. This step needs to become standard practice in every pay run workflow.
Finance and CFO
The quarterly super float, the accumulated SG liability businesses have historically carried as a short-term working capital buffer, will not exist after 1 July. Cash flow forecasts and treasury models need to be updated before the end of the financial year.
The total super liability does not change. What changes is timing and frequency. Smaller, regular payments are easier to forecast and monitor than one large quarterly transfer. For high-income earners, the annual MCB change also affects how SG is distributed across the year.
Employees
Super accumulates faster. Instead of waiting up to 90 days for contributions to reach their fund, employees see super moving in line with each pay cycle. For employees with salary sacrifice arrangements, those close to retirement or those approaching concessional contributions caps, the timing shift has a material effect on fund balance and contribution management.
Contractors
Payday Super extends SG obligations to certain contractors paid mainly for their labour. If your business engages contractors under arrangements where SG applies, those obligations now align with the Payday Super rules. Review your contractor classifications before 1 July.
How MYOB Acumatica Payroll Handles Payday Super
MYOB Acumatica Payroll has been built to manage the Payday Super changes end to end. Updates are rolling out to customers progressively from April 2026 to allow preparation time before 1 July.
Here is how the workflow operates from 1 July 2026:
- Run payroll as normal. The system calculates SG based on qualifying earnings for every employee. The QE base is applied automatically for pay runs dated on or after 1 July 2026.
- QE and super liability are reported to the ATO via STP. No separate reporting step is needed. The data flows through the pay run.
- Create the super batch. In the Create Superannuation Batch screen, select the completed pay run. If any adjusted contributions exist from pay corrections, review and include them.
- Validate funds. Use MYOB Acumatica’s fund validation services to confirm all funds in the batch are active and ready to receive contributions before submitting.
- Submit for approval. The batch is submitted to your nominated PaySuper authoriser. Multiple authorisers can be nominated to ensure someone is always available at each pay run.
- Process payment. Submit through MYOB Pay Super (via SuperChoice, SuperStream-compliant) or export to your external clearing house. The seven-day clock for fund receipt starts from the pay date.
The MYOB Academy also offers a dedicated Payday Super compliance webinar for MYOB Acumatica Payroll users, covering the product configuration steps and compliance requirements in detail.
For further guidance direct from MYOB, the MYOB Payday Super prep guide and MYOB Payday Super support hub are useful references during setup.
What Your Business Needs to Do Before 1 July 2026
There are five practical steps to complete before the deadline. The earlier you start, the lower the risk.
1. Upgrade and apply the Payday Super configuration
Ensure you are on MYOB Acumatica 25R2 and that the Payday Super update has been applied to your environment. In the pay item liabilities screen, a new qualifying earnings column will appear after the update. Review every pay item and mark it correctly against the QE definition.
Most pay items liable for SG will also count as QE. Items liable under awards but not QE need to be flagged separately. Do not leave this until late June.
2. Transition off the ATO Small Business Superannuation Clearing House
The SBSCH closes permanently on 30 June 2026. If your business currently uses it, you need to transition to MYOB Pay Super or an alternative SuperStream-compliant clearing house before that date. Treat your April 2026 SBSCH payment as your last.
Enrolment in MYOB Pay Super requires linking your bank account and nominating default super funds for employees. Allow processing time before your first Payday Super submission.
3. Update your onboarding workflow for new starters
From 1 July, a new employee’s super fund details must be confirmed and validated before their first pay run is processed and submitted. Review your onboarding process to close this gap.
MYOB Acumatica’s fund validation services can confirm whether a fund is active and able to receive contributions before submission. Build this into your standard pre-submission check.
4. Update cash flow models and treasury forecasts
Model the impact of per-pay-run super payments on your working capital. For most businesses, this means super payments that previously went out four times a year now go out every pay cycle.
For high-income earners, factor in the annual MCB threshold. MYOB Acumatica handles the threshold adjustment automatically from 1 July, but your finance team needs to understand how the timing of SG payments changes for affected employees.
5. Run a test cycle and brief your team
For existing MYOB Acumatica clients, your consultant will walk you through this as part of your upgrade. If you would like to run a test scenario in your sandbox environment before go-live to confirm that QE calculations, STP reporting and super batch creation all work as expected, get in touch with our support team and we can assist.
Brief your payroll, HR and finance teams on the new workflow. The process is familiar, but the timing and frequency are materially different. Nominate multiple PaySuper authorisers to ensure cover at every pay run.
Payday Super Readiness Checklist
Use this checklist before 1 July 2026. Refer to the ATO’s full Payday Super employer guidance for the complete compliance requirements.
- Upgrade to MYOB Acumatica 25R2 and apply Payday Super update
- Review all pay items in the pay item liabilities screen against the QE definition
- Identify and flag pay items liable under awards that do not count as qualifying earnings
- Transition off SBSCH and enrol in MYOB Pay Super or alternative clearing house
- Update onboarding workflows to capture and validate new starter super fund details before first payday
- Update cash flow forecasts to reflect per-pay-run super payments
- Nominate multiple PaySuper authorisers for cover at every pay run
- Run test pay cycle in sandbox environment and confirm QE calculation, STP and super batch
- Review contractor classifications for SG eligibility under Payday Super rules
- Brief payroll, HR and finance teams on the new post-pay-run workflow
- Check the ATO’s first-year compliance approach PCG 2026/1 and understand your risk zone obligations
Important: The SBSCH Is Closing
The ATO Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closed to new users on 1 October 2025 and closes to all existing users on 30 June 2026.
If your business currently uses the SBSCH, you must download your payment history before the service closes and transition to an alternative compliant solution. The SBSCH cannot process Payday Super volumes or comply with SuperStream 3.0 requirements.
For MYOB Acumatica users, MYOB Pay Super is the recommended path. It is already SuperStream-compliant, native to the platform and at no additional cost for existing payroll subscribers.
The Bigger Picture
Payday Super is part of a broader modernisation of Australia’s super system. The Fair Work Ombudsman has also updated its guidance on the new rules, noting that late payment of super may also breach the Fair Work Act or applicable awards and enterprise agreements, not just the SGAA.
For businesses with integrated, automated payroll systems, Payday Super is a process change. The system handles QE calculation, STP reporting and super batch creation. Your team runs the same workflow, with super now completing alongside each pay run rather than building across a quarter.
For businesses still on manual processes, spreadsheets or disconnected payroll tools, this is the moment to act. The compliance risk is real and the ATO has more visibility than ever. The right time to fix your setup is before 1 July, not after.
Is your business Payday Super ready?
AlphaBiz Solutions is a MYOB Acumatica implementation partner with offices in Perth and Sydney. We work with mid-market businesses across Australia to make sure their payroll, compliance and ERP systems are ready before every legislative deadline.
If you are not sure whether your MYOB Acumatica environment is configured correctly for Payday Super, or you want to review your payroll workflows before 1 July, our team can help.
