Payday Super: what counts as qualifying earnings

What changed on 1 July 2026

Super is no longer a quarterly obligation. From 1 July 2026, contributions must be received by the fund within seven business days of payday. Not sent, not initiated — received. The clearing float that used to absorb a late run has gone, and so has the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House, which has closed.

What qualifying earnings actually means

Qualifying earnings is the base the contribution is calculated on. It replaces the familiar quarterly calculation with something reported per pay cycle, and it is reported through Single Touch Payroll alongside the super liability itself — so both figures now travel with each pay event rather than being reconciled later.

This is the detail catching practices out. The concept is new enough that it is explained only briefly in most guidance, and it is the number everything else keys off.

What happens if it lands late

The superannuation guarantee charge is now assessed by the ATO, and interest compounds daily. The offset is that the charge is now tax-deductible, which it was not before. The change in deductibility does not make lateness cheap — daily compounding on a per-payday obligation adds up considerably faster than it did on a quarterly one.

What this means for a practice

• Timing moves from a quarterly task to a per-pay-run task, which changes who in the firm owns it.
• A payment that clears your client’s account on time can still be late if it reaches the fund on day eight.
• Because the deadline is counted in business days, public holidays matter — and they differ by state.
• The exposure is now continuous rather than four times a year, so a process that catches problems after the fact is no longer good enough.

Worth checking now, before the first quarter under the new rules closes: which of your clients pay weekly or fortnightly, and whether anyone is watching the receipt date rather than the payment date.