How to prepare for the Payday Super changes starting 1 July 2026
Payday Super
From 1 July 2026, employers must pay their employees' Superannuation Guarantee contributions at the same time as their salary and wages.
Have you implemented a transition plan to support the seamless implementation of Payday Super?
With less than 12 months before the Payday Super rules come into effect, it is now the time to ensure your process and systems are ready for the intended start date (1 July 2026) for Payday Super.
Given the change to numerous parts of the superannuation ecosystem, a Payday Super ‘preparedness’ plan should involve various stakeholders across your business (including tax, payroll, HR and finance). The plan should focus on good governance on employee onboarding, payroll processing, remittance and rejection management, and real-time exception testing.
- Payroll governance frameworks
Payroll governance frameworks
Understand your risk management and governance framework for the Superannuation Guarantee remittance process. This should include understanding your business process documentation for your end-to-end processes and timing for each stage of the Superannuation Guarantee lifecycle, such as:
- employee onboarding
- HRIS configuration applicable to superannuation
- Payroll system configuration applicable to superannuation
- clearing house contribution file preparation and lodgement
- Payroll and payment approvals
- System configuration for capping requirements (such as the Maximum Contribution Base), and
- real time checks.
A go-live checklist or planning document should be shared with relevant stakeholders (such as tax, human resources, payroll, finance, legal) to ensure a seamless transition.
- Payroll processing
- Worker onboarding
- Remittance and rejection management
- Qualifying earnings
- HRIS and payroll system configuration
- Clearing house changes
- Contractor management
- Communications
Payroll processing
Review current payroll processes to identify when contributions are currently paid and when the contribution file is loaded e.g. pay runs are fortnightly, but super is paid monthly.
Where an additional step is required each pay day, consider where in the pay run process is most efficient, and consider if additional approval is required.
Where the current process to extract payment information is manual-i.e. the payroll team have to manually manipulate multiple data sources to incorporate into one file-look at options to automate or streamline the file creation process. Your payroll provider should be able to provide you with the functionality options of your payroll system.
Consider if you have key person risks (such as access to the clearing house or payroll system) that may impact your new processes.
Worker onboarding
Revamp your employee onboarding process to reflect the new choice of fund and super stapling reforms, and consider what further controls should be introduced to ensure employee onboarding is completed in sufficient time to meet the new Payday Super requirements.
Remittance and rejection management
Implement a governance framework to identify, manage and action bounce backs.
Understand and document the clearing house process for returning contributions and determine what information they will provide which will assist in determining for which employee the funds have been returned.
Develop a process with your Treasury team to identify the returned superannuation and a streamlined efficient process to pay the amount to the correct superannuation fund.
Qualifying earnings
Understand the new concept of Qualifying Earnings. Review wage codes to ensure each are mapped correctly for qualifying earnings and Single Touch Payroll purposes.
HRIS and payroll system configuration
Understand the HRIS and payroll system configuration changes being made by your vendor(s). Discuss with the vendor the following:
- Any changes required to your contract terms and conditions.
- What changes will be made?
- When will the changes be made?
- Will the changes be available in a testing or sandbox environment?
- What actions are you required to take to complete the configuration?
Clearing house changes
Discuss and update terms and conditions with your clearing house.
Review the current service level agreement with your clearing house provider and discuss any updated terms especially in relation to the timing of the clearing house processing the contributions file to ensure processes will align with remittance timeframes so that payments reach the employee’s super fund on time.
Ensure that you clearly document the clearing house processes in relation to timing of payments and bounce back of contributions and consider the impact on your payroll processes and procedures.
Contractor management
Review arrangements with contractors to identify any that may be captured for common law employees' purposes or under the extended tests. Consider any critical differences (such as the onboarding process, and reliance on Accounts Payable teams and Single Touch Payroll reporting requirements) for the remittance process for contractors who are liable for Superannuation Guarantee.
Read more on Superannuation Guarantee obligations for contractors here.
Communications
Ensure Board and C-suite awareness of the impacts of Payday Super.
Communicate the changes to employees in advance of the go-live data, explaining the benefits of Payday Super, reiterating the need for employees to advise of changes to their details in a timely manner, and outlining the impacts of the annualised Maximum Contribution Base for high income earners.
- Real time compliance testing
- Voluntary disclosure statements
Real time compliance testing
In the leadup to the go live date of 1 July 2026, perform ‘dry run’ testing to check if the 7 business day timeframe has been met, and make tweaks to the overall process as necessary. After 1 July 2026, carry out real-time testing for each qualifying earning day to ensure the correct amount of super has been paid on time for each employee.
Read more about our technology solution, Workforce Automate, for real time Superannuation Guarantee compliance testing here.
Voluntary disclosure statements
Where the 7-day timeframe has not been met, consider lodging Superannuation Guarantee Charge statements to reduce the potential penalties that may apply. Implement a process so these voluntary disclosure statements can be prepared, reviewed and signed off promptly to access the penalty remission.
Workforce Leaders’ Forum: Payday Super - Tuesday, 18 November 2025 | 3-4pm AEDT
Get ready for Payday Super—in this webcast, we cover everything you need to know to ensure a smooth and successful transition.
