The countdown to Payday Super has started, and a new reality is setting in for Australian tax agents and financial professionals.
As the 1 July 2026 deadline looms, a seismic shift in superannuation is about to redefine how small businesses operate and, more importantly, how they rely on you for guidance. The move from quarterly super payments to a seven-day window will cause widespread confusion, and you are on the front lines.
The silent disruption of Payday Super that employers don’t realise yet
Payday Super is a reform set to modernise the superannuation system and give employees faster access to their super. On the surface, the change is simple: employers will need to pay super at the same time as wages. However, the ripple effect for payroll and Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting is significant.
A key part of the change is the new requirement for employers to report both Ordinary Time Earnings (OTE) and Super liability within their STP reports. This may sound straightforward, but it’s a big shift in how businesses currently manage payroll data. For many, this will require a major re-engineering of their payroll definitions and configurations to meet the new ATO requirements. The new concept of “Qualifying Earnings” (QE) further complicates things, as it expands on OTE to include amounts like commissions, which weren’t previously reportable as OTE for this purpose.
Unprepared clients are a ticking time bomb
Your clients—especially small business owners who are not looking at the ATO’s website—are likely to be completely unaware of this change. They are waiting for their software providers to handle everything for them, and they will turn to you for help.
The strict seven-day deadline for super payments, especially around public holidays, is going to create immense pressure. If there’s bad data and a payment bounces back from a super fund, the clock will be ticking loudly, and a client’s cash flow could be severely impacted if they need to re-pay a large amount of super without receiving the original funds back.
This strict deadline and the potential for errors are the scariest parts of Payday Super.
Are you ready for Payday Super next year?
While we are talking about shutdowns and end-of-year planning, there is a massive change on the horizon that you need to start thinking about: Payday Super.
The government has officially passed legislation that will change how and when you pay superannuation. It starts on 1 July 2026, but the shift is big enough that you need to be aware of it now.
Payroller is already built to handle SuperStream compliance, and we are gearing up to make this transition seamless for you when the time comes.
Take control and prepare your clients with confidence
You don’t have to face this storm alone. Payroller is an STP-compliant payroll software that will be 100% ready for Payday Super. We are actively involved in ATO technical working groups to get a handle on the changes. This gives us a clear understanding of the new requirements and allows us to build a seamless solution for you and your clients.
By using payroll software that automatically handles the complexity of OTE and super liability reporting, you can turn a compliance nightmare into a competitive advantage. Prepare your clients now to ensure they can meet their obligations without the stress and risk of manual errors.