Payday super: what changed for small practices

A change to timing rather than to amount, but the timing is the part that bites. Check with your accountant for anything specific to your payroll.

What changed

• Since 1 July 2026, super must reach each employee's fund within 7 business days of payday. The quarterly deadline no longer applies.
• Reaching the fund is not the same as paying it. The clearing house sits in between and takes days. Pay on the last possible day and you have already missed it.
• So it moves into the wages run.

The part nobody budgets for

A practice paying quarterly has been holding roughly three months of super in its own account. That buffer disappears. If the firm was quietly relying on it, the first quarter after the change is where it shows, and it shows as cash flow rather than compliance.

Worth checking in your own payroll

• Is super sent in the same run as wages? Or later, by hand?
• How long does your clearing house actually take? Ask, and count business days.
• Anyone paid irregularly? A casual, or a contractor treated as an employee for super. Those paydays are the ones missed.
• Paydays before a public holiday. Those are the weeks the 7 business days get tight.