Table of Contents
- Introduction
Understand the upcoming changes to superannuation and what it means for Australian businesses. - What is Payday Super?
A breakdown of the new rules, why they’re being introduced, and the impact on employee retirement outcomes. - What Does It Mean in Practice?
How often you’ll need to pay super, the operational shifts required, and why it matters. - The Challenges for Employers
Key hurdles businesses will face, including cash flow pressure, system upgrades, and compliance complexity. - What Should Businesses Do Now?
A practical checklist to help employers prepare for Payday Super, including auditing systems and forecasting cash flow. - Paytime as a Solution
How Paytime’s Earned Wage Access can help ease financial pressure and support employees during the transition. - In conclusion
Why early preparation matters and how businesses can stay compliant while supporting employee wellbeing.
From the 1st of July 2026, a significant change is being made to the way Aussie businesses handle super. The introduction of Payday Super means that businesses need to pay employees’ superannuation on the same day you pay their wages.
It may sound simple, but there is preparation required to implement this new change as previously, super was only required to be paid on a quarterly basis. In this blog, Paytime breaks down the new regulations and how they affect Australian business owners.
What is Payday Super?
Currently, most businesses pay super quarterly. But under the new regulations, super will need to be paid every pay run, whether you run payroll weekly, fortnightly, or monthly.
The goal is to make sure employees actually receive the super they’re owed. The government estimates that around $3.4b in super goes unpaid each year, and as of mid-2023, over $2.2b in super debt was still outstanding.
This is a huge problem for workers and their future retirement, thus, the Government is implementing Payday Super as a solution.
It will give workers real-time visibility over whether their super has been paid and help the ATO crackdown on unpaid or delayed contributions. By making super contributions more transparent and timely, the hope is employees have the accurate and sufficient funds when they choose to retire.
What does it mean in practice?
For many businesses, it means a significant shift in how often super is paid. If you pay staff weekly, you’ll now be making super contributions up to 48 times a year.
If you pay fortnightly, it’ll be around 22 times annually. That’s a big jump from the current four quarterly payments.
This change aims to improve employee trust and financial wellbeing by giving them greater visibility into their super balances. However, the increased frequency of payments adds new operational demands.
Payroll systems will need to be adjusted, finance teams may require additional support, and tighter cash flow planning will be essential.
The challenges for employers
One of the first hurdles is the increased administrative workload. Aligning super payments with each pay cycle means you may need to update payroll systems, retrain staff and update processes.
Cash flow management will also become more complex as businesses will no longer be able to hold onto the capital for super funds until the end of the quarter.
Instead, they’ll need to ensure those funds are available on each payday. This change could present significant liquidity challenges for companies that manage tight budgets or rely on longer payment terms from clients.
Additionally, some employers may need to upgrade their payroll software or integrate it with more advanced superannuation platforms. The cost and time associated with making these adjustments can add up, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises that don’t have large finance teams.
What should businesses do now?
With the introduction of Payday Super, it’s crucial for employers to take action early. Here’s how to prepare:
- Audit your payroll and super processes: Take stock of your current systems to understand what changes are required to process super payments on a more frequent basis.
- Review your payroll software and compliance tools: Make sure your systems are capable of syncing super contributions with every pay run. If not, begin exploring upgrade options or integration with a reliable clearing house.
- Forecast Cash Flow: With super due on each payday, review your budgeting and financial forecasting to ensure you’ll have the necessary funds available throughout the year.
- Train your payroll and finance teams: Your staff will need to understand the new rules, how to operate any updated systems, and how to handle exceptions or compliance issues.
- Explore solutions: Tools like Paytime’s Earned Wage Access can be a smart way to support your team during this transition. EWA helps employees manage their finances better, without affecting your payroll process or cash reserves.
Being proactive in each of these areas will help you avoid surprises down the line and make sure your business remains compliant and competitive in the evolving regulatory environment.
Paytime as a Solution
Paytime can play a key role in simplifying this transition. Paytime offers Earned Wage Access (EWA), which allows employees to access a portion of their wages before payday.
For employees, it’s a great way to support financial wellbeing and reduce reliance on credit cards or payday loans. For employers, cash flow is freed up, reducing the pressure to release funds significantly earlier in order to comply with Payday Super regulations.
With Payday Super putting more pressure on when funds need to be released, having a solution like Paytime can ease the strain for both employers and employees. EWA can be a proactive strategy to keep your business financially resilient while aligning with the new superannuation requirements.
As a solution to Payday Supper, through EWA, you can shift your paycycle to monthly (instead of weekly or fortnightly), resulting in only one payment of super a month instead of four (weekly pay) or two (fortnightly pay). As you have implemented EWA, this will still allow employees to access funds they’ve earned in real time, so there will be no financial stress, only less cash flow and administrative burden on the business.
Blog in Summary
Payday Super is a significant step forward for employee fairness, although it will require some preparation from businesses. Now is the time to review your payroll and superannuation systems, plan for the impact on cash flow, and consider alternative financial wellbeing tools to support your team and ensure compliance with the new Payday Super regulations.
Don’t leave it to the last minute, the 1 July 2026 deadline will be here before you know it. Preparing early will make the transition much smoother and could help you avoid compliance issues down the line.
As a reminder, Payday Super mandates that Australian employers pay superannuation entitlements on the same day as salaries and wages, rather than quarterly. This change is aimed at improving transparency, reducing unpaid super, and enhancing retirement outcomes for employees.
To learn more about how this will affect your business, and how Paytime can support you through the change, visit our Payday Super page.
