When to pay
Your super guarantee contribution is on time if it is received by your employee's super fund (with all the necessary information to allocate the contribution to the employee's member account) within 7 business days after paying your employee. You may have longer to make the contribution in some situations.
It's best practice to pay your employees' super guarantee contributions on payday. This is also known as the QE day – that is, the day you pay qualifying earnings to your employees.
If you use a commercial clearing house, including one used through payroll software, you need to allow enough time for them to process your payment to meet the 7 business day timeframe. That's why it's best to pay super on payday.
If your payment is late you are liable to pay the super guarantee charge.
What is the QE day?
The QE day is the day you pay your employees an amount of qualifying earnings. In most cases this is your regular payday.
If you make a payment of qualifying earnings to an employee on a particular day, that day will be the QE day for that employee even if you:
- put the payment into your payroll or accounting system on a different day
- pay other employees on a different day
- have a longer period to report the payment to the ATO (such as single touch payroll concessions for closely held employees or overseas payroll).
Definition of 'business day'
A business day is any day other than:
- a Saturday or Sunday
- a day that is a public holiday for the whole of any Australian state or territory.
This means if there is a state or territory-wide public holiday, that day is not a business day for the purposes of Payday Super, even if you are not in that state or territory.
If a public holiday applies to only part of a state or territory (for example, Royal Hobart Show Day), that day is still a business day for Payday Super purposes.
Which workers the deadline applies to
The 7 business day timeframe for contributions (or longer in some situations) applies to all employees who are entitled to super guarantee. This includes workers who come under the extended definition of 'employee' for super guarantee purposes, such as:
- independent contractors paid mainly for their labour
- sportspeople and performers
- directors or executives of a company.
Longer time to pay
You may be allowed more time to make an on-time contribution in certain situations.
- First contribution for a new employee or super fund
- Out-of-cycle payments
- Exceptional circumstances affecting multiple employers
- Bunching rule for overlapping due dates
First contribution for a new employee or super fund
You have a longer time to pay the first eligible super guarantee contribution you are making:
- for a new employee
- to a new complying super fund for an existing employee after you have stopped making contributions to another super fund.
In these situations, the contribution must be received by the super fund within 20 business days after the relevant QE day (payday).
Example: new employee
Hannah runs a business and has just engaged a new super guarantee employee, Mary, who has been engaged as a contractor for her labour.
When Hannah makes her first payment of qualifying earnings to Mary on 9 July 2026 (QE day 1), Hannah's first contribution to Mary's super fund has a later due date of 7 August 2026, which is 20 business days after QE day 1.
Hannah's next payment of qualifying earnings to Mary is on 30 July 2026 (QE day 2). For Hannah to make the super guarantee contribution on time for QE day 2, the contribution must be received by Mary's super fund within 7 business days of 30 July 2026, which is 11 August 2026.
(Note that the due dates for QE day 1 and QE day 2 both include an additional day because the Picnic Day holiday in the Northern Territory is not counted as a business day.)
End of example
Example: new super fund
Floyd runs a business. On 3 August 2026 he is advised by his employee Francine that she has changed to a new super fund. Francine provides Floyd with her new super fund details.
When Floyd makes his next payment of qualifying earnings to Francine on 7 August 2026 (QE day 1), his contribution to her new super fund has a later due date of 4 September 2026, which is 20 business days after QE day 1.
Floyd's next payment of qualifying earnings to Francine is on 4 September 2026 (QE day 2). For Floyd to make the super guarantee contribution on time for QE day 2, the contribution must be received by Francine's super fund by 15 September 2026, within 7 business days after QE day 2.
End of example
Out-of-cycle payments
If you make a payment of qualifying earnings to an employee that is out of cycle with their regular payday, your super guarantee contribution must be received by the super fund within 7 business days after the next payment of qualifying earnings to the employee that is not out of cycle.
Payments made to eligible employees with intermittent or irregular paydays are not out-of-cycle payments. For example, payments to an eligible contractor who is remunerated upon invoice to the employer are not out-of-cycle payments.
The ATO has determined what payments of qualifying earnings are out of cycle and the associated criteria.
Example: out-of-cycle payment to an employee
Virgil runs a business. He pays his employee Luca a Christmas bonus of $1,000 on 7 December 2026. Luca is normally paid weekly and Virgil's next payment of Luca's regular wages is made on 10 December 2026. The bonus payment meets all the criteria outlined by the ATO to be an out-of-cycle payment.
The super guarantee contribution for Luca's Christmas bonus is due on the same day as the contribution for the 10 December payday – that is, the contribution for both payments is due on 21 December 2026.
End of exampleExceptional circumstances affecting multiple employers
The ATO can determine that a class of employers are affected by an exceptional circumstance and the period for which the employers are impacted.
Exceptional circumstances are natural disasters and widespread information technology and communication outages.
If an exceptional circumstance determination covers you and the current payday, your super guarantee contributions must be received by super funds before the later of:
- 20 business days after the current QE day (payday)
- 20 business days after the day that the determination is made.
You do not need to apply for an exceptional circumstances determination. When an exceptional circumstance occurs:
- We will consider whether a determination should be made, taking into account the impact on employers' ability to make super guarantee contributions. We will use information about declared disaster zones and details received by third parties such as super funds, digital service providers and banks.
- We will issue communications if a determination has been made.
- Employers can self-assess whether or not they are covered by the determination. You should keep records that show the determination applies to you and the relevant QE days (paydays).
Exceptional circumstance determinations cannot be issued for individual employer circumstances.
Find out about what to do if your records are lost or damaged in these circumstances.
Natural disasters
If you are impacted by a natural disaster you can also phone our Emergency Support Infoline on 1800 806 218 during operating hours. Alternatively there are other ways you can contact us about your situation.
If you are closing down your business because of a disaster, you still need to pay your employees' super guarantee entitlements.
Example: exceptional circumstances – natural disaster
Christen runs a business and usually pays her employees fortnightly. The next payday is 4 August 2026 (QE day 1).
Over the weekend Christen's local area is impacted by a flood. A number of businesses, including Christen's, close for safety and clean up reasons.
The ATO issues an exceptional circumstance determination on 7 August 2026 for the period 4 August 2026 to 24 August 2026. The determination applies to all employers in Christen's local area.
Christen has until 4 September 2026 (20 business days after 8 August 2026) for contributions to be received by her employees' super funds for QE day 1.
For QE day 2 on 18 August 2026, Christen has until 15 September 2026 (20 business days after QE day 2) for contributions to be received by her employees' super funds.
End of exampleBunching rule for overlapping due dates
Sometimes you may have a later due date to make contributions for a QE day (payday) but the due date for the next QE day is before the later due date for the first QE day.
In this situation, the due date for the second QE day is the same as the later due date for the first QE day.
Example: bunching rule
Aitana runs a business and has just hired a new employee, Ellie. After she makes her first payment of wages to Ellie on 9 July 2026 (QE day 1), Aitana's first contribution to Ellie's super fund has a later due date of 7 August 2026 (20 business days after QE day 1).
Aitana pays her employees fortnightly. Her second payment of wages to Ellie is made on 23 July 2026 (QE day 2). The second contribution of super guarantee would ordinarily be due on 4 August 2026.
Because the contribution for QE day 2 is due earlier than the extended due date for QE day 1, the contribution for QE day 2 is also due on the later due date of 7 August 2026.
The due date for the contribution for QE day 3 will follow a normal 7 business day timeframe, unless longer applies.
(Note that the later due date for QE day 1 and initial due date for QE day 2 both include an additional day because the Picnic Day holiday in the Northern Territory is not counted as a business day.)
End of exampleLate contributions
A contribution for a payday is considered late if it is received by the fund more than 7 business days after paying your employee (unless a longer time applies) but before we have assessed you for the super guarantee charge.
Late contributions can reduce the super guarantee charge. However, you may still be liable for the interest and administrative components, and any choice loading, even if you pay all of the remaining super guarantee late.
For more information see What happens if you don't pay super correctly.
Paying faster with the New Payments Platform
From 1 July 2026 you, or your service provider, can use the New Payments Platform (NPP) to make contributions. The NPP is a real-time payments platform used across Australia. It increases the speed and efficiency of payments to super funds.
Using the NPP, contributions made through payroll systems or clearing houses could be received by the super fund on the same day you make the payment. Payments made through some service providers may still take longer to reach the super fund.
The availability of the NPP will be accompanied by other improvements to SuperStream, such as improved member verifications, better error messaging and faster visibility of fund status changes. These initiatives are intended to help employers and clearing houses to meet the Payday Super deadlines.
Managing cashflow
Moving to paying super for each payday may impact your cash flow.
Check out our cash flow tips and guidance:
If you use a registered tax or BAS agent, they can also help.