Payday Super Calculator
From 1 July 2026 employers must pay super guarantee every payday instead of every quarter. Work out the super due on a pay run and the date it has to reach the employee's fund.
Rules checked against the ATO and the Payday Superannuation Act on .
One pay run
Ordinary hours, casual loading, shift penalties and paid leave.
Overtime is not qualifying earnings, so no super guarantee is due on it.
Only amounts that would otherwise have been ordinary time earnings.
Super guarantee for this pay
Enter the earnings for one pay to see the super due and the deadline.
Estimates only, not tax or financial advice. Results are general information based on published ATO rules and the figures you enter. For advice about your situation, speak to a registered tax agent or licensed financial adviser. How we calculate · Spotted a mistake?
What changes from 1 July 2026
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Act 2025 changes when and how employers pay the super guarantee. For earnings paid from 1 July 2026, the ATO says employers must:
- pay super guarantee for each payday, instead of quarterly
- calculate it as 12% of each employee's qualifying earnings, a new term that brings together ordinary time earnings and some other payments
- make sure the contribution is received by the employee's fund within 7 business days after payday, with the information the fund needs to allocate it
- report each employee's year-to-date qualifying earnings and super liability through Single Touch Payroll every payday
The 12% rate does not change, and the ATO says every payment that was included in super guarantee calculations up to 30 June 2026 continues to be included as qualifying earnings. Some exceptions to the 7-business-day deadline apply, for example for new employees.
What counts as qualifying earnings
| Payment | Qualifying earnings? |
|---|---|
| Ordinary hours of work | Yes |
| Casual loading | Yes |
| Shift penalties, including public holiday penalties | Yes |
| Annual leave, sick and carer’s leave, rostered days off paid at ordinary rates | Yes |
| Commissions, including commission for work done entirely outside ordinary hours | Yes |
| Salary sacrificed to super that would otherwise have been ordinary time earnings | Yes |
| Overtime payments | No |
| Salary sacrificed to super that would not otherwise have been ordinary time earnings (such as overtime) | No |
Super guarantee is not required on earnings above the maximum contribution base, which is $270,830 a year from 1 July 2026.
Worked example
- An employee is paid on Wednesday 15 July 2026: $3,000 for ordinary hours, $500 commission and $400 overtime.
- Qualifying earnings are the ordinary time earnings plus the commission: $3,500. The overtime is left out.
- Super guarantee is 12% of $3,500 = $420.
- Counting 7 business days after payday, the fund must receive it by Friday 24 July 2026, or later if a public holiday falls in between.
If super arrives late
If a contribution is not received within 7 business days (or the longer period for an exception), the super guarantee charge applies. Under Payday Super the ATO assesses the charge itself, so employers no longer lodge a super guarantee statement. The charge is calculated on qualifying earnings, includes interest compounding daily at the general interest charge rate and an administrative uplift amount (which can be reduced for employers who come forward voluntarily), and the ATO says it is tax deductible.
What it means for employees
Your super should now land in your fund within about a week and a half of each payday, rather than up to four weeks after the end of a quarter, so it is easier to spot a missed payment. Compare your payslips with your fund's transactions. To see what 12% super adds to your package, use the pay calculator, and to model extra contributions, the salary sacrifice calculator.
Official sources
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