Payday Super has started: what it means if you employ anyone

If you pay wages to anyone — even just yourself through a company — the way you pay super changed on 1 July 2026.

What actually changed

Super used to be something you could deal with quarterly. Under Payday Super, super contributions now have to be paid at the same time as wages. If you pay your staff fortnightly, super goes out fortnightly too.

For most small employers this is less about the amount and more about cash flow rhythm. Money that used to sit in the business account until the quarterly deadline now leaves with every pay run. If you have been quietly relying on that timing gap, this is the change to plan around.

The Clearing House has closed for new payments

This is the part that catches people out. The Small Business Super Clearing House can no longer be used for payments on or after 1 July 2026. If you were using it, you need to have moved to another option — usually your payroll software’s built-in super payment feature, or a commercial clearing house.

Two things worth doing if you have not already:

• Download your super records out of the Clearing House. Do not assume they will stay available to you indefinitely.
• Check your payroll software is actually set up to pay super, not just calculate it. Those are two different settings, and the second one is the one that matters now.

What we would suggest

If your payroll runs through Xero, this is mostly a settings and timing question, and it is quick to check. If you are still doing pay runs on a spreadsheet, this is a good moment to stop — the timing requirements are tight enough that manual tracking gets expensive in mistakes.

If you would like us to look at how your pay runs are set up, give us a call on 02 4017 0160. It is usually a short conversation.