Payday Super: Two Months In, and What's Actually Biting

Payday Super went live on 1 July. Two months in, the pattern of what's going wrong is clear — and it's rarely what employers expected. Almost everyone gets this backwards: it isn't a cost increase. The rate is still 12%, the same people qualify, and for most employers the amount is identical to last year. What changed is the timing. And the timing is what's catching people. Mia and Leo are joined by tax strategist Harvey Green for the practical version. We previewed this in Episode 33; this is what it feels like to actually run payroll under it. In this episode, we cover: **"Received", Not "Sent":** The contribution has to *land* in the employee's fund within 7 business days of payday, with enough information to allocate it. Your clearing house's processing time is now your problem. **The Business Day Trap:** A business day excludes any day that's a public holiday for the whole of any state or territory. A Northern Territory holiday removes a business day for the entire country — but a part-state holiday like the Royal Hobart Show doesn't. You can't just count weekdays. **The Clearing House Is Gone:** The ATO's Small Business Superannuation Clearing House shut entirely on 1 July. It was free and widely used, and if you hadn't replaced it before your first July pay run, you've had a rough two months. Easily the most common problem we've seen. **Qualifying Earnings Isn't the Bogeyman:** New term, but the ATO is explicit that for most employers it doesn't change the amount. The only real addition is commissions for work done entirely outside ordinary hours. **The Cash Flow Half Nobody Mentions:** Under quarterly super you always held money that was owed but not yet due, and plenty of businesses were quietly using it as working capital. That buffer is gone. Same annual cost, no rolling balance. **The Rebuilt Super Guarantee Charge:** You no longer self-assess it — the ATO does, from your Single Touch Payroll data every pay run. Interest compounds daily. There's an administrative uplift that shrinks if you disclose voluntarily. And for the first time, the charge is tax deductible. Penalties actually fell too — from up to 200% down to 25% or 50%. **When You Get More Than 7 Days:** Twenty business days for a new employee's first contribution, and out-of-cycle payments like a Christmas bonus ride along with the next regular payday. **Funds Now Have 3 Days, Not 20:** To allocate or return a contribution. Errors surface far faster, so your employee data quality matters more than it used to. **Contractors Just Got Riskier:** The rule hasn't changed — contractors paid mainly for their labour are employees for super purposes. But with per-pay-run reporting, a long-standing misclassification is a much shorter fuse. Four things to check this week: whether contributions are actually arriving in seven days, what replaced your clearing house, whether you pay out-of-hours commissions, and how clean your employee data is. And if you've already missed some, come forward. Voluntary disclosure reduces the uplift and the charge is deductible now. The worst version is being found by a system that watches every pay run. Connect with Aevum Accounting: Not sure your contributions are landing on time? Visit aevumaccounting.com.au to book a session with the expert team today. Shoutout: A massive thank you to Vikaash for the fantastic 5-star review! Important Disclaimer: The information shared in this episode and description is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute specific tax or financial advice. Everyone's situation is unique, and tax laws are complex. For personalized advice tailored to your specific situation, we always recommend consulting with a qualified professional at Aevum Accounting.