Payday Super and Small Business Super Clearing House Closing down reminder
The way employers pay superannuation is changing from 1 July 2026 with multiple changes on the horizon for small businesses.
Payday Super is a change to how employers will calculate and pay their employees’ super guarantee. From 1 July 2026 an employer must pay their employees super guarantee on payday, at the same time as their salary and wages.
Super guarantee will need to be:
calculated as 12% of an employee's qualifying earnings (QE), which is a new term that brings together ordinary time earnings (OTE) and other payments
paid to an employees’ super fund on payday and received by the super fund within 7 business days (unless an extended timeframe applies, such as for new employees).
The ATO factsheet can be found here which has more detailed information n75774 - [DE-77714] - Payday Super - Employers key changes.pdf. Keep an eye out on our blog for an in depth dive into the changes coming out soon.
Alternative providers to the SBSCH
Employers should start preparing for the permanent closure of the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House ('SBSCH') on 1 July 2026.
By acting now to find an alternative service, employers will:
have an established process in place to pay super guarantee ('SG') for the March and June quarters (if they currently pay quarterly);
reduce the risk of late payment of SG for the June 2026 quarter due date (28 July), as the SBSCH will be already closed;
have more time to set up their business cash flow to enable frequent payments of SG; and
have finalised payments and downloaded any reports from the SBSCH before it closes permanently.
Employers that are still using the SBSCH should be aware of the following key dates.
10 December 2025 — Super payments, along with instructions, must be received by 5.30 pm AEDT on this date. The ATO says payments received after this time will be processed from 2 January 2026.
28 January 2026 — December 2025 SG quarterly payments due date.
February to March 2026 — Employers should move to an alternative option to the SBSCH.
28 April 2026 — March 2026 SG quarterly payments due date.
30 June 2026 — Final day for employers to use the service, make any final payments and download reports.
1 July 2026 — SBSCH is no longer available.
Employers may already have other options readily available so they can exit from using the SBSCH ahead of time.
They should check their existing software and payroll packages, as they may already include super functions they can use to pay SG.
Otherwise, employers can look for options from super funds or digital service providers offering payroll services, software or commercial clearing houses.
Reminder of December 2025 Quarter Superannuation Guarantee ('SG')
As noted in the above article, employee super contributions for the quarter ending 31 December 2025 must be received by the relevant super funds by 28 January 2026.
If the correct amount of SG is not paid by an employer on time, they will be liable to pay the SG charge, which includes a penalty and interest component.
The SG rate is 12% for the 2026 income year (increased from 11.5% for the 2025 income year).
Editor: If you need more information regarding making these claims, please contact our office.
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