The rule, in one paragraph
Payday super commenced 1 July 2026. From that day, an employer has to pay super guarantee contributions on each payday rather than banking them up for the quarter, and the contribution has to be received by the fund within 7 business days of paying the employee, with enough information for the fund to allocate it to the right member account.
The 20 day exception nobody remembers
For a new employee, or an existing one who has just changed funds, you get 20 business days for that first contribution, because you may still be waiting on their fund details. It applies to the first payment only. Toggle it above.
Bonuses and back pay, out of cycle payments
A payment outside the usual pay run, a bonus, an allowance, back pay, doesn't get its own 7 days. The ATO says the super “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.” So it rides along with the next regular pay. That doesn't apply to someone paid on invoice with no regular payday.
What happens if it is late
Late super is not simply late. It falls into the super guarantee charge, which is not tax deductible and is worked out on a wider base than the contribution you were meant to make. It is one of the few bills in small business that gets meaningfully worse for being small and overlooked.
Business days, precisely
- A business day is any day that is not a Saturday, a Sunday, or a public holiday for the whole of any state or territory, and the ATO means any, “even if you are not in that state or territory.” Its own example adds a day for the Northern Territory’s Picnic Day. A holiday in only part of a state, like Royal Hobart Show Day, still counts as a business day.
- The count starts the day after payday.
- Weekends never count toward the limit.
The calculator counts them. It skips weekends and every public holiday for the whole of any state or territory, from each government’s own list, up to 31 December 2027. Check it against the ATO’s own example, a first pay on 9 July 2026 is due 7 August 2026, a day later for the Picnic Day.
It leaves out any day it can’t be sure of, because counting a day that isn’t a holiday would give you a date that’s too late. So Melbourne Cup isn’t counted, a country council in Victoria can swap it for a local day, and nor is WA’s King’s Birthday, Karratha and Port Hedland take theirs in August. Neither is a holiday for the whole state.
The public holidays it counts
| Date | Holiday | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 3 Aug 2026 | Picnic Day | NT |
| Fri 25 Sep 2026 | Friday before the AFL Grand Final | VIC |
| Mon 5 Oct 2026 | Labour Day, King’s Birthday | NSW, SA, ACT, and QLD’s King’s Birthday |
| Fri 25 Dec 2026 | Christmas Day | everywhere |
| Mon 28 Dec 2026 | Boxing Day, the extra Monday | everywhere |
| Fri 1 Jan 2027 | New Year’s Day | everywhere |
| Tue 26 Jan 2027 | Australia Day | everywhere |
| Mon 1 Mar 2027 | Labour Day | WA |
| Mon 8 Mar 2027 | Labour Day, Adelaide Cup, Eight Hours Day, Canberra Day | VIC, SA, TAS, ACT |
| Fri 26 Mar 2027 | Good Friday | everywhere |
| Mon 29 Mar 2027 | Easter Monday | everywhere |
| Mon 26 Apr 2027 | Anzac Day, the extra Monday | NSW, QLD, WA, ACT, NT |
| Mon 3 May 2027 | Labour Day, May Day | QLD, NT |
| Mon 31 May 2027 | Reconciliation Day | ACT |
| Mon 7 Jun 2027 | Western Australia Day | WA |
| Mon 14 Jun 2027 | King’s Birthday | everywhere but QLD and WA |
| Mon 2 Aug 2027 | Picnic Day | NT |
| Mon 4 Oct 2027 | Labour Day, King’s Birthday | NSW, SA, ACT, and QLD’s King’s Birthday |
| Mon 27 Dec 2027 | Christmas Day, the extra Monday | everywhere |
| Tue 28 Dec 2027 | Boxing Day, the extra Tuesday | everywhere |
A weekday holiday in even one state or territory counts for every employer. Sources: the ATO’s Payment deadlines for Payday Super for the rule, and each government’s list, NSW, VIC, VIC 2027, QLD, SA, WA, TAS, ACT, NT, all read 26 October 2026.
Super due dates for 2026–27, by payday
Half the people landing here typed “super due dates” expecting the four quarterly deadlines. Those ended. Since 1 July 2026 super is due 7 business days after each payday, so a 2026–27 due date list is your own pay calendar plus 7 business days per pay, which is exactly what the calculator above works out. Pay weekly and you have around 52 super deadlines this year, not 4.
This is what 7 business days comes to from each payday, counting weekdays only, using the week of 9 November 2026. A payday late in the week loses a weekend inside the window, so it gets 11 calendar days, not 9.
| Payday | In the fund by | Days | First pay or new fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 9 Nov | Wed 18 Nov | 9 | Mon 7 Dec |
| Tue 10 Nov | Thu 19 Nov | 9 | Tue 8 Dec |
| Wed 11 Nov | Fri 20 Nov | 9 | Wed 9 Dec |
| Thu 12 Nov | Mon 23 Nov | 11 | Thu 10 Dec |
| Fri 13 Nov | Tue 24 Nov | 11 | Fri 11 Dec |
The last column is the 20 business days for a new employee's first contribution, or the first one to a new fund, which always lands on the same weekday four weeks later. No public holiday for a whole state or territory falls in these weeks. Where one does, like Christmas, the calculator adds the day for you.
The old quarterly super due dates, for pays up to 30 June 2026
| Quarter | Period | Due date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 July to 30 September | 28 October |
| 2 | 1 October to 31 December | 28 January |
| 3 | 1 January to 31 March | 28 April |
| 4 | 1 April to 30 June | 28 July |
Where one of those fell on a weekend or public holiday, the next business day was the deadline. The last date that list ever produced was 28 July 2026, for the April to June 2026 quarter. A page still showing you those four dates for current pays is out of date.
Sources: ATO, Payment deadlines for Payday Super, last updated 29 September 2026, and Quarterly super payment due dates, last updated 25 February 2026, both read 26 October 2026. Dates in the first table worked out by the calculator on this page.
Why this one is different
It is the same calculation the Yamate app runs on every pay, including the 20 day first pay case, and the app then reminds you before the date rather than after it. If you are running one apprentice off a phone, that reminder is the whole point. The sum is easy, remembering it on a Tuesday in the middle of a job is not.
Have the date come to you
This deadline moves with every payday, and missing it is the one payroll mistake that is not deductible. Yamate works the date out from your own pay run and tells you before it lands, rather than after.
Run the pay in Yamate → Free to try · no card · sign in with a link, no password to rememberFAQ
When did payday super start?
1 July 2026. Before that, super guarantee was paid quarterly.
Is it 7 calendar days or 7 business days?
Business days. Weekends and full state or territory public holidays do not count.
Does the money have to arrive, or just be sent?
Arrive. The contribution must be received by the fund within the window, so allow for however long your clearing house takes.
Do public holidays in other states count?
Yes. A public holiday for the whole of any state or territory is not a business day for payday super, even if you are not in that state or territory. One that covers only part of a state still counts as a business day.
What if it is the employee’s first pay?
You get 20 business days for that first contribution, or where they have just changed funds.
Can I still pay super quarterly?
No. That ended on 1 July 2026.
What is the super rate?
12% of ordinary time earnings. There is a breakdown of what a first employee really costs if you are working out whether to hire.
More free tools for tradies
General information for Australian employers, not tax, legal or financial advice, and not advice about your obligations under an award. It skips weekends and the public holidays listed above, read 26 October 2026, and weekends only after 2027, which gives the earlier date. The payday super rules and the 7 and 20 business day windows were checked on 13 August 2026 and again on 26 October 2026. Check the ATO before you rely on a date.