Superannuation Calculator

The one-line formula

Employer super in Australia is built on a simple structure: ordinary time earnings (OTE) × the current super guarantee rate = the contribution you owe for each eligible employee, for each payment period. The rate is set by legislation and has stepped up over recent years, so always take the current percentage from the ATO rather than assuming last year's figure still applies. The hard part isn't the multiplication — it's getting OTE right and paying on time.

Input 1: ordinary time earnings

OTE is what an employee earns for their ordinary hours of work. As a rule of thumb:

• Usually included: base salary and wages, shift loadings, most allowances, commissions, bonuses tied to ordinary hours, and paid leave taken during employment.
• Usually excluded: genuine overtime paid at overtime rates, most expense reimbursements, and certain termination payments.

The ATO publishes a detailed OTE checklist — use it whenever a pay item is ambiguous, because misclassifying overtime or allowances is the most common way employers under- or over-pay super without noticing.

Input 2: who's eligible

Most employees are entitled to super from their first dollar of earnings — the old monthly minimum-earnings test was removed. Contractors can also be entitled to super if they're paid mainly for their labour, even with an ABN and an invoice. If you engage contractors, check each arrangement against the ATO's tests rather than assuming the invoice settles it.

There's also a per-quarter cap: the maximum contribution base limits how much OTE attracts super for very high earners in a single quarter. The ATO publishes the current figure each year.

The method, worked through

1. Total OTE for the period

For each employee, sum the OTE-classified pay items for the pay period or quarter.

2. Apply the current SG rate

Multiply OTE by the ATO's current super guarantee percentage. Your payroll software should do this automatically — the check worth doing is confirming the software's rate setting matches the ATO's current rate each July.

3. Pay by the deadline, into the right fund

Contributions must reach the employee's fund by the due date — being a day late technically triggers the super guarantee charge (SGC) regime, which adds interest and an admin component and makes the whole amount non-deductible. Note that payday super reforms move payment timing from quarterly to alignment with each pay run — check the ATO for the current rules and start dates as they apply to you.

4. Reconcile quarterly

Compare what payroll says you owed against what actually landed in funds. Clearing-house lags are a classic source of accidental lateness.

What your result means

The number you get is a legal minimum, not a target. It should appear in your cash-flow forecast as money that was never yours — many owners move it to a separate account each pay run so it can't be absorbed by working capital. If you find you've underpaid or paid late, don't sit on it: the SGC process is far kinder to employers who self-report early.

Super is one of the obligations that gets safer as your back office gets more systematic — see our guide to systemising your business, and the broader finance function page for where super fits in the monthly rhythm. General information only; confirm rates, dates and edge cases with the ATO or your adviser.