Superannuation Deadline Calendar

The big shift: quarterly is gone

For decades, employers could bank up superannuation guarantee contributions and pay them quarterly. That era has ended. Under the payday super rules now in force, SG is due with each pay run and must arrive in the employee's fund within a short, ATO-defined window after payday. The deadline is no longer a date on a wall calendar — it's a clock that starts every time you pay staff. Super is strictly enforced and the rules are updated periodically, so treat this page as orientation and the ATO's published guidance as the authority.

Every payday

• Calculate SG at the current rate (published by the ATO) on each employee's ordinary time earnings.
• Pay promptly — the contribution must be received by the fund, not just sent, within the ATO's window after payday. Clearing house processing time counts against you, so pay early in the window.
• Report via STP — super liability is reported with each pay event, which is exactly how the ATO spots late payers quickly.

When someone new starts

• Offer choice of fund within the required timeframe using the standard choice form.
• Request their stapled fund from the ATO if they don't choose — you can't just default them into your fund anymore.
• Load their details before the first pay run, because under payday super the first deadline arrives with the first payslip.

Quarterly and annual checks

Even with per-payday payment automated, two slower rhythms are worth keeping:

• Quarterly verification — confirm contributions actually landed in each fund. Rejected payments (wrong member number, closed fund) silently create late-payment exposure.
• Annual review each July — the SG rate, contribution caps and related settings can change at the start of the financial year. Check the ATO's current figures and confirm your payroll software updated itself.
• STP finalisation — soon after 30 June, reconcile the year's reported super against what was actually paid before you finalise.

What lateness actually costs

Miss the window — even by days, even by accident — and you enter superannuation guarantee charge territory. The SG charge is calculated on a harsher basis than ordinary SG, adds interest and administration components, requires its own lodgement, and unlike ordinary contributions is not tax deductible. Directors can be made personally liable for unpaid super through director penalty notices. The design intent is blunt: paying on time is always cheaper. If a payment fails, act the day you discover it and check the ATO's current process for late contributions.

Making it un-missable

• Run super payments inside the payroll run itself, not as a separate task someone remembers later.
• Use your payroll software's automated super payments so the fund transfer starts the moment payroll is filed.
• Set an exception alert for rejected contributions — the failure mode is silent bounce-backs, not forgotten payments.
• Keep employee fund details clean at onboarding; most rejections are data errors.

Payday super effectively demands that payroll, payments and record-keeping operate as one connected system rather than three separate chores — the same logic behind a connected back office. If your current process involves manual steps between payday and payment, see how to systemise your business before a missed window forces the issue.