About the Payday Super Calculator
From 1 July 2026, the way Australian employers pay superannuation changes fundamentally. Under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Act 2025, super guarantee (SG) must be paid on the same day as salary and wages — every payday — instead of quarterly. The Payday Super Calculator helps employers, bookkeepers and payroll staff work out exactly how much super is due each pay cycle and when it must reach the employee's fund. This tool is built for small and medium businesses adjusting to the new per-payday obligation. Enter your pay cycle and the qualifying earnings for the period, and it shows the super owed for that payday, the annual total, and the critical 7-business-day deadline you must meet to avoid the super guarantee charge.
What is the Payday Super Calculator?
The Payday Super Calculator estimates the super guarantee payable for a single pay period under the rules that begin on 1 July 2026. It applies the legislated 12% SG rate to your employee's qualifying earnings (QE) for that payday. QE is a new term that brings together ordinary time earnings, commissions, salary-sacrificed amounts and the other payments already included in super guarantee up to 30 June 2026. The calculator also annualises the figure across your pay frequency (52 weekly, 26 fortnightly or 12 monthly pay periods) so you can see the yearly super cost, and it reminds you of the 7-business-day window for the contribution to be received by the fund. It is designed for employers who need a quick, reliable per-payday figure rather than a quarterly estimate.
How to Use This Calculator
- 1Select your pay cycle: Choose weekly, fortnightly or monthly to match how you pay your employee.
- 2Enter qualifying earnings for the pay period: Input the gross qualifying earnings (ordinary time earnings plus commissions and salary-sacrificed amounts) for this payday.
- 3Review the super due this payday: The calculator shows 12% of qualifying earnings — the amount you must contribute for that pay.
- 4Check the annual total: See the annualised qualifying earnings and total super guarantee across the year for budgeting.
- 5Note the deadline: Ensure the contribution is received by the employee's fund within 7 business days of the pay date.
Worked Australian Example
Practical Example
Sarah runs a small design studio in Adelaide and pays her senior designer fortnightly. For the current fortnight, the designer's qualifying earnings are $2,500 (ordinary hours plus a commission). Using the Payday Super Calculator, Sarah selects "Fortnightly" and enters $2,500. The tool applies the 12% SG rate and shows super of $300 due for that payday. Because she pays fortnightly (26 pays a year), it also shows annualised qualifying earnings of $65,000 and total annual super of $7,800. Sarah now knows she must ensure the $300 is received by her designer's super fund within 7 business days of the pay date — not at the end of the quarter as she did previously. She schedules the contribution through her payroll software's clearing house on pay day to stay compliant.
How Our Payday Super Calculator Works
The super guarantee due each payday is simply the SG rate applied to qualifying earnings for that pay period: **Super per payday = qualifying earnings × 12%** Two things are essential to get right under the Payday Super rules: 1. **The 12% rate.** The super guarantee rate reached its final legislated step of 12% on 1 July 2025 and remains 12% for 2026-27. It is applied to qualifying earnings, not just base salary. 2. **Qualifying earnings (QE).** From 1 July 2026, super is calculated on QE rather than "ordinary time earnings" alone. In practice QE carries over everything that was already included in your SG calculations up to 30 June 2026 — ordinary hours, commissions, shift loadings and salary-sacrificed amounts — so most employers will find the earnings base unchanged in substance. The timing is the bigger change. A contribution is on time only if it is **received by the employee's super fund, with the information needed to allocate it, within 7 business days after payday** (a longer period can apply, such as for new employees). This calculator annualises the payday figure using 52, 26 or 12 pay periods so you can budget the full-year cost. It does not adjust for the maximum super contribution base or new-employee timing exceptions. Always confirm current rules on ato.gov.au.
When to Use This Calculator
Use this calculator as you prepare for and operate under Payday Super. **Before 1 July 2026**, run it to understand how your quarterly super cost translates into per-payday amounts and to set up your payroll and cash-flow processes for more frequent payments. **Each pay run**, use it to confirm the super due for a period, especially when earnings vary with commissions or overtime. **When hiring or giving a pay rise**, to see the new per-payday super cost. **When choosing how to pay** — through payroll software with a built-in clearing house or a super fund's clearing house — to make sure contributions can be received within the 7-business-day window. It suits employers, bookkeepers and payroll officers. Pair it with the Qualifying Earnings Checker to confirm which payments to include, and the SGC Penalty Calculator to understand the cost of paying late.
Common Payday Super Calculator Questions
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