PayDay Super starts 1 July 2026:

Action Required before your first July pay run!

One of the most significant changes to Australia’s superannuation system takes effect on 1 July 2026, and every employer needs to act before their first pay run in the new financial year.

Up to now super has calculated on Ordinary Times Earnings (OTE). From 1 July 2026 it will be calculated on Qualifying Earnings (QE).

What are Qualifying Earnings?

The Australian Taxation covers what payments are Qualifying Earnings at:  What payments are qualifying earnings | Australian Taxation Office

Ultimately there are very few differences between OTE and QE which means for a lot of employers what super is paid on won’t change.

To date we know that what super is paid on when its paid on time versus when its paid late differ. To simplify things from 1 July 2026 both will be calculated on QE.

An important point to note in regards to salary sacrifice super arrangements is that where amounts paid to employees that would have otherwise been qualifying earnings but instead have been salary sacrificed to super, they are included in QE.

Action needed before your first pay run in July:

Your payroll software may require you to set, check and confirm what payroll items are Qualifying Earnings.

If Beam processes your payroll we will take care of this for you, so no action is required on your part.

If you process payroll internally you may need to review and confirm the relevant payroll software settings before your first July pay run. We suggest this not be left to the last minute.

To assist you with this below are some handy resources for a few more commonly used payroll software programs.

Xero:

• Payday Super Resource Hub: https://www.xero.com/au/programme/payday-super-resources/?msockid=2fdbd5046424667e3c38c27a65b66710
• Go to Payroll, Pay Employees and click on ‘Go to Review Tool’ which will step you through actions needed re QE’

MYOB:

• https://myob.com/au/support/myob-business/payday-super-support-hub 

Employment Hero:

• https://help.employmenthero.com/hc/en-au/articles/15804915322511-Preliminary-Guide-Preparing-for-Qualifying-Earnings-QE-and-Annual-MCB-Payday-Super

The above ATO link includes a comparison table between OTE and QE which will be useful for this step.

Changes to Maximum Contributions Base

• The Maximum Contributions Base will now be called Maximum earnings Base
• From 1/7/26 this will be assessed against annual QE rather than quarterly OTE.
• This may change when higher earning employees reach the cap.
• The annual cap from 1/7/26 is $270,830