Payday Super represents one of the most significant payroll reforms for Australian businesses in decades. It is a simple yet powerful change that will strengthen retirement savings and address unpaid super.
From 1 July 2026, superannuation must be paid at the same time as wages, instead of quarterly. This eliminates the three-month buffer many businesses relied on and replaces it with super payments that align with every pay run.
For leaders managing tight margins, this is more than just a compliance update. Superannuation shifts from a future liability to an immediate cash commitment alongside wages.
This demands a reset in how businesses manage cash. Cash flow forecasting, payroll, and workforce planning must now work in sync, not in isolation. This means leaders need visibility into wage and super costs before work is done, not after payroll is processed. Get this right, and you gain predictability at the pay-cycle level. Get it wrong, and cash pressure shows up after the money has already moved.
Unique challenges and risks ahead for leaders
Payday Super affects the whole business, but the pressure doesn’t land evenly.
For finance leaders, the challenge is cash flow timing. More frequent super payments tighten working capital, shrinking the buffer businesses previously relied on to manage seasonality or unexpected expenses. Without clear visibility into projected wage and super costs, forecasting becomes reactive rather than controlled, shrinking planning windows and forcing teams to scramble after payroll has run.
For payroll teams, the risk is operational. With super due on payday, even minor delays in contributions processing now carry real compliance risk. As payroll cycles compress, issues that once felt manageable now demand immediate attention and add manual work just to meet the deadline.
Meanwhile, operations teams feel the impact through day-to-day actions. Roster decisions now carry an additional immediate financial impact, with super leaving the business much closer to when shifts are worked. That transforms workforce planning into a financial decision, not just an operational one.
The result is a narrower margin for error. Under quarterly super, mistakes could sit unnoticed for weeks. Under Payday Super, they surface immediately, increasing pressure on leaders to get decisions right before costs are locked in.
Why cash flow forecasting must change under Payday Super
Under Payday Super, forecasting must be forward-looking and directly tied to workforce decisions. When super is paid alongside wages, cost visibility after payroll is processed comes too late to influence outcomes. In a payday-based super environment, cash flow forecasts need to be roster-aware and continuously updated, not reconciled after the fact.
This shift is compounded by changes to how super is calculated, with a broader range of variable earnings, including all commissions, now contributing to super liabilities. That makes it even more important to understand total labour costs before shifts are worked, not just base wages.
Traditional cash flow reporting explains what has already happened. In a payday-based super environment, that insight arrives once wage and super obligations are locked in. What matters now is early visibility into the full cost of upcoming work, while there is still time to adjust rosters, overtime, or coverage.
This shift turns forecasting into a planning tool rather than a reporting exercise. Leaders who can see the cash impact of upcoming work gain control before costs are locked in, rather than reacting after the money has already left the business.
How the deadline impacts payroll timing
With super payments now due on payday, payroll timing becomes far less forgiving. Delays that once had a limited impact on super, now compress payroll windows and increase the risk of error and non-compliance.
Late approvals and missing information push payroll teams into reactive mode, where decisions are rushed and issues surface under pressure rather than being resolved upstream. Any delay can compress payroll processing into a narrow window, increasing the likelihood of errors. Clean, real-time data becomes essential for maintaining control at the pay-cycle level.
Removing payroll bottlenecks before they impact cash flow
Labour forecasting is no longer just operational. Under Payday Super, it becomes a direct control over cash flow.
When payroll processes slow down, the impact is no longer contained within the payroll team. Delays caused by late approvals, incomplete employee details, and late roster changes now affect how quickly and accurately money leaves the business, increasing pressure during each pay run.
Better forecasting helps leaders spot cost pressure earlier and make adjustments before payroll is locked in– while there is still time to change rosters or coverage without triggering immediate cash outflows. Aligning staffing levels more closely with demand reduces unnecessary wage and super costs before they hit the bank account.
How Deputy helps: Deputy connects scheduling, time and attendance, and payroll data in one place, giving teams visibility into wage and super costs before payroll is processed. This allows issues to be addressed earlier, rather than corrected under time pressure after the pay run.
As payment frequency rises, automation becomes essential. System-led workflows reduce reliance on last-minute fixes and cut the manual effort required for each pay cycle, helping teams run payroll reliably under tighter timelines while saving them hours of checking and rework.
With superannuation payments handled through a clearing house embedded directly within payroll, teams avoid switching between platforms. This reduces the administrative friction and shortens the time required to process contributions.
Through SuperAPI, Deputy helps support customers with their compliance efforts by providing a digital framework that simplifies employee onboarding. Under the Payday Super regime, employers have an extended 20 business-day window for new starters or fund changes. SuperAPI manages this transition by providing electronic 'Choice of Fund' and ‘TFN declaration’ forms, including the option for employees to select their ‘ATO-stapled fund’, and automatically syncs all completed data directly into Deputy payroll. This ensures that, even with the added pressure of Payday Super, new-hire data is more likely to be accurate and ready for the employee's first pay run.
The operational cost of payroll errors under Payday Super
With Payday Super in place, payroll issues surface immediately and demand attention before leaders have time to step back and plan.
Compliance failures carry financial penalties through Superannuation Guarantee Charges, however, the broader impact is operational. Time and focus are pulled away from running the business and redirected toward fixing problems that could have been avoided with better visibility and tighter processes.
Over time, this erosion shows up in less obvious ways. Confidence in payroll fades, leading leaders to focus on reactive problem-solving rather than forward planning. What once felt manageable becomes a recurring distraction.
Preparing for Payday Super without losing cash flow control
Payday Super changes the pace of cash leaving the business, transforming cash flow control from a finance clean-up task into a core operational requirement.
Leaders who take a forward-looking approach to forecasting and align payroll, operations, and finance gain predictability at the pay-cycle level. The result is greater control over cash flow and compliance, without the constant need for manual intervention.
If maintaining a predictable cash flow matters to your business as Payday Super becomes the norm, book a free demo to see how Deputy supports more accurate forecasting and payroll workflows under increased payment frequency.
Disclaimer: While Deputy's platform is designed to simplify shift work and payroll through automation, this document is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. It is ultimately each customer's sole responsibility to pay their employees correctly and in compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements. Please review our Product Specific Terms for more information.
