Pay day super will impose $124K working capital burden

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor/Publisher, Financial Newswire

15 July 2025

Pay day superannuation is going to force businesses to carry an extra $124,000 in working capital, according to new modelling released this week.

At the same time that industry superannuation funds are pressing the Government not to delay implementation of pay data superannuation, specialist firm Employment Hero has used real-time data gleaned from its clients to come up with the $124,000 average estimate.

The company said that while it supports the intent of pay day superannuation it believes there is a need not to overload small to medium businesses with unfair risk and cost.

Employment Hero chief executive, Ben Thompson said pay day superannuation could be the biggest positive change to superannuation since its introduction but needed to be implemented in a way that does not break small businesses or cost Australians their jobs.

“Without changes to SuperStream, payments infrastructure and proposed penalties, we risk a system where small businesses are punished for delays outside their control, and that’s simply unfair,” said Thompson.

As part of the proposed reform, employers will have a seven-calendar-day deadline from the payment of wages to pay the Superannuation Guarantee (SG), which is a 75% decrease in leeway to make payments. If the compressed deadline is not met for any reason – including an error or delay from any external party – the employer is liable for the updated SG charge, which includes the shortfall, daily interest and an administrative uplift of 60% of the shortfall.

The company said almost 20% of Employment Hero customers stated they do not feel very or at all prepared to meet the seven-day deadline, with an additional 50% stating they only feel ‘somewhat prepared’.

Respondents also shared their concerns on clearing houses or super funds causing delays and putting businesses at risk of penalties. Some open-ended commentary showed many businesses are not aware that liability would, in fact, fall to them.

Thompson said his firm was urging the staggered implementation of the new regime to give small to medium businesses more time to prepare as well as extending the payment window to 10 days until sufficient faster, real-time payments and infrastructure is in place.

“12 months may seem like a long time, but the impact on SMBs and required infrastructure upgrade imposed should not be underestimated,” he said. “We’re encouraging all businesses to turn their attention to Payday Super and making sure you have the right systems and processes in place to manage the admin and cashflow impacts.”