If you employ even one person in Melbourne or Brisbane, the next six weeks are the most regulated stretch of your payroll year. Three hard ATO deadlines stack on top of each other:
- 30 June 2026 — end of the 2025–26 payroll year. Your YTD figures freeze.
- 1 July 2026 — Payday Super goes live. Super now has to land in your employees’ funds within 7 days of every pay run, not 28 days after the quarter.
- 14 July 2026 — STP Phase 2 finalisation declaration due to the ATO so your employees can lodge their tax returns.
None of this is new policy. But the combination is — and based on the books we’ve reviewed across the last fortnight, most SMB employers are not actually ready. This is a practitioner’s read on what every SMB employer in Melbourne and Brisbane needs to have closed off in the next six weeks, and the four specific errors we keep finding.
The four dates that matter — in one table
| Date | What’s due | What it costs to miss |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Jun 2026 | 2025–26 wages, allowances, paid leave, SG, RESC must all be correctly recorded YTD in your payroll system | Cascades into wrong STP, wrong individual income statements, wrong tax returns for every employee |
| 1 Jul 2026 | Payday Super takes effect — super to fund within 7 days of every pay run | SG charge, interest, admin fee, and personal director liability if not lodged within 3 months |
| 14 Jul 2026 | STP Phase 2 finalisation declaration submitted to ATO | Employees can’t lodge from “tax ready” pre-fill; ATO follow-up; payment summaries no longer an option |
| 28 Aug 2026 | Final quarterly SG due for Q4 (April–June 2026) under the old regime | SG charge at 200% admin + lockdown DPN exposure |
The 14 July date is the one most owners underestimate. STP Phase 2 has been mandatory since 1 January 2023, but the finalisation step is where errors actually surface, because the ATO uses your declaration to pre-fill 14 million Australian tax returns. If your numbers are wrong, every one of your employees notices.
Part 1 — STP Phase 2 finalisation: the four errors we keep finding
1. Gross wages still bundled — instead of disaggregated
STP Phase 2 requires gross to be split into specific components: ordinary time earnings, overtime, paid leave, allowances, bonuses, directors’ fees, lump sums, salary sacrifice. Many SMBs upgraded to Phase 2 in 2023 by accepting the migration defaults, then never revisited the mapping. The most common mistake we see this year: overtime sitting inside “ordinary”, which understates super liability and overstates ordinary hours for Centrelink purposes.
2. Wrong “Income Stream” type on directors and family members
Closely held employees (directors, family members on the books) need the income stream code CHP, not SAW. We routinely see family directors paid through “Salary and Wages” — which exposes the company to backdated PAYG variations and misaligned SG treatment.
3. RESC (Reportable Employer Super Contributions) miscoded
Any super contribution above the mandatory SG — typically salary sacrifice into super — needs to be reported as RESC, not as part of ordinary super. When this is wrong, the employee’s individual tax return overstates their assessable contributions cap and may trigger Division 293 incorrectly.
4. Terminated employees missing or incorrectly flagged
Every employee who left during the year needs an STP termination event with the correct cessation reason (Voluntary, Redundancy, Dismissal, Contract Cessation, Transfer, Deceased, etc.). Missing cessation events are the single most common cause of ATO follow-up letters in July and August.
💡 The 14 July finalisation isn’t an upload of new data — it’s a declaration that your YTD totals are correct. The correction window before submission is small. Once the declaration is in, fixing a number means filing an update event, which the ATO scrutinises.
Part 2 — Payday Super: what changes on 1 July 2026
From 1 July, the long-running quarterly Super Guarantee rhythm ends. The new rule is simple and merciless:
Super must be received by the employee’s fund within 7 days of the pay date. Not paid, not transferred — received. The clock is the employer’s clock, but the test is whether the fund has the money.
That mechanically changes three things for SMB employers:
- Cash flow. Super stops being a quarterly hit and becomes a weekly or fortnightly hit. A 10-staff café that paid roughly $26,000 of SG per quarter now sends ~$2,000 every fortnight. The annual total is identical; the rhythm changes everything for thin cash flow weeks.
- Clearing-house lead time. Most SMBs pay super through Xero / MYOB / QuickBooks clearing houses, which historically allowed 5–10 business days for super to reach the fund. Under Payday Super that lead time has to fit inside 7 calendar days. Some funds and clearing houses are still confirming their settlement times — check yours now, not on 1 July.
- SG charge mechanics. The new SG charge is harsher — interest from the actual payday, plus an administrative uplift, plus loss of deductibility. And under the existing rules, an SG statement that’s not lodged within 3 months of the due date triggers a Lockdown Director Penalty Notice — which makes the underpaid super your personal liability. See our DPN guide for what that means in practice.
The four moves every employer should make in the next 21 days
- Reconcile every employee’s YTD super for 2025–26. Not what you accrued — what the fund actually received. A late June reconciliation buys you the Q4 lodgement window with no surprises.
- Map your Payday Super cash flow against your pay calendar. Where do super outflows now sit relative to revenue inflows? For tight weeks, identify the trigger to bring in a short-term facility or vary PAYG instalments.
- Stress-test your clearing house. Run a pre-1 July super payment and time-stamp when the receipt confirmation arrives. If it’s more than 5 calendar days, escalate to your clearing house and your fund.
- Set the 1 July payroll calendar. Confirm who triggers the super run, who reconciles the receipt confirmations, and who handles exceptions. The window is too short for ad-hoc.
Part 3 — The five-step SMB employer checklist for the next six weeks
- Before 30 June — Reconcile YTD wages, allowances, leave, super (received, not accrued), RESC, terminations, and confirm STP Phase 2 categories are still correctly mapped.
- Before 1 July — Confirm clearing house settlement time fits inside 7 days; set the Payday Super rhythm into your payroll calendar; brief your bookkeeper and your team.
- 1–14 July — Run STP Phase 2 reconciliation, correct any disaggregation errors, submit the finalisation declaration. Email staff to confirm their income statement is “Tax ready” on myGov.
- Late July to August — File Q4 SG charge statement if any super was paid late (this is your last quarter under the old quarterly regime). 28 August is the hard date.
- September onwards — Operate the new Payday Super rhythm. Monthly internal audit of receipts confirms 7-day compliance.
If you’d rather have this run for you, our Bookkeeping & Payroll team handles STP finalisation and the Payday Super transition for clients across Melbourne and Brisbane in English and Mandarin. Other EOFY 2026 reading: last-minute tax moves for individuals, the $20,000 instant asset write-off, and the DPN 2026 guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is the deadline for STP Phase 2 finalisation in 2026?
14 July 2026 for most employers. For closely held payees (directors, family members on the payroll), the deadline is the due date of the company’s tax return, which is later. Both are declarations that your YTD figures are correct.
What changes on 1 July 2026 under Payday Super?
Super Guarantee must be received by the employee’s fund within 7 days of every pay date, replacing the previous quarterly cycle. The Super Guarantee rate also reaches 12% on the same date. Your existing payroll software handles the calculation; the new pressure is on cash flow rhythm and clearing-house settlement time.
What’s the difference between an SG charge and a Director Penalty Notice?
The SG charge is what the ATO calculates against the company when super is paid late or short. A Director Penalty Notice is the mechanism by which the ATO transfers that company debt to the director personally. A DPN becomes “Lockdown” — and personally unavoidable — once the SG charge statement is more than 3 months past due.
Do I still need to do quarterly SG after 1 July 2026?
Yes, for the April–June 2026 quarter, which is your last quarterly obligation under the old regime. The SG charge statement (if any super was paid late) is due 28 August 2026. From 1 July onwards, Payday Super applies and the quarterly cadence disappears.
If we missed something at finalisation, can it be corrected?
Yes — by lodging an STP update event with the corrected YTD figures. The ATO sees the change, and your affected employees’ income statements re-issue as “Tax ready”. It’s straightforward — but every additional cycle costs the team time and your employees an extra trip back through myGov.
Sources
- Australian Taxation Office, Single Touch Payroll Phase 2 employer reporting guidelines and Finalising your STP data
- Australian Taxation Office, Super Guarantee — Payday Super, due to commence 1 July 2026
- Australian Taxation Office, Director penalty regime and Firmer approach to debt collection
- Treasury Laws Amendment (Pay Day Super) Bill 2024–25
About the author
Lily Zhang is the founder of Wiselink Accountants, a Camberwell-based CPA firm serving 500+ Australian SMEs since 2013. She is a CPA Australia member, Registered Tax Agent, ASIC Registered Agent and NTAA Member. Lily and the Wiselink team service Greater Melbourne and Brisbane in English and Mandarin.
Want a payroll partner that handles STP finalisation and the Payday Super transition before they become problems? Book a free 20-minute call with a Wiselink CPA. Servicing Melbourne and Brisbane.
This article is general information, not personal advice, and is current as at 9 June 2026. Employer obligations depend on facts and timing. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.
