Superannuation is a vital payment that most employees are eligible for, and it’s the employer’s responsibility to keep track of payment due dates. Failing to pay into your own employee’s super fund or saver funds by the due date can leave you liable for a superannuation guarantee charge, so it’s in your best interest to keep the due dates somewhere safe.
Today we’re looking into the superannuation due dates for the 2024 financial year.
Quarterly super payment due dates 2023/24
| Quarter | Period | Payment due dates |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 July to 30 September | 28 October |
| 2 | 1 October to 31 December | 28 January |
| 3 | 1 January to 31 March | 28 April |
| 4 | 1 April to 30 June | 28 July |
Superannuation payments should be made at least four times a year into your employee’s chosen super fund. You can choose to pay more frequently to create smaller payment sums, but the amount payable will remain the same no matter how frequently you deposit.
Super payments are due 28 days after the financial quarter is up, so you have four weeks to make each payment.
When a due date falls on a weekend or public holiday, the contribution payments must be received by the fund on the next working day. The due date of the final contribution of the financial year is technically four weeks into the new year, but this payment will still count towards the previous years’ contributions.
Bear in mind that while these due dates are the superannuation guarantee payment dates, not all super funds, awards, and contracts will abide by them. It’s a good idea to check the contractual obligations of each super fund your employees use, to make sure you’re paying the fees on time.
What happens if super is paid late?
When superannuation is paid late, you will be fined with something called the superannuation guarantee charge. This is calculated based on how much you owe, so the higher your super payments, the higher your penalty fee is likely to be.
The superannuation guarantee charge includes the amount you’re yet to pay, 10% interest per annum, and an administration fee. This charge is based on both salary and wages, which might be higher than your employee’s ordinary time earnings.
You might be thinking – what happens with the late payment you made if the superannuation guarantee charge includes the missing contribution amount anyway? There are three options that you may be able to choose with your late payment:
- You might be able to offset the shortfall and nominal interest of your superannuation guarantee charge
- You might be able to use it for paying super in the current quarter, so your payment is much earlier than the due date
- You might be able to put the paid amount towards future super payments, although this is limited to up to 12 months from the beginning of your quarter.
For most, the superannuation guarantee charge means you’ll be paying double the original super amount, plus admin charges and fees. While the money can often be used for future payments, most prefer to keep up to date with payments to prevent the overall loss.
How to report and rectify late payments?
In the event that you’ve forgotten to pay an employee’s super contributions to their fund on or before the due date, there are two things you must do. The first is to file a superannuation guarantee charge statement.
You will then need to pay the superannuation guarantee charge agreed upon by the Australian Taxation Office. To avoid processing timeframe delays, make sure that all information is given accurately and to the best of your knowledge.
Record keeping requirements for superannuation contributions
Keeping accurate records when it comes to your super guarantee contributions is vital to making sure you’re up to date with payments. Records help you ensure you always have the relevant information regarding your employee’s super contributions should you need to provide them.
As a general rule, make sure you keep accurate records of the following for all of your employees:
- How much superannuation guarantee contribution you pay for them
- How you calculate how much you pay into their super fund each quarter
- That you offered each employee their choice of super fund
- Details regarding reportable employer super contributions that aren’t disclosed in your employee’s accessible income
When paying your employee’s super contributions, it’s important to report each payment to the ATO. This gives you a paper trail to prevent being wrongly given a superannuation guarantee charge.
With few exceptions you must report this through Single Touch Payroll and Superstream. A Superstream compliant clearing house should be used to report and pay employer super contributions. The ATO provide a free super clearing house for employers with up to 19 employees.
Bear in mind that you will need to report each salary sacrifice your employees agree to, and how much the sacrifice would’ve been worth in the employee’s ordinary time earnings.
Tips to help plan timely contributions
To avoid being hit with a superannuation guarantee charge, it’s vital that employers plan to pay their contributions the business day before or on the super due dates. Below we’ve listed a few tips to help you never forget this important deadline again:
- Write the dates down where you won’t forget them eg. a daily diary or online calendar
- Remember you have four weeks from the last day of the financial quarter to get your payments in
- Check the due date’s day, as if the deadline falls on a weekend or public holiday, you’ll need to adjust your payment timeframe
- Consider paying your employee’s super contribution more frequently than quarterly so you get into more of a consistent rhythm
- Enlist the help of a clearing house to help make payments run smoother and prevent you from wasting time on multiple payments
A clearing house can make your super contribution payments to employees much easier to remember and handle, as you’ll usually only have to pay one super contribution payment rather than dealing with multiple outgoings.
