Admosis founder Dan Copsey on why payday super is long overdue and what small businesses with cash flow pressures need to think about before 1 July.
We have covered the Payday Super changes in detail previously. From 1 July 2026, every time you pay your employees, superannuation contributions must reach their fund within seven business days. The quarterly payment cycle that most small businesses have operated under is gone.
The change is designed to close a gap that has long existed in the system, where super could be withheld for months before it was required to be paid. For employees, that delay carried real risk. For some businesses, it quietly became a short-term cash flow lever in ways it was never intended to be.Why Dan did it anyway
Dan Copsey, Founder of Admosis Media Group, has been paying super on payday voluntarily since 2020, well before it became a legal requirement. His reasoning has not changed. “We’ve always believed your super is part of your pay, not a deferred IOU. Holding onto it for up to three months never sat right with me. It’s our employees’ money, so it should be working for their retirement straight away,” he said.
Copsey said the discipline of paying super with every pay cycle has also made his business sharper. “Paying superannuation at the same time as employee wages provides a more accurate view of cash flow. It also helps raise the standard of business conduct by preventing businesses from avoiding or delaying superannuation payments and encouraging them to meet their responsibilities to their employees,” he said.The cash flow reality
Copsey is supportive of the change but straightforward about where it will create pressure. For businesses that have been relying on the quarterly cycle, moving to payday super means more frequent outflows and less flexibility in managing working capital.
“For businesses that may face cash flow pressures, this change is likely to pose challenges. Some businesses may have to alter their contractual payment terms to ensure they have sufficient funds each pay cycle, which could be a huge administrative burden,” he said.
For small businesses with tight margins or variable revenue, reviewing your pay cycle, client payment terms and payroll systems before 1 July is work that needs to happen now, not after the deadline.What it means for employees
From an employee’s perspective, the change significantly reduces the risk of losing super contributions if an employer runs into financial difficulty. Under the current quarterly system, an employee whose employer becomes insolvent before super has been paid for the quarter could lose those contributions entirely.
Copsey put the stakes plainly. “Under those circumstances, employees not only face job loss but also the loss of accrued superannuation benefits earned for their retirement,” he said. Payday super caps that exposure to a single pay cycle, a meaningful protection for anyone working in a business that hits trouble.
The rules take effect from 1 July 2026.
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