From the 1st of July 2026, the ATO are making some changes to how superannuation guarantee is calculated and reported through Single Touch Payroll in time for Payday Superannuation coming into effect.

 

Currently, Superannuation Guarantee is calculated on “Ordinary Time Earnings (OTE)”. From the 1st of July 2026, Superannuation Guarantee will need to be calculated on “Qualifying Earnings (QE)”. While for most employers, OTE and QE are the same, it is important that you understand the difference in case this change affects your employees.

 

The ATO have published detailed information at https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/super-for-employers/payday-super/payday-super-resources/explaining-qualifying-earnings to explain the difference between OTE and QE.

 

If required, you may need to add additional Allowance and Deduction codes to your Super Guarantee Entitlement codes in your BBS payroll module prior to paying any employees in the 2026-2027 financial year. If this is the case, and you are unsure on how to add additional ADE codes to your super ADE codes, please reach out and we will be happy to assist.

 

From next year, the Qualifying Earnings amount for each employee must be reported to the ATO through Single Touch Payroll. BBS has made the necessary changes to the payroll module to start reporting QE for all payruns from 1st of July 2026. As such, users may shortly start to see ‘Qualifying Earnings (Super Guarantee)’ amounts display on screens and reports in the payroll system. While these figures aren’t being reported to the ATO until FY2026-2027, BBS will start to record QE against each employee on each payrun ahead of time.