Payday Super payments
I have staff on payroll and three that are contractors. I enter them as a purchase each week, group it with electronic payments for staff and then pay. How will this work for payday super? If I star...
Forum Discussion
Hi SuFish,
You’ve read it right: from 1 July 2026, the ATO wants both QE and super liability for anyone you actually report via STP, and from 1 July 2027, they’ll reject STP reports that don’t have both. Independent contractors paid mainly for their labour are included in QE for SG purposes, but reporting contractors in STP is still optional; if you choose to report them, then you must send both QE and super for them.
In AccountRight, the usual pattern is: keep paying contractor invoices via Purchases/AP, and if they’re entitled to SG, set them up as an “employee for super only” with Employment basis = Other (not reported), then run super‑only pays and send those via Pay Super; that keeps you on Payday Super timing without pulling them into STP. ATO’s QE explainer is here: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/super-for-employers/payday-super/payday-super-resources/explaining-qualifying-earnings and our contractor super help is here: https://www.myob.com/au/support/myob-business/payroll/superannuation/paying-super-for-contractors.
Regards,
Genreve
Hi Genreve, I've followed the guidelines for setting up contractors as employees to pay super but when I got to the end of the payroll process and hit record I got that message asking if I want to record a $0 pay cheque for each contractor, I said yes because otherwise I didn't think it would record. Means I ended up with this in STP Reporting.
Am I missing a step? Best Su
Hi SuFish,
That $0 pay cheque can sometimes trip up STP though, which is likely why the ATO knocked it back. Good news is this one's pretty fixable. Here's a link that can help you work through the rejection code and get things sorted step-by-step: Fix rejected reports in Single Touch Payroll.
Give that a go and it should get your report back on track. If anything doesn't quite line up or the error sticks around, jump into our live chat support through our virtual assistant, MOCA, or submit a case via My Account and we'll help you dig into it a bit further.
Regards,
Sai
Dear Sai, there was no error code for this rejection. What I was hoping would happen was that there would be no STP report as we don't have to report contractor's super to the ATO.
