Payday Super Ready: Gimbla Supports Employee and Contractor Super Payments

Q: What is changing for STP under Payday Super?

ATO guidance says STP products need to support reporting Qualifying Earnings under a new code, Q, from 1 July 2026.

Published May 26th, 2026 | Team Gimbla

Payday Super Ready: Gimbla Supports Employee and Contractor Super Payments

Gimbla is Payday Super Ready for Australian small businesses preparing for more frequent super payment workflows. The payroll platform now supports employee super payment batches, contractor super workflows, SuperStream member verification, faster payment handling and Qualifying Earnings (QE) reporting readiness from the same connected accounting and payroll system.

The update is designed for businesses that want to move away from quarterly manual super admin before Payday Super starts on 1 July 2026. It also gives employers a cleaner way to pay super for contractors where Superannuation Guarantee applies, without pulling those contractors into ordinary employee STP reporting.

Payday Super readiness is not just a date on the calendar. It is a payroll workflow: correct employee records, clean super details, member verification, reviewed pay runs, fast payment action, clear payment references and a way to handle contractor super when it applies.

What Gimbla Is Announcing

Gimbla now supports a practical Payday Super-ready workflow for Australian small businesses:

run payroll through Gimbla
review pay items for Qualifying Earnings (QE)
prepare super payment batches after a pay run
verify member and fund details through the SuperStream member verification flow where supported
submit super data through a SuperStream-compliant clearing-house workflow
receive payment details and a reference for the clearing house so the payment can be made promptly
manage contractor super using a Non-employee setup where the contractor should not be included in standard STP reporting

For employers, the aim is simple: keep pay runs, super liabilities, payment references and accounting records in the same rhythm rather than stitching them together from spreadsheets and separate portals.

What Has Been Updated

The Payday Super-ready workflow includes three practical product areas that matter before 1 July 2026.

SuperStream Member Verification

Gimbla supports member verification through the SuperStream workflow so employers can check whether a super fund can match a worker’s details and accept a contribution for that person before a first-time contribution is made.

This matters because rejected or unmatched contributions can become much harder to fix under shorter Payday Super timing. ATO software guidance says the SuperStream changes include a new member verification request so employers can confirm that a fund can match the employee contribution and accept it.

Fast Payment Handling for the 7-Business-Day Window

Gimbla helps employers move from pay run to super batch to payment reference quickly, so the business can act within the new Payday Super timing window.

The employer still needs to make the payment and allow for clearing-house, fund and banking processing. The practical benefit is speed and visibility: prepare the batch, see validation issues earlier, receive payment details, and pay promptly so contributions have the best chance of being received by the super fund within the required 7 business days.

Qualifying Earnings for STP

Gimbla’s payroll workflow is being updated for Qualifying Earnings (QE), the earnings base the ATO says will be used to calculate Superannuation Guarantee under Payday Super from 1 July 2026.

The ATO’s Payday Super software guidance also says STP products need to support reporting QE under a new code, Q, from 1 July 2026. That means pay items and payroll categories should be reviewed before the first Payday Super pay run, especially where a business has commissions, allowances, salary sacrifice, casuals, or contractors paid mainly for their labour.

Why Payday Super Readiness Matters

The ATO’s Payday Super guidance says employers will need to pay Superannuation Guarantee at the same time as salary and wages from 1 July 2026, with contributions generally received by the employee’s fund within 7 business days unless an extended timeframe applies.

That changes the practical workload for small businesses. Super can no longer sit comfortably as a once-a-quarter catch-up task. Employee fund details, payroll cut-offs, super calculations, cash flow and payment references all need to be ready much closer to payday.

Gimbla’s Payday Super Ready workflow is built around that shift. The goal is not to add another payroll chore. It is to make super payment preparation a natural next step after the pay run is reviewed.

Contractor Super Is Part of the Workflow

Contractor super is one of the places where payroll can get messy. The ATO explains that a contractor may be treated as an employee for Superannuation Guarantee purposes if the contract is wholly or principally for the person’s labour. The contractor may still have an ABN, and the answer depends on the facts of the arrangement.

Gimbla does not decide whether a specific contractor needs super. Businesses should check the ATO’s super for independent contractors guidance or ask an adviser.

When contractor super does apply, Gimbla can help with the practical processing:

set the contractor up as a Non-employee
add Superannuation Guarantee to the contractor pay template
run the pay workflow without including the contractor in ordinary employee STP submissions
submit the super payment batch through the clearing-house workflow
keep the records connected to payroll and accounting

The full screenshot walkthrough is available in the paying super for contractors guide.

What This Means for Small Businesses

For a small business owner, Payday Super readiness should feel like a better routine, not a last-minute compliance panic.

Useful preparation steps include:

checking employee super fund and member details
using member verification before first-time contributions where the fund and workflow support it
reviewing pay items for Qualifying Earnings before 1 July 2026
reviewing payroll approval cut-offs
testing super payment batches before 1 July 2026
testing how quickly the business can move from batch validation to payment
checking how contractor super is handled
making sure bank reconciliation and payroll reports agree
watching cash flow so super is funded alongside wages

Gimbla keeps the payroll and accounting sides close together. That matters because super payments are not only a compliance task. They also affect cash flow, liabilities, payroll reports, bank reconciliation and the records an accountant or bookkeeper may need later.

How Gimbla Fits the Payday Super Shift

Gimbla’s Australian payroll tools already connect employee setup, timesheets, pay runs, Single Touch Payroll, super records and accounting reports. The Payday Super-ready workflow extends that rhythm into more frequent super preparation.

For teams currently using the ATO Small Business Superannuation Clearing House, the broader transition is worth planning now. The SBSCH closure and Payday Super checklist explains the records, payment-method and timing checks small businesses should work through before the change.

Related Gimbla resources:

FAQs

Is Gimbla Payday Super Ready?

Yes. Gimbla supports Payday Super-ready workflows for Australian small businesses, including pay runs, super payment batches, SuperStream member verification, fast payment handling and Qualifying Earnings-ready STP support.

Can Gimbla help pay contractor super?

Yes. Gimbla supports contractor super workflows where the business needs to pay Superannuation Guarantee for contractors. The Non-employee setup helps keep contractor super processing separate from ordinary employee STP reporting.

What Is Changing for STP Under Payday Super?

The ATO says STP products need to support reporting Qualifying Earnings under a new code, Q, from 1 July 2026. Employers should review pay categories before then so super is calculated and reported from the right earnings base.

Does software decide whether a contractor needs super?

No. Gimbla helps process the workflow, but businesses should use ATO guidance or professional advice to decide whether super applies to a specific contractor.

In short

Gimbla is Payday Super Ready. Australian small businesses can prepare employee super and contractor super workflows inside the same connected payroll and accounting system, with clearer records before Payday Super begins.