Why Payday Super Raises the Stakes for Company Directors If you’re a director of a small business, Payday Super isn’t just an HR or payroll issue. It’s a governance issue that could directly affect your personal legal exposure. The new rules don’t just change how super is paid — they change the legal landscape around director responsibilities, insolvency protections and personal liability. The Safe Harbour Problem Under Australian insolvency law, directors have a duty to prevent a company from trading while insolvent. The Safe Harbour provisions under the Corporations Act provide some protection — they allow directors to continue trading while pursuing a restructuring plan, provided certain conditions are met. One of those conditions is that employee entitlements are being paid on time. And from 1 July 2026, super is front and centre. Under Payday Super, if your company is not paying super contributions within seven business days of each payday, you may not be eligible for Safe Harbour protection. This is a significant change. Previously, with quarterly deadlines, there was more flexibility. Now, every missed payday super payment could undermine your ability to rely on Safe Harbour if your business faces financial difficulty. For directors of businesses with fluctuating revenue or tight cash flow, this creates a much narrower path. You need to be meeting super obligations in real time to maintain your legal protections. Personal Liability for Directors Directors should also be aware of the director penalty regime. Under existing law, the ATO can issue Director Penalty Notices (DPNs) to recover unpaid super. If super goes unreported or unpaid for more than three months, the penalty becomes “lockdown” — meaning it can only be discharged by paying the full amount. It cannot be avoided through voluntary administration or liquidation. With Payday Super, the shift from quarterly to per-payday obligations means shortfalls can accumulate faster and become visible sooner. The ATO will have much more frequent data points to identify non-compliance, and the window for DPN lockdown is tighter. In plain terms: if your company falls behind on super under the new rules, the personal risk to you as a director escalates more quickly than it did before. Treasury’s Frank Acknowledgement It’s worth noting that Treasury has openly acknowledged the reform is likely to trigger an increase in insolvencies. Many businesses have historically used the quarterly super cycle as an informal cash flow tool — holding contributions until the due date to manage short-term liquidity. That practice is no longer viable under Payday Super. Businesses that can’t fund super with every pay run will need to either restructure their operations or face the consequences. For directors, this means having honest conversations about your company’s financial position — now, not in July. How to Protect Yourself Know your obligations. Understand how the Safe Harbour provisions interact with Payday Super and what you need to do to maintain eligibility. Monitor cash flow closely. Build cash flow forecasts that incorporate per-payday super obligations and flag potential shortfalls early. Stay current on super payments. Even one missed payment could have consequences. Ensure your payroll and payment systems are automated and reliable. Document your decision-making. If your business faces financial difficulty, keeping clear records of your efforts to comply and restructure can support a Safe Harbour defence. Get professional advice early. If you’re concerned about your company’s ability to meet Payday Super obligations, speak to your accountant and a restructuring advisor before problems escalate. This Is Not One to Ignore Payday Super raises the governance bar for company directors. The stakes are personal, the timelines are tighter, and the consequences of non-compliance are more immediate. If you’re a director and you’re unsure how these changes affect your legal position, book a time to speak with Collins Hume. We can help you understand your obligations, review your company’s readiness, and put a plan in place that protects both your business and you personally. Access our free Payday Super resources and factsheets »

The end of the financial year is fast approaching. What to check before 30 June. For SMSF members and trustees, a few timely checks now can avoid headaches later and help preserve valuable tax and contribution opportunities. Below is a checklist of the things members and trustees should consider before 30 June. Contributions — timing matters Get contributions into the fund by 30 June: For both tax deductibility and contribution cap purposes, cash and electronic transfers generally need to be received by the SMSF’s bank account on or before 30 June. TIP: When transferring amounts between different banks allow extra days for bank processing times. Personal deductible contributions: If you want to claim a tax deduction for a personal contribution, you must notify the fund and receive the fund’s acknowledgement by the required deadline (usually before the earlier of lodging the tax return or 30 June the following year). If you’re looking to start a pension early in the new year, you’ll need to get your notice of intent to claim a deduction processed even earlier (ie, before you start the pension). Otherwise, you may miss out on the opportunity to claim a deduction for the contribution made. Contribution strategies you might use Carry forward concessional amounts: Eligible members with lower total super balances (less than $500,000) at 30 June in the prior year may be able to use unused concessional caps from previous years to make larger deductible contributions this year. This may be useful if you have a larger capital gain in your personal name for the 2025/26 financial year. SMSF‑only 28‑day allocation rule: SMSFs can temporarily hold a June contribution in an unallocated reserve and allocate it to a member in July so it counts for the following year’s caps — but this must be done correctly, documented in minutes and the fund’s deed must allow it. Commonly referred to as a contribution reserving strategy. Again, this may allow members to take advantage of claiming a larger tax deduction this year. Post‑tax personal contributions and limits Non‑concessional contributions and bring‑forward: Whether a member can use the bring‑forward rule depends on their total super balance on the prior 30 June. Opportunities may be available for some members to make contributions this year, including bringing forward and taking advantage of future year contribution amounts. Spouse contributions and government co‑contribution: Contributions made by a member for their spouse can attract a tax offset in some circumstances; low‑income members may qualify for a government co‑contribution if they make post‑tax contributions and meet the income test. Increase in contribution caps Current year (2025/26) contribution caps are: Concessional contributions: $30,000. Non-concessional contributions: $120,000. These caps will increase from 1 July 2026 to: Concessional contributions: $32,500. Non-concessional contributions: $130,000 Pensions and the transfer balance cap Minimum pension payments: If your fund is paying account‑based pensions, make sure the minimum pension for each member has been paid by no later than 30 June 2026. Failing to pay the annual minimum pension for the financial year can create administrative complications and loss of tax concessions. Other types of pensions will also have minimum or set amounts that must be paid. Certain pensions also have maximum limits that should not be exceeded, as this will also have adverse outcomes. Transfer balance cap timing: Indexation to the general transfer balance cap will apply from 1 July 2026. Members thinking of starting a pension around the end of the 2025-26 financial year should consider timing carefully, as commencing before or after 1 July 2026 can affect how much can be moved into a tax‑free retirement pension. Current year (2025/26) general transfer balance cap is $2 million. This is set to increase to $2.1 million from 1 July 2026. Not everyone will have access to the general transfer balance cap, and an individual’s personal transfer balance cap may be lower than this. Records, valuations and audit readiness Market valuations: Ensure all assets are valued at market on 30 June (or as close to as possible) and supporting evidence is retained — especially for property, related‑party assets and unlisted holdings. Related‑party arrangements: Confirm leases, rents and services with related parties are documented and commercially reasonable. Pension paperwork and minutes: Check that pension commencements, commutations and lump sums are supported by correctly signed documents and trustee minutes. If you have any questions in relation to your SMSF year-end processes, please contact Collins Hume's SMSF Specialists to discuss on 02 6686 3000.

It's one of the most common things we hear: "We earn decent money but just can't seem to get ahead." The frustrating part? It's rarely about spending too much on takeaway. It's usually a structural problem. Money arrives, gets absorbed and disappears before it ever gets put to work. There's a few reasons this happens: Your income has grown, but so has your lifestyle A bigger salary often brings bigger expenses. The mortgage grows and so do lifestyle costs, but the savings rate stays the same. Because it happens gradually, it's easy to miss until you step back and realise not much has actually changed. There's no system telling your money where to go Without a clear structure in place, money tends to fill whatever space it's given. There's no automatic allocation, no clear destination; the month just happens, and the money goes with it. You're holding too much in the wrong places Cash sitting in an everyday account. Offset accounts not being fully utilised. Super parked in a default fund that hasn't been looked at since the job before last. These aren't dramatic mistakes. They're ones that compound over a long time. Tax is taking more than it needs to Dual income households, investment properties, business income, trust distributions, share portfolios. The more moving parts in your financial life, the more opportunity there is for tax drag to quietly erode what you're building. And the more opportunity there is to do something about it with the right structure. What actually changes things? Getting ahead on a good income isn't about earning more. It's about making sure what you already earn is working properly across every layer of your financial life. A cash flow structure that runs itself Most people budget reactively. They check what's left and try not to spend it. A properly designed cash flow structure flips that. income arrives, gets allocated automatically across living expenses, tax provisions, buffers and investments and wealth building before discretionary spending gets a look in. For clients with more complex income, whether that's commission, bonuses, business distributions or multiple income streams, getting this structure right will have the biggest impact. Putting idle money to work across the right structures There's usually more sitting around than people realise. An offset account that isn't fully loaded. Cash earning 1% when it could be doing more. Super sitting unreviewed. For higher net worth clients, the question also becomes which entity should hold what. Assets sitting in personal names when a trust or company structure might be more appropriate, investment income being taxed at the top marginal rate when it doesn't need to be. Finding and fixing these often lead to the fastest wins. Reducing the tax drag For higher earners, tax is frequently the single largest expense and the most controllable one. Salary sacrifice, concessional super contributions, debt recycling strategies, investment timing, franking credit optimisation, and income splitting. A good financial plan doesn't just invest your money. It looks seriously at how to keep more of it first, and builds the investment strategy around that foundation. Giving every dollar a clear purpose When money has a destination, whether that's the mortgage, an investment portfolio, school fees or a property purchase in three years, it stops disappearing into the general noise of life. For our clients with multiple goals running at the same time, having a plan that holds all of that together is key. 👉 Key takeaway: The people who break out of the cash flow trap aren't usually the ones who started earning more. They're the ones who got a proper structure in place and stopped leaving it to chance. For more clarity on how advice could help you, please feel free to get in touch with Essential Wealth & Retirement (EWAR). P. 02 5562 6260 (Ballina) P. 07 5230 4198 (Gold Coast) E: support@ewar.com.au W: www.ewar.com.au Ballina Office Address: 97 Tamar Street, Ballina, NSW 2478 Gold Coast Office Address: 80-82 Upton St, Bundall, QLD 4217 BallinaGCFP Pty Ltd ABN 12 670 111 583 trading as Essential Wealth & Retirement is a Corporate Authorised Representative no. 1305335 of GPS Wealth Ltd AFSL 254 544. A word of caution - the included material in this newsletter has been provided as General Advice only. We have not considered your financial circumstances, needs or objectives and you should seek the assistance of your Adviser before you make any decision regarding this communication. We have taken care to prepare this material, but any decisions or actions you take as a result of you reading this communication are entirely your own.

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