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Employer super calculator

Superannuation Guarantee Calculator: What Super Your Employer Owes

Work out the Super Guarantee your employer must pay you: 12% of your qualifying earnings, on top of your salary. Enter your pay and see the super owed per week, quarter and year for 2025-26 and 2026-27.

Free, no signup12% SG rateATO figures
Earnings
From 1 July 2026 super is calculated on qualifying earnings, which replaced ordinary time earnings. It broadly covers the same pay: ordinary hours plus most loadings, allowances and bonuses, excluding overtime.
$
The SG rate is 12% in both years. The year sets the maximum earnings super is compulsory on, and what those earnings are called. From 1 July 2026, Payday Super replaced the quarterly maximum contribution base with a single annual one, and ordinary time earnings with qualifying earnings.
Super Guarantee is 12% of qualifying earnings, paid by your employer on top of your salary, into your super fund.
Super your employer must pay per year
$9,600.00
That is $9,600 a year, 12% of $80,000 in qualifying earnings, paid on top of your pay.
Salary $80,000Super $9,600 (10.7% of package)
Super owed, by pay cycle
Per week$184.62
Per fortnight$369.23
Per month$800.00
Per quartera breakdown only, employers pay super each payday from 1 July 2026$2,400.00
Per year$9,600
Total cost to employersalary $80,000 plus super, per year$89,600
Estimate only, general information, not financial advice. Super Guarantee is 12% of qualifying earnings for 2026-27, up to the maximum contribution base ($270,830 per year). Your award, enterprise agreement or fund may add more.
Simon Chadwick
Simon Chadwick
Founder, Orbit Money
Method: 12% SG on qualifying earnings, ATO maximum contribution baseUpdated: 20 July 2026Sources: ato.gov.au (SG rate), moneysmart.gov.au

How the Super Guarantee works

The Super Guarantee (SG) is the compulsory super your employer pays into your fund. It is 12% of your qualifying earnings, paid on top of your salary. On $80,000 of qualifying earnings, that is $9,600 a year going into your super. This calculator does the same sum the ATO and MoneySmart employer calculators do, and breaks it down per week, fortnight, month, quarter and year.

The rate rose to 12% on 1 July 2025, the last step in the legislated schedule, so it is 12% for both the 2025-26 and 2026-27 financial years and stays there from 2027-28 onward. A bigger change landed on 1 July 2026: Payday Super means your employer must pay the SG at the same time as your salary, not just quarterly. Super is on top of your pay unless your contract quotes a total package that already includes it, so it is worth checking whether your salary is stated as “plus super” or as a total remuneration figure.

What counts as qualifying earnings

Super Guarantee is calculated on qualifying earnings, not your total pay. From 1 July 2026 this term replaced ordinary time earnings (OTE), which was the basis for 2025-26 and earlier years. The coverage is broadly the same: what you earn for your ordinary hours of work, plus most over-award payments, shift loadings, commissions, allowances and bonuses. It generally excludes overtime hours paid at penalty rates. If most of your pay is ordinary hours, your qualifying earnings and your gross salary are usually the same figure.

The maximum super contribution base

There is a ceiling on the earnings that compulsory super is paid on, called the maximum super contribution base. For 2025-26 it is $62,500 per quarter, so an employer does not have to pay SG on earnings above that in a quarter. For 2026-27 the quarterly basis is gone: Payday Super replaced it with a single annual maximum contribution base of $270,830. There is no quarterly figure for 2026-27. If you earn above the base, the calculator caps the super at that ceiling and flags it. Most people earn below it, so the full 12% applies to all of their pay.

Frequently asked questions

How much super should my employer pay?
Your employer must pay 12% of your qualifying earnings into your super fund, on top of your salary. On $80,000 of qualifying earnings that is $9,600 a year. For 2025-26 and earlier the same 12% applied to ordinary time earnings. Enter your own figure above to see it per week, month, quarter and year.
How do you calculate the superannuation guarantee?
Multiply your qualifying earnings by the Super Guarantee rate of 12%. So $80,000 times 0.12 is $9,600 of super for the year. Qualifying earnings covers your ordinary hours plus most loadings, allowances and bonuses, but not overtime. From 1 July 2026 your employer pays that super on each payday rather than quarterly.
What is the Super Guarantee rate for 2025-26 and 2026-27?
The Super Guarantee rate is 12% for both the 2025-26 and 2026-27 financial years. It rose to 12% on 1 July 2025, the final step in the legislated schedule, and stays at 12% from 2027-28 onward. No further increases are legislated.
Is super paid on top of my salary or taken out of it?
Super Guarantee is paid on top of your qualifying earnings, not deducted from them. Some contracts quote a total remuneration package that already includes super, so check your agreement. If your pay is quoted as salary plus super, the 12% is added on top.
What are qualifying earnings, and what happened to ordinary time earnings?
Qualifying earnings is the pay Super Guarantee is calculated on from 1 July 2026. It replaced ordinary time earnings (OTE), which was the basis for 2025-26 and earlier years. The coverage is broadly the same: your ordinary hours of work plus most over-award payments, shift loadings, commissions, allowances and bonuses, generally excluding overtime hours paid at penalty rates.
What is Payday Super?
Payday Super commenced on 1 July 2026. Employers must now pay Super Guarantee at the same time as salary and wages rather than at least quarterly. It also changed the earnings basis to qualifying earnings and replaced the quarterly maximum contribution base with a single annual figure of $270,830 for 2026-27.
What is the maximum super contribution base?
It is the earnings ceiling that compulsory Super Guarantee is paid on. For 2025-26 it is $62,500 per quarter, so an employer does not have to pay SG on earnings above that in a quarter. For 2026-27 it becomes an annual figure of $270,830. High earners can hit this cap.

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Simon Chadwick
About the author
Simon Chadwick
Founder of Orbit Money

Simon is the founder of Orbit Money, a tool that helps people track subscriptions and recurring spend. He builds Orbit's free money calculators and writes about personal finance for Australian and UK readers.

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General information only, not financial advice. Check your award, enterprise agreement or fund for any rate above the 12% Super Guarantee.