# Why is the Superannuation for an employee not calculating correctly?

KB264

### Overview

There are many reasons why the superannuation may not be calculating correctly on an employee’s pay. Firstly, you will need to have an understanding of the superannuation rules and how they apply to your payroll. Secondly, you need to be familiar with payroll and the way it is setup – the incorrect setup of superannuation will cause incorrect calculations when you process a pay run.

You can find the current superannuation requirements on the ATO website.

Superannuation Setup

It is vital that the superannuation items are set up correctly as Accentis uses this data to calculate the superannuation. If you have found that superannuation is calculating incorrectly, you should check that you have set the following up correctly.

Employee form – Superannuation tab
Employee eligibility

Is your employee eligible for superannuation?

Superannuation Rate

Have you entered the correct rate? You can check the current rate on the ATO website.

Superannuation annual calculation cap

This is the annual limit that Superannuation is calculated on. Superannuation will not be calculated on qualifying earnings over the limit threshold.

You can check the current maximum contribution base on the ATO website.

Pay Item

Check that all superannuation eligible pay items are correctly setup with the Calculate employer SG superannuation on this pay item and This pay item is included in Qualifying Earnings boxes ticked where necessary.

The most common reasons why Superannuation is not correct

Below is a list of common issues. It is assumed that your payroll has been set-up correctly based on the current legislation and the rules above.

Prior pays have paid too much or too little superannuation

Accentis calculates superannuation based on the amount an employee has earned over the calendar year. When processing a pay run, Accentis will look at all the previous pays for the year, calculate the superannuation based on the full year of eligible income, subtract the superannuation that has been accrued over the previous pays and adjust the current pay run to reflect the superannuation entitlement.

Employee earned over their maximum contributions base in this year

Superannuation is not calculated on any eligible income over the maximum annual limit set for your employee. If superannuation is calculating above the maximum threshold, make sure you have correctly entered the Superannuation annual calculation cap on the employee’s form. Check if the employee is still under the threshold for the year. If they have exceeded the threshold for the year and superannuation is still calculating, please contact support.

Employee is not eligible for superannuation, but it is calculating on their pay

Check the employees form to make sure the Eligible for superannuation box is unticked in the superannuation tab.

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Last edit: 05/06/2026