Answer
Lightning Payroll applies the concessional contributions cap when it checks an employee's super, but it does not display the cap amount anywhere on screen beforehand. The figure only appears inside the warning itself, once an employee has already gone over.
The setting
The check is per employee and is switched on by default. In the desktop app it is Alert When Over Concessional Cap? under Employees >> Super >> Superannuation Contributions. In the online app it is Alert when over concessional cap? on the Super Contributions screen under Employees >> Super. Untick it to stop the warning for that employee.
What you will see
When a pay is completed and the employee's year-to-date super has passed the cap, Lightning Payroll shows a Concessional Super Cap Warning naming the employee and the cap amount it applied. The warning is advisory only and does not stop the pay from being completed.
The cap Lightning Payroll uses
The cap is built into the program and is updated with each release, so there is nothing for you to enter or maintain. The general concessional contributions cap is $32,500 from 1 July 2026. It was $30,000 for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 financial years, and $27,500 for the three years before that. Lightning Payroll selects the cap that matches the pay's financial year.
What counts toward the cap
The running total adds up compulsory super guarantee, salary sacrifice to super, and any additional employer (RESC) contributions across the financial year.
Please note personal contributions an employee claims as a tax deduction, and contributions from any other job, are not visible to Lightning Payroll. An employee's actual position with the ATO can therefore be higher than the total the program checks.
This is not the maximum super contribution base
The two figures are often confused. The concessional cap limits how much can go into super each year at the concessional tax rate. The maximum super contribution base is a separate figure that caps the earnings super is calculated on. See What Are the ATO's Qualifying Earnings Rules for Super? for that one.
