The impact of output conductance (g_o) on the short-circuit current-gain cut-off frequency (f_T) in In_0.8Ga_0.2As high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) on an InP substrate was investigated. An attempted was made to extract the values of f_T in a simplified small-signal model (SSM) of the HEMTs, derive an analytical formula for f_T in terms of the extrinsic model parameters of the simplified SSM, which are related to the intrinsic model parameters of a general SSM, and verify its validity for devices with L_g from 260 to 25 nm. In longchannel devices, the effect of the intrinsic output conductance (g_oi) on f_T was negligible. This was because, from the simplified SSM perspective, three model parameters, such as g_{m_ext}, C_{gs_ext} and C_{gd_ext}, were weakly dependent on g_oi. However, in short-channel devices, g_oi was found to play a significant role in degrading f_T as L_g was scaled down. The increase in g_oi in short-channel devices caused a considerable reduction in g_{m_ext} and an overall increase in the total extrinsic gate capacitance, yielding a decrease in f_T with g_oi. Finally, the results were used to infer how f_T is influenced by g_oi in HEMTs, emphasizing that improving electrostatic integrity is also critical importance to benefit fully from scaling down L_g.