6b Payday Super liabilities and STP2 in Vista

Overview

Payday Super changes how Vista calculates, pays, and reports Super Guarantee (SG) liabilities from 1 July 2026. This article covers configuring new super liability codes and switching your payroll and STP2 reporting over to the new requirements.

Where: PR Deductions/Liabilities → PR Employee Dedns/Liabs

See also: Configure Payday Super – Australia (overview) · Payday Super contributions in Vista (SAFF CSV setup)

Do not modify legacy codes

Your existing (STP-2026) super liability codes need to stay completely untouched and active until your last STP-2026 pay date, to support your 2026 STP finalisation (due 14 July 2026) and any future prior-year amendments. The only field you'll ever change on a legacy code is Frequency, at the time of the switch below.

Why new liability codes are required

From 1 July 2026, the earnings basis for SG expands to Qualifying Earnings (QE): OTE plus salary-sacrificed super plus commissions. The ATO will also use QE to calculate the Super Guarantee Charge from this date. Vista must report both Super Liability (SL) and QE for every employee in STP2, and QE must come from a liability code dedicated solely to SG. This is why a new collection of super liability codes is required for STP-2027, existing side by side with your legacy STP-2026 codes.

1 – Create a dedicated SG liability code per fund

On PR Deductions/Liabilities, create a new code using Routine SuperMin2 (fixes a limit-imposition defect in the legacy SuperMin routine), with an annual subject limit of $270,830 for tax year 2027. This code cannot mix SG with any other super liability.

2 – Set the Addl Info flags correctly

Tick Include in Superannuation Liability (SL) calculation, and set STP Category to SG - Superannuation Guarantee. This combination is what causes Vista to report the eligible amount as QE in STP2. Never use the SG category on a non-SG code or a legacy STP-2026 code.

3 – Build the basis code list

Copy the full basis code set from your legacy SG code, add any commission earnings codes, then remove any salary-sacrificed super (SSS) deduction codes that came across, since leaving one in would incorrectly subtract it from the SG earnings basis.

4 – Link the new code to each employee, inactive for now

In PR Employee Dedns/Liabs, add the new SG code for each fund member with Frequency set to N (Never/Inactive). Leave the legacy SG code's Frequency at its current active value until the switch.

5 – Make the switch around 1 July 2026

After your last STP-2026 pay date is processed and lodged, and before your first pay period on or after 1 July 2026: activate each new STP-2027 code and deactivate each legacy STP-2026 code, for every employee.

If you have super obligations beyond the SG minimum

If an award, agreement, or contract requires more than the 12% minimum, you'll need additional non-SG liability codes alongside your new SG codes. Three common scenarios:

Extra rate on the same earnings (e.g. 15% total instead of 12%) — create a separate non-SG code for the extra 3%, same SuperMin2 routine and $270,830 limit as your SG code, SL flag ticked, STP Category left blank (never SG), same basis codes as the related SG code.

Same rate on additional earnings (e.g. 12% on QE plus overtime) — add overtime to your SG code's basis list flagged Subject Only, then create a non-SG code at the same rate with the list inverted: overtime is full basis, QE codes are Subject Only.

Employer match of salary-sacrificed super — doesn't need a new STP-2027-specific code. Use Method DN-Rate of a deduction pointing to the SSS deduction code, Rate 1.00 (100% match), and tick Include in Reportable Employer Super Contribution (RESC) instead of the SL flag.

After your first STP-2027 submission

A new mandatory item, QE – Qualifying Earnings for Super Guarantee, appears on the Other Components tab for every employee (even at $0.00), alongside the existing SL – Superannuation Liability item.

See attached: Payday Super liabilities and STP2 in Vista: User guide to configuration and usage (full worked examples, ATO's STP2 payment-type reference, and Vista's STP2 field calculation formulas)