GST and BAS Reporting

ATO Reporting

The basic steps:

1.run a GST Report for Unprocessed GST items up to the date of the previously completed BAS return.

2.Generate the ATO invoices for these old entries if any existed or alter their dates to current.

3.Run a GST Report for the current reporting period and verify and adjust asterisked items if required.

4.Verify Claim and Invoice totals in particular ensure that Claims are Authorised as required.

5.Check for Retentions that should or shouldn't be reported.

6.Run a BAS Report and verify the exception items such as G3, G10 and G14 are correct.  Check with assistance of the Audit Trail searches.

7.Check that the potential ATO Invoices when generated will result in zero balances in the respective GL accounts for GST Collected and GST Paid Tax Credits (use the GL Account Enquiry report).

8.Post any required adjustment and rounding entries.

9.Do a final run of the GST and BAS Reports and if correct perform the ATO Invoice update.

10.Save a copy of these reports on disk for ATO Audit purposes.

11.Manually add prior period amounts to the current values and complete the ATO documentation.

12.Go to Payments screen and select all relevant invoices for payment with the BAS.  These will include the current ATO invoices generated by the system plus any PAYG deductions; PAYG Instalments; the prior period system generated invoices (refer 1. Above); and any rounding invoice entries, etc.  The net cheque should correspond to the net tax payable or refundable as per the completed manual BAS.

A Discussion of the Procedure:

The Australian Taxation Office requires a "Business Activity Statement" (BAS) which includes a variety of Taxation liabilities including GST.  The "Taxation Office Details" screen in the system displays the GST amounts required to appear on the BAS as well as a hard copy report, which can be run from the reports menu.  The Databuild BAS report will assist your Tax Accountant/Agent together with other information from the system to complete the ATO's BAS stationery.  Users should not simply transcribe the amounts reported on the BAS report generated by the system.  It is recommended that the GST Report is run and printed (also a saved report to disk will prove useful), as this will support the GST amounts reported on the BAS.  To run both reports, firstly enter the date range and then click on Range and leave Show Unprocessed Only unticked.

Important note: The GST Report should also be run for Unprocessed GST amounts for prior reporting periods.  Once again the report should be saved and ATO invoices should be generated.  The unreported prior period amounts should be included in the BAS for the current reporting period as Adjustments in accordance with ATO instructions.

The items on the Databuild BAS report are coded to correspond with the fields on the ATO Business Activity Statement.  Most amounts are automatically reported in the BAS based on your settings and the nature of the transaction.  However there are specific BAS amount fields that will not be reported unless the relevant code is entered in the "Comments" field on each Invoice transaction.  These are G3 (GST Free Sales); G10 (Capital Acquisitions); G14 (reportable Acquisitions with no GST in the price); and G15 (Private Use and Non-deductible Acquisitions).  Refer to the ATO publication (provided to all registered ABN entities) "Business Activity Statement Instructions" which contains definitions and guidelines for valid inclusions relating to all BAS fields.

The GST Report provides a detailed listing of the items included in the GST totals at 1A and 1B on the BAS Report.  The report also highlights GST amounts that are not 10% (1/11) of the associated claim or invoice.  Note GST Paid Tax Credits on G15 Private Use purchases are not included in 1B, 2B, 8B or G20.  Also G9 and G20 may not necessarily be 1/11 of G8 and G19 respectively due to the asterisked items.  G9 and G20 are the GST amounts recorded by you in the system.  The Databuild BAS reports the transactions as recorded and does not force a 1/11 adjustment; this should be a manual reporting adjustment by the user to the relevant Sales or Purchases sections.

The Audit Trail allows you to list transactions based on the contents of the "Comments" field and date range.  Therefore values reported on the BAS Report for G10, G14 & G15 can be easily obtained.  You can also list transactions which are not exactly 10% GST which will correspond to the asterisked items on the GST Report.

Refer to the other "How Do I" documents: GST Implementation and GST Adjustments.

ATO Publications:

Useful ATO publications available from www.taxreform.ato.gov.au and supplied to registered ABN entities are:

"The Building and Construction Industry & The New Tax System"

"How to determine the value of construction work-in-progress" GST Bulletin GSTB 1999/2 14/9/99

"Business Activity Statement Instructions" (spiral bound) NAT 3030-05.2000 ISBN 0 642 43330 5

"BAS Basics" NAT 3898-01.2001

Please note that Databuild clients should seek taxation advice from their Tax Accountant and not Databuild support staff.

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