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BAS checklist

By Lauretta Finis

Published on September 18, 20163 min read

Are you ready to roll out your BAS for lodgment to the ATO?

As a business owner, you need to complete all the steps to ensure your sales and expenses incurred during the quarter are entered correctly in QuickBooks Online prior to lodging your BAS.

Before you start reporting your BAS, remember to:

Ensure transactions have been captured, either through online banking feeds or entered manually
Ensure all reports are run with the same quarter date that the BAS is being reported
Check that GST reports are run using the same GST method you are registered as, either Cash or Accruals

Here’s a checklist of the tasks you need to complete before reporting your BAS for the quarter.

Bank reconciliations

Ensure all Bank accounts, Loan accounts and Credit Cards are reconciled to the corresponding bank statements.

If bank accounts are not reconciled, you must investigate further, as this could attract a revision of your BAS.

Petty cash or cash expenses paid

Any cash expenses paid for this period are posted manually through a Petty Cash or similar account.

The QBO app can be used to make a copy of the receipt to save it to your Petty Cash account, which will also sync the transaction to QuickBooks Online.

Personal expenses or private use %

Ensure that any personal expenses that are paid through a business bank account are not claimed as business expenses.

Post the personal expenses to the Drawings or Loan account depending on the entity (Trust, Company, Sole Trader etc) of file. Set GST coding to “Out of Scope”.

Post the remainder of the relevant business expenses with the correct GST code.

Accounts receivable and accounts paid or known as debtors or creditors outstanding

Print reports for Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable, and check they are correct. Look for duplications, incorrect posting or if payments are allocated incorrectly.

Reports > Recommended > A/R Ageing Summary.

Reports > Recommended > A/P Ageing Summary.

New finance purchase

Check that the Invoice for the Asset purchase reflects the correct GST amount with “GST on Capital”.

Check that the Chattel Mortgage / Hire Purchases / Leases are posted correctly.

GST coding review

**Check your Capital items such as Plant & Equipment and Assets purchased have the correct “GST on Capital” code and not “GST on Non-Capital”.

**Check Suppliers Not Registered for GST or Supplier from Overseas are picked up as “GST-free non-capital” code.

Check all GST codes are correct through the BAS Centre: Under Run reports > Detail Report.

If an incorrect GST code has been entered, change this immediately.

Check if Exemption Details are correct.

BAS Summary – ensure you choose the correct GST method; i.e. Cash or Accruals.

Check GST to be paid / refunded equals your balance in your BAS Liability account if GST method is Accruals, and check your Balance Sheet is run as Accruals.

If GST is Cash method, you need to ensure the amount equals your BAS Liability account in the balance sheet (when report is run under Cash).

Payroll

Let’s look at balancing your Payroll and, more importantly, PAYG Instalments that are owed to the ATO. Run payroll reports. This is found under the Employees Centre: Reports > Payroll > Detailed Activity Report.

Ensure that the Gross amount equals your Wages amount in your Profit and Loss Report.

Ensure that the PAYG amount equals your PAYG Withheld in the Balance Sheet.

Superannuation: Check both the Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss equal the Superannuation on the report. Super has to be paid via a Super Clearing house. Registered via: Payroll Centre > Reports > Payroll > Super Payments.

Complete BAS

Check your Complete BAS worksheet. If an Exemption Amount appears in the worksheet, ensure the amount matches your exemptions report.

PAYG Tax Withheld W1 & W2 figures are correct from your Detailed Activity Report.

Do you have WET 1C, Luxury car tax 1 E or any other tax? Ensure this is added to your BAS worksheet.

Mark as lodged

This will close the books for this GST period. Transactions from this period that are changed later will be shown in the GST exception report.

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