Error: CMN.ATO.AS.EM054 - Enter a Branch for the ABN or TFN you have provided

Hi Andrea64, 

This message usually appears where a business has multiple employing entities set up and the identical ABN is used for two or more of these entities. The ATO deems this as a duplicate lodgement and will hence cause the lodgement to fail. 

Here is a more detailed article about this error and how it can be rectified. 

https://support.yourpayroll.com.au/hc/en-au/articles/360000307336-STP-Resolving-Common-Issues

Thanks Joey but the business is does not have multiple employing entities it only has one, so your explanation cannot be the reason.  I have setup STP okay and is working.  I think the branch number relates to the Business Activity Statement.  The normal BAS has a number 001, we also lodge CAS (Consolidated Activity Statement) which as a number 002.  With other entities using Xero I had to add the 002 as the Branch number but I cannot find where you can do this in QB.  There is nothing in settings.  Please see attached screen shots., Thanks Andrea

Hi Andrea64, 

I have done further research and I could not find this particular error on ATO's table of general errors. Kindly contact our payroll experts via support@yourpayroll.com.au so this will be looked into in a timely manner. 

Please add the following details to your email: 

•        Business name and ABN & CID
•        Affected employee/s (if any)
•        Affected pay run/s (if any)
•        The username they use to access payroll (please do not send your password)
•        A screenshot of the issue or error page you are seeing, if appropriate
•        Any additional details that may assist in helping our investigations
 

Hi Joey

This is not a Payroll or STP issue.  I received this QB error message when trying to Connect to the ATO to lodge my BAS.  If QB generated the error code then QB must know how to fix the error.

Hi Andrea, 

Thank you for providing me with more information on this issue. I did a research on this and I found that more than 1 ICA( integrated client accounts) with ATO, is considered as "Branches" . We do not currently support this setup. Customers with branches under their ABN will not be able to use eLodgement yet. 

Please let me know if you have further questions. 

I just came up against this issue too after spending about 3 hours trying to work out why I couldn't lodge my BAS electronically. Is this going to be fixed by including support for ABN branches?

Hi piker,

We currently do not support electronic lodgement for ABNs with branches, however we do appreciate you sharing your feedback with us and we'll ensure our Product Team is aware that there is a demand for this functionality.

Thanks,

Bonny

Thanks for responding, Bonny. Well i'm just a very average Small Business, with a very simple Partnership Business structure. If it effects me, I imagine it would effect a large number of users.

This effects me too, I have just spent hours on the phone with the ATO trying to work out how to fix this.

This is unacceptable, the ATO are closing out the AusKey on 27th this month, what are we supposed to do then?

Hi there, Stephen69.

I understand how electronic lodgement for ABNs with branches would be helpful for both you and your organization.

Since this isn't currently an option, rest assured, I'll take note and submit this feature request. And, send it to the Product Development Team. They're constantly looking for great ideas from users, like yours, when deciding how to enhance QuickBooks.

• Incorrect ABN showing.
• ABN not showing.

Don't hesitate to post again here in QuickBooks Community. I'm always here to help you.

I Had the same issue where I registered everything and then the connection to the ATO failed with the error.

I rang the tax office and they said oh yes you can put a branch number of 001 in but as to where on your software we do not know.  There is a section in the payrol settings to enter a branch number but not for GST settings or in general settings.

I never knew I had a branch number as I dont have branches. Its juts me and my small business with three staff.   Surely this means that no Quickbooks online customers can submit their BAS online at the moment.

And I dont think we can do it by paper anymore either with all the changs to AUskey and so forth. 

Can you get this fixed ASAP  please. You'll probably be costing my staff from getting JOB KEEPER because I cannot submit anything and there are deadlines which I've now missed.  They can starve obviously.

What to do?  When the connection error suggests I need branch number and I cannot put one in place for the connection to work.

Hello there, @gtpicommerce.

Let me share some clarification about your tax concern in QuickBooks Online.

Currently, adding a branch number when lodging BAS is currently unavailable within our system. I suggest reaching out to your tax agency and verify the available options about sending the document.

I appreciate your input on this feature.  We always improve the features in QuickBooks Online, and this preference might be added in the future.

In the meantime, you can check out these articles in case you need some ideas about the feature, as well as some guide about using the product:

• Enable BAS E-lodgement for QuickBooks.

• Lodging BAS and IAS.

• QuickBooks Resource Centre.

If you have additional questions or concerns while working in QBO, leave a comment below. I’ll be here to help.

18 months later and it appears this is still not fixed.

That means a lot of businesses are unable to lodge BAS directly from Quickbooks Online.

Is there a timeframe for this to be implemented please?

Hello Nathane,

Appreciate you checking in about the option to e-lodge ABN's with branches in QuickBooks Online. I have lodged feedback to our customer feedback system in regards to this option. However, we're unable to provide specific timeframe as to when the option to e-lodge with branches on ABN will be available in our current set of features and offering in QuickBooks Online.

We'd recommend you also send your feedback through your QuickBooks account. By clicking on the Gear Icon, and click Feedback. In the meantime you can lodge your BAS to the ATO for ABN's with branches.

Feel free to reply to this thread if you need more help with QuickBooks. We'll be here to help you.

Thankyou I have done that. 

Still not fixed I see and it's 2022 now!

Hi nathanelcoate,

I understand how electronic lodgement for ABNs with branches would be helpful for both you and your business. While lodging a BAS with branch number is not yet possible, you can mark your BAS as lodged in QuickBooks Online and then lodge externally with the ATO. We can't provide an specific timeframe as to when this option be available but we'll ensure our Product Team is aware that there is a demand for this functionality. 

Feel free to drop a comment if you have any other questions. Thanks. 

Thanks but that's just a generic reply - what we need is action. 

Is there a time frame where this will be looked at? Do you know how many businesses can't lodge BAS because of this?

Hi nathanelcoate,

While we can't provide on the feedback or product request you've raised to us regarding ABN with branch number when lodging BAS, you can visit our website for any product updates in QuickBooks Online: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/au/product-updates/. I'll raised this to our Product Developers too to have this included on the future releases. Thanks. 

Thanks very much, as you can see this request has been on this site since 2019 and it's now 2022. 

2023 and counting

Hi Clayton3844,

Thanks for joining the thread. While ABN with branch number is not supported yet for BAS e-lodgement, you can still prepare the BAS and mark it as lodged in QuickBooks Online. However, you will need to lodge your BAS directly with the ATO.

If you have insights for product improvement ideas and any product concerns to help us improve your experience while using QuickBooks Online, feel free to go to the Gear icon and select Feedback.

Feel free to post again if you have any other questions, we're here to help. 

It has been 4 years now, is there any progress on this? There are still a very large percentage of users who can not lodge BAS from QBO. 

Hi nathanelcoate, 

Thanks for checking the status of the feature request where you can enable BAS e-lodgement with branch number on their ABN. QuickBooks Online is constantly changing and evolving based largely on the suggestions and requests of users like yourself. While the said feature is not an option, we want you to get in the loop about the product updates in QuickBooks Online. You can check it here: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/au/product-updates/.