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5 points you should know at
the time of BAS filling

Written by: Hornbill Team

Updated: 01/06/23 Published: 01/06/23

5 points you should know at
the time of BAS filling

THESE 5 TIPS
WILL HELP YOU ANSWER!

Written by: Hornbill Team

Updated: 01/06/23 Published: 01/06/23

Submitting your Activity Statement to the Australian Taxation Office entails much more than simply reporting to the ATO how much GST and PAYG you must pay for the applicable month/quarter. The ATO extracts far more information from your BAS than merely calculating your business’s tax liabilities
BAS time is also an excellent chance for all firms to verify their books are clean, up to date, and compliant before providing critical information to the ATO. Furthermore, this should be a period set apart to analyse the company’s Business Performance and Financial Situation to verify that it is still on course.
So, what are the 5 Key Action Steps that every firm should follow throughout BAS season?
Today, we’ll go over the primary procedures we do for our clients as part of our core BAS Services.

1. Examine your data

The first step is to ensure that your data is clean and up to date for the appropriate reporting period. This includes the following:

Receivables / Payables

● Ensure that all of your clients have been invoiced;
● Check that all of your Supplier purchases have been recorded.
● Check to see whether you’ve issued or recorded duplicate sales invoices or purchase
transactions.
● Examine your system for unpaid supplier purchases whose payments have been
recorded as spend money transactions.
● Check for unallocated Sales Credit Notes or Supplier Credit Notes and apply all Credit
Notes to outstanding Sales Invoices / Supplier Purchases.

Clearing Accounts and Bank Accounts

● Check your bank accounts and credit cards for ‘Unreconciled’ transactions.
● Check that the balances on all Clearing Accounts are $0.00. (or if they have an
outstanding balance, there is an explanation for it).
● Undeposited Funds (MYOB); Electronic Clearing Account (MYOB); Payroll Clearing
Account (MYOB); PAYG Clearing Account (MYOB); Wages Payable (Xero); Suspense
(MYOB/Xero) are examples of common clearing accounts.

Payroll

● Ensure that all workers have a Superfund allocated to them in their employee contact
information.
● Check that your Superannuation is being paid on schedule.
● Verify that your Single Touch Payroll events have been successfully sent to the ATO.

2. Reconcile your ledgers

Most people think about reconciliation in terms of bank accounts and credit cards. That is not the case; there is much more to reconcile each quarter to guarantee your finances are compliant, including:

● Reconcile your bank accounts | Credit Cards and Loan Accounts > Compare your
physical statement balance to your accounting system’s computed bank balance;
● Reconcile Receivables > In the balance sheet, compare the sum of your unpaid sales to
the balance of Accounts Receivable.
● Reconcile Payable > In the Balance sheet, compare the sum of your unpaid purchases
to the balance of Accounts Payable.
● Payroll reconcile > Compare the total of your Payroll Reports to the total of your Wages
expenditure accounts, Superannuation expense accounts, and PAYG obligation
accounts.
● Reconcile GST > Verify that the GST in previously submitted periods has not changed.
Check to see if you have recorded transactions that include GST for non-GST registered
suppliers. Check that no transactions have been sent to the GST Account directly (s).

3. Register and pay for your Activity Statement

It’s time to file your Activity Statement once you’ve audited and reconciled your records. You may submit your BAS to the ATO in three ways:

● Manually via the ATO paper form;
● Electronically via your Business Portal (MyGovID must be established);
● Electronically via a registered Tax/BAS Agent;

It is critical that your Activity Statement must be submitted and paid on time. The quarterly lodgement dates differ depending on how you submit your BAS to the ATO. Here is a list of all quarterly deadlines for lodging and paying your BAS. If you are unable to make the entire amount, contact the ATO to arrange a Payment Plan (interest charges apply).

4. Check your ATO Account Balance

Once your BAS is filed, you must check that your GST and PAYG liabilities for the quarter are properly cleared in your accounting system. Finally, once you’ve paid your Activity Statement, you should download your ATO Integrated Client Account from your Business Portal and reconcile it with the ATO Account you’ve set up in your Accounting System.

5. Evaluate Your Company's Performance

Now that your accounts have been audited and your company is up to date with the ATO, it’s time to look at your quarterly results. Although critical reports should ideally be done regularly, if you are a busy company owner who works in the business, you should at least make up 45 minutes each quarter to examine how your firm is doing. As part of our BAS Services, we create and provide the following Management Reports to our clients:

● Profit and loss for the quarter;
● Management of Cash Flows Quarterly;
● Receivable that has matured;
● Payable has matured;
● Payroll Summary for the Quarter;
● Balances on Leave;
● Payments from superannuation.

The combination of the aforementioned reports will provide you with critical information about how your business is operating, your relationships with clients and suppliers, and, eventually, your payroll expenses. Take some time to go over these reports. Then, make any required modifications to achieve your goals, or, if you haven’t already, develop some goals based on actual, relevant data.
So, how much time should you set aside to perform all of the chores listed above?
This can be tough to establish because it is totally dependent on how well you manage your books on a daily basis, the amount of your Receivable and Payable transactions, and the number of bank accounts you have. However, at the very least, you should budget for:

● 2-4 hours to audit and reconcile your records (including the ATO Account);
● 15-20 minutes to deposit and pay your BAS, as well as to properly clear your liabilities in
your Accounting System;
● 15-20 minutes to run your quarterly Management Reports; 45-60 minutes to study your
reports and discuss your company’s goals.

So, at this point, you’re probably wondering:
“I’ve never gone through all of the ledgers.”
“I’ve never reconciled the ATO account (I had no idea it existed)”
“I never run quarterly reports; it sounds like a nice idea, but what if part of the information they
present is confusing?

Don’t worry, our clients rely on Hornbill to perform this procedure on their or their client’s behalf. Our BAS Services can be included in our continuing bookkeeping packages or offered separately. We verify and audit your finances, register your BAS (allowing you four more weeks to pay), clear your obligations, and run your Management Reports. You only need to pay the Activity Statement and evaluate the information we provide you. You may also use our Advisory Services if you need assistance interpreting your Management Reports. We are here to help you in any capacity you require. If you want to find peace of mind, at BAS time, Contact Us to discuss your next steps.

Submitting your Activity Statement to the Australian Taxation Office entails much more than simply reporting to the ATO how much GST and PAYG you must pay for the applicable month/quarter. The ATO extracts far more information from your BAS than merely calculating your business’s tax liabilities
BAS time is also an excellent chance for all firms to verify their books are clean, up to date, and compliant before providing critical information to the ATO. Furthermore, this should be a period set apart to analyse the company’s Business Performance and Financial Situation to verify that it is still on course.
So, what are the 5 Key Action Steps that every firm should follow throughout BAS season?
Today, we’ll go over the primary procedures we do for our clients as part of our core BAS Services.

1. Examine your data

The first step is to ensure that your data is clean and up to date for the appropriate reporting period. This includes the following:

Receivables / Payables

● Ensure that all of your clients have been invoiced;
● Check that all of your Supplier purchases have been recorded.
● Check to see whether you’ve issued or recorded duplicate sales invoices or purchase
transactions.
● Examine your system for unpaid supplier purchases whose payments have been
recorded as spend money transactions.
● Check for unallocated Sales Credit Notes or Supplier Credit Notes and apply all Credit
Notes to outstanding Sales Invoices / Supplier Purchases.

Clearing Accounts and Bank Accounts

● Check your bank accounts and credit cards for ‘Unreconciled’ transactions.
● Check that the balances on all Clearing Accounts are $0.00. (or if they have an
outstanding balance, there is an explanation for it).
● Undeposited Funds (MYOB); Electronic Clearing Account (MYOB); Payroll Clearing
Account (MYOB); PAYG Clearing Account (MYOB); Wages Payable (Xero); Suspense
(MYOB/Xero) are examples of common clearing accounts.

Payroll

● Ensure that all workers have a Superfund allocated to them in their employee contact
information.
● Check that your Superannuation is being paid on schedule.
● Verify that your Single Touch Payroll events have been successfully sent to the ATO.

2. Reconcile your ledgers

Most people think about reconciliation in terms of bank accounts and credit cards. That is not the case; there is much more to reconcile each quarter to guarantee your finances are compliant, including:

● Reconcile your bank accounts | Credit Cards and Loan Accounts > Compare your
physical statement balance to your accounting system’s computed bank balance;
● Reconcile Receivables > In the balance sheet, compare the sum of your unpaid sales to
the balance of Accounts Receivable.
● Reconcile Payable > In the Balance sheet, compare the sum of your unpaid purchases
to the balance of Accounts Payable.
● Payroll reconcile > Compare the total of your Payroll Reports to the total of your Wages
expenditure accounts, Superannuation expense accounts, and PAYG obligation
accounts.
● Reconcile GST > Verify that the GST in previously submitted periods has not changed.
Check to see if you have recorded transactions that include GST for non-GST registered
suppliers. Check that no transactions have been sent to the GST Account directly (s).

3. Register and pay for your Activity Statement

It’s time to file your Activity Statement once you’ve audited and reconciled your records. You may submit your BAS to the ATO in three ways:

● Manually via the ATO paper form;
● Electronically via your Business Portal (MyGovID must be established);
● Electronically via a registered Tax/BAS Agent;

It is critical that your Activity Statement must be submitted and paid on time. The quarterly lodgement dates differ depending on how you submit your BAS to the ATO. Here is a list of all quarterly deadlines for lodging and paying your BAS. If you are unable to make the entire amount, contact the ATO to arrange a Payment Plan (interest charges apply).

4. Check your ATO Account Balance

Once your BAS is filed, you must check that your GST and PAYG liabilities for the quarter are properly cleared in your accounting system. Finally, once you’ve paid your Activity Statement, you should download your ATO Integrated Client Account from your Business Portal and reconcile it with the ATO Account you’ve set up in your Accounting System.

5. Evaluate Your Company's Performance

Now that your accounts have been audited and your company is up to date with the ATO, it’s time to look at your quarterly results. Although critical reports should ideally be done regularly, if you are a busy company owner who works in the business, you should at least make up 45 minutes each quarter to examine how your firm is doing. As part of our BAS Services, we create and provide the following Management Reports to our clients:

● Profit and loss for the quarter;
● Management of Cash Flows Quarterly;
● Receivable that has matured;
● Payable has matured;
● Payroll Summary for the Quarter;
● Balances on Leave;
● Payments from superannuation.

The combination of the aforementioned reports will provide you with critical information about how your business is operating, your relationships with clients and suppliers, and, eventually, your payroll expenses. Take some time to go over these reports. Then, make any required modifications to achieve your goals, or, if you haven’t already, develop some goals based on actual, relevant data.
So, how much time should you set aside to perform all of the chores listed above?
This can be tough to establish because it is totally dependent on how well you manage your books on a daily basis, the amount of your Receivable and Payable transactions, and the number of bank accounts you have. However, at the very least, you should budget for:

● 2-4 hours to audit and reconcile your records (including the ATO Account);
● 15-20 minutes to deposit and pay your BAS, as well as to properly clear your liabilities in
your Accounting System;
● 15-20 minutes to run your quarterly Management Reports; 45-60 minutes to study your
reports and discuss your company’s goals.

So, at this point, you’re probably wondering:
“I’ve never gone through all of the ledgers.”
“I’ve never reconciled the ATO account (I had no idea it existed)”
“I never run quarterly reports; it sounds like a nice idea, but what if part of the information they
present is confusing?

Don’t worry, our clients rely on Hornbill to perform this procedure on their or their client’s behalf. Our BAS Services can be included in our continuing bookkeeping packages or offered separately. We verify and audit your finances, register your BAS (allowing you four more weeks to pay), clear your obligations, and run your Management Reports. You only need to pay the Activity Statement and evaluate the information we provide you. You may also use our Advisory Services if you need assistance interpreting your Management Reports. We are here to help you in any capacity you require. If you want to find peace of mind, at BAS time, Contact Us to discuss your next steps.

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