Common causes for misalignment in balances
- Transaction being entered or changed for a period after the BAS was submitted.
- Transaction being converted to Tax Invoices from Sales Orders for a date in the BAS period after the BAS was submitted.
- As at 30 June 2021 businesses generally won’t have calculated and entered a BAS Purchase Invoice for the final remittance for the financial year so accounting firms often enter those GST and PAYG liabilities as a journal at year end.
- Accounting firms adjusting GST via journals to allow for special tax treatment regarding GST. e.g. upfront claims deemed allowable on an asset purchase that is being paid for over time.
- Not locking accounting file at month end and non-accounting staff changing a transaction. e.g. editing Sale, adding Expense claim.
- Transactions or Journals coding to GST liability accounts incorrectly.
Tasks to check your BAS at Financial Year End
Cash Basis
- Make sure you BAS Report for each quarter or month hasn’t changed compared to what you filed.
- If it has changed you may need to adjust your GST in your next BAS remittance.
- Run you final BAS for the financial year and add that as a Purchase as at 30 June if you want this captured in that same financial year. Often accountants ask customers to do an adjusting Journal for GST to achieve this result.
- Outstanding creditors and debtors will have some GST on them. You need to calculate these amounts.
Result: GST = Last BAS GST + Debtors GST – Creditors GST
Accrual Basis
- Make sure you BAS Report for each quarter or month hasn’t changed compared to what you filed.
- If it has changed you may need to adjust your GST in your next BAS remittance.
- Check the GST Payable in your final BAS matches the Balance Sheet Saasu GST Payable*.
Result: GST = Last BAS GST
* GST Paybale in Saasu is the Net of two accounts being Liability: Tax Collected from Sales – Asset: Tax Paid on Purchases