Important Things to Check When Preparing Your BAS

If you are running a GST registered business, and your annual turnover is or exceeds 75,000$, it becomes your fundamental duty to inform the government about how much you have earned in a year. This can be done by completing the Business Activity Statement (BAS) that you as an entrepreneur need to fill between one and twelve times every year as per the shape and size of your business. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) uses information provided on BAS for 

• Reporting and Paying Goods Tax (GST)
• Pay as you go instalments (PAYG)
• PAYG withholding tax and any other tax such as FBT instalments
• Luxury Car Tax
• Wine Equalisation Tax and Fuel Credits 

If you are also among the ones preparing the BAS for the first time, it gets a very time consuming and complex process, especially if you are the one who is not so good with numbers. Many business owners go for taking the assistance of a third party as a cost-effective solution for getting BAS sorted compare to in-house bookkeepers. A registered BAS Agent manages your GST reporting and payment period on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis for your business.  

BAS Statement Due Dates

• Quarterly

 If your organisation’s GST turnover stands below $20 million, you need to report your BAS on a quarterly basis. 

Quarter 1: July, August, September – 28th October

Quarter 2: October, November, December – 28th February

Quarter 3: January, February, March – 28th April

Quarter 4: April, May, June – 28th July

• Monthly

If your organisation’s GST turnover stands or exceeds $20 million, you need to report your BAS on a monthly basis. The due date decided for monthly reporting is the 21st day of every month. For example – The BAS statement date decided for February would be 21 March.

• Annually

If your organisation’s GST turnover is less than 75,000 dollars, you need to report your BAS on an Annual basis. The due date decided for annual reporting is 31st October. 

The below three steps are needed to be followed in chronological order to complete the BAS statement. All this information are prepared by taking the assistance of experts working in bookkeeping services Perth.

Prepare Your Information For Business Activity Statement

The first step commences with the reconciliation of records. It is done to provide surety that all the given data is precise and exceptional. Dealing with your accounting figures such as receipts and invoices to guarantee that they are matching your bookkeeping data and with no disparities. 

Read More:- Why Payroll Outsourcing is Great for Your Business?

Calculate Your Totals and Enter Figures

How is The BAS Gets Calculated?

You can calculate the BAS statement of your company by choosing among the numerous ways. 

• Calculating and reporting the GST quarterly
• Calculating the GST quarterly and report annually
• Doing the GST instalments and report annually.
• Pay as you Go income tax instalment. Since your financial data or information is precise, it’s an ideal opportunity to compute your sums. You can do this through a report in your bookkeeping programming or including every one of your numbers on the off chance that you use a manual strategy. When you have your sums, move them to your BAS form to conclude the 2nd process. 

Update Your Records and Lodge BAS

When you conclude the BAS, modify your records with the new data with having relevant duplicates of all the essential financial documentation. After that, you can either mail a printed copy of the BAS structure to the ATO, record it electronically through the ATO gateway. You need to ensure that you are paying as per the schedule. Modern accounting software like Xero is used for smartly performing the BAS statement. Although it saves time, it needs specialised assistance of XERO expert for working on this software 

Thus, by following these steps, you can prepare and lodge your BAS. Many business owners struggle to follow the process in a correct manner and seek the need for a registered BAS agent. If you are running your GST registered firm in Western Australia, calling a BAS Agent Perth will be a good call. By taking their services, you will get a 4-week extension for your BAS lodgement and payment.