BAS REFUNDS AND PAYMENTS TO THE ATO

Sandra_7045342

How do I enter correctly a Refund from the ATO and How do I enter a payment to the ATO after doing the BAS/ IAS, I'm running reckon accounts plus 2014. Their seems to be lots of ideas, getting confused??

Kevin V. Russell

Sandy I think it's time you sought the assistance of a BAS agent. Cheers Kevin 0407744914

Sandra_7045342

Sorry I thought there might some one who could help out there!!

Kevin V. Russell

Sandy I don't mean to be dismissive but you treading in some highly technical areas. In the short term you can create a liability account and call it tax clearing. Again, it was not my intention to offend. I just think the accountant or bookkeeper can be very useful at times like this. We're not all accountants and we need to acknowledge when we need professional advice. Regards Kevin

Sally McIntosh, Accredited Consultant

Hi Sandra,

In further to what Kevin has said, each business is different and so has different requirements. That unfortunately is a very general question and you should perhaps either speak to your accountant or have a Reckon consultant help you remotely or onsite to go through your specific needs.

You may have more questions too!!!

Kind regards,

Sally McIntosh (sally@samsolutions.com.au)

Kevin V. Russell

Sally thank you for your thoughtful and considered response. I think this kind of forum is great for some things. Technical questions of this nature do not really lend themselves to a simple answer in my humble and considered view. It would be best to see the advice a Reckon Accredited Consultant or a Professional partner.

Graham Boast

Hi Sandra

Here is the way I get my clients to code their BAS.

For a payment

• I generally rename the Tax Payable account to GST payable
• when entering the PAYG Withholding, you will get a message saying "it appears you're about to pay your payroll liabilities" - hit cancel - it can be safely ignored.
• Note negative on Fuel Tax Credits
• If 1B is greater than 1A, then enter amount as a negative

For a refund, enter as a Make Deposit but change negatives to positives and visa versa.

If the IAS is for you personally (eg a Partnership), then create Equity Accounts - PAYG Installment Partnername.

Once you post your transactions , have a good hard look at your Balance Sheet.  Do you reconcile the PAYG Withholding Account? Does the balance of the GST/Tax Payable account bear any relationship to reality? If you have an ATO Running Balance Account, is it reflected in the Balance Sheet?  This is a technical and complex area, and it is where we BAS Agents/ Reckon Consultants can help you understand your accounting system.  


Graham Boast
Reckon Accredited Consultant
graham@reckonhelp.com.au
www,reckonhelp.com.au/remotesupport.htm

Sandra_7045342

Thanks Graham most helpful.

Sandra_7045342

Kevin, I thought the question I asked was a very general one & not too technical, I'm sure I'm not the only one out there scratching their heads and getting information overload.
I'm sure there are many ways to enter a BAS Refund or to pay a BAS Bill. But just thought there might have been a Keep it Simple Step by Step Guide we could follow.

Kevin V. Russell

Sandy my point is this. There is not a simple answer to the question. It's why we have this designation BAS service provider. What Graham has shown you might be perfectly okay for his client and not at all useful for yours. You see it's important to have the conceptual framework so you understand precisely what it is you are trying to achieve otherwise you can end up creating more work for someone else down the track. And the accountant might have a completely different way of doing things.  I am not trying to be dismissive and I like to help people as much as I can - ask anyone - but some questions simply do not lend themselves to a one or two sentence response.

Graham Boast

Hi Sandra

Slight correction.  The Memo against Prepaid Tax should read "BAS 5A - PAYG Installment - Other Current Asset" 

Graham

cosmic

Graham your entry is perfect.

Graham Boast

Wow - cosmic approval!

Graham

Angelo Fraietta

Very good answer. How did you get the values from "tax payable," which is where GST ins normally stored to, into the account "GST Payable" that you have shown in the cheque. Was it through a journal entry? (This was how I was doing it in my earlier version of quickbooks).

Thanks

Angelo Fraietta

Actually, disregard the question. Reading again I see you have said 

• I generally rename the Tax Payable account to GST payable

Genevieve Stutz

Wow Graham your explanation is most helpful to me also. l am new to Quickbooks and that is how l processed the BAS refund/payable in MYOB. However when you said to ignore the message "you are about to process a payroll liability" l found that the liability account reduces but not the expenses account. Example to pay the Superannuation payments l did it with "write cheques and posted to liability super payable and it didnt reduce my superannuation expenses. Does that make sense?

Graham Boast

Yes! When you process a pay, it records super as an expense and as a liability (because you haven't paid it yet). Paying your super reduces your liability (and your bank account!), but the expense remains unaffected as it its still a cost to the business. Graham

Genevieve Stutz

Graham, thanks for your reply. Explanation very helpful. However can you explain a problem l am having in Reckon. My General Ledger Superannuation Account shows an accumulated expenses which is a correct figure (9.5% of Gross Wages). However in my Chart of Accounts the figure is considerably high. Is that because l entered the entry in my bank as "write cheques and not through "pay liabilities" Why is there a difference? 

cosmic

Good one Graham , you have done the work of their Tax Agent/ Accountant
also remember for Tax purposes , the only paid amount is picked up for tax purposes, which your tax accountant will do. so your super liability has to be recorded correctly as Graham is suggesting.

if you have issues you should talk to your tax agent or we also tax agents

Angelo Fraietta

The superanuation problem really has nothing to do with the bas entry and I think would be better served in a different thread. However, apart from that, I think that the reason the amounts are different is for the reason you have stated.

I don't think that this is about doing the work of the Tax Agent / Accountant - It is just working out how the software is supposed to work rather than going to your accountant every time. I used to have support when it was quickbooks in 2005 and the online support was great. There were links to examples of how to do this exact thing (the tax one), which they gave you if you asked the question. However, I feel that most of the replies in this forum are "you should do a training course" or "pay a consultant" or "Sadly, I think it's time you sought the assistance of a BAS agent". These types of questions are the bread and butter what of a lot of small businesses have to do and there should be documentation with examples that show them, particularly when the package costs nearly $1000. 

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Genevieve Stutz

Angelo, you are so right. Getting help on how to enter transactions or fix errors within Reckon has proven very difficult. l feel it is a software/program issue not a "Accountant problem". or BAS Agent problem. l tried several times calling Reckon support for help but found the language communication difficult to understand. Kevin....training manual you talk about.....where do l obtain this from? And also yes Business is based on Sales but without a good Accounting program how do you know your business is making a profit/loss? Yes Reckon does cost close to $1000. 

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Trevor Watson

The manual is good and it will tell you how to do the setup for the BAS (ie. which accounts to associate), and how to generate a return, but it doesn't tell you how to enter your payment. Cheers to Graham for posting the screen grab - I'll be using that method from next financial year.

Angelo Fraietta

Sorry Genevieve Stutz, on re-reading your question about superannuation, that is what is supposed to have happened. The liability (which is what you still need to pay / or what you owe somebody / something) will be reduced when you pay the cheque; however, the expense (what it has cost your business over the year) will not. As suggested, a book on basic accounting practice or a small business course would be an advantage to you to help you understand these fundamental concepts.

Genevieve Stutz

Thanks so much Kevin, Trevor, Graham & Angelo. Your comments has helped me. What Trevor says is true. All theses courses are great and explain the fundamental side but what about explaining the practical side of everyday transactions ie. like how to enter the transaction or fix an error. Thanks Graham, your BAS process entry was great. Have a good weekend all. Oh Kevin...l am in the process of contacting a partner in Reckon to come out and clean up our accounts. Just started at a new job,which according to the Accountant the books have been in a mess for 3 years. Trying to fix errors and getting it right is proving a real challenge. Thanks again for your support guys.

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Genevieve Stutz

Thanks Kevin....Sometimes it takes an outsider to make you realise this. Your analogies are so right but try and explain this to Directors/Employers who want everything for nothing. My problem is that l am a perfectionist and try to do the right thing by others. Thanks for the counselling and your professional advice about work. Much appreciated. 

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gazza73

Genevieve

Good to see that you realise the benefits of approaching an Professional / Accredited Partners to help sort this.  The people who have responded here, should be your first consideration.  They have toaken the time to impart and share their Reckon Product knowledge on this Community Forum, in the first instance to help users with the odd matter.  But for long term data/business and systems integrity of the use of these fine products, a relationship with a skilled professional is all important.

But if geography prevents this,  may I suggest you refer to the list of AP's that you can select from.  There's over 300+ throughout Australia.   Here's the link: 

http://home.reckon.com.au/support/Home/ReckonSupport/FindAReckonAccreditedPartner.aspx

You'll find specialists in Accounting, Bookkeeping,  or in my case,  IT, integration and business systems analysis.  Choose from the selection of those most appropriate to your needs.

Gary Pope
An Accredited Partner- Consultant  (VIC. Aust)

"Working with Accountants/Bookkeepers PPs/APs, as an
      independent IT Professional and retired FCPA Accountant"

Genevieve Stutz

Thanks Kevin Russell & Gary Hope. Your assistance and advice has been most helpful. l will use the link you suggested Gary for future enquiries. l have made contact with Ruth Fenby in Knoxfield. Hopefully she will offer some assistance. Thanks again.... 

gazza73

Terrific!   Hope things work out. Glad you found a local Partnerl nearby your operations there.  Good move.

Gary

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