Business Activity Statement
Business Activity Statement
The Business Activity Statement (BAS) is the Australian equivalent to Tax or VAT returns. It is a two-page form made up of the Business Activity Statement and the Calculation Sheet. It is used as the return for GST and various other taxes, such as "Wine Equalisation Tax", "Luxury Car Tax", "FBT Instalments", and so on.
To access the Business Activity Statement:
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Select Accounts in the Folders list, select GST and a list of existing GST or Tax categories (if any) appears as below:
The ABM main screen showing the "GST" list view within the Accounts section. The left panel displays the folder navigation tree with Business Tools, Customers, Suppliers, Products, Accounts (expanded to show sub-items including GST & ATO Returns), Cashbook, Contacts & CRM, Service Calls, and Addresses. The main area shows a list of GST/Tax categories in a table with columns for category details. Visible categories include entries such as "10% Input Taxed Material", "GST Free", "Input Taxed", "Luxury Purchases", "Fuel Taxed", "Exports", "Capital Acquisitions", and "Zero Rated Products" with their corresponding tax rate values. The toolbar at the top provides options including Search GST, Add New, Delete, Settings, Refresh, Send To Excel, Business Activity Statement, and ATO Tax Returns.
List of current GST or Tax categories
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In the GST Reporting menu bar, select Business Activity Statement and a screen will appear:
The "Business Activity Statement" screen with a toolbar at the top containing buttons: "Calculate BAS from Accounts", "Save BAS", "Print BAS", "Send BAS To Excel", "Generate ATO File", and a "Home" navigation link. The screen has two main tabs: "Business Activity Statement" and "Calculation Sheet". The Business Activity Statement tab is selected, showing two sections side by side: "Accounts Method" on the left (with rows for GST on Sales, GST on Purchases, and Net GST Payable showing calculated amounts) and "Reconciliation" on the right (with "Calculated GST at Box 3" and "Difference to Accounts" fields). Below are additional BAS line items including GST on Purchases, Wine equalisation tax, Luxury car tax, and various other tax categories with corresponding amount fields. Further down are items for PAYG tax withheld, PAYG income tax instalment, FBT instalment, Deferred on imported goods, and other tax-related fields, each showing their respective amounts.
Business Activity Statement
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Calculate BAS from Accounts: Computes the Calculation Sheet and the BAS for the current tax period.
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Save BAS: Saves the Calculation Sheet and the BAS contents to disk. The figures saved will appear in the BAS report.
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Print BAS: Prints the Calculation Sheet and BAS.
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Send BAS to Excel: Copies the table to Excel.
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Send BAS to the ATO: Copies the BAS to the special file which will be collected by your ATO lodgement program.
Business Activity Statement The grid shows all BAS boxes and their corresponding amounts. ABM automatically calculates the amounts according to the current figures available in the accounts.
Click the Excel icon to the right of the selected BAS box to analyse the figures in Excel.
You can enter new amounts and percentages in the Business Activity Statement and the Calculation Sheet. This will change the information sent to the ATO but will not be reflected in your accounts.