BAS Preparation Checklist for Each Reporting Period

A BAS preparation checklist brings each period’s client records, GST checks and reconciliations into one repeatable job. Collect the evidence first, confirm the client’s recorded reporting method and prepare the statement only after the accounts agree.

What the Client Sends Each Period

Send your client the same records request each period, with a clear cut-off for returning it.

• Confirm that every bank feed covers the whole reporting period and that any missing transactions have been supplied.
• Send sales invoices, cash-sales records and refunds, including sales received outside the main bank account.
• Supply purchase invoices and receipts, with credit notes for returned goods or corrected bills.
• Attach statements for bank accounts, credit cards and payment services that have no complete feed.
• Send invoices for new equipment or vehicles, plus any sale or trade-in documents.
• Include new loan and hire purchase contracts, repayment schedules and finance statements.
• Identify private purchases, owner drawings and business expenses paid personally.
• Supply fuel invoices and records of how the fuel was used.
• Tell you about payroll changes and send contractor invoices, even when payroll runs in the same software.

Set the records cut-off within your own preparation cycle. For example, ask for the pack within five business days after the period closes. That is your practice’s collection target, separate from the BAS deadline.

A recurring reminder can say: “Please send this period’s sales and purchase records within five business days of period end. Confirm that your bank feeds are complete. Include new assets, finance contracts, private transactions, fuel records, payroll changes and contractor invoices.”

Settings to Confirm Before the First Period

Confirm the client’s GST status and reporting settings before you use the software’s BAS figures. Check the registration start date on ABN Lookup. Record the reporting cycle and cash or non-cash GST basis from the ATO account.

Simpler BAS is the default GST reporting method for businesses with GST turnover below $10 million. It reports total sales, GST on sales and GST on purchases. Full reporting requires additional sales and purchase information, including the split between capital and non-capital purchases. Confirm the method the ATO has recorded, including any GST instalment arrangement, before choosing the report.

Also record whether PAYG instalments use an ATO amount or an instalment rate. Keep the latest notice and any variation with the period’s working papers.

Complete the required agent nomination and linking before accessing or lodging the statement. Where ATO nomination applies, the client nominates the practice and you then add the client. For the broader setup sequence, use the bookkeeping client onboarding checklist.

Cash-Basis Eligibility and Period Timing

Cash-basis eligibility is a separate test from compulsory GST registration. For the small-business route, test the business and aggregated-turnover conditions, including connected entities and affiliates. The relevant small-business threshold is aggregated turnover below $10 million, with the statutory eligibility conditions also applying.

Other routes include eligible non-business enterprises with GST turnover no more than $2 million, correctly using the receipts method for income tax, and Commissioner-determined enterprise classes. Special provisions cover certain charities, gift-deductible entities and government schools. An entity outside an automatic route can apply for the Commissioner’s permission. The ATO’s cash-basis ruling explains these routes.

Record the route that applies and the basis on the ATO account. Passing the GST registration turnover test does not establish cash-basis eligibility. A software report labelled cash basis does not prove the client’s GST accounting method. Readers arranging registration can use the GST registration guide and the separate GST threshold explanation.

Consider an illustrative ordinary taxable sale for $1,100, including $100 GST. The invoice is issued in period one and paid in period two. On a cash basis, the $100 GST belongs in period two. On a non-cash basis, the invoice triggers the GST in period one, assuming no earlier payment.

Now consider an ordinary business purchase of $2,200, including $200 GST, invoiced in period one. The business pays $550 in period one and the balance in period two. With a valid tax invoice and full credit entitlement, cash-basis credits are $50 then $150. Non-cash accounting attributes the full $200 to period one, subject to holding the required tax invoice when claiming.

When the basis changes, reconcile unpaid sales and purchases against amounts already reported. Apply the GST transition rules so outstanding items are neither omitted nor counted twice. Retain that reconciliation with the effective-period record.

GST Coding Checks

Review the GST treatment of transactions before accepting the BAS report. Look for GST-free sales coded as taxable, input-taxed residential rent or bank interest coded incorrectly, and private purchases carrying GST credits.

For purchases over $82.50 including GST, ordinarily hold a valid tax invoice before claiming the credit. Smaller purchases still need evidence. Check new suppliers’ GST registration and invoice details, and retain the invoice alongside the transaction.

Give extra attention to overseas software subscriptions, insurance, entertainment and vehicle purchases. An overseas supplier’s charge does not automatically contain claimable Australian GST. Insurance can combine a taxable premium with stamp duty. Entertainment needs its own entitlement assessment. For cars, check the GST-credit cap and any applicable exception before claiming the invoice’s full GST.

Under full reporting, separate capital purchases from other purchases. A new machine belongs in the capital-purchase records even if finance payments leave the bank over several years.

GST on Vehicle Registration

Vehicle registration payments can contain an insurance component with GST. The government registration fee and stamp duty have no GST credit. Check the insurance component’s stated GST and the business-use entitlement before claiming it. This applies to a VicRoads bill as well as other state registration bills.

This invented component reconciliation uses a bill that separately states GST.

Component	Amount paid	GST stated on the bill	Eligible credit at 80% business use
Government registration fee	$300	$0	$0
Insurance component, including GST	$440	$40	$32
Stamp duty	$40	$0	$0
Total	$780	$40	$32

Dividing the whole $780 payment by eleven would give $70.91 and overstate the GST. The evidenced GST is $40. Applying the assumed 80% business-use entitlement gives $32.

Retain the itemised bill, the business-use calculation and the GST coding. If a combined bill does not show the taxable component, obtain an itemised statement before claiming an estimated credit. The ATO’s GST reporting guidance explains the component treatment. Government ASIC registration fees also need their own GST treatment, separate from a service provider’s charge.

GST on a registration expense is a different question from registering a business for GST. Use the GST registration guide for the latter.

PAYG Withholding, Instalments and Payroll

Match the period’s wages and PAYG withholding with payroll reports and the corresponding Single Touch Payroll (STP) submissions. Compare period totals, not a year-to-date submission against one quarter’s BAS. Explain differences such as corrections or payments that need different withholding treatment.

Under the instalment amount method, use the amount shown by the ATO unless a supported variation changes it. Under the rate method, calculate the period’s instalment income and multiply it by the applicable rate. Retain the calculation and any variation reason. The ATO’s PAYG instalment instructions explain both methods.

Under Payday Super, employers pay super with each pay run. Contributions generally must reach the employee’s fund within seven business days of payday, with specific exceptions. Reconcile payroll super liabilities against contribution records and fund receipts, including rejected payments. A cleared payroll liability does not prove timely receipt by the fund.

Use the Payday Super checklist for the payroll changeover work and the ATO’s Payday Super guidance for the rules and commencement boundary. Super is a payroll reconciliation check here, separate from the tax amounts reported on the BAS.

Fuel Tax Credits and Other Taxes on the BAS

Collect fuel purchase evidence showing litres, fuel type and acquisition date, then record the activity the fuel supported. Separate eligible business use from private use and activities with different rates. A bank payment for fuel alone cannot establish the litres or eligible use.

Fuel tax credit rates change during the year. Use the rate for the acquisition date and activity, including any relevant road-user-charge adjustment. Apply the ATO’s fuel tax credit rates table and fuel tax credit tools instead of carrying forward the last period’s rate.

Check the client’s statement for less common obligations. FBT instalments, wine equalisation tax and luxury car tax require their own supporting calculations when applicable. Confirm each required amount before adding it to the BAS summary.

Reconciliations Before You Lodge

Finish the reconciliations before sending the BAS for approval.

1. Reconcile every bank account and credit card to its statement. Resolve missing transactions, duplicates and uncleared items.
2. Reconcile the GST control accounts to the BAS working papers. Explain opening balances, period GST, ATO payments or refunds and adjustments.
3. Reconcile payroll liabilities to the payroll report. Match withholding and super balances to the corresponding payments and outstanding amounts.
4. Review prior-period corrections and adjustment events. Record the reason, evidence, period and treatment for each changed figure.
5. Send the BAS figures and amount payable or refundable to the client. Obtain the correct declaration before lodging.

A GST reconciliation explains why the account balance and BAS agree after timing differences and payments. For cash-basis reporting, unpaid debtors and creditors can explain a difference from accrual-based GST control accounts. Investigate the difference instead of posting a balancing journal solely to make the totals match.

In Xero, select the same period and GST basis for the GST reconciliation and activity-statement reports. Trace any difference to transactions and outstanding invoices. Keep the report with the working papers, whether your reconciliation is in Xero or a spreadsheet.

A client summary can say: “This period’s draft BAS shows GST on sales of $4,000 and GST credits of $1,500. PAYG withholding is $2,000. The total amount payable is $4,500. Please review the attached figures and provide the declaration before we lodge.” These are illustrative figures with no other BAS obligations assumed.

The client’s declaration must confirm the information is true and correct and authorise you to lodge for the named entity and period. Obtain it from someone authorised to act for the entity. The ATO’s declaration guidance requires the client to retain it for up to five years, depending on circumstances. The ATO recommends that the agent also keeps a copy. Keep yours with the BAS working papers and apply the practice’s relevant record-retention obligations.

Chasing Late Records Each Period

Follow up a missed records cut-off with a specific list of what remains outstanding. Give the client a response target and keep the messages with the job.

1. After the collection cut-off, send: “We’re still missing your purchase invoices and the statement for the account without a bank feed. Please send them within two business days.”
2. If that target passes, send: “Your BAS preparation is waiting on those purchase invoices and the missing statement. Please send them today or tell us when they will arrive.”
3. As lodgment approaches, send: “We cannot finalise your BAS from the records received. The missing items are listed below. Late records put timely lodgment at risk. Please contact us today.”

If records still do not arrive, tell the client in writing what is missing and how that affects preparation. Record the contact attempts and escalate the job to the responsible practitioner. Use the BAS due dates guide to identify the client’s deadline. A missing pack does not justify inventing figures or treating an incomplete return as nil.

At onboarding, collect the first-period details and agree who supplies each record. Tax Genie collects the client’s details through guided forms and automatically follows up outstanding answers and documents by email and SMS. You can use that request to obtain the information needed before the first period’s preparation starts.

A Simple Small-Business Bookkeeping Routine Before the BAS

Run the same sequence each period so the BAS starts from reconciled records.

1. Collect sales invoices, cash-sales evidence and purchase documents. The business supplies the records and explains unusual transactions.
2. Match bank transactions to that evidence. Ask the business about unknown receipts, private spending and missing invoices.
3. Record payroll changes and compare the period’s payroll with submitted reports and payments.
4. Reconcile bank, GST and payroll balances. The registered practitioner assesses the GST treatment and resolves adjustments before preparing the BAS.
5. Prepare the statement, explain the result and obtain the client’s declaration before lodging.

Keep invoices and supporting evidence with the accounts. A complete bank feed proves that transactions arrived, while the documents establish what the transactions were for. The period is ready for BAS preparation when every material difference has an explanation and the figures trace back to retained records.