Preparing your BAS¶

A business activity statement (BAS) is the form you use to report amounts like GST (goods and services tax) and the tax you have held back from employees' pay to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Before you lodge one, it pays to get your records in order, so the figures on the statement are right the first time.

Preparing your BAS is not one big job. It is a short checklist you run before you lodge. Do it well and lodging becomes quick and low-stress.

In one line

Before you lodge, bring your records up to date, reconcile them, check your sales and purchases are coded for GST, capture wages and withholding, and make sure you are using the right reporting period.

Why this matters¶

The numbers on your BAS come straight from your records. If your records are out of date or a sale is coded the wrong way, the statement will be wrong too. Taking a little time to prepare means you report the right amount, pay or claim the right amount, and avoid having to go back and fix it later.

What you will learn¶

The steps to get your records ready before you lodge
Why sales and purchases need to be coded correctly for GST
How to check you are using the right reporting period

Understanding the concept¶

Preparing your BAS comes down to a few steps.

1. Bring your records up to date. Make sure every sale, expense, wage and other business cost for the period is entered. The ATO says to keep records of all sales, fees, expenses, wages and other business costs. Nothing on the statement can be right if a transaction is missing.

2. Reconcile your records. To reconcile means to check your records against your bank statements so the two agree. This catches anything you have missed and confirms the amounts are real.

3. Check your sales and purchases are coded for GST. Each sale and purchase needs to be marked as either including GST or not. This is what fills in the GST labels on your BAS — total sales, the GST on your sales, and the GST included in your purchases. If an item is coded the wrong way, the GST figure will be off.

4. Capture your wages and withholding. If you have employees, your BAS also reports the total wages you paid and the tax you held back from that pay to send to the ATO. Make sure your pay records for the period are complete.

5. Use the right reporting period. Your BAS covers a set period — for most small businesses that is each quarter, though some report monthly or annually. Check that you are preparing the statement for the correct period and that you have not left a gap or overlapped with the last one.

For accountants & bookkeepers

Under Simpler BAS, GST reporting for most small businesses is limited to G1 (total sales), 1A (GST on sales) and 1B (GST on purchases). Accurate tax-code mapping at the transaction level is what populates these labels, so a clean reconciliation and correct GST coding upstream removes most label-level surprises. Where the entity has PAYG withholding obligations, W1 and W2 are driven from the same period's finalised payroll. The ATO notes that lodging all activity statements before the tax return helps reconcile the year's figures.

Example¶

Priya runs a small cafe. Her BAS is due for the quarter, so she sits down to prepare it. First she enters the last few supplier bills and the weekend takings she had not yet recorded, so her records are up to date. Then she reconciles — she checks her records against her bank statement, and the totals now match.

Next she looks at her coding. She notices a fresh-milk purchase was marked as including GST, but basic food items like that are GST-free. She fixes the code. She also confirms the wages she paid her two staff, and the tax she held back from their pay, are recorded for the quarter. Finally she checks the statement is for the correct quarter. Now she is ready to move on to checking and lodging.

Common mistakes¶

Lodging with transactions still missing — the figures will be short.
Skipping the reconciliation, so an error in the records flows onto the statement.
Coding a GST-free item (like basic food) as including GST, or the other way around.
Forgetting to include wages and withholding for the period when you have staff.
Preparing the statement for the wrong period, leaving a gap or an overlap.

How this works in myaccountant¶

In the app — myaccountant prepares your BAS for you. It uses the sales, purchases, wages and withholding you have already recorded for the period to work out the figures for each label, so you are not adding them up by hand. Keeping your transactions up to date and reconciled during the quarter is what makes the prepared statement accurate.

Key points¶

The figures on your BAS come from your records, so get the records right first.
Bring every transaction up to date, then reconcile against your bank statement.
Check each sale and purchase is coded correctly for GST.
Include your wages and the tax withheld if you have employees.
Confirm you are preparing the statement for the correct reporting period.
Preparing well makes checking and lodging quick.

Learn next¶

General information only — not tax, super or financial advice.

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