Checking your BAS before you lodge¶

Before a business activity statement (BAS) is sent to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), it gets checked for errors. This happens in two places — your accounting software checks it, and the ATO checks it as well. The check looks for things that are clearly wrong, and flags them so you can fix them before the statement goes in.

Think of it as a safety net. Catching a problem now is far easier than fixing it after the statement has been lodged.

In one line

Before your BAS is sent, it is checked for errors — like figures that do not add up or a required box left blank — and anything wrong is flagged so you can fix it first.

Why this matters¶

A lodged statement is the official record of what you owe or are owed. If it goes in with an error, you may have to lodge a correction later, which is more work. The check gives you a chance to spot and fix problems while it is still easy, so what you lodge is right the first time.

What you will learn¶

What happens when a BAS is checked before lodging
The kinds of errors a check can flag
Why flagged errors should be fixed before the statement is sent

Understanding the concept¶

When you are ready to lodge, the statement is checked before it is sent. The ATO says lodging electronically lets you review your BAS before lodging and check that the amount calculated equals what you expect to pay or receive.

The check looks for problems such as:

Figures that do not add up. Some boxes on the statement are meant to match or add to others. If the totals do not line up, that is flagged.
A required box left blank. Some boxes must have a value. If one that is needed has been left empty, that is flagged. (Where you have nothing to report for a box that applies to you, the ATO says to enter zero rather than leave it blank.)
Amounts that look out of place. A value that does not fit the shape the statement expects can be flagged for you to look at.

When something is flagged, the statement is not sent yet. You get a message telling you what needs attention. You go back, fix the record or the figure, and check again. Once the check is clear, the statement can be lodged.

Being flagged does not mean you are in trouble. It simply means something needs a look before the statement goes in — which is exactly what the check is for.

For accountants & bookkeepers

Two layers of checking apply. Your software validates the statement locally against the rules for each label before it is transmitted, and the ATO applies its own checks on receipt. Cross-label consistency (totals reconciling to their components) and completeness (mandatory labels populated, zeros where applicable) are the common triggers. A statement that fails a check is not accepted, so the fix happens before lodgment rather than as a later revision.

Example¶

Jordan is a tradie about to lodge his quarterly BAS. When he goes to lodge, the check flags a problem — one of the required boxes has been left blank because a batch of invoices had not been coded for GST yet. The statement is not sent.

Jordan goes back, codes the invoices, and the figure fills in. He runs the check again, and this time it is clear. Now he can lodge, confident the statement is right. Had the check not caught it, he might have lodged a statement with a gap and needed to correct it later.

Common mistakes¶

Treating a flagged error as a failure — it is a prompt to fix something, not a problem.
Leaving a required box blank instead of entering zero when you have nothing to report.
Ignoring a flag and trying to lodge anyway — a statement that fails the check is not sent.
Not going back to the underlying record — the fix usually starts with the transaction.

How this works in myaccountant¶

In the app — myaccountant checks your BAS for errors before it is sent. If something needs attention — a figure that does not add up, or a box that should not be blank — it tells you what to fix. Once the statement passes the check, myaccountant lodges it to the ATO for you.

Key points¶

Before a BAS is sent, it is checked for errors — by your software and by the ATO.
The check flags things like figures that do not add up or a required box left blank.
A flagged statement is not sent until you fix what was flagged.
Being flagged is not trouble — it is a chance to fix a problem early.
Enter zero, not blank, for a box that applies to you but has nothing to report.
Fixing an error now is much easier than correcting a lodged statement later.

Learn next¶

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

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