Marlin GTX includes a flexible module for generating Business Activity Statements.
Australian businesses need to generate Business Activity Statements (BAS) on a monthly or quarterly basis to report their GST collections to the ATO.
The BAS module can be accessed by selecting Reports > Business Activity Statement from the menu bar.
A prompt will display advising that Megabus is not a BAS service provider or registered tax agent, and that it is your responsibility to ensure the accuracy of the information.
Click Yes to acknowledge the prompt and continue.
BAS Checklist
See BAS Checklist for web version.
Generating BAS Reports
When opening the BAS module, you will see a list of open and closed BAS periods.
To generate a BAS report for a period:
- Select the period in the list
- Click Generate (or double-click)
Summary Tab
New BAS reports will open on the Summary tab.
The summary tab is divided into the following sections:
- Sales You Have Made
- GST Payable (Sales total) shown at bottom
- Purchases You Have Made
- GST Credit (Purchases total) shown at bottom
- Total calculated GST Refund
What should they do with this information?
check video
see other tabs for breakdown
The formulas for calculations derived from other lines are shown in brackets at the end, so that you can see how these totals have been calculated.
The word (Interim) will be shown next to the heading of any open BAS periods that have not been closed yet.
Sales Tab
The Sales tab show a list of sales transactions, along with the GST collected for each of those transactions.
Check for:
- Any values in the GST Exempt Sales column
- These indicate sales without GST
- Often linked to TPI veterans
(confirm customer has a valid TPI Veterans Number)
- Any transactions highlighted in red
- Flagged as potential discrepancies
- Should be checked and resolved accordingly
Purchases Tab
The Purchases tab breaks down your purchases into:
- Capital Purchases
- Other Purchases
Check the GST Free Items column:
- All GST purchases should be reviewed
Adjustments Tab
The Adjustments Tab shows any manual entries including:
- FID
- Merchant Fees
what to do?
Exceptions Tab
The Exemptions Tab lists transactions that have been flagged as GST exempt.
screenshot with items?
Since legitimate GST exempt transactions are uncommon:
- Each of these transactions be reviewed, since they may have been entered incorrectly.
- If any mistakes are found, they should be fixed before submitting to the ATO.
Saving BAS Reports
Copies of interim BAS reports can be saved to the Report Keeper
by clicking on the Save to Report Keeper button at the top of the module window.
Viewing Saved BAS Reports
To view saved BAS reports:
- Select Reports > Report Keeper
- Select and open the report
Printing and Sending BAS Reports
Once the BAS has been checked thoroughly, and any issues have been resolved, it can be previewed, printed, emailed or faxed by clicking on the icons at the top of the module window.
Closing BAS Periods
Once all transactions for a BAS period have been reviewed and corrected (if necessary), it needs to be closed.
This can be done by selecting, System > System Files > General Ledger > Close Previous GST Period from the menu bar.
A pop up will open, reminding you of when the statement was due and that supplier tax invoices can continue to be entered back into that period until it is closed.
To close the BAS period:
- Enter your GST password
- Click Ok
- A pop-up will confirm that the period has been closed
re-open?
Saving Final BAS Reports
To view and save closed BAS reports:
- Select Reports > Business Activity Statement
- Select the (now-closed) GST Period from the list
- Click Generate (or double-click)
- Click on Save to Report Keeper (top of module window)
Recording BAS Payments
Record your BAS payment/refund to the ATO and clear your GST accounts using a single Journal Entry (Main > Data Entry > Journals).
| Account | Payment |
|---|---|
| 80120 – GST Tax Paid Always a debit | Enter journal as a credit to clear |
| 80130 – GST Tax Paid Adjustments Could be debit or credit (CR shown if credit) | Enter journal as the opposite to clear (e.g. if credit, journal a debit) |
| 80140 – GST Paid Capital Acquisitions Always a debit | Enter journal as a credit to clear |
| 80150 – GST Tax Collected Always a credit | Enter journal as a debit to clear |
| 80160 – GST Tax Collected Adjustments Could be debit or credit (CR shown if credit) | Enter journal as the opposite to clear (e.g. if credit, journal a debit) |
| 80340 – PAYG Tax to Pay Always a credit | Enter journal as a debit to clear |
| BAS payment/refund | Enter balancing amount (opposite credit/debit) against your bank account |
| If there is a variance (calculated above) | Enter as balancing amount to Expense Account |
When submitting the journal, you will be asked Should this journal appear on the BAS?
- Answer No
Account numbers are shown as standard Megabus chart of account codes and names, and may be different in your system.
Do not use Cash Book Entry to enter the BAS payments, since you will not be prompted to exclude it from your next BAS report.
Checking GST Clearing
You can check that the GTS accounts have been cleared correctly by opening the relevant accounts in Account Maintenance (Main > Accounts > Chart of Accounts).
The Current Year Balance for the final month in the period should be zero, indicating you have correctly reconciled your BAS and cleared out the accounts.
80120, 80130, 80140, 80150, 80160
Closing GST Periods
If you are satisfied that everything has been entered correctly, you should also close the GL period (System > System Files > General Ledger > Manage GL Period) once the payment journal has been posted.
Fixing a Negative BAS
Negative BAS amounts are usually caused by BAS payment journals that did not have the Do Not Include on BAS checkbox ticked.
To identify the problem:
- Generate the BAS
- Review the Sales and/or Purchases tabs
If there is a negative amount or unexpectedly large value:
- Check whether it is a journal related to a BAS payment
(the clearing journal used to pay the ATO) - If so, Reverse the journal
Once the journal has been reversed:
- Resubmit the BAS journal
- Select No when asked whether it should appear on the BAS
BAS payment journals are clearing journals used to pay the ATO and should never appear on the BAS itself.
BAS Accounts
Accounts related to the different BAS sections are listed in the tables below.
Account numbers are shown as standard Megabus chart of account codes and names, and may be different in your system.
All figures in the BAS Report Summary are GST inclusive, and sales figures in GTX are GST exclusive.
G1 Total Sales
| Account | Description |
|---|---|
| 10064 | Sales – Stocked Items |
| 10128 | Sales – Non Stocked Items |
| 80150 | GST – Tax Collected |
G7 Adjustments
| Account | Description |
|---|---|
| 80130 | GST – Tax Paid Adjustments |
| 80160 | GST – Tax Collected Adjustments |
There will be only one entry in the BAS Report for Adjustments as GTX will report the net total of the adjustments where it is a positive figure for the report.
G9 GST Payable
| Account | Description |
|---|---|
| 80150 | GST – Tax Collected |
Plus either of the Adjustment accounts if G7 has a value.
G10 Capital Purchases
1/11th of the G10 value must equal the amount in 80140.
| Account | Description |
|---|---|
| 80140 | GST – Paid Capital Acquisitions |
G18 Adjustments
| Account | Description |
|---|---|
| 80130 | GST – Tax Paid Adjustments |
| 80160 | GST – Tax Collected Adjustments |
There will be only one entry in the BAS Report for Adjustments as Marlin will report the net total of the adjustments where it is a positive figure for the report.
G20 GST Credits
| Account | Description |
|---|---|
| 80120 | GST – Tax Paid |
| 80140 | GST – Tax Paid Capital Acquisitions |
Plus Adjustment accounts if G18 has a value.
