I was wondering if it is possibly to do the BAS statements by yourself without Xero out any subscription software.
We recently got a commercial property. So in terms of activity, it's straight forward monthly rental n expenses.
Doesn't make sense to pay $200-$300 each quarter to the accountant.
Just wondering if there is guide on what needs to be done and also any one off purchase of software or excel template.
Don't even need excel for simple cases. Just print out statement, draw 2 columns GST paid / received, and fill in beside each entry. Add columns, subtract at the end, voila. All done in 5min. Add another 5min to enter info online. And another 5min to punch holes in the statement and add to your folder and file away.
Just capture all your revenue/expenses in excel, have columns for date, item, cost and GST. Then sum up what is needed for the report and plug it into your online BAS statement.
It'll also make the end of year tax return easier.
Though it's better, you don't even need Excel, free online alternatives like Google Sheets and Apple Numbers should be able to handle this as well.
Are you saying there are Google sheet templates for Australian BAS that can be bought?
Would you have look to it?
Would you have look to it?
Do you mean link?
Don't need to buy it, just manually create a sheet with sales, GST paid on sales, purchases and GST on purchases
I see. Thanks
@bin555: yeah so if its commercial property you could simply have a heading: Rental income $—— | GST on rent $—— add it up end of quarter and input that figure manually into ATO online form. Also include all your costs but make sure to itemise GST component as not all things will have GST in it.
Disclaimer: I am not an accountant or expert in tax
Definately, just work out income and expenses and gst owed.
Then fill out BAS on mygov and submit or even can get the paper version sent to you and just fill in and return,
Lodge it online and you get a 2 week concession for lodgment.
Although it is not clear if this still applies - now that they routinely extend the original quarterly BAS due dates given here.
Your accountant will be using an accounting package. Choose a free one; I use ZipBooks. Alternatively if you plan to cheat the ATO I recommend a spreadheet.
Thanks. I'll look into zipbooks. So there free tier would cover maintaining bas ?
Brightbook is another free option. If you're not yet ready to learn about basic accounting, go with a bookkeeper - they're cheaper than accountants.
Get a proper tax professional to do your first bas. Pay them to teach you how to do it the second time, which is usually a few notes about what goes where in the return.
I mean if you’re organised you can do it in excel… or like on a giant scroll with quill and ink like an 18th century scholar if you wanted / then input the data at the end when filing the documents. Accounting software is really more a QOL thing where it can generate the reports and tell you what data values to put where on the various forms you need to complete (assuming everything entered right)