GST in COSTAR - Australia

This help file outlines how GST works in Costar. It will cover 

• The setup in the system for GST,
  
• Running the GST reports for filling out the GST Calculation Worksheet/Business Activity Statement (BAS)
  
• Processing the payment of the BAS
  

Set Up

Costar is delivered already set up for GST. The rate of GST, the General Ledger accounts the GST goes to and the Supplier the GST is remitted to is set in Settings>Company Setup on the Taxes tab.

Tax Codes

The Tax Codes that are used in Costar are as follows:

A – All Tax

C – Capital Acquisition

E – Export/Import

F – GST Free

G – GST

T – Inter-company Transfer

GST will end up in the GST Payable or GST Claimable GL’s depending on the source document. E.g. GST on an Order Entry Invoice or Credit Note will be coded to GST Payable, and GST processed in Suppliers AP Invoice Entry and Manual Cheques will be coded to GST Claimable.

Filling out your GST Calculation Worksheet/BAS

At any stage the GST Reports can be viewed/prepared in the system. Before you are ready to fill out your forms, the GST Reports should be run one final time to ensure that you are working off the most up to date reports.

• Financials
  
• G/L Reports
  
• Tax Reports (bottom left hand side)
  
• Click either the GST Payable or GST Credit report to run
  
  • GST Payable will show the GST you owe the Government
    
  • GST Credit will show the GST the Government owes you
    
• On the properties of the report, fill in the month range you wish to run it for
  
• Click on OK
  
• Click on the report icon just created
  
• Click Prepare
  

Use the BAS Report Totals on the first page of the GST Payable Report to fill in the GST Amounts You Owe The Tax Office From Sales section of the GST Calculation Worksheet, usually supplied to you with your BAS.

Use the BAS Report Totals on the first page of the GST Claimable Report to fill in the GST Amounts The Tax Office Owes You From Purchases section of the GST Calculation Worksheet, usually supplied to you with your BAS.

When the reports are prepared, the system automatically creates a Tax Clearing Journal which moves the value from the GST Payable and/or Claimable G/Ls (depending on the report prepared) and places it on the ATO Supplier.

Although this value is cleared each time the GST reports are prepared, the reports can be prepared as many times as needed and only new entries values will be cleared to the ATO Supplier.

Paying your Business Activity Statement

The BAS accounts for more than just GST so when you make a payment or receive a refund from the ATO you will need to account for the GST and the other items (PAYG Withholding and/or Instalment Income).

The following example uses Manual Cheques to code the BAS payment into the system.

• Click on Suppliers
  
• Click on Manual Cheques
  
• Click on New
  
• Enter the total of the payment you are processing
  
• Click on Entries
  
• Depending on how you paid the BAS, in the Manual Cheque # field, enter the
  
  • Cheque Number, or
    
  • BPay Reference Number
    
  • Credit Card Payment Reference Number
    
• Enter name of who you are paying in Description e.g. ATO March BAS
  
• Set the date to the date the payment was made
  
• Enter Amount that was paid
  
• Enter the appropriate Bank GL
  
• One the first line of the distribution tab to the GL field
  
• Select the GL for the ATO Supplier's Accounts Payable
  
• Tab to the Sub Ledger field and enter ATO
  
• Tab to the Apply to Document and click on the down arrow
  
• Tick the month/s that you are paying (if any months you are paying are shown in red, be sure to tick them first)
  

• Click on OK
  
• Click on Yes to the warning about there still being an unapplied amount. It will be the PAYG Withholding and PAYG Installments
  

• On the next line enter the amount of PAYG Withholding paid on this BAS (if any) and code to the GL for PAYG Withholding Tax
  
• Tab to the TaxCd column and delete the G
  
• On the next line enter the amount of PAYG Installments paid on this BAS (if any) and code to the GL for Installment Income
  
• Tab to the TaxCd column and delete the G
  
• Any of the ‘cents’ left over from the GST will be on the next line.
  
• Code this to the Rounding GL
  
• Tab to the TaxCd column and delete the G
  

 If you have any queries regarding processing warranties in COSTAR please contact the Support Desk

GST in COSTAR - New Zealand

This help file outlines how GST works in COSTAR. It will cover; 

• The setup in the system for GST,
  
• Running the GST reports for filling out the GST Return
  
• Processing the payment of the GST Return
  

Set Up

Costar is delivered already set up for GST. The rate of GST, the General Ledger accounts the GST goes to and the Supplier the GST is remitted to is set in Settings>Company Setup on the Taxes tab.

Tax Codes

The Tax Codes that are used in Costar are as follows:

A – All Tax

C – Capital Acquisition

E – Export/Import

F – GST Free

G – GST

T – Inter-company Transfer

GST will end up in the GST Payable or GST Claimable GL’s depending on the source document. E.g. GST on an Order Entry Invoice or Credit Note will be coded to GST Payable, and GST processed in Suppliers AP Invoice Entry and Manual Cheques will be coded to GST Claimable.

Filling out your GST Return

At any stage the Costar GST Reports can be viewed/prepared in the system. Before you are ready to fill out your GST Return, the GST Reports should be run one final time to ensure that you are working off the most up to date reports.

• Financials
  
• G/L Reports
  
• Tax Reports (bottom left hand side)
  
• Click either the GST Payable or GST Credit report to run
  
  • GST Payable will show the GST you owe the Government
    
  • GST Credit will show the GST the Government owes you
    
• On the properties of the report, fill in the month range you wish to run it for
  
• Click on OK
  
• Click on the report icon just created
  
• Click Prepare
  

Use the Goods and Services Tax Return Totals on the first page of the GST Payable Report to fill in the GST on your sales and income section of the GST Return.

Use the Goods and Services Tax Return Totals on the first page of the GST Claimable Report to fill in the GST on your purchases and expenses section of the GST Return.

When the reports are prepared, the system automatically creates a Tax Clearing Journal which moves the value from the GST Payable and/or Claimable G/Ls (depending on the report prepared) and places it on the IRD Supplier.

Although this value is cleared each time the GST reports are prepared, the reports can be prepared as many times as needed and only new entries values will be cleared to the IRD Supplier. 

Paying your GST Return

The payment of the GST Return can be processed into Costar just as any Supplier payment can be processed from Manual Cheques. The Manual Cheque is simply allocated to the Accounts Payable and then the IRD account and the months being paid can then be ticked off.

If you have any queries regarding GST in COSTAR, please contact the Support Desk