Overview
Business Activity Statements (BAS) track your sales tax and PAYG obligations for each reporting period. Beeswax automatically calculates the figures from your invoices, expenses, and payroll entries.
Each BAS period covers a date range (monthly or quarterly) aligned to your financial year (typically July to June for US businesses).
What Is Tracked
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Sales Tax Collected | Sales tax charged to customers on invoices |
| Sales Tax Paid | sales tax paid to suppliers on expenses |
| Net sales tax Position | Collected minus Paid (positive means you owe the ATO) |
| PAYG Instalments / Tax Payments | PAYG income tax instalments and other BAS tax prepayments |
Managing Periods
Use the Manage Periods link to configure your BAS reporting schedule — monthly or quarterly.
Each period shows:
- The period name and date range
- Lodgement status (Lodged or Not Lodged)
- Due date for lodgement
- Reporting basis (Accrual or Cash)
Reporting Basis
Each BAS period uses a reporting basis that defaults from your account's Sales Tax Reporting Basis setting. You can override the basis for individual periods before lodging.
- Accrual — sales tax is reported when invoices and expenses are issued
- Cash — sales tax is reported when payment is actually received or made
Note: The BAS reporting basis is independent from your Income Tax Reporting Basis. These are governed by separate legislation and operate completely independently. It is very common for businesses to use Cash basis for BAS/sales tax while using Accrual basis for income tax returns and Profit & Loss reports.
Because of this, the income and expense figures on your BAS may not match those on your Profit & Loss report or tax return. This is expected and correct — the BAS should not be used as a reference for preparing your income tax figures when the two methods differ. You can configure both settings separately in Account Settings > Accounting.
The Books column on the list compares each period's statement with the books on that period's basis. See Business Activity Statement Periods and Differences for how it is worked out and how to investigate a difference.
BAS Journal and Payment Accounting
The journal shows every figure the BAS report shows, even at zero: 1A, 1B, Net sales tax, W2, 5A and the total. PAYG withheld from wages (W2) starts from the period's payrolls and clears Employee PAYG Payable, the liability those payrolls created. The PAYG instalment (5A) is the figure the ATO asks for, so you enter it. A statement entered before these were separate has one PAYG line on Tax Payments, shown as 5A; if that amount was really W2, delete the statement and enter it again.
When you create a BAS journal, Beeswax clears the sales tax balances for the period and creates the amount payable to the ATO. PAYG instalments are posted to Tax Payments, which is an asset account because the instalment is a prepayment against a later income tax assessment.
When you record the BAS payment, Beeswax clears the ATO payable. The payment does not clear the Tax Payments account; that asset remains until the later income tax return or tax adjustment applies the prepayment against final tax payable.
Example
| BAS Field | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sales Tax Collected (1A) | $6,647 |
| Sales Tax Paid (1B) | $1,354 |
| PAYG Instalment (5A) | $6,970 |
| Net sales tax Payable | $5,293 |
| Total BAS Cash Payable | $12,263 |
BAS Journal
| Account | Debit | Credit | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales Tax Collected | $6,647 | - | Clears sales tax collected liability |
| Sales Tax Paid | - | $1,354 | Clears sales tax input credit balance |
| Tax Payments | $6,970 | - | Records PAYG instalment as a tax prepayment asset |
| Trade Creditors / ATO Payable | - | $12,263 | Creates the BAS amount payable to the ATO |
| Total | $13,617 | $13,617 | Balanced BAS journal |
BAS Payment
| Account | Debit | Credit | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trade Creditors / ATO Payable | $12,263 | - | Clears the BAS payable |
| Bank | - | $12,263 | Records cash paid to the ATO |
| Total | $12,263 | $12,263 | Balanced payment entry |
Flow
flowchart TD
A["BAS amounts<br/>sales tax collected 6,647<br/>sales tax paid 1,354<br/>PAYG instalment 6,970"] --> B["Create BAS journal"]
B --> C["Dr Sales Tax Collected 6,647"]
B --> D["Cr Sales Tax Paid 1,354"]
B --> E["Dr Tax Payments 6,970<br/>(prepayment asset)"]
B --> F["Cr Trade Creditors 12,263<br/>(ATO payable)"]
F --> G["Record BAS payment"]
G --> H["Dr Trade Creditors 12,263"]
G --> I["Cr Bank 12,263"]
E --> J["Later income tax return"]
J --> K["Cr Tax Payments<br/>to apply prepayment"]
Period Locking
Choose Mark Lodged once a period has been lodged. The period is then locked, so the books keep matching what you reported.
- Anything that changes the period's tax figures is read-only. That covers finalised invoices, bills, refunds and manual journals with a tax-coded line, and payroll. They cannot be edited, re-dated into or out of the period, voided or deleted, and nothing new with tax on it can be finalised into it.
- On a cash basis the period reports documents when they are paid, so payments dated in a locked period cannot be recorded, re-dated or deleted, and a document paid in it is read-only. An unpaid invoice dated in the period stays editable. On an accrual basis payments are unaffected.
- Entries with no tax figures, such as depreciation or a loan reclassification, can still be posted. Year-end journals dated on the last day of the year go through after the last period is lodged.
- To correct something, record the adjustment in your next period. If the lodged period itself must change, choose Unlodge. Unlocking is recorded in the activity log against your name, and the account owner and accountants are emailed.
- Mark Lodged and lock books also moves the account lock date (Company Settings → Accounting → Lock Date) to the end of the period, so nothing at all can be posted on or before it. The lock date only ever moves forward. For the last period of the financial year this option comes second and warns you, because year-end journals dated that day would be refused.
- A Books locked badge shows on any period the account lock date already covers.
Filtering
| Filter | Description |
|---|---|
| Search | Filter periods by keyword |
| Status | Show Lodged, Not Lodged, or all periods |
Permissions
- Owners, Super Admins, and Accountants can manage BAS statements, lock/unlock periods, and view tax reports
- Managers, Basic users, and Clients cannot access BAS statements
Note: Available to tax-registered accounts in every region. UK accounts see this page as the VAT Report.