BAS preparation

Australian BAS reporting for a non-GST-registered locum is simple: lodgement is not required and most pages of the form stay blank. Once you pass the $75,000 turnover threshold (or register voluntarily) the form asks for the following labels, and Sessional derives them for you:

• G1: Total sales (including GST). The sum of live invoice lines issued in the period, with GST included for taxable lines.
• G2: Export sales. Always zero for AU locum work. Displayed for completeness.
• G3: Other GST-free sales. Clinical supplies under s38-7 of the GST Act.
• 1A: GST on sales. 10% of the ex-GST amount of every taxable line. Sums to what you remit to the ATO.
• G11: Non-capital purchases. The amount of each expense logged in the period.
• 1B: GST on purchases. The eligible GST component of recorded GST-inclusive expenses.
• Net GST. 1A minus 1B. Positive means payable to the ATO; negative means a refund.

Every invoice line carries a GST treatment that drives how it flows into the BAS totals. The invoice-creation flow applies a heuristic classifier and you can override per line:

• GST-free medical supply. The default for clinical shift-based lines. Covers appropriate treatment delivered by an AHPRA-registered practitioner. Flows into G3 only.
• Taxable. Medico-legal reports, insurance reports, employer-commissioned assessments, teaching, supervision, and admin. Flows into G1 and 1A.
• Input-taxed. Rare on the locum side and used for financial supplies. It is tracked separately from G3.
• Mixed. A single line containing clinical and non-clinical components. Sessional warns and does not apportion; split the line before lodgement.

The classifier is conservative: when in doubt it defaults to GST-free medical. That matches the reality of most locum shift-based lines but means you should review custom lines where you have mixed work.

The BAS dashboard uses the invoice issue date to place a live invoice in the selected quarter. Draft invoices are excluded because they have not been issued. Voided invoices are also excluded because they no longer represent a live sale. Issued, acknowledged, overdue, disputed and paid invoices remain in the period because they were issued and have not been voided.

This is separate from the amount currently outstanding. Payment status changes what you are owed, but it does not move an issued invoice to another BAS quarter. If an invoice is corrected by voiding and regenerating it, the voided record stays in the invoice history while dropping out of the BAS totals. See invoice status and corrections.

Every expense in the period contributes its recorded amount to G11. It contributes a GST credit to 1B only when your finance profile says you are GST-registered, the expense is recorded as GST-inclusive and you have recorded that you hold a tax invoice. A category or receipt upload alone does not cause Sessional to assume a credit.

The expense ledger stores the treatment you choose, an optional exact GST amount, the creditable-use percentage and whether you hold a tax invoice. For a GST-inclusive expense, BAS preparation uses the recorded GST amount when present. Otherwise it derives the GST component using the rate for the tax year, then applies the creditable-use percentage. GST-free, input-taxed, out-of-scope and unclassified expenses contribute no GST credit at 1B.

The BAS calculation reads the GST registered setting stored in your finance profile. It does not infer registration from whether you have created an invoice, whether an invoice contains GST, or how much income is visible. This keeps the calculation tied to the status you have recorded rather than guessing from incomplete activity.

If your registration status changes, update the finance profile and review the affected period with your registered tax agent. Sessional records your setting and prepares figures from it. It does not check your registration with the ATO.

Most locums lodge quarterly. Sessional gives you a tab per quarter: Jul-Sep (Q1), Oct-Dec (Q2), Jan-Mar (Q3), Apr-Jun (Q4). The dashboard pre-selects the quarter you're currently in. To audit a previous quarter, pick its tab: the figures re-derive from the invoices and expenses that fall inside that window.