BAS preparation

The BAS preparation dashboard is available on Plus and Pro. It displays the following estimates from your recorded invoices and expenses. These figures do not establish whether you need to register, lodge or claim a credit:

• G1 | Total sales (inc. GST). Included invoice-line amounts plus their GST, or invoice totals where no lines are available.
• G3 | Other GST-free sales. Amounts recorded as GST-free medical supplies, subject to the invoice-level GST adjustment described below.
• 1A | GST on sales. GST from included taxable lines, with an invoice-level fallback where the document records GST that its lines do not carry.
• G11 | Non-capital purchases. The amount of each expense logged in the period.
• 1B | GST on purchases. The modelled GST component of expenses meeting the recorded conditions below.
• Net GST payable to ATO or Net GST refund. The dashboard labels the difference between 1A and 1B according to its sign. Review this estimate before treating it as a payment or refund amount.

Recorded GST treatment drives how invoice lines flow into the BAS totals. When you are GST-registered, the invoice form asks for the treatment of shift and mileage lines. Custom lines have an editable suggestion based on their description. The BAS breakdown groups stored treatments as follows:

• GST-free medical. Stored amounts contribute to G1 and G3.
• Taxable (ex-GST). Amounts contribute to G1; their GST contributes to 1A.
• Input-taxed. Included in G1 and tracked separately from G3.
• Mixed (review). Included in G1 and flagged for review. The BAS calculation does not apportion the amount.

A suggestion is not a tax decision. Review custom lines and ask your registered tax agent about uncertain treatment. If an invoice records GST but none of its lines carries it, BAS preparation uses the invoice GST figure, adjusts the sales breakdown and warns you to check the lines. Where no invoice lines are available, it uses the invoice subtotal and GST amount instead.

The A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) s38-7(1) says a supply of a medical service is GST-free, subject to the exclusions in s38-7(2). The definition of medical service in s195-1 covers:

• A service for which Medicare benefit is payable under Part II of the Health Insurance Act 1973, or would be payable if s19AD of that Act were disregarded.
• Any other service supplied by or on behalf of a medical practitioner or approved pathology practitioner that is generally accepted in the medical profession as necessary for the appropriate treatment of the recipient of the supply.

GST Act s38-7(2) excludes from s38-7(1) a professional service rendered in circumstances covered by a prescribed provision of regulations under the Health Insurance Act 1973. It also excludes a service rendered for cosmetic reasons unless it is a professional service for which Medicare benefit is payable, or would be payable if s19AD were disregarded.

For other health professions, GST Act s38-10(1) requires all three conditions: the service is of a kind listed in its table or specified in regulations; the supplier is a recognised professional for that kind of service; and the supply would generally be accepted in that profession as necessary for the appropriate treatment of the recipient. The table includes dental, nursing, occupational therapy, optometry, paramedical, pharmacy, psychology, physiotherapy, podiatry and speech pathology services.

Pharmacy has a further limit: under s38-10(2), a pharmacy service is not GST-free under s38-10(1) unless it relates to a supply that is GST-free under s38-50 or is a service of conducting a medication review. Being a listed health profession is not enough on its own.

These are the tests to discuss when reviewing the GST-free medical treatment grouped in the BAS view. Sessional groups the treatment recorded on invoice lines; it does not apply s38-7 or s38-10 to decide whether your service qualifies. Take the contract, service description and recipient details to a registered tax agent before relying on that treatment for a particular supply.

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 quarter in this dashboard. This is the product's date filter, not a complete GST accounting method. 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 either you have recorded that you hold a tax invoice or the expense is $82.50 or less including GST. GST law does not require a tax invoice for a purchase whose value is $75 or less, which is $82.50 including GST (GST Act section 29-80 and GST Regulations 2019 section 29-80.01). 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.

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.