A BAS return in Nagaris is composed from a workpaper: a computed pack of GST figures for a client's period. This article covers how composing handles a client's GST basis, the profiles Nagaris halts on rather than composing, the verification step required before a cash-basis return can be approved, and how to void a compose that shouldn't stand.
If a client has unreconciled bank transactions dated inside the period, the workpaper composes as held with a gate reason. Preparers can override this from the Compose over the readiness gate? dialog, which records that the override was used so a reviewer can see it later.
Before composing anything, Nagaris checks the client's GST profile. Six profiles aren't supported yet, and for each of them the run halts with the exact reason named on screen instead of composing a partial or short pack:
Profile | Why it halts |
|---|---|
GST instalments | Nagaris doesn't compose the G21-G24 instalment labels. The ATO's quarterly notice is already prefilled; reconciling it annually is a separate, future lane. |
GST group | A GST group lodges one statement through its representative member, a different structure to a single entity's return. |
Deferred GST (import deferral) | Label 7A is prefilled by the ATO and isn't modelled, so Nagaris halts rather than guess it. |
Large withholder | The client's PAYG withholding cycle doesn't match this statement's cycle. |
Annual activity statement | An annual return can also carry WET, LCT and FTC, which Nagaris doesn't compose yet. |
Partnership or trust PAYG instalments | Instalments belong to the partners or beneficiaries, not to label 5A on the entity's own statement. Nagaris raises a flow-through query instead of composing 5A. |
There's no override for a named halt. If the profile is wrong, correct it at the source (for example the client's GST cycle or grouping) and compose again; otherwise handle that return outside Nagaris for now.
Nagaris checks each client's own ledger for the GST basis it reports (accrual, cash, or unknown).
Accrual ledgers compose as before: every figure is dated by its document.
Cash ledgers now compose on cash directly. GST is recognised where money actually moved: a payment, a refund, or an allocated credit note. An invoice nobody has paid contributes nothing to any box. The workpaper shows a Composed on a cash basis note when this applies.
Previously, a cash-basis client could only be composed on accrual, with a warning that the pack was not for lodgement. That path is gone. A run held for the old basis reason can simply be prepared again, since the cash-basis client now composes correctly instead of being blocked.
A BAS return composed on a cash basis is provisional until someone checks it against a period already lodged with the ATO. While provisional:
The return shows a Provisional, not yet signable notice with the reason.
The Approve button is disabled for approvers.
Approvers see a Verify cash figures button next to Approve.
To clear the provisional status, an approver clicks Verify cash figures and:
Picks a period for this client that has already been lodged with the ATO.
Enters the 1A (GST on sales) and 1B (GST on purchases) figures as actually lodged. Nagaris shows the composed figures for the same boxes alongside them.
Reviews any variance. A difference of a dollar or less is treated as rounding. Anything larger must be explained in the notes field before the verification can be recorded.
Clicks Record verification.
This adds a Cash verified event to the return's timeline and lifts the provisional status, so the return can be approved. Verifying one quarter confirms the cash figures for that client, so later quarters compose ready to approve without needing to be re-verified.
If a pack was composed on the wrong basis using the basis override (from before this change), it still shows a Composed on the wrong basis. Do not lodge. warning on the workpaper, since every figure in it would be wrong rather than provisional.
If the client has a PAYG instalment notice recorded against the quarter this period closes (see "Understanding a client's obligation profile"), the Instalment Amount (T7) field on Prepare shows that notice's amount and date, and the figure is copied onto the composed statement. Type a different amount only to correct it for this return; it doesn't change the saved notice.
If a composed run turns out wrong, for example the period changed shape, the ledger was reconnected, or a figure in it should never be lodged, you can void it instead of leaving it looking current. Voiding keeps the run on the record for audit while marking it as no longer the one to work from.
Open the composed return and click Void this compose.
Enter why the compose shouldn't stand.
Click Void.
A voided run keeps its VOID status permanently and gets a Voided event on the return's timeline. It carries a Void badge in the list of composed runs, and opening the return no longer selects it by default: the newest run that isn't voided opens instead, or the approved run if one exists.
