The obligation profile is a per-client declaration of what that client's activity statement carries. Nagaris records it once, when the client is onboarded or their ledger is first read, then reads it on every period afterward instead of guessing at it from the ledger.
Every field in the profile is declared, not inferred. If a field hasn't been declared, the engine treats it as unset rather than assuming an answer.
The profile covers:
Field | What it declares |
|---|---|
| Whether the client's activity statement is a BAS or an IAS |
| The client's GST reporting cycle |
| Whether the client reports under simpler BAS |
| PAYG withholding cadence: quarterly, monthly or large |
| Whether PAYG instalments apply, and the method and cadence used |
| Whether an FBT instalment is included |
| Whether the client is registered for fuel tax credits |
| Whether wine equalisation tax applies |
| Whether luxury car tax applies |
| Whether deferred GST applies |
| Whether the client reports as part of a GST group |
Open the client and go to their Activity Statements tab. A Profile button next to the period controls shows a one-line summary of what's declared, for example "BAS · quarterly · withholding monthly", or Not declared if nothing has been set yet. The same summary appears as a Profile row on the client's BAS card. If the client's ledger states a GST basis, a GST basis row (Cash, Accrual or Not stated) appears on that card too.
Click Profile to open the panel and declare or change these fields:
Form: BAS or IAS.
GST cycle: monthly, quarterly, annual, GST instalments, or not GST-registered. This is the same cycle that decides which periods are offered when you start a return, so you can't set the two apart.
PAYG withholding: quarterly, monthly, large, or not declared.
PAYG instalment: a checkbox. Ticking it asks for a method (amount from the notice, or rate) and a cadence (quarterly or monthly). This checkbox only declares that the client carries PAYGI at all; when the method is an amount from the notice, record the actual notice on the client as described below.
This statement also carries: checkboxes for Simpler BAS, FBT instalment, fuel tax credit, wine equalisation tax, luxury car tax, deferred GST and GST group member.
Form and GST cycle are required. Nagaris won't save the profile until both are set, and if PAYG instalment is ticked, both its method and cadence are required too.
Deferred GST is out of scope: ticking it will halt composing for that client rather than produce a figure for it.
Until form family and GST cycle are declared, the client's Activity Statements tab shows a warning that a production compose will hold. See "Composing a BAS return: readiness holds and the cash-basis check" for what a hold looks like and when it can be overridden.
Ticking Fuel tax credit opens a second set of fields for how that client's credit gets figured. The method and figures are recorded on the client, separately from the profile checkbox, and the engine only ever copies or matches what's recorded here. It never derives a dollar figure or litres on its own unless you choose the derived method.
Choose a Method:
Method | What you record | What the engine does |
|---|---|---|
Claimed | The client's stated dollar figure (7D), where the evidence for it lives (email, screenshot, workpaper reference), and an optional prior-period over-claim (7C) | Copies the claimed amount as recorded. Leave the amount blank if the client's figure hasn't arrived yet; composing waits rather than invents one |
Lines | A litres schedule keyed row by row: date, amount, litres and fuel type (diesel or petrol), with an optional reference | Matches each row to a ledger line with the same amount, dated within three days. It does not read litres from Xero |
Supplied litres | A single litres figure supplied by the client | Uses the supplied figure directly |
Derived from spend | Nothing extra on this panel | Derives litres from spend, using a live-verified rate table recorded with the compose config rather than fetched from the ATO |
For the lines method, use Add row to key in another supplier document and Remove to drop a row; at least one row stays on the list.
When a client's PAYG instalment method is set to amount from the notice, a PAYG Instalment Notice panel appears on the client's Activity Statements tab, above the profile warning. This is where the ATO's instalment notice is recorded, on the client, ahead of any period being composed. It is never computed from the ledger.
For each quarter the ATO has sent a notice for:
Enter Quarter Starts and Quarter Ends for the notice period.
Enter the T7 Amount from the notice.
Enter the Notice Date.
Click Save Notice.
Saved notices are listed above the form with their period and T7 amount. Saving a notice for a quarter that already has one replaces it.
When you prepare the return whose period closes that quarter, the notice's T7 amount is copied onto the Instalment Amount (T7) field automatically, with a note showing the amount, the notice date it came from, and that it was copied because this statement closes the quarter. Type a different amount in that field only to correct it; doing so doesn't change the saved notice.
Nagaris normally reads the GST bridge's E term straight from Xero's journals API. If your firm's Xero connection hasn't granted that API scope, a Journal Report panel appears on the client's Activity Statements tab, below the PAYG Instalment Notice panel, so you can supply the same figures another way.
In Xero, go to Reporting → Journal Report and export the full financial year using the default columns.
In the Journal Report panel, choose the matching Financial year from the dropdown.
Choose the exported file (.xlsx) to upload it.
One upload covers the whole financial year: the engine windows the report's lines to whichever period it's composing, so you don't need to drop a new file for each BAS or IAS period. Uploading a new file for a financial year that already has one replaces it, and you can remove a drop from the list if you need to.
A Journal Report drop feeds the GST bridge's E term only. No lodgeable BAS or IAS label reads these postings directly.
Some of these fields duplicate a setting Nagaris already stores on the client, usually synced from your practice management or accounting software. Where both exist, the existing client setting stays authoritative and the profile has to agree with it:
Profile field | Existing client setting |
|---|---|
| PAYG withholding cadence |
| Fuel tax credit registration |
| WET registration |
| LCT registration |
| PAYG instalment method and cadence |
| The family of the client's declared form type |
If the two disagree when a period is composed, composing halts before it reads any figures. The hold names both settings and the value each one holds, so you can see the mismatch and correct whichever one is wrong. There's no override for this hold.
Five fields have no matching client setting and come from the profile alone: gst_cycle, simpler_bas, fbt_instalment, dgst and gst_group.
Agreement checks run before any other check on the client's obligations for that period. A period only reaches later checks once the profile and the client record match.
Every workpaper run's audit trail carries the client's obligation profile exactly as declared, field for field, with unset fields shown as none. If you're trying to work out why a period composed the way it did, or why a hold names a particular setting, the audit trail is where to check what Nagaris had on file for that client at the time.
