Review GST Setup | Migrating from Agrimaster 6.5 to Agrimaster 10

Before migrating from Agrimaster 6.5 to Agrimaster 10, you need to check that GST is correctly set up and activated in your Cashbook and Quick Budgets.

This is required to successfully import your Agrimaster 6.5 Quick Budgets and actuals data into Agrimaster 10.

It is important that you complete all the steps in this article before migrating.

Why should your farm business budget for GST?

GST can have a significant impact on your farm business's Cashflow because the timing of GST payments and refunds can differ from the timing of the associated income and expenses.

A transaction may occur today, but the GST associated with it may not be paid to, or refunded by, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) until a later BAS period. These timing differences can add or remove tens of thousands of dollars from your available cash at critical times of the year.

A common example is grain pooling. A grower may deliver grain into a pool and receive an advance payment soon after delivery, with further distributions paid months later as the grain is marketed. GST obligations can arise when those payments are received, meaning GST may need to be remitted through a BAS well before the final pool proceeds are paid.

As a result, the timing of GST payments can be very different from both grain delivery and the receipt of the farm's total income.

By budgeting GST as a separate Cashflow item, Agrimaster helps you forecast future GST payments and refunds. This gives you a more accurate view of your working capital, reduces the risk of Cashflow surprises and helps you make more confident financial decisions.

Activate GST in your Cashbook and Budgets

To access your GST Setup:

1. From the Home Page, click Setup & Tools.
2. Click Cashbook Setup.
3. Click Tax.
4. Click Setup GST.

Setting up GST in Agrimaster is a once-off process unless your accountant or the ATO advises you to make a change. For example, you may be instructed to move from Cash to Accruals, or from quarterly to monthly BAS reporting.

GST Setup

On the first GST Setup screen:

1. Check that the correct business name and ABN are entered.
2. Check the GST start date. This is the date your subscription commenced. If you have had your subscription since GST commenced in Australia, this will read 1 July 2000.
3. For your GST reporting basis, either Cash or Accruals.
4. Select how often you report your BAS return to the ATO, for example, quarterly or monthly.
5. Tick the two boxes in the bottom left-hand corner to activate GST in your Budgets and Cashbook.
6. Click Next to progress to GST Rates and Categories.

Review GST Rates and Categories

Agrimaster has 11 GST categories, but only eight are reported to the ATO on the BAS.

This is because not all transactions entered in the Cashbook or Budget attract GST or are required to be reported to the ATO.

For example, selecting the correct GST category is important for codes such as Personal Drawings or a Term Loan Repayment. These transactions are not subject to GST, do not need to be reported on the BAS and should not calculate GST in your Budget.

If these codes have an incorrect GST category, they would calculate additional GST and Cashflow liabilities to your Budget and Cashbook.

For a detailed explanation of the 11 GST categories and when they should be applied to your codes, refer to the Agrimaster Help Centre article: Agrimaster GST Categories.

This screen also displays the current GST rates. The GST rate has been 10% since 1 July 2000. If the GST rate changes in the future, this is where it would be updated.

Click Next to move to GST Code Setup.

Review GST Code Setup

The GST codes are automatically added to your code list and are used as follows:

• GST Collected is the code Agrimaster uses to automatically calculate GST on income earned. You cannot add data to this code. Agrimaster uses this code to calculate GST payable by the business in your BAS and Budgets.
• GST Paid is the code Agrimaster uses to automatically calculate GST on goods you have bought. You cannot add data to this code. Agrimaster uses this code to calculate GST owed to the business in your BAS and Budgets.
• GST Refunded refers to GST the farm business will receive back from the ATO. This occurs when you have paid out more GST than you have received.
• GST Remitted refers to GST the farm business will pay to the ATO. This occurs when you have received more GST than you have paid out.

Click Next to move to Allocate GST Rates to Codes.

Allocate GST Rates to Codes

This screen was set up when GST was first introduced and allows codes to be assigned a GST category in bulk.

No action is required on this screen, as it can be actioned in the code setup area of the program.

Click Next to move to GST Proportional Codes.

Review GST Proportional Codes

This section is for codes that are partly used for business and partly for personal use. It also applies when a personal code is partly used for business purposes.

You can apply a percentage to decrease or increase the amount of GST claimable on your BAS return.

For example, you may only be able to claim 70% of the GST on electricity invoices.

We recommend speaking to your accountant to determine the correct percentages to use.

Set up GST in your Quick Budgets

To import a Quick Budget into Agrimaster 10, GST must be activated in the Budgets.

To check your Quick Budget:

1. From the Home Page, click Budgets.
2. Click Quick Budgets.
3. Open the Quick Budget you would like to import into Agrimaster 10.

Once in the Budget, you can check whether the GST calculator is turned on by looking at the GST In and GST Out Group Headings.

• Under GST In, check the GST Collected and GST Refunded codes. If you can see red values, the GST calculator is active.
• Alternatively, scroll to the bottom of the Payments section and locate GST Out. If you can see red values in the GST Paid and GST Remitted codes, the GST calculator is active.

If the GST calculator has not been turned on, there will be no data showing.

Turn on GST in your Quick Budget

To turn on GST in your Budget:

1. Click the Tax icon with a calculator and a small red dot.
2. Check that GST is now calculating in your Budget.

If your Budget amounts already include GST

If you have been entering data into your Budget with GST included, you must reduce the Receipt and Payment codes by the GST amount.

If you do not do this before turning on the GST calculator, Agrimaster will add another 10% GST on top of the amounts already entered.

To reduce the income and expenditure GST by 10%:

1. Select the Adjust by Percentage icon at the top right-hand corner of the program.
2. Select Remove GST.
3. Select all Receipt and Payment codes, except for the codes within the GST In and GST Out Group Headings.
4. To do so, hold down the Control key and deselect:
   • GST Paid
   • GST Remitted
   • GST Collected
   • GST Refunded
5. Select the entire period for the Budget.
6. Please Note: If you used in-cell worksheets within the Quick Budget, you will also need to select the correct quantity to reduce the value. In this example, we used $/Unit.
7. Click the green tick.

You will now notice that Agrimaster has removed GST from the codes. Instead, Agrimaster will calculate GST In and GST Out in the GST sections, ensuring the GST is calculated correctly.

Enter opening GST and PAYG balances

Once you are happy with the data in your Budget, you need to enter any GST refunds or liabilities that should also be reflected in the Budget.

If your farm business has accrued any opening GST liabilities or credits, GST returns or GST payments, PAYG liabilities or Fuel Tax Rebate Balances from before the Budget period, these also need to be entered.

To enter these amounts:

1. Click the Opening Balance icon.
2. Review and enter the required data in the following four areas:
   • GST Balances
   • Late GST & PAYG Payment
   • Fuel Tax Rebate Balances
   • PAYG Balances

Important: If any of these figures are a liability, enter the amount as a negative amount (with a minus).

Recalculate your Budget

Once you have completed all GST Setup and Budget changes, click the Re-calculate Budget icon.

This ensures all the changes you have made to your Budget are applied.

Once GST is correctly activated, your GST settings have been reviewed, your opening balances have been entered and your Budget has been recalculated, this step of preparing your Agrimaster 6.5 file for migration is complete.