XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB
Country Restriction: Australia only
Risk Type: Compliance Risk
Business Function: Purchases
Overview
This XBert checks the documents attached to your supplier bills and looks for an Australian Business Number (ABN) that has been cancelled. A bill from a supplier whose ABN is no longer active can affect your GST claims and signals that the supplier's details may be out of date, so it is worth reviewing.
What it does
When a bill has a document attached (such as a supplier invoice or receipt), XBert reads the ABNs printed on that document and checks each one against the Australian Business Register. It then compares those ABNs to the supplier recorded on the bill. If the supplier's ABN on the attachment is shown as cancelled, XBert raises this alert.
How it works
XBert looks at bills dated within roughly the last six months that have an attachment. It reads the company details from the attached document and checks their status on the Australian Business Register.
The alert is raised when the cancelled ABN belongs to the supplier on the bill — that is, the cancelled number matches the supplier's recorded ABN or business name. To keep the alert accurate, XBert deliberately ignores some situations:
If the document also shows the supplier's own ABN as active, and the only cancelled ABN on the page belongs to an unrelated business that happened to be printed on the same document, the alert is not raised.
If XBert can already identify the supplier by a recorded ABN and the cancelled number is clearly a different, unrelated business, the alert is not raised.
If a cancellation date is known and the bill was dated before the supplier's ABN was cancelled, the bill is left alone, because the supplier was still active when the bill was raised.
Where there is genuinely not enough information to identify the supplier (for example, no ABN has been recorded for them), XBert still raises the alert so you can check it.
Example/Use Case
Priya at ACME Sports processes a $1,100 bill from a cleaning supplier, Sparkle Services Pty Ltd, and attaches their invoice. XBert reads the invoice, finds Sparkle Services' ABN, and sees that it has been cancelled on the Australian Business Register. Priya contacts the supplier and learns the business has been wound up and now trades under a new entity with a new ABN. She updates the supplier's contact record with the correct, active ABN and confirms the new details before paying future bills — protecting ACME's GST credits.
In a separate case, the only cancelled ABN on an attachment belongs to a different company whose logo happened to appear on a receipt, while the actual supplier's own ABN is active. XBert recognises this and does not raise an unnecessary alert.
Accounting software
This XBert runs for bills connected through Australian-compatible accounting software, such as Xero and MYOB.
Which countries it supports
Australia only.
Processes
This alert falls under the Cleanup category and helps keep your purchases and accounts payable records accurate. To resolve it:
Open the bill and the attached document, and check the supplier's ABN against the Australian Business Register.
Contact the supplier to confirm their current, active ABN and trading details.
Update the supplier's contact record in your accounting software with the correct ABN so future bills are recorded accurately.
Review any GST claimed on bills from this supplier, as a cancelled ABN can affect your entitlement to GST credits.
Once the details are corrected, mark the XBert as resolved.