XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks
Country Restriction: Australia only
Risk Type: Tax Risk
Business Function: Purchases
Overview
The "Bill Raised with an Unknown Supplier" XBert finds bills entered against a supplier that could not be matched to a registered business on the Australian Business Register (ABR). It helps you confirm you are dealing with a genuine, registered business before you claim GST, reducing tax risk and keeping your supplier records clean.
What it does
XBert takes the supplier on each recent bill and runs it through an automated check against the Australian Business Register. It looks at whether that supplier could be matched to a real, registered entity. When the supplier cannot be matched, XBert flags the bill so you can verify who you are paying and whether they are entitled to charge GST.
How it works
XBert reviews bills on your Australian organisation that were raised in the last year and are still at a DRAFT, SUBMITTED or AUTHORISED status. For each one, it checks the supplier against the ABR. An alert is raised only when all of the following are true:
The automated check has run over the supplier but could not match them to a registered business.
The bill includes at least $7.50 of GST — the level at which the ATO requires a tax invoice to support a GST claim.
The bill is dated within the past 12 months.
XBert deliberately ignores some cases to avoid double-handling. It skips paid, voided and deleted bills, and it skips suppliers whose registration was found to be cancelled or invalid, because those situations are covered by other XBert checks. It also skips bills with little or no GST, where the tax risk is negligible.
Example/Use Case
Marco runs a pizza shop and buys a new commercial oven from a supplier for $6,000, including $545 of GST. XBert alerts him that the supplier on the bill could not be matched to any registered business on the ABR. When Marco checks, he finds the supplier either gave outdated details or was never properly registered. Months later the ATO questions the GST claim and disallows it, leaving Marco out of pocket. Had he confirmed the supplier's ABN before paying, he could have asked for a correct tax invoice and avoided the problem entirely.
Accounting software
All Australian-compatible accounting software, including Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online.
Which countries it supports
Australia only.
Processes
This XBert falls under the Purchases (AP) area and helps you validate supplier identity and protect your GST claims. To resolve it:
Ask the supplier for their current ABN and confirm it using the free ABN Lookup service.
If the ABN has changed because of a business restructure, merger or name change, update the supplier's contact details in your accounting software so future bills match correctly.
Check the bill itself — make sure GST is only being claimed where the supplier is genuinely registered and a valid tax invoice has been provided.
Be cautious about paying suppliers that cannot be verified on the ABR unless you fully understand the tax implications.
Once the supplier has been verified or the bill corrected, mark the XBert as resolved.