XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks Online
Country Restriction: Australia only
Risk Type: Compliance Risk
Business Function: Contacts
Overview
The "Matched ABN for Business" XBert alerts you when a contact in your accounting system has no ABN recorded, but XBert has automatically found a matching ABN for that business. Adding the missing ABN keeps your contact records complete and your GST and tax reporting accurate.
What it does
XBert looks across your bills, invoices and bank transactions and finds contacts that:
Have real transactions on your books (bills, invoices or bank payments and receipts since January 2022).
Do not have an ABN entered against them in your accounting software.
Have been confidently matched to a registered ABN on the Australian Business Register (ABR).
It then raises one XBert per matched business so you can review the suggested ABN and add it to the contact.
How it works
XBert compares your contacts and their transaction history against official Australian Business Register data. When a contact with no recorded ABN is an exact match to a registered business, XBert raises this alert with the suggested ABN and a link to the ABR record so you can verify it.
To keep the suggestions clean and trustworthy, XBert deliberately ignores some cases:
It does not flag the Australian Taxation Office, BPAY or eBay, which are general payment destinations rather than a specific supplier needing an ABN.
It does not suggest a merchant's ABN for an employee who is set up as a contact for reimbursements, because a salaried employee does not have a business ABN.
It only considers active contacts with approved or paid transactions, and skips archived contacts that cannot be edited until your next sync completes.
Example/Use Case
Marie runs a catering business and regularly receives bills from "Fresh Supplies Co." totalling about $4,200 this year. The contact was created in her accounting system without an ABN. XBert matches the supplier to its registered ABN on the Australian Business Register and raises this XBert. Marie checks the suggested ABN against the bill, confirms it is correct, and adds it to the contact. Her supplier records and BAS reporting are now complete, reducing risk if the ATO ever reviews her file.
Accounting software
This XBert runs on Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online.
Which countries it supports
Australia only.
Processes
This XBert relates to Contacts and helps you keep clean, reliable supplier and customer data. To resolve it:
Open the contact in your accounting software that XBert has flagged.
Check the suggested ABN against the supplier's bill, invoice or statement, and confirm it on the ABN Lookup website if you are unsure.
If the ABN is correct, enter it against the contact in your accounting software.
If the contact is not actually a registered business (for example, an employee or a personal payee), leave the ABN blank.
Once the contact is updated, mark the XBert as resolved.