XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB
Country Restriction: Australia only
Risk Type: Tax Risk
Business Function: Purchases
Overview
This XBert checks whether your business has claimed GST on its purchase bills during a time when it was not registered for GST. Only GST-registered businesses can claim GST credits on what they buy. If your business is not registered, the GST recorded on these bills cannot be claimed, and claiming it overstates the GST credits on your activity statement. Catching it early lets you either recode the bills or register for GST before it becomes an ATO problem.
What it does
It looks at the purchase bills your business has entered — draft, submitted or authorised — and finds those that carry a GST amount. It then compares each bill's date against the periods your own business was actually registered for GST, based on your ABN. When several bills carry GST on dates that sit outside every registered period, it groups them into a single alert and reports how many bills are affected and the total GST involved.
How it works
XBert looks up your business by its ABN in the Australian Business Register (ABR) and reads the official record of when your GST registration started and, if applicable, ended. It then checks each bill that carries GST and compares the bill date against those registered periods. Rather than raise a separate alert for every bill, it gathers all the affected bills for your business into one alert with the total count and total GST, so a business with many mis-coded bills gets a single, clear flag.
To keep the results accurate, it deliberately stays quiet when:
Your business has a current, open GST registration on the ABR — an active registration means the GST is most likely fine.
There is recent sign of GST on the sales side, such as GST charged on invoices around the same time, which indicates the business is operating as registered even if the ABR record lags.
Bills carry no GST, or fall outside the checked statuses.
This focus means it only fires when the evidence genuinely points to a business claiming GST credits it is not entitled to.
Example/Use Case
Sam's consulting company let its GST registration lapse a couple of years ago but kept entering supplier bills with the standard GST code out of habit. Across the last few months, fourteen bills carry a total of $2,180 in GST — credits the business cannot claim while it is unregistered. XBert groups all fourteen into one alert showing the count and the total GST. Sam checks the ABR, confirms the business is no longer registered, and either recodes the bills to a no-GST code or re-registers the business for GST so the credits are valid. Either way, the next BAS is right.
Accounting software
This XBert runs on Xero and MYOB, the platforms where a reliable business ABN is available to confirm GST registration.
Which countries it supports
Australia only. It relies on your ABN and the Australian Business Register, so it does not apply to businesses in other countries.
Processes
Business area: Purchases (accounts payable). To resolve a flagged alert:
Open the alert and review the list of bills that carry GST while the business appears unregistered.
Check your GST registration dates on the Australian Business Register (ABR) to confirm whether the business was registered on those dates.
If the business is not registered, recode the affected bills to a no-GST code, such as BAS Excluded or GST Free, so no GST credit is claimed.
If the business should be registered, register it for GST with the ATO, then confirm the bills are treated correctly.
Review your GST settings in your accounting software so new bills use the right tax code.
If any affected bills fall in a BAS period you have already lodged, work out the adjustment and follow the ATO's process for correcting GST on a later statement.
Once corrected, mark the XBert as resolved.