Australia

Modules

Name	Technical name	Description
Australia - Accounting	l10n_au	The base accounting module for the Australian localization. It is installed automatically when the Australia fiscal localization package is selected. This module also installs the ABA Credit Transfer module.
Australian Reports - Accounting	l10n_au_reports	Adds the Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR) and the Business Activity Statement (BAS) report. It is installed automatically when the Australia fiscal localization package is selected.
Australia - Payroll	l10n_au_hr_payroll	The base payroll module for the Australian localization.
Australia - Payroll with Accounting	l10n_au_hr_payroll_account	Contains the necessary accounting data for the Australian payroll rules. It is installed automatically when the Payroll Entries option is enabled.
Employment Hero Payroll	l10n_employment_hero	Synchronizes all pay runs from Employment Hero with Odoo’s journal entries.

Accounting

Taxes and GST

In Australia, the standard Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate is 10%, but different rates and exemptions exist for specific categories of goods and services.

Note

The taxes impact the BAS report.

Tax mapping

Within the Australian localization, tax names encompass the tax rate as an integral part of their naming convention. Despite the high number of taxes configured in Odoo, their rates are often similar (0% or 10%).

GST sales taxes

The GST sales taxes available in Odoo are listed below.

GST name	Description	Label on invoices
10% GST	GST Sales	10% GST
0% EX	GST Free on Export Sales	0% GST Free
0% F	GST Free Sales	0% Exempt
0% INP	Input Taxed Sales	0% Input Taxed Sales
100% Adj	This is for adjustment, amounts can be modified to fit your needs	Tax Adjustments (Sales)

GST purchase taxes

The GST purchase taxes available in Odoo are listed below.

GST name	Description	Label on invoices
10% GST	GST Purchases	10% GST
10% C	Capital Purchases	10% Capital Purchases
10% INP	Purchases for Input Taxed Sales	10% Purchases for Input Taxed Sales
10% PRIV	Purchases for private use or not deductible	10% Purchases for Private Use
0% F	GST Free Purchases	0% GST Free
0% TPS	Purchase (Taxable Imports) - Tax Paid Separately	0% GST Paid Separately
100% ONLY	GST Only on Imports	GST Only on Imports
100% Adj	Tax Adjustments (Purchases)	Tax Adjustments (Purchases)
100% DGST	Deferred GST Liability	100% DGST
No ABN	Tax Withheld for Partners without ABN	Withholding Tax for No ABN
PAYGW - W3	Other amounts withheld (excluding any amount shown at W2 or W4)	Other Amounts Withheld (W3)

Variants

Businesses from certain industries need to report payments made to subcontractors from relevant services during the financial year. Odoo combines the use of taxes and fiscal positions to report these payments on the TPAR. In order to be compliant with the TPAR’s obligations, two variants of the main purchase taxes are available in Odoo, but they are inactive by default.

Example

For the 10% GST tax, the variants are:

Tax name	Description	Reports impacted	Default status
10% GST	Default 10% GST tax	BAS	Active
10% GST TPAR	TPAR variant of the tax, if the contractor provided an ABN	BAS TPAR	Inactive
10% GST TPAR NO ABN	TPAR variant of the tax, if the contractor did not provide an ABN	BAS TPAR	Inactive

Deferred GST

Odoo allows companies under the Deferred Goods and Services Tax (DGST) scheme to automate their deferred GST flows.

Configuration

It is recommended to:

• go to Accounting ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings and set the Tax Return Periodicity to monthly (= monthly BAS); and

• create a new journal to store all deferred GST entries by going to Accounting ‣ Configuration ‣ Journals ‣ New, and selecting Miscellaneous as its Type when configuring it.

By default, a tax (100% DGST, inactive by default) and an account (21340 Deferred GST Liability) are available for Australian companies. Activate the tax by going to Accounting ‣ Configuration ‣ Taxes. Search for the Name 100% DGST (remove the default filter if necessary), and click the Activate toggle switch.

Flow

1. Importing goods: purchase order and vendor bill

When importing goods from abroad, the GST liability can now be deferred for companies under the DGST scheme. On the purchase order, select the 0% TPS tax (tax paid separately) for the relevant order lines.

2. Recording the DGST balance on the BAS report

When the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is advised electronically of the aggregated liability for the company by the Integrated Cargo System (ICS), the GST balance deferred during the previous month becomes available on the ATO’s BAS portal.

Important

Odoo does not yet fetch the DGST balance automatically from the ATO. A manual entry with the liability amount needs to be created in Odoo. We recommend using a new journal for this purpose since deferrals will be recurring.

Go to Accounting ‣ Journal Entries ‣ New. On the first journal item line, add the Account 21340 Deferred GST Liability and the deferred GST balance as a Credit. To resume the example shown above, we credit $2,000 and save.

An auto-balancing line is created, along with journal items correctly assigning the right values in the BAS Tax Grids. Sections G11, G18, 7A, and ONLY are updated correctly.

After posting the journal entry, the BAS report displays the correct values for each section, along with the DGST offset.

Reports

Business Activity Statement (BAS)

The BAS report is a critical tax reporting requirement for businesses registered for GST in Australia. The BAS is used to report and remit various taxes to the ATO. With the Odoo BAS feature, businesses can report on the following:

• GST

• PAYG tax withheld

• DGST

Access the report from the Accounting dashboard by clicking BAS Report (AU) under the Miscellaneous Operations section.

The base and tax amounts are collected from the tax grid, which is pre-configured in the system. The tax grid can also be manually set up for any additional special use-case of GST (e.g., wine equalization tax). Once the tax for each account is set up, the system automatically slots journal items into the correct tax category. This ensures the BAS report is accurate and reflective of the business’s financial activities.

Besides the GST sections, the BAS report also includes the PAYG tax withheld components (W1 to W5, then summary, section 4). This integration ensures that all payroll-related withholding taxes are accurately captured and reflected within the report.

The module incorporates built-in rules that facilitate the automatic calculation of taxes for types W1 to W5. For a detailed walkthrough and more information on the calculation process for these taxes, refer to the Payroll section.

Closing

When it is time to file the tax return with the ATO, click Closing Entry. The tax return period can be configured under Accounting ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings ‣ Tax Return Periodicity. The start date of the tax return period can also be defined on the report itself through the period button ( period year).

See also

Year-end closing

Note

Odoo uses calendar quarters rather than the Australian FY quarters, which means July to September is Q3 in Odoo.

Before closing the entry for the first time, the default GST payable account and GST receivable account need to be set. A notification pops up and redirects the user to the tax groups configuration.

Once the GST payable and GST receivable accounts are set up, the BAS report generates an accurate journal closing entry automatically, which balances out the GST balance with the GST clearing account.

The balance between GST receivable and payable is set against the tax clearing account defined on the tax group. The amount to be paid to or received from the ATO can be reconciled against a bank statement.

Important

The BAS report is not directly submitted to the ATO. Odoo helps you automatically compute the necessary values in each section, with the possibility to audit them to better understand the history behind these numbers. Businesses can copy these values and enter them on the ATO portal.

Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR)

Odoo allows businesses to report payments made to contractors or subcontractors during the financial year. This is done by generating a TPAR. If you are unsure your business needs this report, refer to the ATO’s TPAR web page.

Access the TPAR in Odoo by going to Accounting ‣ Reporting ‣ Taxable Payments Annual Reports (TPAR).

Configuration

First, it is required to assign fiscal positions to your contractors before billing them to update the TPAR. To do so, go to Accounting ‣ Vendors ‣ Vendors, select a contractor, and set a Fiscal Position under the Sales & Purchase tab.

Based on the chosen fiscal position, the correct tax mapping will apply to the contractor’s vendor bills.

The TPAR includes the following information from contractors:

• ABN

• Total GST (the total tax paid)

• Gross Paid (the amounts are displayed after a vendor bill has been marked as paid)

• Tax Withheld (displayed if the contractor is registered with a fiscal position set to TPAR without ABN)

The TPAR can be exported to multiple formats: PDF, XLSX, and TPAR.

Remittance advice

A remittance advice is a document used as proof of payment to a business. In Odoo, it can be accessed by going to Accounting ‣ Vendors ‣ Payments, selecting the payment(s), and clicking Print ‣ Payment Receipt.

E-invoicing

Peppol

Odoo is compliant with Australia’s Peppol requirements. Set up your customers and vendors by going to Accounting ‣ Customers ‣ Customers or Vendors ‣ Vendors, selecting one, clicking the Accounting tab, and configuring the Electronic Invoicing section as needed.

Important

Validating an invoice or credit note for a partner on the Peppol network will download a compliant XML file that can be manually uploaded to your Peppol network. Odoo is currently in the process of becoming an access point for the ANZ region.

ABA files for batch payments

An ABA file is a digital format developed by the Australian Banking Association. It is designed for business customers to facilitate bulk payment processing by uploading a single file from their business management software.

The main advantage of using ABA files is to improve payment and matching efficiency. This is achieved by consolidating numerous payments into one file for batch processing, which can be submitted to all Australian banks.

Configuration

Batch payments

Go to Accounting ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings and enable Batch Payments.

Bank journal

Go to Accounting ‣ Configuration ‣ Journals and select the Bank journal. Enter the Account Number, click Create and edit…, and fill in the following fields:

• Bank

• BSB

• Account Holder

Then, toggle on the Send Money switch and click Save & Close.

Note

Using the Currency field is optional.

Back on the Journal Entries tab, fill in the following fields under the ABA section:

• BSB: the BSB code from the bank account is used to fill in this field.

• Financial Institution Code: the official 3-letter abbreviation of the bank (e.g., WBC for Westpac)

• Supplying User Name: 6-digit number provided by the bank. Contact your bank or check its website if you do not know it.

• APCA Identification Number: 6-digit number provided by the bank. Contact your bank or check its website if you do not know it.

• Include Self Balancing Transaction: selecting this option adds an additional

  “self-balancing” transaction to the end of the ABA file, which is required by some banks.

Customers’ and vendors’ bank accounts

Go to Accounting ‣ Customers ‣ Customers or Accounting ‣ Vendors ‣ Vendors and select a customer or vendor. Open the Accounting tab, and, under the Bank Accounts section, click Add a line to fill in their:

• Account Number

• Bank

• BSB

• Account Holder

Then, toggle on the Send Money switch and click Save & Close.

Generating an ABA file

To generate an ABA file, create a vendor bill, confirm it, and ensure the vendor’s banking information is set up correctly.

Next, click Pay on the vendor bill, and select, for the following fields:

• Journal: Bank

• Payment Method: ABA Credit Transfer

• Recipient Bank Account: the vendor’s account number

Once payments are created, go to Accounting ‣ Vendors ‣ Payments, select the payments to be included in the batch, and click Create Batch. Verify all information is correct and click Validate. Once validated, the ABA file is available in the chatter on the right.

After uploading the file to your bank’s portal, an ABA transaction line will appear in your bank feed at the following bank feed iteration. You will need to reconcile it against the batch payment made in Odoo.

Industry-specific features

Starshipit shipping

Starshipit is a shipping service operator that facilitates the integration of Australasian shipping couriers with Odoo. Refer to the Starshipit documentation for detailed information.

See also

Starshipit Odoo webinar recording

Buy Now, Pay Later solutions

Buy Now, Pay Later solutions are popular payment methods for eShops in Australia. Some of these solutions are available via Stripe and AsiaPay.

See also

• Stripe payment provider

• AsiaPay payment provider

POS terminals

To establish a direct connection between Odoo and a POS terminal in Australia, a Stripe payment terminal is required. Odoo supports the EFTPOS payment solution in Australia.

Note

A Stripe payment terminal is not required to use Odoo as the main POS system. However, without one, cashiers must manually enter the final payment amount on the terminal.

See also

• Stripe payment provider

• Stripe payment terminal

• Stripe.com terminal documentation