Adjustments to GST

SOLVED

Hi again,

Last year when the accountants gave me the YE Adjustments Entries they had an entry that was Credit Accounts Receivable and Debit Bad Debts.  Which we did but since they forgot to take in consideration the GST that we had paid already in that year they told us to make an entry this year to recuperate that GST.  Since i am new at this I didnt know how to do that.  The girl that helped me do the year end adjustments told me that in my next GST report (wihich was a few months ago...) to do this:

2310 GST Collected: 225.45 just (does she mean ADJUST)??

When i do my GST remittance I usually do a Purchase Invoice as follow:

2310 GST Charged on Sales (positive amount)

2315 GST Paid on Purchases (negative amount)

2325 GST Adjustments (positive or negative amount depending on the entry)

So my question is: to recuperate the GST that we already paid since we are not going to see that money (its in BAD DEBT), do i negative 2310 or do i make the entry in the Adjustment account (2325) and if so would it be negative or positive??

Thanks in advance

  • 0
    verified answer

    Make a general journal entry "to record GST portion of bad debt re invoice #...." debit 2310 GST charged on sales and credit Bad Debt expense.

    Then do your next GST reporting as usual. The adjustment will be reflected in the GL accounts and if you use the GL accounts to calculate the amounts for your purchase invoice you'll capture the adjustment.

  • 0 in reply to AmyGurl

    ok perfect i will do that.. i have another question.

    lets say today i file my gst return for Jan-March 2015.  then tomorrow i post extra expenses or make some kind or adjustment etc for something that is dated between Jan-March 2015 or even before, I always thought that it would be reflected on my next GST return as an adjustment to GST but I dont think it does... how does it work?

  • 0 in reply to AmyGurl

    ok so I just looked up what the girl did and here is what it looks like:

                                                                                                                           Debit                            Credit

    31/03/2014        J7996 AJE2 ClientXX

                                2310           GST Charged on SAles                              225.48

                                5620           Bad Debts                                                     4509.50

                                1200           Accounts Receivable                                                                     4734.98

    then she gave me a posted with the note:

    2310 GST Collected 225.48 just

    From the instructions AmyGurl gave me, it looks like she wants me to do what was already done so I am really confused...  This is why I didnt touch it until now.. I dont understand why i have to do it when its already done... there must be a reason why she told me to do it.. can you explain?

    Thanks,

    LaChapa

  • 0 in reply to LaChapa
    verified answer

    I agree; the GST on the bad debt has already been posted - do not post again.

    Your second question: when you make a backdated entry in a period that the HST has already been filed for, that entry will change the ending balance of the account. You should always be reconciling the ending balance of the GL for the period being filed to the amounts being reported.  I never use the Tax reports in Sage50 as they are confusing and not reliable. Eg. if a general journal entry is made to the GST account (as in my example above), if the tax coding isn't done correctly, it won't show up on the report.  The reports also show only the information for the period requested, not any backdated or adjusted transactions.  

    The solution: print the GL for 2310 and 2315 for the period of the return. The opening balance should be zero OR you should see the entry for the prior period reporting posted in the list of transactions which hopefully is the same amount as the opening balance. Use the ending balance of the accounts as the amounts to report for the filing.

    Make a pay later purchase invoice dated for the last day of the reporting period DR #2310 and CR #2315. Post. The new ending balance of both 2310 and 2315 will be zero. Then Pay Purchase invoice when you either pay it, or get a refund.

  • 0 in reply to AmyGurl

    ok so when i do my GST report I take the numbers from the Ending Balance and I make a Purchase Invoice as pay later as you said but I never entered it as of the last day of that period, i always entered it in the month after... i think that will mess up my numbers right??

  • 0 in reply to LaChapa
    verified answer

    When you first made the sale of that bad debt customer you would have entered as below:

    Cr 4000 Revenue Account 4509.50

    Cr 2310 GST Charged on Sales 225.48

    Dr Acct Rec 4734.98

    Now that it is a bad debt you would then pull up the same customer and enter as per below:

    Dr 5620 Bad Debt 4509.50 (enter in sales module as a negative nbr)

    Dr 2310 GST Charged on Sales 225.48

    Cr Acct Rec 4734.98

    AmyGurl is right to say 'never use the Tax Report in Sage 50'.

    If your remittance period is Dec1/14 to Feb28/15 then when you do the GST remittance you would print off the balance sheet as of Feb28/15. Also print off the 2 G/L accts (GST Paid and GST charged) for the period of Dec1/14 to Feb28/15 (you will notice the balance forward on the GST Charge in sales acct is no longer zero becus of the bad debt entry you made). And print off the Income stmt for the period of Dec1/14 to Feb28/15.

    Now you can clear out the 2 GST accts in your Acct Pay module using the numbers showing on the balance sheet and date the pay later purchase invoice as Feb28/15. This will in effect refund the 225.48 that you originally paid. Now you can pay this invoice the following month on the due date it is for which in this example would be Mar31/15.  Even if you have previously done this before using pay now purchase invoice dated the following month you will still follow the procedure above as it will not throw your numbers out since you always use the numbers showing on your balance sheet. Printing off the 2 G/L accounts is used as a backup document in case one needs to find out what the detailed transactions are that makes up the balance sheet amounts.

    I hope this helps.

  • 0 in reply to Smith and Co

    ok so i believe the right accounts were hit but my concern is, We did this bad debt entry in june or july for our year end which was march 31.  we posted that entry as march 31 which is fine and then we locked the year.  since we had already done gst for jan-march (sometime in april), when we did the entry and then locked it, did it roll over and show up for my next gst remittance? the one for april-june that i did in july? i think it would but maybe not since it was in another year?  I mean why would the girl give me a sticky note telling me to adjust 2310 on my next gst return if its already showing up?

  • 0 in reply to LaChapa
    verified answer

    Yes, it will roll over. As long as you are using the balance sheet for the amounts to remit you will be fine.

    I don't know why the girt would tell you to adjust it. Even if done in previous year it will still roll over just like your bank account balance will roll over into the new year.