Enter a GST or HST Payment in Cash-Basis Accounting

If you find that you owe GST (or HST) to the government:

1. If you have not already done so, create a vendor record for the Receiver General.
1. In the Home window, open Vendors and click the Create toolbar button .
2. In the Vendor box, type Receiver General.
3. Click the Taxes tab, set the Tax Exempt status of each tax to Yes. Then, click the Save and Close button.
2. From the Home window, open Purchases, Orders, and Quotes. Enter the Receiver General as the vendor.
3. Do one of the following:
• If you want to issue a cheque immediately, select Cash or Cheque in the Paid By box, and enter a cheque number.
• If you plan to issue a cheque later, follow the rest of these steps. Then issue a cheque later.
4. Enter an invoice number, such as GST/HST Q1 for the first quarterly GST/HST payment, and enter the date.
5. Enter the amounts and account numbers for all GST/HST accounts, as follows.
• In the Amount box, enter the corrected GST/HST Paid total from the GST/HST report, as a negative number. In the Account box, enter the GST/HST Paid On Purchases account number.
• On the next line, enter the corrected GST/HST Charged total from the GST/HST report, as a positive number. In the Account box, enter the GST/HST Charged On Sales account number.
• Similarly, enter the amounts and account numbers listed on the Transactions By Account report for the remaining GST/HST accounts: GST/HST Adjustments account, ITC Adjustments account, and GST/HST Payroll Deductions account (if you have one).

The invoice total should equal the amount you owe the government, as calculated on the GST/HST return.

6. From the Report menu, choose Display Purchase Transaction Detail to check the entry. The amount you owe should be shown as a credit to the Bank account.
7. If you want to print a cheque, choose Print from the File menu.
8. Click Record. If you selected Cash or Cheque as the transaction type, the program updates all the related accounts, removing the GST amounts reported for this period to prepare for the next reporting period. Otherwise, the program does not update the accounts until you record payment of the cheque.

If you want to ensure that you have properly cleared the GST accounts:

1. Create a temporary copy of your company files, and switch to accrual-basis accounting in the temporary copy.
2. Print a balance sheet. If you cleared the accounts properly, the GST/HST account balances should be zero in the temporary accrual-basis copy of your company files. If the balances are not zero, check the steps you took to adjust the GST/HST report and account for a payment to see where the error occurred.

Published: June 21, 2016
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