Businesses need to look at the potential issues with their own GST systems in mind. Senior people might sign the form but the process is actually completed at a low level. This increases the capacity for risk and liability because the assumption is the system is perfect and there are sufficient controls in place to manage the risk. Yet we are finding many companies do not have sufficient controls built into their systems. The systems were designed to get over the line on 1 July, but the controls and disciplines were not built into them to the extent that they should have been.
Companies change, people change and the risks change.
Mr O'Rourke says for this reason it is vital a company examines its exposure from all points of view. The ATO is not just receiving BAS and filing them away - at a basic level, it is doing a statistical analysis of those statements. The ATO has, in its own system, the facility to compare your October BAS with your November BAS and to look out for statistical variations. But the analysis doesn't stop with looking for inconsistencies in your own records over time. Mr O'Rourke says while the ATO is yet to signal an intention to do so, it is clear the information from the BAS can be used for benchmarking companies within and across industries.