Record keeping for small business

Examples: Business activity statement

'My Business' has chosen Option 1 for reporting GST. Refer to Sample transactions for cash books for the source of the figures we used in the 'Option 1' GST calculations in the example below. Example: Business activity statement (PDF, 51KB) Also, refer to PAYG instalments - how to complete your activity statement (NAT 7393) for information on how to use these options.

How to record the activity statement payment you make to us

The activity statement payment you make to us is made up of a number of elements:

• the net GST payment
• your PAYG instalment
• amounts withheld from wages.

For some businesses, other payments could also be included.

If the amounts are significant to you and occur regularly, you could add a column to your cash book for each element.

For the My Business example, we suggest the following entry in the cash payments book. This entry separately identifies in the wages column the amount withheld from Dwayne Pyper's wages - which is an allowable tax deduction for you - and the other payment elements, which are not.

Cash payments book - example (PDF, 31KB)

Sections within Sample cash books and activity statement

• Sample transactions for cash books
• Example - cash payments book (PDF, 40KB)
• Example - cash receipts book (PDF, 38KB)
• Examples: Business activity statement