How to calculate PAYG (Pay As You Go) - Australia only

Why PAYG matters

PAYG (Pay As You Go) is a system the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) uses to collect income tax throughout the year, instead of in a lump sum at year-end.

For farm businesses, PAYG instalments are based on your income for the year. The ATO looks at your income lines and calculates how much tax you need to prepay, spreading it across regular instalments.

Benefits of PAYG in Farm Focus

Farm Focus will automatically calculate your PAYG instalments so you can:

• See how much tax needs to be set aside.
• Plan ahead for cashflow.
• Stay compliant with ATO requirements.

How to view PAYG in Farm Focus

1. Open the GST worksheet.
2. Select the PAYG Instalments tab.

This shows the information used to determine your income tax for the GST period. The total amount is transferred to your BAS report.

• Only income lines are included (not expenses).
• Data is grouped by KPI reporting group.
• All amounts are GST exclusive.

Overview 

1. Open the PAYG Instalments tab
2. The period the instalments relate to
3. KPI reporting groups
4. Use drop down arrow to drill into the detail
5. Total amount to be transferred to the BAS report.

Hints and checks

• KPI reporting group must be set to an income KPI.
  • All Farm Focus standard code templates are set up correctly.
  • If you have customised codes, check that you’ve chosen the right KPI group.
  • eg: Feed sold must have KPI = Other farm income, while Feed purchased must have KPI = Feed purchased
• Not all income is taxable. For example, dividends are excluded.
• If PAYG is not behaving as expected, check:
  • The KPI reporting group (Settings > Codes > Farm codes).
    Learn more.
  • That you have coded the invoice correctly.
    eg: Agistments may be income (if you are grazing someone else’s stock) or expense (if your stock is being grazed off farm).
    You can change coding directly in the GST worksheet using the view icon.
    Learn more.

More information

• How to edit KPI reporting groups. Learn more.
• How to change coding in the GST worksheet. Learn more.