Frequently asked questions

For small businesses that want their BAS done without the fuss. If you care about privacy: your statements stay on your device. If you don't want to pay for big accounting software full of features a small business never uses. And if you'd rather not spend an evening before every BAS sorting through statements and receipts.

YellowBAS is not the right fit if:

• You lodge your BAS monthly, or report GST once a year. YellowBAS works one quarter at a time.
• You need bookkeeping all year round: a balance sheet, inventory, or tracking who owes you.
• You want the software to lodge with the ATO. YellowBAS makes a draft; you or your registered agent lodge it.
• Your GST is complex: margin scheme, property, imports. Ask your accountant.

Yes. Sole traders: your statements and receipts become one expense report with GST, plus your G1, 1A and 1B figures. Companies (Pty Ltd): the same, plus wages (W1, W2) and payments to and from the director kept apart from business costs. Accountants: drop in any client's files and get the report in your own Excel layout. The free version covers one business (one ABN). For several clients, a version for accounting practices and BAS agents is coming: write to us for early access.

It's free: no credit card, and no sign-up needed to start. You sign in (also free, just your email) to download your BAS draft and Excel report, and for AI sorting, which is free up to 300 lines a month. The current version stays free for one business (one ABN). Coming soon: packages with extra features, and versions for accounting practices and BAS agents. Want early access, have a question or an idea? Write to us.

Just drop your bank statements and receipts on the page. Everything else is guided: the page shows what to do next and asks only simple questions. Want to see it first? Watch the 1-minute demo.

Gather the quarter's statements and receipts. Split payments into business and personal. Work out the GST. Fill in G1 (sales), 1A (GST on sales) and 1B (GST credits), and W1 and W2 if you pay wages. YellowBAS does the sorting and the sums; you or your accountant check and lodge.

It depends on your quarter and on whether an agent lodges for you. Check the current dates on the ATO website.

We'd love to hear it! What small businesses ask for is what we build next. Share your idea.

All the big ones: CommBank, NAB, Westpac, ANZ. Also St.George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA, Bankwest, Bendigo, Suncorp, ING, BOQ, Macquarie, Great Southern Bank, ME Bank, Heritage, Revolut and Wise, plus American Express, Stripe, PayPal, Shopify, Square and the Uber Tax Summary. Bank not listed? Try its CSV first.

Your bank only shows the payout, after the platform has taken its fees. If only the payout were counted, your sales (G1) would be too low and you would miss the GST credit on the fees. So add the platform's own file with your bank statement: the Stripe tax invoice or payout report, the PayPal, Shopify or Square CSV, or the Uber Tax Summary. YellowBAS then counts your full sales in G1, puts the fees in your expenses (with GST where the platform charges it: Stripe, Shopify and Uber do, PayPal does not), and does not count the bank payouts a second time. No platform file yet? YellowBAS shows which payouts are after fees and where to download the file.

Bank statements as PDF, CSV, Excel, OFX or QIF; Stripe, PayPal, Shopify and Square reports, and Uber's monthly Tax Summary; receipts as photos, screenshots or PDF; a payroll summary if you pay wages; your accountant's Excel template. A PDF statement that is a scan (a picture with no text) can't be read: download the CSV or OFX from your internet banking instead.

They are locked (encrypted) on the phone with a key only your page has. Our relay just passes the locked file on and deletes it. It can't open it.

Each receipt is matched to a payment with exactly the same amount (to the cent) within 5 days of the receipt date; if several fit, the closest date wins. Cheques are matched to a cheque line within 45 days, and a cash receipt becomes an expense of its own. The GST printed on the receipt is used, not one eleventh. A card receipt with no payment is flagged. You can change any match by hand. More about receipt matching.

Usually, yes.

• Long receipt: take two or three photos from top to bottom. YellowBAS sees they are parts of one receipt and joins them in the right order, with one total. If it doesn't, press Join with the receipt above.
• Crumpled or folded: the photo is cleaned on your device first (the paper is cut out of the background and fold shadows are flattened) and read several times, so most crumpled receipts come out fine.

We still suggest not crumpling them: flat receipts read best, and the ATO may want to see them for up to five years. If one still reads wrong, fix it by hand or press Fix with AI.

Open the receipt, compare it with the photo and fix the shop, date, total or GST yourself. Signed in, you can also press Fix with AI: only the text read from that receipt is sent, with card numbers and names taken out, never the photo. The AI's answer is marked and counts only after you confirm the receipt.

Tell us, and we'll fix it. Send us a note with the bank or shop and what went wrong. If we need the file, we'll ask for a sample with personal details removed, so we can make it work.

Only if you choose it. Most lines are sorted on your device from the shop name, your own rules and what other users confirmed. For shops it doesn't know yet, you can press Sort with AI (signed in, free up to 300 lines a month). Only the shop name as your bank prints it, without numbers, goes through our server to an AI model, with no storing and no training. Never amounts, dates, account numbers or your files. Each suggestion is marked AI and counts only after you check it. When enough people confirm the same shop, YellowBAS knows it by itself and no longer asks the AI. A receipt photo that did not read well can be fixed with AI too: only the text read from it goes, with card numbers and names taken out, never the photo.

YellowBAS asks you about lines that look personal and keeps them out of your business costs and GST.

• Sole trader: they become drawings (money you took for yourself).
• Company (Pty Ltd): they go to the director loan, so you and your accountant can see what the company paid for you.

Yes. Add your payroll summary (a CSV from your payroll software) and YellowBAS puts wages before tax in W1 and the PAYG withheld in W2. Wage payments in the bank statement are kept apart from business costs.

No. Most sort themselves. For the few the app isn't sure about, it asks a simple question: was it for the business, and what category. It remembers your answers, so next quarter there's less.

Usually yes, for bigger purchases. For small ones, a receipt or bank record is often enough. The exact limit and rules can change, so check them on the ATO website. YellowBAS warns you when a bigger receipt doesn't say “Tax invoice”.

No. It makes a draft. You or your registered agent check it and lodge with the ATO.

No. YellowBAS opens and reads them right here, in your browser. Nothing goes to our server or anyone else's. The only exceptions are sending photos from your phone by QR code and moving a draft to another device: then a locked (encrypted) copy passes through our server, which cannot open it, and is deleted when it is collected (or after 15 minutes for a draft, about an hour for photos).

Check it yourself. Open YellowBAS, then turn off Wi-Fi. You can still add files, sort transactions and see your BAS figures. Only sending receipt photos from your phone by QR code needs the internet; offline, add them as files. To download the report offline, sign in once while online.

Yes. Sign in and press Sync my settings (encrypted) in the Business box. Your rules, columns, accountant template and GST choices are locked on your device before they are sent, so we cannot read them. Save the recovery key you are shown: on a new device you unlock your settings with your passkey or that key. Amounts, statements and receipts are never synced. You can also keep using Save settings file.

You don't have to do anything: they stay in this browser. New computer? Press “Save settings file” in “Business and drafts”, then “Load settings file” on the new one. The file holds settings only, no amounts or statements.

Open Business and drafts and press Continue on another device.

• On a phone: scan the QR code with the camera.
• On another computer: press Copy link, send the link to yourself (email or a message app) and open it there.

The draft opens with its statements, receipts and answers. It is locked (encrypted) on your device. Until the other device opens the link, the locked copy waits on our server, which cannot open it; it is deleted as soon as it is taken, or after 15 minutes if nobody opens the link. The link works once, for 15 minutes, so keep it private; Cancel link deletes it at once. It moves a copy: changes made on the other device stay there.

Yes. Bank CSV, OFX, QIF or PDF, Stripe and PayPal reports, receipt photos, screenshots, PDF invoices: drop them in together. Keep each client separate under “Business and drafts”. The free version covers one business (one ABN). For several clients, a version for accounting practices and BAS agents is coming: write to us for early access.

Yes. Upload your spreadsheet under “Accountant's report template”. YellowBAS fills the same columns every quarter.