Business Central Consultant, Australia

GST posting setup and the path to the BAS

In Business Central, GST on a line is decided by pairing the tax group held on the customer or supplier record with the tax group held on whatever is being sold or bought. Each combination in the tax posting setup holds a rate, a calculation method and the accounts used. The Australian localization adapts this for GST and includes features aimed at BAS preparation; how they work in your version is something to see demonstrated rather than assumed.

I build the combinations with your accountant: taxable sales, GST-free exports and food lines where relevant, input-taxed income such as residential rent or financial supplies, imports where GST is paid at the border or deferred, capital purchases, and expenses with no GST credit. Each combination is then traced to the BAS labels it should affect, so a variance can be explained by drilling into entries rather than by rebuilding a spreadsheet.

Two more Australian checks belong in the design. First, how supplier ABNs are recorded and what happens when a supplier does not quote one, since withholding may apply; ask the partner how the current localization supports this. Second, whether you exchange invoices over Peppol, and if so whether an app or service provider handles it. How each supply is treated is your accountant's call, and the configuration should mirror it exactly.

Dimensions and posting groups after MYOB or Xero

MYOB users often run analysis through categories and jobs, and Xero users through tracking categories. Both habits translate to dimensions in Business Central, but not one for one. I start from the reports management actually reads, then decide which analysis belongs in the chart of accounts and which in dimensions such as branch, job, region, sales channel or product line. Two dimensions can be global, which makes them available on most ledger views, and others can be added as shortcut dimensions on documents and journals.

Posting groups are the other half of the design. For a wholesaler with warehouses in several states, inventory posting setup by location decides where stock value sits, and general posting setup decides how revenue and cost of goods are split by customer type and product family. Item charges then allocate freight, duty and other landed costs to received stock, which matters for businesses importing through long supply chains.

I record all of this in a workbook your finance team approves, with default dimensions on customers, suppliers and items, and mandatory dimension rules on accounts where a missing job or site would break reporting. The partner configures from that reference, and your team uses it later when adding a new site or product range. My gap analysis service applies the same thinking across operations.

ABA payment files, bank feeds and reconciliation

Australian supplier payments usually leave the business as a direct entry file uploaded to the bank, often called an ABA file. Business Central has payment journals and electronic payment export, and the Australian localization has supported this file type, but the exact settings each bank requires, such as the user identification number and the account used for the balancing entry, must match the bank's specification. I collect those details early and ask the partner to confirm the export method and who maintains it.

For incoming money, two choices need settling: the route by which statement lines arrive (a feed provider, uploaded files or an add-on) and the rules that let reconciliation pair them with open entries, including customer receipts, card settlements net of fees, BPAY payments and direct debits. Matching rules that work on clean demo data often struggle with real references, so I test them on a month of your own statements.

Payroll is normally a separate decision. Most Australian businesses keep payroll in a dedicated payroll product that takes care of STP lodgment and super contributions, with the totals arriving in Business Central as journals. The layout of those journals is part of my design, including allocation to jobs or sites and the clearing accounts for wages, PAYG withholding and super. UAT includes a bank-accepted payment file, a full month reconciled and a payroll journal posted and checked.

New Zealand entities, consolidation and migration

Many Australian businesses run a New Zealand subsidiary. In Business Central online, localization is chosen per environment, so a New Zealand company using the New Zealand localization would typically sit in a different environment from the Australian companies. Cross-environment intercompany and consolidation then need a working method, and I want to see the partner run it with your sample entries, not describe it. I then design intercompany partners, mapped accounts, management fees and recharges, and a consolidation that translates New Zealand results into Australian dollars with eliminations. The multi-company ERP page covers the general pattern.

Migration from MYOB, Xero, Reckon or an older NAV system follows a familiar shape, with local twists. MYOB card files often hold duplicates and inactive records. Xero setups may keep inventory in a connected app, so stock quantities and costs come from two places. NAV sites carry customizations that should be reviewed before being rebuilt. I agree what moves as open items, such as debtors, creditors, open orders, stock by location and active jobs, and what remains archived.

Finance approves the trial balance, aged ledgers, stock value and GST control accounts before go-live. The data migration service explains the method. Workshops are remote and scheduled to suit teams across Australian time zones.

What Australian proposals leave out, and when to step down

Australian Business Central proposals tend to differ in what they leave out rather than what they include. I check whether the payroll interface, bank files and any ecommerce or freight integrations are priced, whether migration includes open transactions or only master data, how many UAT cycles are supported, whether training is role-based, and whether support covers both eastern and western business hours. Each gap goes back to the partner as a written question; the vendor proposal review page explains the approach.

Sometimes the right recommendation is a smaller step:

• A single-entity business on Xero with modest stock may be better served by improving its app stack and reporting.
• A trades business whose main need is job scheduling and quoting may get more from job management software linked to accounting.
• Without someone internal to own GST setup, posting groups and master data, any mid-market ERP will drift after the partner leaves.

For the wider platform view, see Dynamics 365 in Australia. Neutral advice across platforms is on the Australian ERP consultant page, while the Australia hub covers how I work with clients across the country. To compare options formally, use ERP evaluation.