Setting up Tax Rates

Tax Rate

Consumption taxes, such as GST and VAT, can have a material impact on forecast cash flow, so it’s essential to set them up the right way, from the start.

Castaway includes a range of flexible settings to help you model the calculation and payment of your Tax.

Accessing the Tax Rate

To access the Taxes setup, navigate to Overview > Taxes > Edit.

This is configured when you create a project.

Setting up Tax Rates

Setting up your Tax in Castaway involves 3 steps:

1. Set the standard rate
2. Set the lodgement and payment timings
3. Set the Tax Rate for each element

Set the standard rate

Set the GST/VAT rate for Sales and Purchases. This rate will be applied to every NEW element by default and can be adjusted for each individual element separately as well.

Note

At this stage, the GST/VAT Tax Method is limited to Invoice only; where the Tax Liability is recognised based on invoice timing, not payment.

Set the lodgement and payment timings

To access the settings associated with your Taxes e.g. lodgement and payment timings (which affect your Cashflow projections), navigate to Forecast > Element Settings > Balance Sheet > Current Liabilities > GST/VAT.

Select either of the GST/VAT elements to launch its settings screen. 

Here, you can control settings for:

• How frequently GST/VAT returns are lodged to the relevant revenue authority (e.g. ATO or HMRC)
• The timing of payments or refunds arising from those returns

Lodgment Method	Calculate: Castaway will Calculate the amount owing or refundable for each Tax return Manual: Enter the values of each Tax Return yourself
Lodgment Cycle	Set the frequency of your Tax Returns
Cycle End Month	Select the month that is the end of your lodgment cycle. Note: This is the month your return cycle ends, which may be different from the month when you actually lodge the return and pay the amount owing or receive the amount refundable
Cashflow	Use Days Credit to specify payment terms for each return to be lodged

Example:

Country	Australia	New Zealand	United Kingdom
Lodgement Schedule	Quarterly	2 Monthly (odd cycle)	Quarterly
Cycle End Month (choose any of the listed months)	Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec	Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov	As appropriate
Cashflow timing	Generally 28 days but 58 days for Dec	Generally 28 days but 45 days for Nov and 36 days for Mar	37 days

Set the Tax Rate for each Element

Tax Rates apply to 7 types of elements in Castaway:

1. Sales
2. Costs
3. Inventory
4. Provisions
5. Other Asset/Liability
6. Fixed Assets (Tangible)
7. Fixed Assets (Intangible)

If you identify any elements that need a rate that is different from the Standard rate, you can go into the Element Settings of each affected element and edit the rate accordingly.