What Documents Do You Actually Need for BAS? A Simple List for Clients
A plain-English list of the documents your bookkeeper or BAS agent needs each quarter — what to send, what to skip, and how to send it once.
Table of contents
If you've ever opened an email from your bookkeeper asking for 'the usual BAS docs' and felt your eye twitch — this one's for you. Below is the exact list of documents your BAS agent needs each quarter, written in plain English, so you can send everything in one go and forget about it until next quarter.
Bookkeepers: this is a share-with-clients piece. Send it to anyone who routinely sends you three of the five things you asked for.
The short version
- Bank statements for every business account, for the full quarter
- Credit card statements for the same period
- Loan statements that show interest charged
- Receipts or invoices for any purchase over $82.50 that isn't already in your accounting software
- Sales records that aren't already in your accounting software (cash sales, POS exports, marketplace payouts)
- Payroll information if Single Touch Payroll isn't auto-finalising
- Motor vehicle logbook updates (or kilometres if you use cents-per-km)
That's it. If you send all seven in one upload, your BAS agent can usually finish your return in a single sitting.
Why each one matters
Bank statements — PDFs, not screenshots
PDFs let your bookkeeper reconcile to the cent. Screenshots cut off transactions and force them to ask for the same statement twice. Download the official PDF from internet banking — it takes 30 seconds.
Credit card statements
Even if your bookkeeper has a feed, the official statement is the source of truth for the ATO. Send it for every card used for business spending, including the personal cards you occasionally use.
Loan statements
Interest is deductible. Principal isn't. Your bookkeeper needs the statement to split them correctly — otherwise you either overpay tax or under-claim deductions.
Receipts over $82.50
The ATO requires receipts for purchases over $82.50 (GST inclusive). Photos from your phone are fine. Send them as you go and your quarter-end becomes a non-event.
Sales records
If you take cash, run a market stall, or get paid via Stripe/PayPal/Square, those sales might not appear in your accounting file automatically. Export them. Your BAS agent can't lodge what they can't see.
Payroll
Most STP-enabled software auto-finalises payroll. If yours doesn't, your bookkeeper needs a payroll summary for the quarter — gross, tax, super.
Motor vehicle logbook
A current logbook (within the last five years) is the difference between claiming 78% of your vehicle costs and claiming nothing. Update it quarterly while it's fresh.
What you do NOT need to send
- Every coffee receipt under $82.50 — your card statement covers them
- A spreadsheet 'summary' of your bank account — the statement is better
- Personal expenses, unless your bookkeeper specifically asked
- Last quarter's documents (we already have them)
The one-message rule
Send everything in one upload or one email. Drip-feeding five attachments across the week is the single biggest cause of slow BAS turnaround — and the reason your bookkeeper has to ask 'is this everything?' twice.
If you're not sure whether to include something, include it. It takes your BAS agent ten seconds to ignore a file and ten minutes to ask for one.
How to send everything in one go (and never get asked twice)
Create a folder on your phone called 'BAS Q[X]' the moment a new quarter starts. Every time you spend money on the business, photograph the receipt and drop it in. When your bookkeeper sends the request, you upload the whole folder and you're done in five minutes — no scrolling through three months of camera roll.
Common BAS mistakes that cost real money
Missing the GST on insurance and subscriptions
Annual policies and SaaS renewals often have GST buried inside. If you only send the bank line item, your bookkeeper can't claim it. Forward the tax invoice — that one email pays for itself.
Claiming personal expenses on business cards
Mixing them is fine; not flagging them isn't. A quick note ('the Apple charge on 14 May was personal') saves the back-and-forth and keeps your deductions defensible.
Ignoring small cash sales
Even $50 cash from a market stall is taxable income. The ATO's data-matching catches the deposit eventually — disclosing upfront costs nothing, fixing it later costs penalties.
When to send it
Within seven days of receiving your bookkeeper's request. The longer you wait, the more your bookkeeper has to chase you while juggling everyone else's quarter. Seven days keeps you in the 'easy client' bucket — and easy clients get priority when something urgent comes up.
What good looks like
One email, one upload link, every document in one go, and a one-line note about anything unusual. If you can do that four times a year, your BAS turnaround halves and your bookkeeping fee usually stops creeping up. Bookkeepers price for hassle, not for hours — be the easy client and you'll feel it in the invoice.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to send a receipt for every coffee?+
No. The ATO only requires receipts for purchases over $82.50 (GST inclusive). Smaller spend is covered by your bank or card statement.
My bookkeeper has a bank feed. Why do they still want statements?+
Bank feeds are convenient but not authoritative. The official statement is what the ATO accepts as evidence in a review, and it catches the occasional missing transaction the feed silently drops.
What format should I send PDFs in?+
Native PDFs downloaded from your bank or supplier — not photos of a screen. Native PDFs are searchable and reconcilable. Screenshots are neither.
Can I just give my bookkeeper online banking access?+
Usually yes, with read-only access. It removes the statement step entirely. Ask your bookkeeper whether they prefer that or the statement upload — both are valid.
What happens if I forget to include something?+
Your bookkeeper either lodges without it (you lose the deduction) or pauses your BAS to chase you (you delay the lodgement). Neither is fatal, but both are avoidable — when in doubt, include it.
Stop chasing. Start lodging.
DocChase sends the reminders, follows up on the right schedule, and lands every document in one place — so you can spend EOFY doing the work, not asking for it.
Start your 14-day free trialThe DocChase team writes practical playbooks for Australian bookkeepers and BAS agents who want their evenings back. We work alongside solo practices every quarter — every tip here has earned its spot in a real client workflow.
