GST total paid and GST total invoiced that has to be paid back

[Andrew Greig]

On Mon, 2006-04-03 at 19:08 -0700, Cam Ellison wrote: 

> I actually use 3 Liability sub-accounts, like this:
> 
> Liabilities
>    |
>    --GST
>       |
>       |--GST Collected  (from clients)
>       |--GST Paid  (paid for goods and services)
>       |--GST Payments  (paid to CRA)
> 
> Instead of entering the GST you pay for goods and services as 
> Expenses|Taxes|GST, enter it as Liabilities|GST|GST Paid, and so on.  It 
> will automatically show as a negative (and so will GST Payments).  Your 
> accountant can undoubtedly give you a better explanation than I can.
> 
> These two oppositely-signed accounts (GST Paid & GST Payments) are 
> called contra-accounts.
> 
> Works like a dam for me, because the GST parent account always shows 
> what I owe.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Cam
Hi Cam,

Thanks for that valuable tip.  I had been trying to copy the MYOB setup
for GST but had not gone far enough.  So today I set up the parent
account and then tucked the others under it, also adding the GST Payable
account.  

I just need to get the next stage right in my head.

I see the balance owing by me to the Tax man as a positive amount.  So
when it comes time to pay the amount owing, do I just go into the
Checking account register (since there is no invoice )and pay from the
checking account as a withdrawal, and then select GST Payable as the
balancing account?  Will it show up in that account as a negative
amount, and thus counteract the amount shown in the GST parent account?


Yours sincerely

Andrew Greig
Melbourne, Australia