GST made easy. That’s the tagline for AdvancedSoft’s I-Enterprise software which allows companies to calculate goods and services tax (GST).
AdvancedSoft Technologies systems director and software developer Ooi Chew Guan said the company was one of the 55 approved vendors by the Royal Customs Department and the only one in the northern region.
“GST is not as complicated as people think but it is difficult to calculate manually if you have a high volume of customers or sales as each product or transaction needs to be calculated manually,” said Ooi.
Ooi said small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should install a basic accounting system which can calculate and track purchases accurately.
“Most software systems like ours have a price range of between RM2,500 and RM48,000.
“A system in the range of RM2,500 will feature basic accounting and have a standalone system while that in the range of RM48,000 is meant for bigger companies which have their own warehousing, inventory and human resource departments.
“Generally, most people will find a RM5,000 system sufficient. Moreover, it is only a one-off payment,” said Ooi.
He added that companies should not be daunted by the prospect of GST. All a company needs is to have a good GST accounting system in place that has a general ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable and invoicing features.
“Some of the things that need to be taken into account include who the taxable person is, what type of product is featured, the time of supply and the place of supply.
“GST features in a good software system includes a tax invoice, debit note, credit note, bad debt relief, taxable periods, invoice or payment and submission of GST returns.
“The Customs Department monitors the submissions of each company and should there be any discrepancy, then an audit will be conducted.
“A reliable software system can conduct an audit trail to trace any discrepancies if the Customs Department wants to track a purchase, for example,” he said.
According to Ooi, to use the system the user has to key in his daily transaction, select a GST code, submit the form, use what is known as GF connect which is a GST submission form and click start date.
The software will automatically retrieve all the transactions at the click of a button and a report is
generated.
Ooi added that although a different software is used for mini markets and hypermarkets, all software has a component called point of sale.
In March, the Royal Customs Department director-general Datuk Seri Khazali Ahmad said 55 companies had been picked to supply goods and services tax (GST) compliant accounting software for registered SMEs.
The companies were selected from a list of 72 firms that applied to provide the service. SMEs that purchase the software from the approved vendors can get a subsidy from SME Corp for up to RM1,000.