What should we do if supporting documents have been lost / can no longer be found / faded and no longer visible?
Every transaction needs a receipt, tax invoice, or acceptable proxy (e.g. a contract showing the payment amount) to justify it.
Where a document genuinely can't be produced:
- Notify the Accounting Manager that the supporting document is missing/unavailable.
- If nothing can be provided after following up, cash code the transaction so the books stay current.
- For GST-registered clients, we will not put through a GST claim for that expense. With no supporting document there's no evidence to justify the input tax, so it goes through as cash coded without the GST component claimed.
- If the transaction is not justifiable with proper supporting doc, expenses will not be treated as 'tax deductible' as well. For what constitutes as 'tax deductible', you may refer to Running My Business > Managing my Taxes > Frequently Asked Quesions
