Multi-country & tax
LedgerDesk ships with two country profiles — United States and Australia — each shaping defaults, tax handling, and available reports.
Country profiles
The country is chosen when you create a company and shapes several defaults for the life of that company:
- Currency, currency symbol, date format —
MM/DD/YYYYfor US,DD/MM/YYYYfor AU — and terminology used throughout the app. - A starting Chart of Accounts template appropriate to the country.
- The relevant sales-tax framework.
Country selection is intended to be a one-time choice made at company creation — it is not designed as a mid-year switch for an existing company's books.
United States
US companies work in ordinary sales-tax terms, on a standard American Chart of Accounts.
Australia — GST and BAS
AU companies get GST with the standard BAS-oriented tax codes:
| Code | Use |
|---|---|
| GST | Standard-rated goods and services |
| GST-Free | Supplies with no GST applied |
| Input Taxed | Supplies where GST credits can't be claimed |
| Capital Purchase | Capital-asset purchases |
| Capital Sale | Capital-asset sales |
| Export | GST-free exported goods and services |
| Import | Imported goods and services |
| BAS Adjustment | Manual adjustments to a Business Activity Statement |
| Custom | Anything not covered above |
Each code carries a rate, a BAS mapping, and whether it's claimable and/or payable.
Tax display mode
Reports and transaction entry can show tax-inclusive or tax-exclusive amounts. The active mode is shown on the report header — for example, "GST display: Exclusive" — and is remembered per report.
BAS reporting
For AU companies, the Report Center includes GST and BAS Detail reports — also available by Branch, see Dimensions & Branches — to support Business Activity Statement preparation.