Set Your Magento Up For Australia
Magento is our preferred ecommerce solution, as it is totally flexible, scalable and customisable! What's more, is that you can now also set your online shop up with a template theme - not everyone's cup of tea but if you are looking for a cheap professional looking online shop, this isn't something to be sneezed at.
So first things first, you need to install the Fontis Australia Extension. It's a free download and gives you all the added extras you need. Awesome job by Fontis so full credit to them there.
Once you have that installed, follow the below steps to get your online shop up, running and complying with ATO requirements. The instructions below are taken from Fontis, so full credit to them, I just find it easier to locate these instructions on my own website and they may prove useful to other people.
Basic Store Information:
System > Configuration > General
Countries Options
- Default Country: Australia
- Allow Countries: Make sure Australia is selected
Locale Options
- Timezone: W. Australia Standard Time (Australia/Perth) - Adjust as necessary
- Locale: English (Australia)
Currency Information:
System > Configuration > Currency Setup
Currency Options
- Base Currency: Australian Dollar
- Default Display Currency: Australian Dollar
- Allowed Currencies: Make sure Australian Dollar is selected
Shipping Settings:
System > Configuration > Shipping Settings
Origin
- Country: Australia
Tax Settings (Prices in the system include GST and prices displayed include GST):
System > Configuration > Tax
Tax Classes
- Tax Class for Shipping: Shipping
Calculation Settings
- Tax Calculation Method Based On: Total
- Tax Calculation Based On: Shipping Address
- Catalog Prices: Including Tax
- Shipping Prices: Including Tax
- Apply Customer Tax: After Discount
- Apply Discount on Prices: Including Tax
- Apply Tax On: Custom Price if Available
Default Tax Destination Calculation
- Default Country: Australia
Price Display Settings
- Display Product Prices in Catalog: Including Tax
Shopping Cart Display Settings
- Display Prices: Including Tax
- Display Subtotal: Including Tax
- Display Shipping Amount: Including Tax
- Include Tax in Grand Total: No
Order, Invoices, Credit Memos Display Settings
- Display Prices: Including Tax
- Display Subtotal: Including Tax
- Display Shipping Amount: Including Tax
- Includ Tax in Grand Total: No
ATO Requirements for ABN and Contact Details - The easiest way is to add these to your address information:
System > Configuration > Sales
Invoice and Packing Slip Design
- Address: Your address and ABN and Phone Number
Set Up 10% GST Tax Rate and Rule
Sales > Tax > Manage Tax Zones & Rates
To add a rate, click Add New Tax Rate in the top right and enter the following information:
- Tax Identifier: GST
- Country: Australia
- State: *
- Zip/Post Code: *
- Rate: 10.00
Save the rate and set up a rule for GST.
Sales > Tax > Manage Tax Rules
To add a rule, click Add New Tax Rule in the top right and enter the following information:
- Name: GST
- Customer Tax Class: Retail Customer
- Product Tax Class: Taxable Goods | Shipping
- Tax Rate: GST
Save the rule and GST will be completely set up. It's also a good idea to remove any other tax rules and rates.
Rename Tax to GST and Invoice to Tax Invoice:
The ATO requires that your invoices have a line displaying how much GST has been applied. The easiest way to set this up is in the translation files.
Create a folder in /app/locale called en_AU and copy the Mage_Sales.csv file from the en_US folder into it. Open this file in Excel or something similar and find the line with the word Tax. Modify the value in the right column to be GST. This will change the text that is displayed to the customer.
Do the same thing for the word Invoice, changing it to Tax Invoice.
Conclusion:
Congratulations, you have successfully set up your online store for use in Australia! Happy selling!