AUSkey setup

What you need to know:

The ATO is decommissioning AUSkey on 27 March 2020. See AUSkey decommissioning on the ATO website for more details.

If you’re using Lodgment Manager to lodge, you don’t need to do anything.
If you're using AUSkey Authentication to lodge, you can’t lodge after 27 March 2020. Talk to your client manager about how to upgrade your practice.

Have any questions? Contact us.

AUSkey is a secure login that identifies you when using various government online services on behalf of a business, such as MYOB. It allows you to access and send business information to the government over the internet, reducing the number of usernames and passwords you need and making it easier to send and receive information online.

See AUSkey explained on the Australian government website.

To learn how to lodge using AUSkey, see Lodging using AUSkey.

Types of AUSkeys

The following web pages are provided by the Australian Business Register, and contain information on the different types of AUSkeys:

Enabling AUSkey for your practice

Your AUSkey is usually linked to the practice ABN. However, if an agent within a practice has their own ABN, they will also have their own AUSkey.

To complete these steps, you’ll need access to the Utilities menu. If the master password has been set up, any users below Administrator level or users without the necessary permissions won’t be able to access certain functions in the Utilities menu.
See the Security help topic for more information.

To add an AUSkey:

Open Tax, then click Utilities > Control Record > General.
Verify that the General tab contains an ABN. If an ABN is not present, you will not be able to select an AUSkey. The system will make sure the AUSkey selected matches the recorded ABN.
Click OK to close the window.
In Tax, click Utilities > Lodgment setup.
Select the following options based on where your AUSkey is located:
- Default AUSkey: if you are unsure where your AUSkey is stored, but used the default location when downloading, select the Default AUSkey option.
  
  This path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\AUSkey or %APPDATA%\AUSkey.
- Select AUSkey: if you have your AUSkey stored in a unique location, click the Select AUSkey location field and browse to the folder on your hard drive or USB that contains your AUSkey information.
Enter your AUSkey password and select the relevant keystore.xml file.

Adding an AUSkey to an agent

There are three scenarios for agent lodgment.

Scenario

Instructions

An agent using the default AUSkey from Control Record

If you have a device AUSkey that is used across the practice or you are a single lodger, the agent uses the AUSkey set up for the practice.

Go to Maintenance > Agents > Agent Name > Properties > Defaults, and select Default from Control Record.

An agent using a personal AUSkey for the practice

If each agent has their own personal AUSkey, it can be added under Maintenance > Agents > Properties.

An agent using their own ABN and AUSkey

These agents cannot use the practice ABN or AUSkey and must have these details entered against their agent record.

Enter the agent’s ABN under Maintenance > Agents > Properties > General tab.

Enter the agent’s personal AUSkey under Maintenance > Agents > Properties > Security tab.

The ABN under the General tab must be the agent’s ABN.

Security settings for AUSkeys

Security settings for AUSkeys can be defined and modified in ATO Access Manager.

See Using Access Manager on the Australian government website.