This article walks you through the complete Division 7A workflow in ChangeGPS — from entering company and borrower details to comparing elimination strategies and exporting your completed advice document. The Division 7A app uses a five-step wizard that takes you through the full analysis in order.
Before you begin
Before starting a Division 7A analysis, make sure you have the following information available:
The lending company name and Australian Company Number (ACN)
The company's financial year end date
The names and relationships of all borrowers (shareholders and associates)
Each borrower's marginal tax rate
Details of each Division 7A loan: original amount, loan date, loan type (secured or unsecured), current balance, and any repayments made in the current financial year
The company's corporate tax rate and franking account balance (if modelling dividend offset strategies)
If the client already has a Tax Plan in ChangeGPS, you can import the company and borrower details automatically in Step 1.
Step-by-step guide
Step 1 — Company & Borrower Setup
(Press on Image to enlarge)
Navigate to the Division 7A app. Please go to Access > Apps > ChangeGPS DIV7A. Select + New Analysis.
Choose how to enter the lending company. Select Import from CIM to search the Client Import Manager for an existing client, or select Manual entry to type the details directly.
Enter the Company Name, ACN, and Financial Year End date in the Lending Company fields.
If a Tax Plan exists for this company, Division 7A will detect it and prompt you to import company and shareholder details. Select Yes, import to pre-fill the borrower table, or No, enter manually to add borrowers yourself.
In the Borrowers (Shareholders/Associates) table, select Add Borrower and enter each borrower's name, relationship (Shareholder, Associate, or Other), shareholding percentage (for shareholders), and marginal tax rate (19%, 30%, 37%, or 45%).
Expand Advanced Tax Details (Optional) to enter actual taxable income and PAYG credits for more precise calculations.
Select Next to proceed to Step 2.
Tip: You can drag and drop borrower rows to reorder them. The order affects how borrowers appear in the generated documents.
Step 2 — Loan Details
Select Add Loan to add your first Division 7A loan.
Select the Borrower from the dropdown — this must match a borrower added in Step 1.
Select the Loan Type:
Unsecured — standard complying loan term of 7 years
Secured — complying loan secured over real property, term of 25 years
Pre-1997 — loans made before 4 December 1997 (subject to different Division 7A rules)
Enter the Original Amount and Loan Date. The ATO benchmark interest rate for the relevant financial year is automatically applied to the Interest Rate field. Select Use Benchmark to reset to the benchmark rate at any time.
The Current Balance is calculated automatically as Original Amount minus Principal Repaid YTD. You can override this if the actual balance differs.
Enter Interest Paid YTD and Principal Repaid YTD for any repayments already made in the current financial year.
Check Tax Deductible Loan if the loan proceeds were used for income-producing purposes (for example, investment property or business assets).
Repeat for each loan. Select Add Loan to add additional loans to the same analysis.
Select Next to proceed to Step 3.
Note: The current ATO benchmark rate is shown in a blue information banner at the bottom of the step. Loans must charge at least this rate to comply with Division 7A.
Step 3 — Compliance Check
Review the compliance status for each loan. Division 7A flags any loan where:
The interest rate is below the ATO benchmark rate
The minimum yearly repayment has not been met
A deemed dividend may arise by 30 June
Review the calculated Minimum Yearly Repayment for each loan. This is the minimum amount that must be repaid by 30 June to keep the loan complying.
If any loans are flagged, proceed to Step 4 to model elimination strategies.
Select Next to proceed to Step 4.
Step 4 — Elimination Strategies
The Current tab shows the existing loan position — total debt, minimum repayment required, and current compliance status.
Select Add (the + tab) to create a new elimination strategy.
Give the strategy a name (for example, "Dividend Offset" or "Partial Repayment") and select a Strategy Type:
Strategy Type | What it does |
Continue Loan | Continue making minimum yearly repayments |
Dividend Offset | Pay an unfranked dividend to offset the loan balance |
Debt Forgiveness | Forgive the loan — triggers a deemed dividend |
Partial Repayment | Make an additional lump sum repayment |
Bonus/Wages | Pay a bonus or wages to the borrower |
Asset Transfer | Transfer an asset to the borrower at market value |
Enter the required dollar amount for the selected strategy type.
Use the Apply to Loans checkboxes to select which loans the strategy applies to, or select Apply to All Loans.
Review the real-time Strategy Comparison table at the bottom of the screen. The table shows Total Debt, Minimum Repayment, Tax Cost, and Net Benefit for every strategy side by side.
Select Mark as Recommended (the star icon) on the strategy you want to recommend to your client. The recommended strategy is highlighted in the comparison table and flagged in the generated document.
Add additional strategies as needed. Select Next when ready to generate documents.
Step 5 — Preview & Export
Division 7A automatically generates a preview of the advice document. The preview loads in the left panel.
Use the actions sidebar on the right to export or share the document:
Export PDF — Download the advice as a PDF
Export Word — Download the advice as a Word document (.docx)
Add Pages — Merge additional pages into the Word document before downloading
Loan Schedule — Download a loan schedule spreadsheet (Excel)
Amortisation Table — Download a full amortisation table spreadsheet (Excel)
Download All — Download a ZIP file containing all reports
Export to TaxPlan — Push the loan data back to the client's Tax Plan (available if the analysis was linked to a Tax Plan)
Send Email — Email the advice report directly to your client
Tips and best practices
Set the loan date accurately. The benchmark interest rate applied to a loan is determined by the financial year in which the loan was made. Entering the wrong loan date will result in the wrong rate being applied.
Model multiple strategies before recommending. The comparison table makes it easy to identify which strategy minimises the overall tax cost for your client. Mark your recommendation in Step 4 so it is clearly flagged in the generated document.
Use TaxPlan import to reduce double entry. If the client already has a Tax Plan, importing from it pre-fills the company and borrower details and keeps the two analyses in sync.
Export to TaxPlan after finalising the strategy. Once you have settled on an elimination approach, export the loan data back to Tax Plan so the repayments are reflected in your client's tax projections.
Check compliance early. Step 3 gives you a clear picture of which loans require action before 30 June. Use this information to prioritise which loans to address first.
Common issues
The benchmark interest rate shown does not match the ATO's published rate. The benchmark rate in Division 7A is determined by the financial year in which the loan was made, not the current financial year. If you believe the rate is incorrect, check that the Loan Date entered in Step 2 is accurate. You can also select Use Benchmark to reset the rate to the correct value for that loan's origination year.
The current balance field shows "Auto-calculated" but the value appears incorrect. The current balance is automatically calculated as the original loan amount minus principal repaid year to date. If your actual balance differs — for example, because of capitalised interest in prior years — you can override it by typing the correct figure directly in the Current Balance field. Once you do, the field will show "Manually set" instead of "Auto-calculated."
The Export to TaxPlan button is not showing in Step 5. The Export to TaxPlan button only appears when the Division 7A analysis is linked to an existing Tax Plan. To link them, use the TaxPlan import prompt in Step 1 when entering the company. If the company has an existing Tax Plan, Division 7A will detect it and offer to import the data, creating the link between the two analyses.
Need help?
If you are stuck or have questions about a specific loan scenario, reach out through the chat widget or contact your account manager.