BE maintenance

Ensure that entries in your BE table are kept current and reviewed/updated regularly. Your business practices should include a process to update BEs and BAs monthly.

BE table maintenance can be done in the Excise portal by selecting Maintenance > Business Entities. From this page, scroll down to the bottom and export the table as an Excel spreadsheet (retaining any leading zeros). Change the table, then import it as a mass update through the UI as a CSV.

When importing a file as a mass update, you’re presented with several options for dealing with data matching.

Match only:
- When uploading BEs, include only those entries that already exist in the BE table. This won’t update BE entries or add new entries.
Insert unmatched:
- Add records that don't already exist in the BE table.
Insert unmatched and update unlocked:
- Add records that don't already exist in the BE table.
- Update unlocked records in the ATE BE table based on the information in the uploaded file.
Insert unmatched, update unlocked, and copy locked:
- Add records that don't already exist in the BE table.
- Update unlocked records in the ATE BE table based on the information in the uploaded file.
- Create and add a copy of a locked record. The locked record will be obsolete; the new record will have an effective date of the upload date.

Note A business entity record is locked when 1 business account in that record is used/referenced on a filed tax return. Once locked, you can update/add unlocked business accounts, but you can't update information specific to that business entity. If you need to change a locked BE, obsolete that BE (by setting the ObsoleteDate), then make a copy of that BE and include any updates.