ABN Formula for Google Sheets™

Check an ABN in the cell beside the invoice.

Type a formula next to an Australian Business Number. ABN Formula fills in the registered name, ABN status and GST registration from the official ABN Lookup service.

See the formulas Pricing

Free for 50 different ABNs a month. Pro is A$9 a month or A$79 a year. Prices are in AUD.

Google Sheets is a trademark of Google LLC.

Try a number

Loading sample numbers…

Choose a sample, or type an ABN. A number that fails the checksum is rejected before any lookup.

ABN Formula is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or part of the Australian Government, the Australian Taxation Office or the Australian Business Register. Details come from the free ABN Lookup web services at abr.business.gov.au and can be up to 24 hours old.

Five formulas

Open the ABN Formula sidebar once so the sheet is allowed to look numbers up. After that, the formulas run in the cells.

=ABN_VALID(A2)    true or false, from the checksum only
=ABN_STATUS(A2)   Active or Cancelled
=ABN_NAME(A2)     registered entity name
=ABN_GST(A2)      Yes (from 2014-07-01), or No
=ABN_CHECK(A2)    the full row, written across the cells to the right

For a long supplier list, select the column and use ABN Formula, then Check selected cells. That writes the values into the sheet, so they do not recalculate every time you edit.

Format the ABN column as plain text before you paste. Otherwise a leading zero can disappear.

What happens when you check a number

1. Checksum first

An ABN is 11 digits with a published checksum. A typo stops here. It is not sent to the register, and it does not use your monthly allowance.

2. One lookup, then a saved copy

A valid number goes to ABN Formula, not straight from the sheet to the government service. The answer is kept for 24 hours.

3. Name, status and GST

You get the entity name, whether the ABN is active, and whether the entity is registered for GST, including the start date when the register provides one.

What counts towards the monthly allowance

Free

50 different ABNs in a calendar month, using Sydney time. Checking the same ABN again that month is free. A failed checksum is free.

Pro

10,000 different ABNs a month. That cap is there so the government service is not flooded. You can cancel in the Stripe customer portal.