Creating Obligations

Obligations can be created individually for specific entities or generated in bulk using templates.

Manual Creation

1. Open an entity's Obligations tab, or navigate to Compliance
2. Click + New Obligation
3. Fill in:

Field	Required	Description
Entity	✅	The entity this obligation belongs to
Type	✅	Obligation type (VAT201, ITR14, etc.)
Period	✅	Tax period (e.g. "March 2026" or "2025/2026")
Due Date	✅	Submission deadline
Assigned To	Recommended	Staff member responsible
Status	Auto	Defaults to "Not Started"
Notes	Optional	Any special instructions

4. Click Create

Bulk Creation with Templates

For recurring obligations, use Compliance Templates to auto-generate obligations across multiple entities at once. This is the recommended approach for:

• Setting up a new entity with all their annual obligations
• Creating monthly VAT/PAYE obligations for the year
• Year-end rollover — generating next year's obligations

Recurring Obligations

For monthly or quarterly obligations (VAT201, EMP201):

1. Create a template with the recurrence pattern
2. Generate obligations for the selected period range
3. Atlas creates one obligation per period (e.g. 12 monthly VAT201s for the year)

Obligation Fields

Status Transitions

Update an obligation's status as work progresses:

From	To	When
Not Started	In Preparation	Staff begins working on it
In Preparation	Ready for Review	Work complete, needs partner sign-off
Ready for Review	Filed	Submitted to SARS/CIPC
Filed	Assessed	SARS assessment received
Assessed	Complete	All matters resolved

Attaching Documents

Attach supporting documents to any obligation:

1. Open the obligation
2. Click Attach Document
3. Upload or select from entity documents
4. Documents are linked for audit trail purposes

Deleting Obligations

Obligations can be deleted if created in error:

1. Open the obligation
2. Click Delete
3. Confirm

caution

Deleting a completed obligation removes its historical record. Consider marking as "cancelled" instead for audit trail purposes.