RAM login problems: how to fix an expired or stuck authorisation

You sit down to download an ATO statement for a lender, and the portal says no. It’s a flat feeling, especially when the paperwork was the only thing left on your list. The good news is that RAM problems are rarely mysterious. They fall into a handful of patterns, and each has a fix.

This guide is the troubleshooting follow-on to our myID and RAM setup guide. If you haven’t set anything up yet, start there.

Why has my RAM link stopped working?

RAM (the Relationship Authorisation Manager) is the list of who is allowed to act for your business online. Things go wrong at the list, not at the ATO. The usual suspects:

What you see	Likely cause
You log in but your business isn’t listed	Authorisation expired or was removed
Code “expired or not working”	Code not accepted within 7 days, or typed wrongly
“Already have an active authorisation”	A link for that business already exists at your level or higher
“Details could not be matched”	Name or details differ between myID and the ABN or ATO record
“No eligible businesses found”	Your details on the ABN record are out of date, or you aren’t listed as an associate
myID works but you can’t link at all	Identity strength below Standard

Work out which row you’re in before you click anything else. It saves a lot of going round in circles.

Do RAM authorisations really expire?

Some do, and this catches people out because nothing seems to change on the day.

According to RAM’s renewal page, Basic user, government representative, indirect associate and responsible authority authorisations are valid for up to 12 months. Only Basic user authorisations can be renewed. For the other types that have an end date, you edit the end date or create a new authorisation.

A Basic user is someone who can’t get a Standard or Strong myID, such as a staff member or a bookkeeper working at Basic identity strength. If that’s your bookkeeper, their access can quietly lapse a year after you set it up, usually just before BAS is due.

How do I renew before it lapses?

Renewal opens 40 days before expiry, and RAM sends reminders to the RAM email address as well as showing a notice when you log in. A principal authority or authorisation administrator does the renewing.

The path is short. Sign in to RAM with your own myID, open the section for viewing and managing authorisations, pick the business, and press Renew beside the person’s name. You confirm a declaration, submit, and RAM shows a confirmation. If several people are due together, a banner lets you renew them in one go, all or a chosen few. Your own business authorisation renews the same way, with a consent step at the end.

One catch worth writing on a sticky note: RAM warns that if a Basic user has customised permissions, for example set in the ATO’s Access Manager, those are removed when you renew. Note them down first, then re-apply them.

What if it has already expired?

Don’t keep trying to renew. RAM says that for a Basic user, once the authorisation has expired you must create a new one, and the person may need to complete proof of identity again. For a business authorisation of your own, it says you must be manually linked again to regain access.

In practice:

• Bookkeeper or staff member: ask your principal authority or administrator to create a new authorisation for them, and expect a new code.
• You, as the business owner: link the business again from RAM using the options it offers. If an automatic match fails, RAM has other ways to link that take a little longer.

An expired authorisation doesn’t affect authorisations you’ve created for other people. Your bookkeeper’s access doesn’t vanish because yours lapsed.

My authorisation code won’t work. What’s going on?

Codes are fussier than they look. RAM’s help page says a code has to be accepted inside a week (7 days) and that capital letters matter. Get it wrong 5 times and you’re shut out for 2 hours, so slow down rather than guess. Also make sure the name on the person’s myID is the one the authoriser typed in.

If the week has passed, a principal authority or administrator can send a fresh code. In My authorisations, open the business, choose View beside the pending person, then Re-issue a code. Nobody has to start from scratch.

What does “already have an active authorisation” mean?

This is the error that has people muttering at their screens. RAM’s help lists REB.BR.0120 and REB.BR.0122 as “authorisation already exists” or “you already have an active authorisation for this business”.

It isn’t telling you off. It means RAM sees a link for you already. The help page’s advice is to check your existing authorisation, because only a higher-level authorisation can override it. A related situation: if you were linked in a lower role, such as a Basic user, and you’ve since become a principal authority, the lower authorisation needs removing before you link at the higher level.

So before you try again, open My authorisations and look at what’s already there. You may find you have access and were using the wrong entry point.

What if the person who set up RAM has left?

This one comes up in partnerships that split and companies where a director steps down. RAM relies on the associates recorded on the Australian Business Register, so the order matters:

1. Update the ABN record so it shows who the associates are now. The ABR says changes made online take effect immediately, and it expects you to update details within 28 days of a change.
2. Have a current, eligible associate link the business in RAM (a director, partner or trustee, depending on structure).
3. Add everyone else back with their own authorisations.

If RAM says “no eligible businesses found”, the first thing RAM’s help suggests is checking your ABR details are up to date. Our guide on your director ID is a handy companion if you’re a newer director and unsure what’s on record.

Why does it matter for a loan application?

Because most of what a lender wants from the ATO sits behind that login: a current account statement, lodged BAS and lodged returns. Our page on getting your ATO statement of account explains what they look for, and the guide to copies of tax documents covers the myGov route if you’re a sole trader.

You don’t have to fix RAM before you ask about finance. If you’re curious what’s possible, you can enquire first and sort the logins in parallel. The paperwork usually comes later in the conversation.

A calm 30-minute fix plan

Illustrative only; no real business described.

A landscaping company’s bookkeeper can’t see the ATO account anymore, and BAS is due soon. The owner works through it:

1. Logs in to RAM with her own myID and opens My authorisations. The bookkeeper’s Basic authorisation shows as ended 5 weeks ago.
2. Creates a new authorisation, writes down the code and passes it on.
3. The bookkeeper accepts it within a day, well inside the 7-day window.
4. The owner checks that the bookkeeper’s Access Manager permissions are as they were, since a new authorisation doesn’t carry them across.
5. She puts a diary reminder for 11 months out, labelled “RAM renewals”, and downloads the account statement while she’s there.

Which myID problems look like RAM problems?

Sometimes RAM is fine and the myID is the culprit. A few quick checks before you blame the authorisation:

• Identity strength. The ATO says its online services need Standard or Strong. If you can’t reach that, RAM’s help suggests asking another principal authority who can to link the business and authorise you as a Basic user.
• A new phone. myID lives on the device, so a replaced or reset phone means setting the app up again.
• A name that differs. A married name, a middle name or a nickname on one record but not the other is a classic cause of “details could not be matched”. Fix it at the source: the ATO record or the Digital ID documents.
• The wrong login door. Business tools sit under Online services for business. A sole trader’s personal myGov account is a separate place, so check you’re using the right one.

How do I stop this happening again?

• Put a calendar reminder 45 days before each Basic user’s end date, so you’re ahead of the 40-day window.
• Keep a short list of who has access, at what level and until when.
• Remove people who’ve left; it’s a security habit as well as tidiness.
• Keep the RAM email address one you actually read.
• Log in to the ATO or RAM by typing the address yourself. Scam messages often pretend to be about expired access, so never click a link in an unexpected text or email. Our page on business loan scams lists the usual signs.

When access is sorted, what’s next?

Once your statement is a download away, the paperwork part of borrowing stops being the sticking point. If you’re weighing up finance for the business, we’d be glad to help you see where you stand.

The enquiry takes about 60 seconds, and there’s no credit check when you enquire, so asking won’t touch your credit file. We don’t send your details to a pile of lenders, so your phone stays quiet. A real person reads your situation, calls you and explains the options in plain English. All we ask is that you fill the form in accurately, including anything owing to the ATO, so we can point you to the right option the first time.

Find out where you stand, no credit check →