Category — BAS

There’s a number of points to consider when finding a bookkeeper in Mandurah.

Until recently anybody could call themselves a bookkeeper, as there was no formal qualification, or legal requirements to safe-guard a small business owner.

All that is changing as Australia becomes a total “Nanny State” where there seems to be legislation being drawn up for everything, and the suppliers of Red Tape are experiencing a boom. It seems even cats and dogs need licenses, and maybe it won’t be long before your gold fish needs a license.

Everybody in business is now accountable in some way or another, yet politicians need no qualifications or experience to run a multi-billion dollar corporation and send the country spiralling down the same path as the USA and European Union

What has all that to do with finding a bookkeeper in Mandurah?
Well, the point is that freelance bookkeepers that offer BAS services are required to be registered with the Australian Taxation Board – yet another committee / portfolio created by the Federal Government to waste tax payers money

The problem is that no one in the Australian Treasury knows what a bookkeeper does or what bookeeping is (that’s quite apparent by the way that they “control” the purse strings of tax payers money)

So there’s a big grey area in the definition of when bookkeeping stops being “bookkeeping” and when it starts being “BAS services”

A further problem that the Federal Government have created with the new bookkeeping legislation is that they didn’t want it to be too difficult for bookkeepers to become registered BAS agents, because they realise that there’s too much bookkeeping work to be done to ensure that the ATO gets their sticky fingers on all our hard-earned cash

The result is that to become a registered BAS agent, you simply pay your money to a TAFE college or some similar educational establishment, who then hands out a certificate IV in bookkeeping because they are too afraid of being sued for failing their students.

Then these “wanna – be” bookkeepers apply to the Tax Agents Board to become a Registered BAS agent having collected a couple of cereal packet tops. And once these new bookkeepers receive their registration, they think that they are ready to be let loose on the unsuspecting business owner.

So these bookkeepers think they know it all because they’ve picked up a Cert IV in bookkeeping, and have received their BAS Agents registration, failing to realise that just because you have a driving license does not mean you’re ready to enter into the Monaco Grand Prix car race.

Where does that leave the Small Business Owner in Mandurah?
Business owners who are trying to tighten their belts think that they can save money by hiring bookkeepers that charge really low rates, not realising that the reason these bookkeepers are cheap is because thye have little or no experience in freelance bookkeeping, even though they may have spent the last twenty years in the accounts department of some large organisation or even a bank.

When looking for a bookkeeper in Mandurah contact us TODAY

If you are late with your Q4 June 2011 BAS, then do not despair!

We’ve helped many business owners around Mandurah with getting the bookwork upto date, and even helped them avoid LATE FEES issued by the ATO, so if you are late with lodging your Business Activity Statements, then what options are available to you?

We’ve listed ten options for those small business owners around Mandurah that have failed to lodge your BAS for the reporting period 1 April 2011 – 30 June 2011:

1) Take the easy option and ignore it, hoping that the problem will go away

2) Have a panic attack and wonder what to do now you’ve missed the deadline

3) Do what most people do, and just accept that you’ll have to pay a penalty for late BAS lodgement

4) Have sleepless nights wondering how to complete the BAS even though it’s going to be a late lodgement

5) Call the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and tell them that the canary grabbed the BAS form and has shredded it to make a nest

6) Fossic through your paperwork in the glovebox of your car along with all your other unopened mail, and see if you can even find the Business Activity Statement whilst making a mental note that it should have been lodged by the end of July

7) Call your accountant and ask him / her what you should do next

8.) Do nothing, and just accept that fact that you’ll be fined for a late lodgment, and look forward to receiving fan mail from the ATO

9) Grab a cold one from the fridge, sit in your favorite chair and see what’s on the idiot box

10) Contact us (quickly) because we may be able to get an extension for you, as well as getting all your documentation sorted out to help you ensure that you’re not going to be paying ms Julia more than you need, since she’s shown us all how good she is at spending all that money

If your Mandurah business does quarterly reporting, then your Business Activity Statement is due on 28 October 2010.

Rather than struggle with trying to work out your BAS figures, you can save yourself both time and money by outsourcing your bookkeeping to a professional mobile Mandurah Bookkeeping Service

Focus on what you do best, and we’ll do the rest

Some business owners would rather spend hours working through their paperwork under the impression that they are saving themselves on bookkeeping fees – but how much is your time really worth

We had a leaking toilet cistern recently, and spent an hour trying to fix it rather than calling in a plumber. In the end, we gave up, called the plumber, who fixed the problem in under two minutes.

Since the plumber was on his way to another job around the corner, he didn’t even bother charging us – but a simple tow minute job had cost an hour of our time

In a similar manner, we’ve found business owners spending hours on their bookkeeping, only to finally call upon our bookeeping services.

The time they spent in making errors meant extra time for us to fix up the work – whereas if they’d accepted the fact they they don’t really know how to do bookwork and called us straight away, they would have saved themselves time, and also the extra money on bookkeeping fees undoing their “handy work”

As a small business owner we encourage you to focus on what you do best, and we’ll do the rest

Business Activity Statements BAS are due on 2 march 2010 for businesses that report their GST obligations quarterly

With the Christmas holiday period over for many small businesses, it’s time to get all your paperwork together and get it to your bookkeeper or outsourced bookkeeping service- to report on the 2nd quarter (1 September to 31 December 2009) to get your BAS lodged on time.

Maybe the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) does have a heart, after all. Rather than asking for lodgements on 28 January, they automatically give everyone an extension to the BAS lodgements to 28 February. This is, of course, a Sunday. However, the next business day is not Monday, since it’s a public holiday in Western Australia. Thus the Q2 BAS is due on 2 March 2010

However, don’t be fooled by their grace, because there is NO WAY that they’ll consider granting an extension after that date. So you need to ensure that you have your Business Activity Statement lodged by 2 March 2010

If you are struggling with your bookkeeping and need help, if you do not have a bookkeeper, or are looking to outsource to a mobile bookkeeping service, then contact us now

You may use MYOB or Quickbooks accounting software – or even some other system for your bookwork. We can assist you with any challenges, or even just relieve you of the burden of the book-keeping

Our bookkeeping Service has clients in and around Mandurah, Dudley Park, Coodanup, Greenfields, Erskine, Pinjarra and Meadow Springs, Australia Contact us here for details

Business Activity Statements, for business owners reporting quarterly, are due on 28 July 2009.

For many small business owners and especially for their bookkeepers in and around Mandurah, Dudley Park, and Meadow Springs, July is always a busy time of year.

With end of financial year reporting, together with reporting of the 01 April to 30 June quarter, businesses that are behind in their paperwork can struggle under extra pressure that they really do not need

Cash flow has certainly tightened up in the economy. As bookkeepers, we’ve seen that invoice payments are being dragged out longer and longer, as suppliers wait to be paid by customers, and service providers wait to be paid by their clients

The phone’s been ringing as desperate business owners in a panic wanting help with their MYOB and Quickbooks files. In most cases, they can simply email us the files and we’ll have a look at their reporting and can generally work out where the problems are within a short time

One lady contacted us after spending two days trying to reconcile her Quickbooks bank accounts. We had a look at her file and solved the problem in 35 minutes. Look at the time and stress she would have saved if she had contacted our bookkeeping company when she first noticed that there was a problem

As a small business owner we encourage you to focus on what you do best, and we’ll do the rest

Could 80% of BAS forms really be completed incorrectly? Apparently this is the figure that the Australian Taxation Office estimate when reviewing Business Activity Statements.

Are You Paying More GST than You Should?

When you consider that many small business owners around Mandurah, Dudley Park, Coodanup, Greenfields, Erskine, Pinjarra and Meadow Springs believe that bookkeeping is an expense, rather than an investment, it is hardly surprising that so many people who have no idea what they are doing complete Business Activity Statements. Contact us today for more information.

Many clients approach our professional contract bookkeeping service because they realise that a mobile bookkeeper can save them heart-ache and stress in getting their paperwork upto date.

Speaking to a client in Greenfields last week, it transpired that he had absolutely no idea what was involved in running a business from the financial aspects. As long as there was money in his pocket at the end of each week to pay the bills, he was happy.

When the first BAS form arrived on his doorstep he just figured he’d guess what figures went where and hope that it would all sort it self out at the end of the financial year

The crazy thing is, that by having to report quarterly Business Activity Statements, small businesses are being encouraged to record their business activities every three months.

If you leave it all for your accountant at the end of the financial year, then guess what? It’s all too late.

If you’re now faced with a large tax liability after the end of the year, there’s nothing you can do about it. Whereas if you are aware of the situation beforehand, then there maybe avenues that you can follow to reduce your tax liability. We are not registered tax agents and cannot give guidance in such matters, so you need to speak to your accountant.

We’ll look at your bookkeeping and assess your requirements. It’s not uncommon for us to find some major savings for our clients. Contact us today for more information.

The importance of Book keeping: Here’s 10 Tips to help any small business in and around Mandurah, Dudley Park, Coodanup, Greenfields, Erskine, Pinjarra and Meadow Springs, Western Australia manage your cash flow

Bookeeping is an important part of any small business

Bookeeping is an important part of any small business – whilst it is historical, in recording past transactions of money coming into and going out of your business, book-keeping can also help with managing the cash flow of your business

Whilst world leaders have a money-tree policy to create cash, the average small business owner has limited opportunities when cash flow gets very tight, as in the present economy.

Contractors in the building industry can quickly run up large accounts with builders and developers, and forget that even large companies can fall over in a recession.

On Australia’s Gold Coast a large property developer has collapsed with millions of dollars debt, and often the sole tradesman or small business owner is at the bottom of the food chain, even though they are the ones that need the cash the most, not the Banks or Finance Companies

Our bookkeeping team of mobile freelance bookkeeprs have put together ten tips to help you manage your cash flow:

1. As bookkeepers, we’re amazed by businesses that issue invoices with no specific payment date or credit terms. There’s nothing wrong in specifying the date on which you expect payment – after all, don’t the utility companies do just that on the invoices they send you?

2. Why not issue the invoice the day that you provide the goods / services, rather than waiting until the end of the week, fortnight, or month? Some business owners choose to issue their invoices monthly, knowing their creditors only issue payments monthly

3. There’s been a recent trend, again with utility companies, to offer an incentive to pay early, such as giving a discount. Notice that in reality they are adding a penalty for late payment rather than a discount

4. Ask your customer for a deposit in advance, particularly if they are requesting a high ticket item that you have to purchase from your supplier before receiving payment from your customer
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