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According to the Australian Federal Government they are helping small businesses with the Small Business and General Business Tax Break.

The package is such that small businesses can claim a bonus 50 per cent tax deduction for eligible assets costing more than $1,000 acquired from 13 December 2008 until 31 December 2009, and installed ready for use by 31 December 2010.

To benefit from this Tax Break a small business must have a turnover of less than $2.0 million a year.

Forget the tax break, shop at your locally owned store

This may look good on paper, but unless you actually need to make any investment in capital purchases such as motor vehicles or equipment, how does it actually help small business? [Read more →]

Is there such a thing as a tax-free lunch on the ATO?

Our bookkeeping clients in and around Mandurah often ask about meals as a tax deduction.

With the new Australian Government Tax- Free Stimulus Package Bonus to $900, how many free lunches would that get?

So if you want a tax – free lunch, then the Australian Government one-off tax-free payments of up to $900 for eligible taxpayers, could be your ticket

As bookkeepers, we can sort out the documentation, set up a bookkeeping system, key the relevant data into an accounting software package, and get all the figures ready for your accountant or registered tax agent to then assist you with lodging your tax return. Contact our mobile bookkeeping service now to get your bookwork up to date.

We often get calls from bookkeeping clients requesting a bookkeeper to sort out their bookwork and get them upto date so that they can lodge their tax returns. [Read more →]

Are you struggling to complete your BAS form?

No sooner have we finished lodging BAS for the December Quarter, to find the January – March 2009 Quarter will soon be due. Contact us for HELP

Quarterly BAS
Most businesses submit quarterly, and the 1 January – 31 March 2009 (Quarter 3) BAS is due 28 April 09 for lodgment and payment with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

A new client contacted us out of desperation. Struggling to prepare all the documentation for the Business Activity Statement, she could not get the figures to balance.

We suggested she email us the MYOB data file, so that we could get a clearer understanding of where she was at with her bookwork. Contact us for HELP with your BAS

“I had trouble with my MYOB files and contacted Carol and her team and they were just excellent.
They listened and then explained what they could do to help.
Everything was done speedily, efficiently and most of all cost effectively.
They emailed me how to send my files and worked on them that day!
Most of all “they listen” and don’t treat you like a dummy!
It got me out of a potentially tricky situation and literally saved the day!
Thanks Carol.
Liz Bird, Perth WA”

Monthly BAS
If your business submits the (BAS) Business Activity Statement monthly, then 21 March 09 was the due date for lodgement and payment of the February 2009 monthly activity statements

Superannuation Guarantee Contributions
Also on that date are due the Quarter 3 Superannuation guarantee contributions (1 January -31 March) contributions to be made to the fund by this date.

If you are struggling to complete your BAS form, contact our team of Mandurah Bookkeepers for HELP

As bookkeepers servicing the Mandurah area, we are often asked: “What Bookkeeping Records Do I Need?”.

When a business gets started, the first thing you should do is to make sure that you keep track of all the costs involved in setting up you business, so that you can set up a book-keeping system correctly from day one. If you need some help in establishing your bookeeping, then contact us right now.

A bookkeeper’s nightmare

A new Dudley Park bookkeeping client has been running her graphic design business for over a year operating on one bank account for everything. She’s a bookkeeper’s nightmare, using the same bank account for both her personal and business expenses. That makes our job as mobile book keepers quite a challenge. We have to ask her which items on her bank account relate to business, and which are personal.

What Bookkeeping Records Do You Need?
The type of business you operate affects the type of records you need to keep for ATO purposes. You should set up your books using an accounting method that clearly shows your income for your selected tax year.

From a bookkeeping viewpoint there are a few basic bookkeeping matters that every small business owners should focus on to reduce the fees you will otherwise have to pay your bookkeeper or accountant

Depending on your business, you should get into a habit of keeping records daily

• Identify the source income that you’ve received
• Ensure you keep your dockets for expenses, and a note of any petty cash expenses
• Keep a record of all your assets

The Australian Taxation Office requires you have supporting documentation such as invoices and receipts for all transactions incurred in running your business such as purchases and sales. You might generate invoices electronically using an accounting software package such as MYOB or Quickbooks, or you may hand write your invoices using an invoice book [Read more →]

Bookkeeping records the flow of money in and money coming out of your business. A fundamental factor of any healthy small businesses in and around Mandurah, Dudley Park, Coodanup, Greenfields, Erskine, Pinjarra and Meadow Springs, Western Australia, Australia, is whether there is more money flowing in, than is flowing out.

Tracking the flow of money in and out of your business occurs through the recording of each transaction by the person responsible for your bookkeeping. Contact us NOW and we’ll help you determine whether there is more money flowing in, than is flowing out of your business.

In basic terms there are four sources of income, and four reasons why money flows out of your business.

Depending on your business, income is generated through the sale of goods and services, or the sale of business assets. Other sources of income can be through loans to the business, either from yourself, or money that you have borrowed from relatives, friends, or formal channels such as financial institutions.

There are very few businesses that incur no expenses to generate the income. Thus money flowing out of your business will be to pay bills for overheads, such as power, telecommunications, rent, wages etc.

Other expenses include buying or replacing assets to run the business. Then there’s your remuneration, as drawings etc, and also your business may lend money to others.

The recording of each transaction by your bookkeeper is critical to protect all parties concerned. Each transaction should be supported by the appropriate documents. When the Australian Taxation Office decides to audit your business, they will often need to see all your supporting documentation.

Your bookkeeper needs to ensure that all the documentation is filed in such a way that it can be easily traced. Each transaction recorded in the bookkeeping system should be supported by the relevant documentation also.

Consider the day that a piece of equipment fails, and you wonder if it’s still under warranty. Your bookkeeper should be able to tell you when you bought the equipment, how you paid for it, and also be able to located the documentation relevant to that equipment.

A logical and ordered filing system is just as important as the balance sheet or P & L reports for your business. For more information or a free appraisal of your bookkeeping system, contact one of our Mandurah, Dudley Park, Coodanup, Greenfields, Erskine, Pinjarra and Meadow Springs, Western Australia bookkeepers NOW, and we’ll help you determine whether there is more money flowing in, than is flowing out of your business.

Before you realise, Easter will be upon us, then the end of the financial year

A client asked us today whether he should make the final balloon payment on his earthmoving equipment, even though he still has 12 more months to pay it off

We’re not registered tax agents and can’t advise whether he’s better paying the lump sum before the end of this financial year, or whether he should carry the payments over into next year.

If your bookwork’s not upto date, how do you make an informed decision about your tax liabilities?

If you don’t have your bookwork upto date, or if bookkeeping is the last thing on your mind right now, then how can you make an informed decision about your tax liabilities for the financial year ending 30 June 2009?

How do you know if you should make a lump sum payment on your vehicle lease this year? If you ask your accountant, you’ll most likely be told that without seeing any upto date figures for this financial year, your accountant cannot give you an informed answer

To prepare for the end of the financial year is not as difficult or as daunting as the task may appear. In fact, the ATO offer you encouragement to get your financials upto date with the quarterly BAS requirements.

Look no further, stress no more, simply contact us, as we provide an outsourced bookkeeping service. Our mobile bookkeepers can come to your premises, work on your computer, or pick up the paperwork and take it away to return with neatly filed and documented set of accounts ready for you to take to your accountant

In a tight economy you need to ensure that you have a handle on what money you owe and to whom, and what money is owed to you and by whom.

As a small business owner in Mandurah, Dudley Park, Coodanup, Greenfields, Erskine, Pinjarra and Meadow Springs, Western Australia you need to ensure that you have a handle on your cashflow. If you do not have a bookkeeper, or book-keeping system in place then contact us here for details

If you do not use an accounting software package such as Quickbooks or MYOB, if you do not use a bookkeeper, or have a bookeeping system in place then you could be heading for disaster. Unlike Kevin Rudd’s government, most likely you do not have an unlimited supply of cash,
[Read more →]

Are you a small business operator struggling to keep your bookkeeping in order? The main problem that business owners have is not having a system set-up to handle their bookkeeping.

What you do with your paperwork, and how you handle your record keeping at the beginning can make a big difference at the end of the financial year.

Here are some basic tips to ensure that your record keeping is in order

1) Open a separate bank account for the business.
It may seem an expensive option at the beginning to be paying fees on two separate bank accounts – however you can claim the running costs of your business bank account as a business expense.
The same applies to a credit card. Even if you simple have another credit card in your private name, keeping a separate credit card for the business makes the bookkeeping so much easier

2) Don’t mix your personal expenses with your business expenses.
A simple example of this is when you buy fuel; if you happen to buy some milk or chocolate etc, pay for them in a separate transaction. You need to make sure that you have [Read more →]