by Melissa Lange | Nov 3, 2016 | Account On Me, BAS, Bookkeeping, GST, Information, Payroll, Tips & Tricks
I get asked this question quite a bit and it all depends on your own circumstances, but good financial management from the beginning is essential so that you can work efficiently and you know how your business is performing.
Here are a few tips to help you:
- Schedule a couple of hours each week or fortnight (depending on the size of your business) into your calendar or diary to do invoicing, pay bills, payroll (if you have any) and follow up unpaid accounts. If you are using an accounting program you could reduce that time.
- At the start of the month schedule some extra time in to reconcile your bank account(s), credit card(s), process superannuation and BAS/IAS (if required monthly) and prepare your reports to see how your business is performing (eg Profit & Loss Statement, Balance Sheet).
- If you report the superannuation and BAS/IAS on a quarterly basis then allow time each quarter to prepare these.
- It is important to open a business bank account, so that you can keep your business and personal transactions separate.
- End of year (EOY) requirements – your accountant or bookkeeper will usually send through a checklist of tasks that are required to be done and provided to them to process the tax return.
- Setup some procedures to help keep on top of things. We can assist with setting up the procedures or provide the templates to help.
By following these steps, it will decrease the state of overwhelm because you have put off doing you bookwork for so long and there is so much to catch up on. Even if you miss a week, at least it’s not months.
Sign up for our Newsletter to get your copy of our checklists.
by Melissa Lange | Oct 27, 2016 | Account On Me, BAS, Bookkeeping, GST, Information, Payroll, Tips & Tricks
I asked the question this week “What are some things you wish you knew about bookkeeping in your business when starting up, or if new to business the things you want to know?” I got a great response and I thought I would address some of these in a series of blog posts, so here is the first instalment. The most popular response was what records to keep and for how long, so that’s where I’ll start.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) advises that by law your records must explain all transactions, be in writing (electronic or paper), be in English (or a form that can be easily converted) must be kept for 5 years, but there are circumstances that you will need to keep records for longer. The records you keep are what you use to help prepare your business activity statement (BAS), annual income tax return and to meet other tax obligations. Listed below are the records you need to keep:
- Income and sales records – this is a record of all income and sales transactions, including tax invoices, receipt books, cash register tapes and records of cash sales.
- Expense and purchase records – this is a record of all expenses, including cash purchases. These records include receipts, tax invoices, cheque book receipts, credit card vouchers and diaries to record small cash expenses.
- Year-end records – these include lists of creditors (suppliers you owe money to) or debtors (customers that owe you money), expenses you incur buying, maintaining, repairing and selling business assets or stock.
- Bank records – banking records can include things like deposit slips, cheque butts or payment records, bank and credit card statements and loan or lease agreements. If you are a sole trader it is recommended to keep your business and personal records separately to make your records easier to manage, whilst partnerships, companies and trusts separate bank accounts are mandatory.
Other records you may need to keep:
- Goods and services tax records – if you are registered for GST
- Fuel tax records – if eligible to claim fuel tax credits your records must show the fuel purchased, used the fuel in your business and apply the correct rate when calculating how much you can claim
- Employee and contractor records – if you have workers you will need to keep records tax file number (TFN) declarations, wages, allowances and other payments you make to them, tax you withhold from payments you make to them, contributions to their superannuation, fringe benefits (FBT) you provided and contracts
There is plenty of resources out there to assist you like Business South West or the ATO’s Record Keeping Evaluation Tool and I am always happy to do a Free Health Check on your existing business.
by Melissa Lange | Oct 7, 2016 | Account On Me, BAS, GST, Payroll, Uncategorized
Important Dates for 2016-2017
These dates are from the Australian Taxation Office, but when lodging with a Registered BAS Agent, like Account On Me Bookkeeping Service you can get extra time to lodge. If you want to get extra time to lodge, contact us today.
Date
|
Obligation
|
| 21 October |
Pay annual PAYG instalment notice |
| Lodge and pay quarterly PAYG instalment Activity Statement |
| Lodge and Pay September monthly activity statement |
|
28 October
|
Lodge and pay BAS for 1st quarter Jul-Sep |
| Lodge and pay Superannuation for 1st quarter Jul- Sep (must use a super clearing house) |
| 21 November |
Lodge and pay October 2016 monthly activity statement |
| 21 December |
Lodge and pay November 2016 monthly activity statement |
| 21 January |
Lodge and pay December 2016 monthly activity statement |
| 28 January |
Lodge and pay Superannuation for 2nd quarter Oct-Dec (must use a super clearing house) |
| 21 February |
Lodge and pay December 2016 monthly business activity statement |
| Lodge and pay January 2017 monthly activity statement |
| 28 February |
Lodge and pay BAS for 2nd quarter Oct – Dec 2016 |
| 21 March |
Lodge and pay February 2017 monthly activity statement |
| 21 April |
Lodge and pay March 2017 monthly activity statement |
| 28 April |
Lodge and pay 3rd BAS for 3rd quarter Jan – Mar 2017 |
| Lodge and pay Superannuation for 3rd quarter Jan – Mar 2017 |
| 21 May |
Lodge and pay April 2017 monthly activity statement |
| 21 June |
Lodge and pay May 2017 monthly activity statement |
| 30 June |
Last day of Financial Year
Super contributions must be paid – to qualify for a tax deduction in the 2016-17 financial year |
by Melissa Lange | Oct 6, 2016 | Account On Me, Bookkeeping, GST, Information
As bookkeepers we see a lot of invoices and sometimes they do not have the correct information or can be confusing. I recently came across an invoice that had a due date which was seven days after the invoice date and then further down the invoice it had “Payment Terms Strictly 21 Days”. So which is it 7 or 21 days? If you want to be paid on time you need to be very clear on your payments terms.
Here is what the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) advises your invoices should contain:
- your business name
- your Australian Business Number (ABN)
- the words “Tax Invoice” if you are registered for GST, otherwise “Invoice” if not registered for GST
- an invoice number
- amount of the sale
- amount of GST
- nature of the goods or services sold
- date of sale
- date of document
- the purchaser’s identity or ABN (for invoices over $1000)
A couple of other details that would be helpful on your invoices for your customers:
- Your contact details, either a phone or email address – so that if your customer has a question regarding your invoice they can contact you when they receive it
- Payment terms and bank details – make it clear what your payment terms are and include your bank details
With this information included you would be more likely to get paid on time.
For more information you can check out the ATO website or contact us if you would like assistance setting up your invoice give us a call on 9754 6572.
by Melissa Lange | Sep 12, 2016 | Account On Me, Add-Ons, Bookkeeping, GST, Information, MYOB, Shoeboxed, Software, Xero
Over the past twelve months we have been using Shoeboxed to help us with our goal of becoming a paperless office (along with our favourite piece of equipment in the office – the Scansnap). Don’t get me wrong there is always going to be paper in the office, but we have reduced the amount that we have.
There is a great integration between Shoeboxed, Dropbox and Xero that helps our business to flow seamlessly. All you have to do is save the invoices in your Shoeboxed account (either by email to your unique address, save it into the Dropbox upload folder or drag and drop into Shoeboxed) when it has been processed by Shoeboxed check the details are correct, it will send the invoices as a Draft Purchase into Xero for you to approve and pay and then backup the invoices into a backup folder in Dropbox. It also works for MYOB online versions in the same way, but the desktop version requires you to import the information in.
Security is always a factor and they are dedicated to the security of your information and use strong SSL encryption (the same stuff banks use) to keep your information secure and private. They are also ATO compliant, so if you face an audit any time, simply export and submit your documents quickly and easily.
As an Australian owned and operated business, they are all about supporting local businesses and are committed to helping disadvantaged job seekers (mums seeking flexible work hours, students and long term unemployed) find and remain in work.
If you have had enough of all the paper in your office, email us today and we can assist you in getting underway.
Recent Comments