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Had a call from a lady asking about Panania Bookkeeping Services. Her husband is a sole trader in the construction industry, with an ABN.

Does he need a Bookkeeper? Good question. He’s got an ABN, and he’s only got one client. In effect he’s a subcontractor. He’s providing labour for a construction company. He doesn’t provide any materials - he simply shows up for work on the job site.

We are not registered tax agents, so we cannot give advice in such matters. We are bookkeepers servicing clients in Revesby, Panania, Padstow, Picnic Point, and suburbs to Liverpool and Bankstown.

We cannot give advice on whether this subcontractor can claim fuel for going to his different jobs. He needs to speak to his accountant or tax agent.

It would seem that he really has no expenses, no suppliers, and only one customer. The Australian Taxation Office have a checklist on their website to determine whether he’s a sub-contractor or an employee.

If he’s only got one client, and only providing labour, then chances are that he’s entitled to Superannuation.

Going back to the original question: As a tradesman in these circumstances, does he need a bookkeeper to do his book keeping?

Maybe the best thing he can do is to get himself a cash book from the local newsagent and just write down his expenses each month. At the end of the year we can then collate his records and produce the necessary reports for him to take to his tax agent.

As his business grows, then he may need some bookkeeping. It’s not really worth his while (or ours) to be outsourcing his bookkeeping under his present circumstances.

When potential clients contact our Revesby, Panania, Padstow, Picnic Point, and suburbs to Liverpool and Bankstown book keeping service, they often ask us: “what is your hourly rate for bookkeeping?” Read more… »

Why does good book keeping mean good record keeping for businesses in Revesby, Panania, Padstow, Picnic Point, and suburbs to Liverpool and Bankstown? Well, we’ve talked many times previously about the importance of good record keeping to save money on your bookkeeping fees.

Recently a client from Liverpool approached us with an A4 archive box full of suppliers’ invoices, and a coupe of bank statements, for the 2008 – 2009 financial year.

We were just given the box, and asked to record all the transactions – we had no idea of the nature of the business, no opening balances – nothing. We looked through the paperwork and proceeded to find a pattern of transactions.

how good record keeping can save money on your bookkeeping fees

We’ve many years experience as bookkeepers, and were able to work out how many of the payments were made, though it proved to be quite a challenge, owing to the way that the client has been keeping the paperwork, such as:

• Incorrect cheque numbers were written on invoices
• Statements marked “paid” with no amounts detailed
• Cheques written with no payee
• Invoice amounts altered by hand
• Invoices marked “paid by Cash”
• No record of cash income from sales
• No record of what the cash deposits into the bank account represent
• Bank statements missing
• Cheque books missing
• Deposit books missing

A simple extra 30 seconds each time the client made a payment would have saved us a few minutes in trying to track down what the client had done. All those extra minutes turn into hours, and turn into increased fees for their book keeping