Sydney-Bookkeeping.Com.Au

Last week we were flooded with enquiries from small business owners around Bankstown and Panania asking about MYOB Bookkeeping for the December quarter BAS that’s due 2 March 2010

If you are a small business owner in and around Revesby, Panania, Padstow, Picnic Point, and suburbs to Liverpool and Bankstown, we encourage you to focus on what you do best, and we’ll do the rest

contact our Panania Bookkeepers, your local mobile bookkeeping service today

Savvy business owners around Bankstown have contacted our Bankstown Bookkeepers, looking for a mobile bookkeeping service.

Rather than you struggling and getting stressed out over it, give us a call, and we’ll come to your premises and review your MYOB data files.

Our Panania bookkeeping service can help you with reconciling your bank account statements. We’ll run various checks and reports to ensure that all the data has been entered correctly and allocated in the correct accounts

The Australian Taxation Office [ATO] advise that almost 80% of BAS forms are lodged incorrectly - as many small business owners are challenged with the task of completing their Business Activity Statements

Contact our Panania bookkeeping team today

Had a phone call today from a lady who told us she works at the ATO Australian Taxation Office.

She’d been reading our website and wanted to correct our entry regarding the due date for the December Quarter Q2 BAS lodgement for Business Activity Statements

“I’m calling from the ATO and noticed your website states the BAS is due 2 March 2010″

“Yes, That’s right!”

“Well, they are actually due on 28 February”

- “Really? What day is 28 February?

“Oh, I don’t know, I’ll see if I can find a calendar,” she said [One wonders why she can't use the calendar on her computer]

Amazing! People at the ATO have nothing better to do than web-surfing and calling up website owners

It’s wonderful to know that our hard-earned tax dollars are keeping Australia’s Public Servants so gainfully employed and contributing so much to the Australian Economy

Reminds us of an incident last year where the ATO sent out a letter advising that 5 cents was owing

Unfortunately the call dropped out, and the woman from the ATO didn’t get back to us.

Maybe she did find the ATO website page entitled “Activity statement generate dates” (BAS) which shows the Legislative due date as being 2 March 2010,

The reason the BAS is due 2 March is owing to the fact that 1st March (Monday) is a public holiday in Western Australia

It’s good to know that the staff at the ATO feel the need to search our website to see what dates the BAS are due

Probably because it’s so confusing trying to navigate around the ATO website

With Christmas out of the way, and many small businesses returning to work, 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 2 March.

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 2009

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

Our bookkeeping Service has clients in and around Campbelltown, Bankstown, Sydney CBD and Northern Beaches, Australia. Contact us here for details

We received an email, apparently from the ATO, advising us that we had a Tax Refund due.

The amount was for AUD$210.75. Nothing strange about that, except for the spelling and the grammar.

They ask you to click a link that takes you Read more… »

July and August are busy months for many registered tax agents and bookkeeping services around Campbelltown and Bankstown – as individuals hurry to lodge their income tax returns in the hope that they’ve been paying too much PAYG tax and hope to get a tax refund.

Wham, Bham, thank you, ma’am, and it’s all over!

This time of year brings many enquiries for our bookkeeping service. The main questions are, for a basic Tax Return: “How Long, and How Much Fees?”

Stroll through any large shopping centre around Campbelltown and Bankstown, and you’ll see that centre management have rented out the floor space in the middle of the mall to tax agents who’ve set themselves up like a fast-food outfit.

Wham, Bham, thank you, ma’am, and it’s all over!

Get ‘em in, sit ‘em down, fill in a form, and click a button …. Gone!!

We get quite a few enquiries from individuals, on a salary, with little expenses that they can claim, so their tax return is very straight forward. We are not registered Tax Agents and cannot advise / lodge tax returns on their behalf.

Normally if you go to Bankstown shopping centre you’ll most likely find a registered tax agent - they’ll most likely set up a table at this time of year, and be sitting with their laptop waiting for the next customer to come along - costs about $100 and takes about 20 minutes, with about 3 or 4 weeks to get answer from ATO

Some of these tax agents only operate for a few months of the year, specifically to help individuals with their tax returns.

Small business owners may find that the service offered by these quick-fix-tax-return booths are not set up to handle your needs, and that’s where a mobile bookkeeping service such as ours can be of great benefit to you

As bookkeepers, we can help with any bookkeeping requirements you may have, so please feel free to contact us to discuss your bookkeeping setup

The Rudd Government is telling everyone how the new stimulus package is 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?

It certainly helps large businesses - the suppliers of motor vehicles, national stationary / office equipment suppliers, hardly normal electical chain stores and the like, but how does it help you, the small business owner in Robina or Burleigh?

Speaking to an accountant of one of our bookkeeping clients recently, he said that whilst the incentive looks very rosy, you should actually look at the costs involved in the purchase of a new vehicle.

“Ha Ha !! You don’t believe what the Government tells you, do you!!!”

Taking all things into consideration for this particular client, the client was going to be worse off purchasing a new vehicle compared to finding a cheaper second-hand vehicle

We asked our accountant about reducing the PAYG for this quarter - after receiving notification from the ATO that the quarterly payment had been increased.

“You can’t” replied the accountant - But what about the Government telling us that they’re reducing the PAYG installments to help small business?
“Ha Ha !! You don’t beleive what the Government tells you, do you!!!”

Many small business owners are understandably looking to save money wherever they can, believing that’s the only way that they can increase their income. Yet at the sametime, they also want to increase their turnover by attracting more customers or upselling existing customers.

Why do small business owners have a problem with supporting other small-to-medium enterprises?

Many of our bookkeeping clients take their shopper dockets from the major supermarkets, to get discount fuel, rather than paying a few cents more (perhaps) for fuel from independent service station operators.

The same clients buy all their fruit and vegetables, meat and other groceries from the large supermarket chains instead of supporting small independent green-grocers or butchers

Why do small-to-medium enterprises complain that your potential customers are going to the large companies or multi-nationals instead of shopping from you? Maybe we should stop pointing the finger at other people, and start asking ourselves, why do small businesses have a problem trading with other small businesses?

Do large companies really care about the local Campbelltown or Bankstown business owner? Not when the head office is overseas

The positive effect on the local economy would be far wider reaching than all of those small business owners that continue to support large companies who are only interested in making huge profits for their shareholders (many of whom are large multi-nationals themselves).

Go shopping at your local independantly owned business, take business away from large corporations and bring back competition to the market place - you’ll be helping the local econmy which will in-turn help your smal business

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 Revesby, Panania, Padstow, Picnic Point, and suburbs to Liverpool and Bankstown 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.

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 Bankstown 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.

Bookkeeping – Tax- Free Stimulus Package Bonus to $900

Bookkeeping: A Tax Free Lunch on the ATO? As bookkeepers around Revesby, Panania, Padstow, Picnic Point, and suburbs to Liverpool and Bankstown, NSW, Australia, our clients 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 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.

Our bookkeeping service can go to your premises and work on-site, or we can organise pick-up of your documentation and work at our offices.

The Australian Government Stimulus package of Tax Bonus payments refers to your personal tax return. So if you are self employed sole-trader, have a business partnership or a small business owner, you’ll need to have the figures prepared for your business so you or your accountant can calculate your earnings for the year 2007-08. Contact our mobile bookkeeping service now to get your bookwork up to date.

The ATO advises that you won’t have to pay tax on your payment nor will you need to report the receipt of your tax bonus on your income tax return. The tax bonus won’t be included in your separate net income for tax purposes.
To benefit from the Australian Government’s Tax Stimulus Package Bonus you’ll need to get your bookkeeping upto date and have your 2007/08 tax return lodged by 30 June 2009

Is the ATO using this to chase up tax returns, or is the government trying to stimulate the economy?

Apparently already 7.4 million people have already lodged their 2007-08 tax return, and they’ll start receiving their payments from Wednesday 8 April 2009.
If your 2007-08 taxable income was $100,000 or less and you paid tax, you could be eligible to receive a tax – free bonus payment of up to $900.

Is the Government trying to stimulate the completion of tax returns, or is it trying to stimulate the economy?

We should stress that we are not registered tax agents, and so any matters regarding taxation must be referred to your accountant or tax agent.

Contact our Revesby, Panania, Padstow, Picnic Point, and suburbs to Liverpool and Bankstown mobile bookkeeping service now to get your bookwork up to date, so you can lodge your tax return and benefit from the Tax- Free Stimulus Package Bonus to $900, and have a tax-free lunch on the ATO

As bookkeepers servicing the suburbs to Liverpool and Bankstown 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.

What’s become a nightmare for her, is a bookkeeper’s dream

A new Padstow bookkeeping client has been running her graphic design business for over a year operating on one bank account for everything. She’s made her book-keeping become a nightmare for her by using the same bank account for both her personal and business expenses. That makes our job as mobile book keepers quite an interesting 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 have your bookkeeper 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, whether you are located in Bankstown or Liverpool, 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… »

Every small business owner in and around Revesby, Panania, Padstow, Picnic Point, and suburbs to Liverpool and Bankstown, NSW, Australia needs to keep records. Why? Because it’s a legal requirement. Many business owners choose to outsource their bookkeeping requirements using our mobile bookeeping services. Contact us for more information

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) requires you to keep business records:

• for five years after they are prepared, obtained or the transactions completed (whichever occurs later), and
• in English, or in a form that the ATO can access and understand in order to determine your tax liability.

You should keep book keeping records for Read more… »