Bookkeeping: Robina Bookkeepers, Gold Coast0415 453 536 – MYOB,Quickbooks, Robina, Varsity Lakes, Reedy Creek and Mudgeeraba

A good bookkeeping system is recording Expenses and Income in appropriate accounts

As mobile bookkeepers servicing Robina, Varsity Lakes, Reedy Creek, Burleigh and Mudgeeraba, we are often asked how we can be of benefit to the small business owner.

Bookkeeping can be seen as an unnecessay expense by some business owners, whereas for others, it’s seen an essential part of their business.

Very often it comes down to a lack of understanding, or full appreciation of what book-keepers actually do, and how bookeeping benefits businesses in Robina, Varsity Lakes, Reedy Creek, Burleigh and Mudgeeraba.

The basic building block to a good bookkeeping system is recording expenses and income in appropriate accounts.

The tricky part is to make certain that whoever enters the data understands the true nature of each and every expense, and is able to put it in its right place. Contact us NOW for a free appraisal of your bookkeeping system

Data Entry
Businesses need to have up to date and accurate account of their business income and expenses. While concentrating on their core business, financial record keeping can easily become overwhelming for many business owners. Out of date or poorly prepared records can actually hinder their business.

Professionally prepared financial records provide powerful information tools that enable better management of the business.

These records and reports enhance any interactions with accountants and financial institutions, so the business owner has an accurate picture of the financial status to make better business decisions.

In any business, money comes in, and money goes out. Generally money that comes in (Income) is through sales of goods, products, or through providing a service (i.e being paid to do a job such as bookkeeping, for a client).

Need help with your bookkeeping?
Contact us NOW for a free appraisal of your bookkeeping system

Other money that may come in to a business could be through loans from the business owner (private funds), the Bank or financial institution, Grants or capital injection from other sources.

Money that comes out of the business can fall into a number of different categories also. This money may be classed as expenses, including purchasing raw materials / components/ products all involved in making up the goods being sold. Other reasons that money comes out of the business maybe for personal use (Drawings), wages or to pay back loans.

This is where a basic understanding of accounting is very important, and it is the where the skills of bookkeeping are truly recognised.

Not all businesses are the same, and where an item may be seen as an expense in one business (i.e cutlery for a catering business) would more likely be a personal expense in another business (i.e an electrician buying cutlery would most unlikely be using that cutlery to further his business).

When the tax office (ATO) comes to audit a business, claims for items that are not business related can result in heavy fines. A recent example has been with the Australian Taxation Office scrutinising owners of investment properties that have been making purchases for materials used in their family home and claiming them as a deduction for their investment properties.

Clients will often fill their work vehicle with fuel at a service station, and then buy confectionary, bread, milk and other grocery items at the same time, all in a single transaction. When that transaction is recorded, the bookkeeper must ensure that only the fuel component of the transaction is recorded as a business expense, and the other items would be reflected as a personal expense, (i.e Drawings).

Incorrect data entry would not only misrepresent the total spent on fuel at the end of the reporting period (which would affect calculations in costings and future budgeting) but it would also affect the total “Cost of Goods Sold” and “Profit and Loss” figures.

Contact us NOW for a free appraisal of your bookkeeping system

Gone are the days when a “cash business” could hide earnings – thanks to Bill Gates and others in Silicon Valley, the ATO now has sophisticated data matching software.

They can compare similar businesses and create reports showing “average” turnover for a particluar business, and then cross-check against the tax return / BAS lodgment of that business.

It would be a huge job to be a bookkeeper for the Australian Taxation Office. During 2006/07 the Australian Government collected $135billion from individuals, and paid out $17billion in tax refunds

It’s no surprise that the ATO has so many more resources now than in days gone by for extracting every tax dollar from individuals and small businesses.

As bookkeepers, it seems most days we are working for the Australian Taxation Office, yet being contracted to small businesses in and around Robina / Varsity Lakes / Reedy Creek area.

During the period 2006/07 the ATO collected $40billion in GST, so of course the ATO is going to be doing everything within its means to ensure that every tax dollar is accurately reported.

Can A Business Hide Cash in Bookkeeping?
You may have a Car Wash business in Robina, or you may be an electrician in Reedy Creek, doing cash jobs. The ATO can make a reasonable estimate of your tax liabilities and then come along and audit your books.

If the records appear to be disorganised, it will take the ATO longer to look through them. The longer they take, the more they will see, and the more questions they will ask.

If you can present them with an organised and tidy bookkeeping system, they are less likely to ask too many questions.

Whether you use MYOB or Quickbooks, or maybe you do not have any accounting software or even any bookkeeping system in place, then contact us NOW for an initial FREE consultation

In the last two days we’ve had calls from small business owners who understand that they cannot do everything that needs to be done to keep their business going.

The cost of hiring a bookkeeper may seem expensive until you consider the cost of trying to do the bookkeeping yourself. Contact us now for a free quote

One client had their brother-in-law set up the chart of accounts and show our client how to do the bookwork. That can work well sometimes, and can be a total disaster for others. Costly mistakes can occur by not setting up your bookkeeping system correctly, through giving an incorrect reflection of your business profit and loss, or incorrect calculations of the GST that is owed

As we fast approach the deadline for the September Quarter BAS returns, business owners begin to panic and search for quick solutions to their bookkeeping.

If you’ve been doing your own books and are not sure about how to complete the BAS, you can Contact us now.

We have clients that email us their MYOB / Quickbooks files and we can sort them out and submit the BAS electronically. If you are not sure whether you’ve done the data entry correctly, Contact us now and we’ll have a look over your data files.

Not only can we save you in accounting fees, we may also save you in your GST liabilities – after all, you can probably put the money to better use than the Australian Taxation Office, can’t you?

Struggling with your BAS?

You can email your MYOB / Quickbooks data file and we can do any adjustments and even lodge the BAS on your behalf

In a few weeks the Business Activity Statements are due to be lodged! Things get pretty hectic for bookkeepers in the weeks before the BAS are due for lodgment

We get enquiries from small – to medium sized businesses (SME’s) in and around Robina, Mudgeeraba, Varsity Lakes and Burleigh, as they suddenly realise that the paperwork is all too much, and they need help in getting the bookkeeping upto date on time.

Many bookkeepers will be fully booked in the weeks leading up to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) deadline, and so last minute requests from clients can take some juggling of the calendar.

So when new clients contact us wanting urgent help, they need to get back to us with the same urgency to secure our services.

We rarely have to turn new clients away – as we have an excellent network of bookkeepers who we can call on to help out in times of need.

If you are needing a bookkeeper for the BAS lodgment that is due 28 October, then contact us right now so that we can schedule some time for you.

Remember, it’s never too late – and we may even be able to get an extension to the deadline on your behalf

Outsource your bookkeeping to free your time to do what you do best

One advantage of the introduction of the GST was initially to force you to review your finances on a quarterly basis resulting in a greater awareness of your ongoing financial position.

This has led to many small businesses in and around Robina, and Varsity Lakes utilising a computerised accounting software package such as MYOB or Quickbooks to do the hackwork and present you with the necessary reports and if required even the BAS itself.

However, owning the software does not make you a bookkeeper, and whilst the software companies have done their best to make the packages easy to use, the operator still needs a basic understanding of bookkeeping.

We’ve helped many small business owners with book-keeping, and we can help you. By outsourcing your bookkeeping needs you can free up your time to do what you do best in working your business, while we do what we do best, working on the bookkeeping side of your business

The work of a bookkeeper is not the same as that of an accountant. Indeed, many accountancy firms employ or subcontract bookkeepers to prepare the figures for their financial reports.

Bookkeepers enter all the data, invoices, receipts, dockets, and match up the money that comes into a business with the money that goes out of the business.

The bookkeeper will reconcile the bank accounts, make sure that all the figures entered into the general ledger match the figures on the bank statement.

Accountants will look after the taxation matters of a business – they are professionally qualified and keep upto date with all the updates and changes in tax laws and rulings from the Australian Taxation Office

The finer points of accounting and taxation are best left to the professionals whose job among other functions is to keep you updated with changes in taxation as well as maximise your deductions. Your book keeper should be able to prepare a reconciled trial balance.

You can do the bookkeeping yourself if you have some knowledge of simple bookkeeping and know your way around a computer, but many small business owners do not have the time or the inclination to do the necessary bookwork each week

He regarded the bookkeeping to be an unnecessary expense

Many small business owners struggle with keeping their bookwork up to date. Yet good record keeping is an essential part of any successful small business. Contact Us HERE for details.

How can you make an informed decision about your business if you don’t know where you are at financially with your business?

You may have an excellent understanding of your business, and can say that you have all the information in your head.

We recently had a client who knew his business so well, that he boasted one client accounted for more than two – thirds of his business turnover.

When we presented the figures, he was shocked to learn that the client actually accounted for less than a third in terms of income, and was actually taking up about 80% of his time.

The business owner had no idea of where his business was, he hadn’t looked at sales figures, had a vague idea about his pending orders, and was heading for collapse.

Yet he took no notice of our warnings, because he regarded the bookkeeping to be an unnecessary expense, and only wanted the minimum of bookkeeping services.

Six months later he closed the doors on his business, before the creditors declared him a bankrupt. So he lost his whole business for the sake of a few hundred dollars in bookkeeping fees that he regarded as an expense.

Good record keeping should be the life-blood of your business, so ensure that you have a good bookkeeping system in place. Contact Us HERE for details

Do you know if your bookkeeper is looking after you ?

1) Are you accounts receivable / payable upto date and in order?
2) Is your bookkeeper giving you reports of accounts receivable / payable weekly?
3) Are you invoices being sent out on time?
4) Is your bank account being reconciled daily?
5) Is your accountant happy with the bookkeeping? (And his fees don’t include bookkeeping work that the bookkeeper should have done)

If your bookkeeper’s behind in any area, then you need to find out why – it could be:
a) S/he’s got more work than time available
b) S/he’s slow
c) S/he’s may not be up-to-speed with the software and needs a refresher course
d) there may be other problems that S/he’s not told you

Contact Us for an initial appraisal