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

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 details

She then admitted that there were two different data files being used in the office for the bookkeeping!

Here lies the problem: If you are working on the bookkeeping in one MYOB data file, and someone else is working on the bookkeeping in another data file for the same company at the same time, errors will arise – because MYOB is not designed to cater for that.

So we asked her to send us the other MYOB data file , and then we had to work out which file was the most current.

Often when clients around Robina, Burleigh, Varsity Lakes, Mudgeeraba ask us to help them with their BAS (Business Activity Statements) the problem is not with the BAS. The problem lies with somewhere within the bookkeeping process during the BAS preparation. You know the saying GIGO – garbage-in, garbage-out! The actual completion of the BAS form is the easy part.

After all, if the figures do not balance, you can simply make a general journal entry to fix it all up – right? WRONG Contact us for details

PS The ATO advises that:” if you make monthly payments, the PAYG is due on 21 January 2009, while most small businesses that report quarterly, this instalment is due on 28 February 2009
Note that as the date falls on a long weekend in some states, the lodgement and payment deadline has been extended to 3 March 2009 Australia Wide)

We’ve had a number of potential clients contact us, surfing the internet to find the cheapest bookkeeper.

Is a cheap bookkeeper cheap because they themselves do not value their work/worth?

We’ll save you time, the cheapest bookkeeper is probably one who is straight out of TAFE and has got a peice of paper to say that they can do bookkeeping. Maybe the cheapest bookkeeper has done a MYOB course, or a Quickbooks course. Contact us for more details

Maybe the cheapest bookkeeper is just “starting a bookkeeping business” and does not feel confident in Read the rest of this entry »

Get a phone call from an individual who’s received the dreaded letter from the ATO: “Where are your last SEVEN years of Income Tax returns?”

This situation is becoming increasingly more common. As the ATO get tighter and tighter control on our financial position their revenue increases so that they are able to invest in more sophisticated systems to track our finances.

For people like “John” who haven’t submitted a Tax return for seven years, it can create a sudden influx of stress.

We can help you prepare the paperwork, since we are bookkeepers that operate a professional bookkeeping service covering Robina, Mudgeeraba, Burleigh, and Varsity Lakes – we are not registered tax agents and cannot give advice in such matters

Are you in need of a streamlined book keeping system

For a bookkeeping business that can go to his house, pick up his shoebox (or duffle bag) full of bank statements, invoices,receipts etc., it’s simply just another client that needs a streamlined system.

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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 Robina, Varsity Lakes, Reedy Creek and Mudgeeraba, or Burleigh 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,
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Many people are returning to work today after the Christmas / New Year break.

With lower interest rates, lower fuel prices and Kevin Rudd throwing money around like it’s burning a hole in his pocket, what is in store for 2009?

The Australian Taxation Office continue on their relentless search to hammer small business owners and squeeze every last cent out of them. Meanwhile, at the big end of town, multi-nationals and large corporations seem to get away with paying very little tax in comparison.

We’ve seen an increase in small business owners receiving the dreaded ATO letter chasing possible outstanding taxes. Maybe you’ve been a little slack in submitting your Business Activity Statements (BAS) lodgments, and need some help in preparing the paperwork to complete the returns. Contact us here for details
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It’s tempting for small-business owners in Robina and Varsity Lakes to want to handle their own bookkeeping and tax preparation. After all, there is a lot of excellent accounting software such as MYOB or Quickbooks out there to help them.

And many business startups begin with a few partners who do everything, hiring outside contractors only when absolutely necessary.

But just because you can do something such as organising the paperwork or getting totally involved in the bookeeping, doesn’t mean you should. There are indirect costs involved with everything that falls into the do-it-yourself category. Contact us for more details

Consider the time you take doing your own bookkeeping

Consider the time that you would take up doing the bookkeeping, the stress and worry of whether you are doing it correctly, instead of tending to other business matters, and the possible missed opportunities that come with not having something handled by a full-time expert in that task.
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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?

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