Is your Bookkeeper registered?

Do you pay a Bookkeeper, who is not an employee, and they prepare your BAS?

Bookkeepers help Businesses focus on the important job of running their business.  If you are running a business and then also spending time working on the books and preparing your own BAS, there are costs that most Business owners do not consider.

• The opportunity cost of the work that you are not able to be doing on or in your business whilst you are doing the bookkeeping.  Often an experienced Bookkeeper knows the tricks to do the job in much less time.
• The potential cost if you have made a mistake that may turn up when your Accountant prepares your end of year financial accounts.  These costs can include back payment of tax as well as interest penalties.  They can skyrocket if the error is not uncovered until the Tax Office audit your BAS or your income tax return.
• The snowballing effect that happens when you don’t prioritise the bookkeeping and then it takes longer to do it at the end of the quarter than it would on a weekly basis

Then there is often stress on the Business Owner who knows that the Business records are not being kept in a way that they are required to be, by law.

If you have already made the decision to pay a Bookkeeper, did you know that the tough rules around Registered Tax Agents have been extended and modified to include Bookkeepers?  The rules are now:-

• Only registered agents (either Tax Agents or BAS Agents) can charge a fee for providing tax or BAS services
• Tax or BAS Agents need to be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB)
• If you use a Bookkeeper to prepare your BAS, they must be need to be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board, unless they are your employee, or they work for a registered agent

These rules have been set up to protect businesses by ensuring that those that you are entrusting to prepare your returns and statements, are people who are experienced and qualified, who comply with a professional code of conduct.

Using a registered agent also provides you with the following added benefits:-

• consumer protection through professional indemnity insurance
• extended tax and BAS lodgement due dates
• an extra 4 weeks to pay your BAS for each quarter except the December quarter, where everyone gets the 8 weeks

If you have a Bookkeeper and are not sure if they are registered, ask them.  If they’re not, perhaps it’s time to look elsewhere for a Registered Agent?

Contact us to discuss your bookkeeping requirements.  We are a registered Tax Agent.