Business accounting, tax, bookkeeping and more - The ultimate guide to help you step by step
- Nov 08, 2022
- 15 min read
Overview
- Why outsource your business accounting needs?
- Annual company tax return
- Cloud based receipt upload
- Setup and Onboarding
- Individual tax return
- ASIC compliance
- Software subscription
- Video meeting with your accountant
- Quarterly BAS submission
- Track business expenses and income
- Monthly bookkeeping via Xero software
- Monthly payroll reporting
- Add-on business accounting services
- CFO Services Grow
- Individual tax return
- How does Sleek do it?
As you’ve no doubt noticed, starting a business comes with a lot of paperwork. Not to mention the business accounting, bookkeeping and compliance responsibilities.
Oh, dear!
If you are like so many other entrepreneurs, looking for an accountant and are confused by all the services they offer, or perhaps you are wondering if you actually need them…
Well, you’ve come to the perfect place 🙂
This is the guide for you!
Why outsource your business accounting needs?
Firstly, let’s discuss if you really need an accountant.
Have you been doing your back office tasks late at night when you finally have a quiet moment, and maybe getting your spouse to prepare the books or even getting the customer service person who comes in three days a week to do some data entry for you?
Sounds familiar, right?
Sure this can work for some time, but will it be accounted for properly, entered correctly and in a timely manner?
You’ve already got enough on your plate to worry about if your ASIC annual review has been lodged, how much tax you need to pay on your next BAS, or if you are paying your staff properly.
Keep reading, here comes the interesting bit!
An accountant can ensure –
- Your books stay up to date on all your paperwork. It’s hard to remember what that payment to a supplier was 6 months ago. Best practice is for your accountant to action your paperwork when it is fresh, it’s easy to process and account for.
- Your company is compliant – all your taxes and compliance duties throughout the year are up to date.
- You foresee problems and issues before they start or become huge irreversible problems.
See, it’s a no-brainer, isn’t it? Hiring an accountant is a worthy business decision.
The next step is to decide what kind of business accounting services you need.
We promise, our guide is super simple and easy to understand, so you’ll know exactly what kind of business accounting services you will need to reduce the burden, give you peace of mind knowing you’re compliant – and most importantly, give you figures and information so you can make those crucial, fast decisions to grow your business.
Of course, if you need more detail about any of the business accounting services, click on the link at the end of each section.
Annual company tax return
An annual company tax return is similar to your individual annual tax return, except it’s the tax return on behalf of your business.
It reports your:
- annual taxable income
- tax offsets (including your business expenses, depreciation and instant asset tax write-off) and credits
- PAYG instalments.
It will outline the amount of tax your business may be liable to pay on your income or the amount that is refundable.
When is it due?
If you are completing and lodging the annual tax return yourself, it is generally due on 28 February (if you haven’t lodged the previous year’s return, it’s due 31 October!).
If you use a Sleek accountant, you get extra time to lodge (and pay!), usually May of the following year.
Cloud based receipt upload
Say goodbye to paper bills and lost receipts.
Your Sleek accountant will set your business up for cloud-based receipt upload. This allows you to send your electronic records and paperwork to your accounting software, using your desktop, via email or scanner.
You can also use your mobile when you are on the go!
You save big dollars by utilising cloud technology, as your accountant has the data available at any time. Your accountant can watch your business in real-time.
Setup and Onboarding
Streamlining and managing your business accounting processes is key to accurate, up-to-date bookkeeping so you can keep your finger on the pulse – knowing exactly how well (or not!) your business is going.
Our onboarding will explain everything in detail, so you know exactly what you are doing and more importantly, why you are doing it!
Your Sleek accountant will work with you to automate routine bookkeeping tasks, set up efficiencies for paperwork-heavy workflows to create an auditable digital paper trail.
Individual tax return
If you personally have earned income in the financial year, you’ll need to lodge an individual tax return.
Let Sleek complete your personal tax return at the same time as your business tax return. This makes sense, especially if your tax affairs are complicated.
It also gives our accountants the big picture of your income and tax affairs, so we can make some adjustments to take advantage of tax efficiencies.
ASIC compliance
You may have remembered ASIC when you registered your partnership, company or trust.
ASIC manages and oversees all of Australia’s corporate activities. So, once a year you will need to complete an annual review of your business and pay the registration fee.
Your Sleek accountant will complete all the paperwork that goes with your ASIC responsibility – they will check the details on your annual review are current and accurate, and lodge the review with ASIC. They will ensure your register of minutes for board or director meetings and your solvency resolution is signed and filed.
That’s a lot to remember once a year when you’re flat-out growing your business.
We’ll take care of it all, you just pay the ASIC invoice ( we’ll even tell you when)!
Software subscription
Your accounting software subscription is included in most of Sleek’s business accounting plans.
This means you’ll always be up to date and can access your accounts and reports in the cloud at any time of the day or night.
Oh! and it’s one less bill to worry about – your accounting software will be always current for new tax and compliance laws. Easy!
Changed your credit card number? No worries. It’s one less subscription you need to update, we’ll look after your software subscription.
Video meeting with your accountant
It’s important to have a good relationship and open communication with your accountant.
Your Sleek accountant wants to understand you and how you like to work, so they can find the best way to get all the accounting tasks completed with the least burden on you – that’s why you’ve got an accountant right?
It’s important your accountant understands your business too. The types of goods or services you are selling, your team members, and especially your goals for the future, so they can guide and direct you to reaching these goals in the most efficient and successful way forward.
Our client, Nicole Dadic, values our accountants – “Thanks Sleek team, especially Dan for his professional help, support and advice. They provide an awesome service, I don’t have to worry about my business’ paperwork at all. Happy to recommend them to any business owner like me who needs help with accounting.”
With our expertise, we’ll get down to the nitty-gritty of your business in a time-efficient meeting scheduled online, at a time convenient for you.
Bring the team, so they are on board too!
Quarterly BAS submission
It’s amazing how fast time flies and before you know it, your BAS statement (the one where you report your taxes to the ATO either monthly or quarterly) is due.
Your Sleek accountant will ensure all your transactions are up to date (both income and purchases). They will collate, check and report your BAS statement and if all checks out with you, lodge it with the ATO.
We’ll give you the total amount you need to pay and give you an extra 4 weeks to pay directly to the department.
How good is that?
Track business expenses and income
It’s a numbers game.
Tracking all income and expenses ensures that every transaction in your accounting software is entered correctly and assigned to the correct accounting code.
This ensures accurate records, so your business can make good business decisions based on real-time data – like budgeting, managing cash flow, spotting outliers, benefitting from tax deductions and pinpointing cost savings.
Business owner Martin Babanour values our good bookkeeping ‘Quick turnaround and follow-up calls to ensure everything is done as expected shows a lot of caring’
Now you can confidently plan ahead to ensure you have the money available when needed.
Monthly bookkeeping via Xero software
Bookkeeping is different from business accounting. Bookkeeping looks after the basic upkeep of your financial records, whereas your accountant provides a higher level of financial analysis of your business, giving you strategy plans and the performance of the business overall and its tax situation.
So basically it involves all your bills, invoicing, and data entry,…
not your thing, right? We get it!
Your Sleek bookkeeper will track and record the money that comes in and goes out from your business.
They will complete tasks such as invoicing, paying bills, data entry and bank reconciliations. They will also prepare your accounts for your accountant to complete his tasks.
If you want to spend more time focusing on your business or really have no idea what the difference between a credit and a debit is, this is the service for you.
Monthly payroll reporting
Got staff? You’ve got to pay them properly as well as all the other commitments that come with payroll.
Payroll is one of the hardest administrative tasks in bookkeeping and maintaining sound financial records.
Payments through payroll need to be made to a strict deadline (there are laws to regulate this).
Then add super contributions, workers’ compensation and PAYG to the mix and you do need some knowledge (or at least some training) of what you are doing.
Sleek’s payroll service is great value for money and will leave you with peace of mind that your employees are being paid on time and fully, and their entitlements are recorded and paid correctly.
Add-on business accounting services
Would you like chips with that?
No, seriously, what other accounting services can you add to make your business even better? As your business grows your service needs may change.
Have a look at what’s available.
You may need that extra help to rocket your business to success.
- Tax planning services
Ok, so what does tax planning do for businesses?
Tax planning services analyse the financial situation of income tax payable by your business to ensure tax efficiencies are met.
This type of planning is usually completed a few months before the end of the financial year.
It gives you a good idea of where your business stands and if there are any effective tax strategies your business can implement and take advantage of.
Example scenario:
Your personal training business has taken off and your profits are soaring.
Nice one!
You could use some of the profits to buy equipment to grow your business and effectively reduce your income tax bill. Buying a new equipped van means you could hire a personal trainer to bring in more income in the next financial year while reducing your tax bill for the current financial year.
Your accountant can work out a scenario for you to see if this is a viable option for your business.
Just because you have the money, doesn’t always mean it’s a good idea!
The ATO offers business tax incentives from time to time and your Sleek accountant will be in the know of how your business can take advantage of them.
CFO Services
CFO Services?
CFO (stands for Chief Financial Officer) services offer high-level financial advice outlining your opportunities and risks to find the path to growth and sound financial health.
Your dedicated CFO will:
- sharpen where the problems are
- create reporting for an exact financial picture of where your business is
- set up good management and accountability within the accounting functions
Best of all, a CFO can give you practical interpretation and guidance on how best to leverage the opportunities like investing in assets and equipment.
They can also help you in raising capital with accurate financial history and projections to provide investors and banks.
Hiring a CFO as an employee, even on a part-time basis, can mean big bucks and a huge financial commitment.
By utilising a CFO as a service makes good financial sense – you get the best of both worlds – sound, forward-thinking financial advice without the burden!
Individual tax return
Need other family members’ tax returns completed?
Leave it with Sleek.
We’ll complete their personal tax returns at the same time.
We can also extend our individual tax return services to include:
- Rental properties – what can you claim on your rental property? We know! We make the most of your deductions to find effective tax benefits for you.
- Crypto tax return – did you know you must declare all crypto transactions (yes, the buys, sells and exchanges of crypto). The ATO classifies crypto as a capital gains asset, so needs to be declared on your individual tax return. We can complete this section on your tax return so you know you’re covered.
- CGT events – sold something that’s considered an asset in the financial year? That’s considered a Capital Gains Tax event and you’ll need to add that to your individual tax return! CGT events include:
- insurance claims for a rental property that has been destroyed by fire
- selling shares or selling cryptocurrency
Good news if you’ve held this asset for longer than 12 months. Your CGT is reduced by 50%. CGT is a complicated tax and holds various criteria your accountant will understand to ensure your claim is compliant and above the law.
As you can see, Sleek has got all kinds of business accounting plans, it’s time to make it your own.
From basic help to doing it all – what do you need?
How does Sleek do it?
We make technology your friend.
Our accountants are tech-savvy, not old fuddy-duddies – we’ll give you tips and tricks to make this side of your business even easier.
Sleek uses the best of technology (our in-house programmers and tech heads work closely with our accountants to create what our entrepreneurs and founders really need) to streamline the mundane activities and provide the information you need about your business.
We say, be prepared for all the opportunities. Don’t sit back and watch your competitors win all the deals, when you’re too busy paying bills and preparing tax documents.
It’s so much more than being compliant with the tax man. Our accounting services are designed to stay on the pulse – for growth, for action, and for pivoting your business in real-time.
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