Remote Bookkeeping and OnLine Accounting Services Australia

Lodging timely tax returns and maintaining accurate accounting records are essential in any business. Businesses maintain accounting departments or retain bookkeepers for these purposes but the Australian Tax Office reminds all taxpayers to engage the services of a registered tax or BAS agent in preparing their returns. In addition to being registered, it is also ideal to choose a Quickbooks online accounting services professional who can ensure that only the most accurate system for recording transactions are used in the preparation of financial statements for taxation purposes.

Who is a BAS agent?

A BAS agent is a paid accounting professional who provides services in relation to:

• determining liabilities, obligations or entitlements of a taxpayer under a BAS provision
• rendering advice about liabilities, obligations or entitlements of the taxpayer under a BAS provision
• acting as a taxpayer’s representative at the Australian Tax Office in relation to any BAS provision.

BAS provisions include:

• GST law
• Wine equalization tax law
• Luxury car tax law
• Fuel tax law
• Fringe benefits law (for collecting and recovery only)
• Pay As You Go (PAYG) withholding
• PAYG installments

Why is registration important?

Registered BAS agents possess the necessary qualifications, relevant experience and fit-and-proper requirements of the Tax Professional Board (TPB). An agent typically has a Certificate IV Financial Services in either Bookkeeping or Accounting and has successfully completed a Board-approved course in basic GST/BAS taxation principles.

An agent usually has a minimum tax experience of 1,000 to 1,400 hours. Fit-and-proper requirements pertain to the agent’s integrity and character. Choosing a registered agent minimizes errors in the preparation of tax returns and administrative penalties that the ATO may impose on these mistakes. Confirming an agent’s registration also eliminates the additional steps of checking extensively on the agent’s background. A taxpayer who uses a registered BAS agent may obtain some relief from certain administrative penalties for careless mistakes or late lodgment as a result of the agent’s actions.

Other services that a BAS-registered person can provide include:

• installing computer accounting software such as Quicken online accounting services which use a default GST and other codes;
• ascertaining the withholding obligations for the employees of the taxpayer;
• coding tax invoices and transferring data onto a computer program;
• reconciling BAS provision data entries to ascertain the figures for inclusion in a taxpayer’s activity statement; and
• instructing the taxpayer which figures to include in its activity statement.

Tax Accountants can be quite expensive to engage, but they are necessary for correct lodgement of your business Tax Return. The ideal way to reduce the charges of your tax accountant is by engaging a qualified bookkeeper or accounting professional to maintain your financial records on a regular basis.

By doing this, you are in a position to hand over clean and accurate records to a tax accountant on time, allowing them to quickly process your tax return. Using Quickbooks online accounting services makes this a streamlined handover.