“It’s easy I lodge it myself”

We all make mistakes, right? I know I do! In Bookkeeping there’s always room for error.

But, that’s not a problem if you know how to find & rectify those mistakes before you report to the ATO.

Qualified Bookkeepers & BAS Agents are taught how to do this.
Here’s a few of the things we look out for.

• We run reports to reconcile GST. Within this report we are looking for transactions coded incorrectly, some items have GST, others are GST Free and others are BAS excluded.
• -Are you dealing with GST on imports? Have you entered this correctly? Are your suspense and clearing accounts reconciled? Why is there a balance in these accounts? Could this be income or expenses I need to report on?
• Did you lock down each period after you lodged BAS? If not, have these figures changed? If so, you may need to amend your BAS. Can I do the adjustment in my current BAS, or do I need to amend the affected BAS?
• Payroll can get complicated and requires a good understanding of legislation along with numerous pay awards. (That’s another story!)

For now, are you sure your PAYG & superannuation liability accounts are correct? Did you accidently enter a transaction for wages directly to the expense account? Now your expense and liability accounts don’t reconcile. How do you fix this before you pay out to the superfunds, or lodge your PAYG withholding on your BAS or IAS?

It can cost you a lot of $$ at year end if your accountant needs to fix up errors before they can process your Tax Return. Which leads me to……

“My Accountant does our BAS”

Good move! Unless you’re a Bookkeeper or accountant yourself leave the headache to someone else. But have a conversation with your Accountant and be certain what is covered in their BAS lodgement fee. Are they checking all your transactions for errors, and making sure your accounts are all reconciled correctly? You don’t want an extra surprise invoice at year end because this wasn’t discussed, and you assumed this was all done but it wasn’t in your agreement.

Accountants are highly educated & knowledgeable professionals which justifies their hourly rate. We pay for their extensive knowledge and expertise.

BUT are you paying accountants rates for a BAS Agents job? If so, you’re paying much more than you need to.