The end of the 2018/19 Financial Year is fast approaching and there is A LOT you need to prepare to meet the minimum government standards for reporting and payment.

You will need to prepare an in depth Profit and Loss Statement – that is a summary (taken from your carefully kept records over the financial year) of all your income and expenses for the past 12 months.

If you hold stock for sale, then you may need to perform a physical stocktake of items of stock on hand at 30 June and reconcile it to the stock per your accounting records. Any shortfalls will be explained by spoilage or similar.

A summary of debtors and creditors needs to be prepared. All details of what your business owes and what it is owed will need to be organized and summarised. You should check that your subsidiary ledgers reconcile with the figures in your General Ledger.

You will need to collate all your capital expenditure data to calculate depreciation expense and for capital gains tax purposes for any sales.

Completing and lodging tax returns happens at this time, depending on your actual due lodgement dates as set by the ATO.

Yearly reports such as PAYG withholding, fringe benefits tax and goods and services tax and any other tax payable need to be prepared and lodged with the tax department.

Your accounting software should be able to assist in managing much of the above for you, if prepared correctly.

Are you getting a little stressed by this list?

Does this seem like the Mount Everest of business details, all required to be completely correct, and lodged by the tax deadline date?

If your books are not up to date, if your bookkeeping has slipped (as is the case for most businesses as we slide downhill in to the end of financial year), you need the assistance of Think Accountants to get your books up to date in time for the tax office cut-off date – to ensure that you are not charged a late fee.

Registered tax agents are able to extend the deadline for tax reporting, so you will not have the rush and hurry required if you try to do all this yourself.

Did you know that mistakes in your books may be viewed by the tax office as deliberate attempts to circumvent the tax system?

Despite your very best efforts and best intentions, you have a very high risk of not reporting correctly to the tax office if you do not use a Registered Tax Agent.

Did you also know that when Paul and his team receive accounts and ledgers from their wonderful clients at the end of the financial year, there is often checking, calculating, fixing and changing to be done?

This can be very costly for your business come tax time.

The answer is to use a bookkeeper, who loves doing these things, enjoys the attention to detail and the ins and outs of the taxation system to do your books over the length of the year.

One less administrative task for you to do at tax time and over the year. No more nights pouring over your books trying to make sense of profit/loss/expenses; and this will even out the cost of doing your books at the end of financial year.

So, a saving on time, money and stress!

Call Think Accountants today to organise an appointment to discuss bookkeeping for your business for the new financial year. Start off on the right foot!