Lodging Business Activity Statements (BAS) is an essential part of running a business. This is a time-consuming and stressful task for many business owners who choose to do it themselves.
A BAS accountant can handle reporting requirements on your behalf, giving you peace of mind that it's done correctly and more time to work on your business.
Find out how a BAS accountant can help you.
What is a BAS and what is it used for?
A Business Activity Statement, or BAS, is simply used to notify the Australian Tax Office (ATO) of how much Goods and Services Tax (GST) you have received in your business income and how much GST you have paid in your business expenses. Lodging your BAS on time is necessary for remaining compliant with the ATO.
Here's how it works:
When you have received more GST than you have spent
If the amount of GST you have received in your income is greater than the amount of GST you have paid in your expenses, then you will need to pay the difference to the ATO.
When you have spent more GST than you have received
If the amount of GST you have paid in your expense is greater than the amount of GST you have received in your income, then the ATO will pay the difference to you.
When you need to lodge a BAS
Businesses with revenue of over $75,000 per year need to lodge a BAS every three months. Businesses with revenue of over $20 million per year need to lodge a BAS every month.
Can I lodge a BAS myself?
Yes, you can lodge your own BAS as a business owner, but it may not be the best use of your time. Many business owners who handle their own BAS lodgement say that the process is time-consuming and difficult.
It's important to consider the potential downsides of handling your own BAS lodgement, such as:
The risk of mistakes
It's very easy for business owners to make mistakes when recording the amount of GST in their transactions. Unless you have trained as an accountant, it's generally not recommended to lodge your own BAS.
Opportunity cost
You also need to remember that the time and effort you spend on your BAS is time that you could use to run and grow your business. By delegating this task to a BAS accountant, you free up more time which you can allocate towards higher-value work on your business.
Using a BAS accountant
A BAS accountant can handle all your reporting requirements with the ATO and ensure that your business is compliant with all regulations.
Here are some of the tasks a BAS accountant can take care of for you:
- Auditing all business transactions to correctly calculate GST
- Checking that your annual tax return matches your BAS lodgements throughout the year
- Protecting you from ATO audits
- Staying up to date with new legislation and regulations
- Organising a payment plan with the ATO if you cannot afford to pay your BAS when it's due
Lodging a BAS is simply a compliance requirement with the ATO. Lodging your own BAS doesn't add any value to your business, so it's not something you should be spending your time on as a business owner.
Using a BAS accountant gives you the peace of mind that your business is ATO compliant as well as more time to do high-value work for your business.
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Choose Liston Newton Advisory as your BAS accountant
At Liston Newton Advisory, we provide comprehensive, high-quality BAS accounting services. Our team goes to great lengths to ensure the accuracy of all your financial records.
We stand by the quality and accuracy of our work. In fact, we're so confident our BAS lodgement is accurate that we provide an audit guarantee, while other firms ask you to purchase audit insurance. Our audit guarantee means that if your business is audited, we will deal with the ATO on your behalf for free.
