As a business owner, it's your responsibility to register for GST if your turnover exceeds the $75,000 threshold or is likely to exceed it. The ATO advises that if you've just started a new business and expect it to earn $75,000 or more in its first year of operation, you should register for GST. Registering for GST means the price of your goods and services will have a markup on it, but it also had a silver lining that you can claim GST back on your business related purchase

Your start-up or small business can be alike a train, a little hard to accelerate at the start of the journey but a smooth efficient machine once a speed has been established. Acquiring and having control on both resources and cash are common challenges faced by and crushing the dreams of new and smaller businesses. With the vast majority of start-up businesses failing within the first 3 years of being established, this budgeting issue is often noted as the most common undoin

The statutory due date for an individual tax return is the 31st of October. Beyond this point you can only avoid penalties if you lodge your tax return with a tax agent. If you have a company and you are registered for the goods and services tax (GST) you are required to submit your Business Activity Statement (BAS) quarterly. Your BAS is due on the 28th day following the end of each quarter if you lodge your BAS yourself. As tax agents we generally get four weeks extension o

There are many different business structure arrangements to select from, with ranging benefits and penalties depending on your situation. As an accounting firm, we, The Great Bean Counters thought we should provide a rundown for you. As a start-up or a growing company looking to restructure in the future you may be able to save on tax by selecting a particular structure, below are the four key options with a summary for you. Sole Trader: A sole trader is the simplest form of

As a start up we imagine you may be facing potentially daunting risks on your exciting adventure into establishing a business. Within this time, overhead costs can hurt cash flow and make it hard to have the time required to gain traction in your industry. Thankfully we can advise some ways of helping you through turbulent times such as selecting a suitable business structure and making use of Queensland Based start up business grants. For example one allows you to claim a ma

Be it a conscious choice to avoid a commute, or a cost cutting method for your start up business, there certainly are advantages to working from home. The better news is, that these advantages spread to claiming on your tax, and this isn't just for businesses, you can claim as an individual as well. There are a diversity of tax claims that can be made around a home based office space: -Electrical bills for cooling or heating your space and even lighting or powering your relat

Capital gains taxes may hurt your returns on an asset based investment such as property. While this is the case there are some important tax claims that can be made to help balance those books and improve returns. Effective record keeping, such as related receipts for costs associated with your investment property, may allow you make claims for depreciation. Depreciation allows you to claim a small percentage of the depreciating assets cost annually. The rate depends upon th

The Great Bean Counters would like to issue a challenge to those in the local region. This challenge will be rewarded with a Trophy and a $50 gift voucher. The challenge is to write a poem using key accounting words and phrases. Great examples are those used on this website, for example page titles. Bonus points will be awarded for use of as many of the combinations listed at the bottom as possibly naturally within the poem. An example that attempted to use "Accountant in (in

Xero is an accounting software with all the time-saving tools you need to grow your small business. Xero has a mobile app to reconcile, send invoices, create expense claims and view reports – from anywhere. It can even help with information to understand your real-time cash position and manage your bookkeeping. Xero your potential tax hero, can directly feed into us at The Great Bean Counters to more efficiently deliver your BAS and Tax, so you can save time and money on havi

To make claims, be they for business expenses, work related deductions or for individual tax return claims for depreciation on investment properties, receipts and record keeping ensures that the claims you make are legitimate so later on if audited, you won't face fines and alike. Well kept record keeping can also help us get the most out of your claims you wish for in your individual, trust or business tax return. Even better again when records are kept well, we can complete