1. Fees and Charges
The first question most small business owners ask when looking for bookkeeping services and bookkeepers in the Brisbane – Gold Coast corridor is “What’s your hourly rate for bookkeeping?”

If you think about that question for a minute, you may begin to undertsand that knowing an hourly rate does not tell you how much your bookkeeping fees will be each month.

Unfortunately for some small business owners in Yatala, their bookkeeping has become a nightmare for a number of reasons. some of which we’ve included below:

Some people seem to be “naturally gifted” with numbers, whereas others would rather crawl through the desert on broken glass than do their own bookwork

If that’s not a passion or a skill, then why spoil your day getting stressed out and frustrated over performing what to a professional bookkeeper can be a simple task?
You can then free up your time to focus on areas of your Yatala business that can be far more productive for you and your business

There’s been recent changes in the legislation requiring bookkeepers to become registered BAS Agents before they can lodge your Business Activity Statements. Whilst the Government can “pat themselves on the back” for creating more red- tape – unfortunately this does not irridacte the problem of inexperineced bookkeepers being let loose on your bookkwork

May be your husband, wife, mother, father ,son or daughter may be willing to help you with the bookkeeping for your Yatala business – or you may have a well-meaning friend that’s done the books

An inexperienced bookkeeper can quickly become a liability in your business though making innocent errors, taking more time than is necessary, or simply not having the expertise

Office equipment suppliers and hardly normal electrical retailers may tell you that you can easily do your own bookkeeping by purchasing the MYOB accounting software.

If you do not set up the chart of accounts correctly, and ensure that all the tax codes are correct for your specific business, you may soon become unstuck, and find that you’re paying the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) more than is necessary.

Without having an experienced bookkeeper come in and set up your accounting system correctly, you may find that you will not have a true reflection of the financial side of your Yatala business

Contact us today for a bookkeeping health check

They engage mobile bookkeepers just as they hire other contractors to perfom various services in which they have neither the time nor the inclination to carry out themselves

In Beenleigh you’ll find a range of bookkeeping services with bookkepers of varying expertise.

Finding the right bookkeeper
Finding the most suitable bookkeeping service for your Beenleigh business can be quite a challenge. Recent changes in legislation require bookkeepers that lodge BAS statements to have a CERT IV and become a registered BAS agent

Just as having a driving licence does not necessarily mean that you are experienced to race in the Bathurst 1000, so to a “piece of paper” doesn’t make someone a bookkeeper

You’ll find that many experienced bookkeepers had no formal qualifications. THey’ve been through the School of Hard Knocks, and have far more experience “in the trenches” than a freshly qualified bookkeeper straight out of TAFE or university

Rather than focusing on their hourly rate, or how many certificates they’ve accumulated, you should ask them how much experience they’ve had as a freelance bookkeeper

This is very different from years of working in the accounts department of a large company, or doing the bookkeeping for their spouse in the family business.

Ask your potential bookkeeper for references from any accountants that they have worked for / with. You’ll find that bookkeepers will deal with a number of accountants, as each client tends to have their own accountant. Contact Us for more information

For many small business owners it seems pretty boring entering data into a computerised accounting software program, as well as being totally unproductive. And the more bookkeeping that you do for your business, it seems the more there is still left to do.

After a hard day or week at work, the last thing you want to do is go home and sit infront of a computer and enter bookkeeping data

When the economy is in such a state and money is so tight, there’s even more reason to make sure that your bookkeeping is upto date.

You may use MYOB accounting software, or Quickbooks, or some of the other more popular bookkeeping software packages. However, unfortunately having a bookkeeping software package doesn’t turn you into a bookkeeper.

What’s worse is that you can make a simple mistake in the data entry that can throw your figures out totally, and you could end up paying the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) more than you need to be doing.

When’s the last time you had someone have a real good look at your accounts? We’re not talking about your accountant, who just looks at the bottom line figures – we’re talking about really looking through your chart of accounts and identifying errors in allocations that can end up giving you false reports.

Our Ormeau bookkeepers are busy completing BAS lodgements for our bookkeeping clients, with Easter, ANZAC Day, and the April 28 deadline rapidly approaching

Completing BAS forms has (theoretically) become simpler with the various accounting software packages that people have.

MYOB and Quickbooks software can give you a false sense of security, and there’s always a risk that you’ve entered the data incorrectly, resulting in the wrong figures being entered on the BAS form

How to safeguard against incorrect BAS lodgements

The last thing that your Ormeau, Yatala, or Beenleigh business can afford is to pay the ATO more than is absolutely necessary. Our Ormeau bookkeepers often discover businesses that have made silly errors in data entry. After reviewing their files we’ve shown them how to save $thousands (in some cases).

The investment into having your bookwork reviewed by our Ormeau bookkeeping team is insiginificant compared to the benefits of accurate bookkeeping for your Ormeau business. Contact us today for a review of your bookkeeping

With unleaded fuel being sold for 1.329 / litre in Beenleigh, it was disgusting to see the BP price of $1.49 taking advantage of interstate or out-of-town motorists who would not be aware of substantially cheaper fuel at servos not far from the motorway

When talking to one of our bookkeeping clients, we were astonished to learn that they didn’t even think about what day to fill up, or what price they should be paying – they would fill up simply when their tank was running dry!

Our motor mechanic has always promoted that we keep the tank at a minimum of half full to ensure better performance from the vehicle

As a bookkeeper, we consider the cost difference between $1.33 and $1.49 – thats over 11% – filling your tank at a cost of say $100 per week makes a difference of around $500 per year

Now, as the month of March comes along, we find that people are starting to panic about having any available funds to be able to pay their March Quarter Q3 BAS due 28 April 2011

This year Easter falls on the weekend just before ANZAC Day, so we’ll be pushing to get our clients BAS in order before the Easter School holidays

With the wonderful Federal Government always scheming ways to help us spend our money it’s a wonder why any small business bothers to keep going

For many business owners that have been struggling with staying ontop of your bookkeeping, it’s time to hand it over to a professional mobile bookkeeping team such as our Ormeau Bookkeeping service

Contact our Ormeau bookkeeping service for help with your bookkeeping, whether you use Quickbooks, MYOB or other accounting software. We service clients in and around Ormeau, Beenleigh, Yatala, Eagleby, Coomera and Pimpama

Businesses in flood affected areas

Businesses in flood affected areas have automatically been granted an extension of time, depending on your suburb postcode Contact our Ormeau bookkeeping service for more details

Whilst the physical clean up has started in many suburbs and country towns, there’s a huge trail of destruction that’s still to be addressed

It’s been a very challenging time for so many people – and we’ve really only just seen the start of the clean-up. Who knows what the cost is going to be to small business owners – not only those caught directly by the floods – but to Queensland small business owners all over

Many Yatala and Beenleigh businesses rely on suppliers and customers in Brisbane, Ipswich Toowomba and beyond.

It’s going to be very challenging over the next few months and maybe even years.

Small businesses have already been struggling under Queen Anna’s rule, and whilst she may have done an excellent job as a war-time “wartime consigliere” during the two weeks over the New Year period – she’s left a trail of destruction in the State of Queensland

When the going gets tough, those businesses that have their bookkeeping in order will have a better chance of survival than those that do not.

Contact us TODAY for help with your bookkeeping

Keep Good Records

There’s a legal requirement to keep good bookkeeping records. By law, you must keep business records for five years after they are prepared, obtained or the transactions completed, whichever occurs latest

There are penalties for not maintaining the required records and for not keeping them for five years. Keeping good records will help you avoid these penalties.

Cash Flow Management

Cashflow is the life blood of your business. Cut off the supply of cash, and your business will soon die.

Make this week the week that you prepare a Cash Flow Budget by following these four simple steps
Step 1: Prepare a sales forecast
Using figures from previous years, or guestimating figures (for new businesses)

Step 2: Cash In
Estimate cash coming into the business from customers, loan monies, assets sold off or money you put into the business.

Step 3: Cash Out
Guestimate money that you’ll need to pay to suppliers, wages, loan repayments, money for assets you expect to buy, money you take for your own use (drawings), and any loans you may provide to others.

Put aside between 20 – 30% for tax payments GST etc and amounts you’ve withheld from employees’ wages, and fringe benefits tax.

Step 4: Profit / Loss at end
Calculate the difference of Cash on hand at start of period
PLUS Estimated cash INflows LESS Estimated cash OUTflows = Estimated ending cash balance

Get organised and stay organised

We can have the very best intentions – and when you look at the huge mountain of paperwork yiu can soon feel overwhelmed

“How do you eat an elephant?”

Answer: One mouthfull at a time!

Get on top and STAY on top of your record keeping, or contact a professional mobile bookkeeping service to do it for you

- We LOVE bookwork!!!
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