Does Anyone Do Their Own BAS Statements

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  bemybubble on 22/03/2022 - 08:26

  +4

  I have small social start-up with my friend which is not profitable

  Can I ask why you are registered for GST? Generally not profitable means turnover less than $75k which also means no need to register.

  Is it possible to do the tax returns yourself or need to get accountant for business?

  You can do it via paper if your keen. But I would highly encourage you to use a tax agent as a company tax return isn't as vanilla as a "I" return.

  • 

    yjun355 on 22/03/2022 - 09:26

    Thanks. Yeah we definately don't have any GST.

    • 

      bemybubble on 22/03/2022 - 09:29

      +6

      Don't register for GST then. No need to do a BAS until you tick over 75K :)

      • 

        yjun355 on 22/03/2022 - 09:34

        Thanks a lot. That makes it easy.

        Ours is very simple. We don't do any payroll.

        It's literally like:

        Expenses:
        Expense a: $
        Expense b: $

        Income:
        It's under $500 for entire year :)

        Sorry to ask trivial question, but for Pty ltd, where exactly do I click on ato to find where to submit the returns?

        We are social enterprise. Just trying to save money and reduce our experience for remaining year. But want to get our tax in order

        • 

          bemybubble on 22/03/2022 - 09:35

          @yjun355: https://www.ato.gov.au/Forms/Company-tax-return-2021/

          • 

            yjun355 on 22/03/2022 - 09:38

            @bemybubble: Thanks a lot. Really appreciate it.

            Can I ask one question. We have loan as well from investors . Essentially interest free which we pay back sloely when we generate income.

            Is there way to track that or you essentially treat it as gift and then it's more on investor to track on their end with their taxes.

            • 

              bemybubble on 22/03/2022 - 09:54

              +2

              @yjun355: Treat it as a loan in the balance sheet. Use an excel spreadsheet to keep track.

              You need to track it for the investor. Should be pretty straight forward.

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  MrHyde on 22/03/2022 - 09:03

  +2

  Annual Tax returns - we do through an accountant. Way too many complexities for us to handle.

  Quarterly BAS - we do ourselves. Very easy to do if you have software like Xero - click a button and it tells you everything you need to fill in on the BAS form.

  • 

    afoveht on 22/03/2022 - 09:12

    +1

    If you can it makes a lot of sense to do it yourself, just to keep your finger on the pulse.

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  Seraphin7 on 22/03/2022 - 09:26

  +1

  You can, of course, do the returns yourself. As usual, whether or not there is a level of complexity with in your affairs in the compliance requirements that you don't want to face into is a separate matter.

  Personally, I've historically done the quarterly BASs myself, and outsource the annual returns to an accountant.

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  Sonnyjimbo on 22/03/2022 - 11:46

  +2

  Many people don't realise the ATO only penalise you for lodging forms LATE, not for amending them afterwards - at least in the scenario you have described.

  You are also free to call the ATO as much as you like to improve your understanding and/or fix incorrect lodgements - free of charge. Not tax advice, but unlimited form advice ;) You can also ask for more time to lodge to avoid a penalty. It's all about communicating with them in a timely manner. This is 20 years experience talking, if that matters.

  As @bemybubble suggested, keep a spreadsheet. You're not required to use accounting software. But it sounds likely you will have a LOSS, which does involve more sections to be completed in the tax return itself. More learning ;)

  Your company should have a "Business Portal" if you are already getting BAS/IAS forms. It'll be a login similar to your MyGov for personal returns. You weren't clear on the GST rego status, but if not, the forms will be IAS instead and annual at minimum. Make sure the figures you report here match the annual totals you plug into a company return - the ATO cross-matches it all. Not that you'd be an audit target …

  When people want to start self-managing, they often forget the ASIC annual registration - do you receive those or an accountant who set it up initially? Make sure it's lodged on time too as there are penalties and at worst, auto-deregistration of the company.

  Probably said too much but hope it helps a bit.

  • 

    yjun355 on 22/03/2022 - 12:14

    Thanks a lot for advice.
    Teach looks like we don't need to do bas as we are now where near 75,000 mark.

    Yeah do the ASIC renewals regularly.

  • 

    kiitos on 23/03/2022 - 15:09

    Not tax advice, but unlimited form advice ;)

    How detailed would that be able to go? I thought they'd fob you off to your accountant to cover themselves, but if not, I'll have to give this a go.

    • 

      Sonnyjimbo on 24/03/2022 - 10:13

      In this context, you could order the instruction booklet for a company tax return form and call them as much as you want to get help understanding parts that don't make sense. Of course, each person you get will have differing experience and knowledge but there's still some good ones.
      For the heavier stuff about regulations and rulings, talk to a department called "Law Interpretation". Your tax dollars are funding all this, may as well use it.

      To be honest, accountants have software that error-checks the forms in great detail and won't let them lodge your form unless all those errors are solved. If you gave them a paper form and ATO instruction booklet many of them would have similar trouble.

      Good luck.

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  brad1-8tsi on 22/03/2022 - 15:11

  If the income is less than $500 then why a Pty Ltd company? My BIL has just shelved his Pty Ltd company after 45 years and become a soul trader because his turnover is less than $50k and the compliance costs of running a Pty Ltd were getting too expensive.

  • 

    yjun355 on 22/03/2022 - 16:00

    +1

    Its shared with few founders. Also for limited liability.

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  wei13 on 22/03/2022 - 17:16

  We do our own quarterly BAS. Have accountant do our end of year tax .

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  Geekomatic on 22/03/2022 - 19:02

  Here's an easy tally sheet for no GST.

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  jemson on 23/03/2022 - 08:21

  I have done my own for a few years. Both BAS and EOFY with a Discretionary Trust and Corporate Trustee. Pretty simple money in money out as you described with no assets to depreciate etc.

  This made life much easier in digital submission and checking instead of the manual forms:
  https://www.freeaccountingsoftware.com.au/

  Switching to an accountant next EOFY though as we are looking at picking up a commercial property which adds another level of ins and outs over depreciation etc that I am not ready for.

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  Waltervp on 23/03/2022 - 08:51

  I'm sure you have your reasons for being a Pty Ltd, I'm not sure why you have to do quarterly BAS. I thought that was only for GST registered entities. I run a small business, probably 15k pa, just have a registered business name and ABN and do my annual returns, like P&L and expense statements. I have an accountant, only because she makes it so incredibly fast and easy. No BAS for me.

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  Noblejoker on 23/03/2022 - 09:11

  Xero is the best and easiest solution
  The 'without GST and payroll' version can be had for as little as $10/mth but may need to purchase through a Xero partner - which would be your accountant

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  BewareOfThe Dog on 23/03/2022 - 09:28

  I used MYOB, and my Acct was charging $130? per QTR to lodge. However I was doing all the work (as the Acct had set it all up).
  When the business started to decline, I started lodging them myself, as the process was very easy. I also changed accts as well, who lodged my EOFY return.

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  Misplaced on 23/03/2022 - 10:17

  Sole Traders, Contractors and the like can have it all done automatically for a very low fee… https://hnry.com.au/au/

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  Peza on 23/03/2022 - 10:37

  +1

  May i also suggest looking at either:

  manager.io
  freeaccountingsoftware.com.au.. (as mentioned above)

  Both are free accounting software packages that would meet your requirements and keep costs to a minimum, although "freeaccoutningsoftware" does have a paid version as well.

  I found "manager.io" more user friendly, however the "freeaccoutningsoftware" has an online tax return lodgement option for companies which pre-validates the return before lodging.
  I use manager.io for record keeping and use the "freeaccoutningsoftware" for the Income tax lodgement once a year.
  Always remember to print a hard copy of the tax returns

  To lodge online, you will need to register for online services with the ATO (for the company) and get digital certificates and setup authentication manager
  it is a little complicated to understand the setup at first, but pretty straight forward once its setup
  https://www.ato.gov.au/General/online-services/businesses/

  Also some basic points from reading the above.

  • Firstly, being under $75K, you can elect to lodge your GST annually.. however this can only be done before the 1st BAS is due (Jul-Sep quarter)

  • If you are GST registered, and have collected GST on sales, then you are required to remit that GST (Via the BAS reporting). My advice would be to that if you have collected GST, then lodge all required BAS's and decide how to move forward. (maybe think of 30 June as the date to start the new year fresh)

  • Whether you need to be registered for GST is something you need to consider. Firstly, your sales are low at only $500, so its only about 1/11th of that in GST that you need to pay, however if you purchasing and paying GST on those purchases, then you are entitled to the GST credits. By cancelling your GST, you will not be liable to pay GST, but also deny yourself the GST credits.. So as a start up, you could be in a net GST credit position. Maybe run some dummy scenarios and see which one your better off applying going forward.

  • As for tax returns, you will pay a fair bit to get them done by a tax agent, even if they are very basic. A suggestion could be to do them yourself it they are simple via "freeaccoutningsoftware" . By the sounds of it, you will have losses that need to be carried forward until you become profitable.

  • Finally, as you seem to have some 'investors' that you need to track, having an accounting package to keep concise records of the debts owing is vital.
    Record keeping, keeping documented information etc is equally important. Assume everything could be disputed and you need the evidence to prove the facts.. Keep a diary of events with specific details about any money arrangements or decisions.
    I would even go as far as to suggest a regular (annual) report to go out outlining the financial position to avoid the ' i didntknow/never was told' issue that will inevitably arise. Only you/your investors know the potential of your project, and when there is money involved, greed brings out the worse in people.

  Good luck and hope you succeed in your project

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  spurf on 23/03/2022 - 21:27

  For lodgement try lodgeit.net.au

  I'm planning to use them this year for submitting my trust tax return as I'm sick of doing a paper return each year.