FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Be In The Know
I've done my best to inform all of my clients and prospective clients to the best of my ability. If you still have questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Your satisfaction is my priority, and I am here to resolve all of your accounting issues. Read some commonly asked questions below and contact us to see how I can help.
WHAT ARE YOUR SERVICE FEES?
I have a range of services that are fixed. All our jobs are quoted upfront so there is no surprises
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AN ACCOUNTANT, A TAX AGENT, AND A BOOKKEEPER?
A bookkeeper assists small businesses with their day-to-day business tasks. A bookkeeper will reconcile your accounts, Process pay runs, set up payroll, prepare the accounts for GST maintain the data for the accountant.
An accountant will work with the data from the bookkeeper. The accountant will process this data into readable reports such as budgets, cash flow forecasts, financial statements, and a range of management reports. These reports contain insights into your business. The accountant can set business strategies and customise your accounting software to capture the data needed to have a winning strategy.
A Tax Agent can process the business taxes and GST. A registered tax agent understands tax law and can help minimize your business taxes and can assist in tax planning to better manage cash flow
HOW LONG SHOULD I KEEP MY TAX RECORDS FOR?
Your business records need to be kept for 5 years from the date the tax return is lodged. Payroll data needs to be kept for 7 years. Having both online and hard copies will reduce the risk of losing deductions come tax time. Hubdoc is a great receipt capturing tool. If you have a Xero account then this is available to you for free. If you would like to have this integrated into your business please get in touch
XERO, QUICKBOOKS AND MYOB. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE
Firstly, they are all pretty good to work with. Access to quality record keeping is endless.
We have been trained in all the accounting software. They all come with different prices for different levels of your small business.
MYOB.
Probably the most well-known throughout history, however, I feel as though they are falling behind. They have a range of different versions that integrate the old hard drive versions. Integration with Tax software is good though it still needs to be exported
This is the cheapest and resembles the newer version of MYOB. I like that it gives small businesses a good chance of entering the online accounting space without huge costs. Reports are limited and fixing issues can be difficult and time-consuming.
Xero.
We use Xero for our business and have since 2014. Our small business clients who use Xero enjoy seamless transition through tax time as our tax software is with Xero as well. No more printing profit and losses to get ready for the accountant. Troubleshooting Xero is easy.
We are Xero and Quickbooks Advisors. We have not gone with MYOB as I feel we can better assist our clients that use Xero. We can seamlessly transition your business from Quickbooks to Xero
ARE YOU PAYING THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF TAX LEGALLY?
Planning for tax is an important step to a successful small business. Failing to plan properly can have a huge impact on future cash flow.
We offer tax planning as a service. We can set up the ATO arrangement and customise your accounts to properly allocate taxes paid to the ATO.
Contact us to find out more.
DO YOU OFFER SMALL BUSINESS ADVICE?
Yes. I offer a range of advisory services for all types of small businesses. Tailored business advice can save you money and stress
I KEEP ALL MY RECEIPTS AND DON'T WANT TO GO ONLINE. CAN I STILL BECOME A CLIENT OF NATHAN RAY?
Yes. I operate in the cloud but you don't have to. If you want to send me your receipts every quarter for your GST or once a year to process the end-of-year taxes then that is ok. I gather client documents and receipts in many different ways including mailed in receipts, photos, scans, Hubdoc, ATO app receipts, and links to online storage where the client receipts are stored. As you can see there are many ways to capture receipts, the important thing is capturing them.
I know that accounting can be confusing at times. I would love to answer any questions you may have to ensure that all your needs are met.