Registered BAS Agents
Business Tax Factsheet
Australian businesses have traditionally
used bookkeepers as an outsourced
service to perform basic data entry of
transactional information and business
financial reporting functions.
The Australian Government has recently introduced the concept of
a Registered BAS Agent, which has a number of implications both
for bookkeepers and businesses that use a bookkeeper to prepare
their financial reports for Business Activity Statements (BAS) on their
behalf.
Bookkeepers who want to provide this service will now need to
apply to and be accredited with the Australian Tax Office.
The traditional role of bookkeepers
Bookkeepers perform an essential function that many business
owners rely upon for their accounting and financial functions.
A good bookkeeper is able to record the transactional information
of the business and summarise it in an accurate trial balance setting
out account details and balances that explain the financial results or
financial position of the business.
The skill and abilities of bookkeepers varies considerably depending
on their experience, education and qualifications. SMEs engage
bookkeepers in a range of roles within their business – and the
service quality is usually reflected in the price they pay.
Some simply record transactional information, others provide a
more comprehensive service such as management reporting that
feeds into your business’s activities.
The role of the bookkeeper has not traditionally been regulated
however the recent measures introduced by the Australian
Government place greater emphasis on minimum standards of
experience and qualifications to undertake BAS lodgement.
The changing role of the bookkeeper
While businesses will continue to be able to use bookkeepers to
perform their transactional and data entry role, the designation
of Registered BAS Agent allows them to lodge business activity
statements with the ATO.
There will now be prerequisite educational and experience levels
required to lodge BAS and ensure that due care and quality control
is in place for reporting correctly to the ATO.
Under the new measures, bookkeepers that are not registered as a
tax agent will no longer be able to charge for the preparation of a
business activity statement nor can they lodge it on behalf of their
clients.
The bookkeeper is still permitted to process transactions as would
normally occur however the reconciliation and the preparation of
supporting documentation would not normally be required.
The issue for the client, however, is the preparation and lodgement
of a business activity statement.
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What are the responsibilities of a Registered
BAS Agent?
It is important to note that the use of a Registered BAS Agent will
mean that they have certain regulatory obligations and will perform
the necessary steps required to ensure that transactions within the
client’s business have been identified and recorded accurately and
that that transactions are relevant to the affairs of the client and
within the period that has to be reported.
There must now be adequate work papers that demonstrate the
work has been carried out and that any decisions made in relation
to the treatment of unusual or complex transactions is evident.
This type of service increases the quality and skills standards but will
generally cause an increase in the cost of bookkeeping performed
by qualified Registered BAS Agent bookkeepers.
If the client is unable to afford the additional costs of the BAS
agent preparing this information they may elect to engage their
usual bookkeeper as just a bookkeeper, however the scope of the
arrangement changes accordingly and this would involve specific
parameters to be in place such that the bookkeeper does not
undertake the work required of a Registered BAS agent.
So what does this mean for future BAS
lodgement?
Clients now have the choice of lodging their BAS via their
Registered BAS or Tax Agent or directly via the ATO’s business
portal, which allows them to prepare and lodge their own BAS.
They will not be able to rely on an unregistered bookkeeper to
do this on their behalf, as the new minimum standards ensure
the responsibility defaults to the client if their bookkeeper isn’t a
Registered BAS or Tax Agent.
While it may be argued that the bookkeeper is still performing the
transactional recording process and thus their role doesn’t change,
there is in fact is change manifesting in where the responsibility for
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Registered BAS Agents
Business Tax Factsheet
‘
Under the new measures, bookkeepers
that are not registered as a tax agent
will no longer be able to charge for
the preparation of a business activity
statement nor can they lodge it on
behalf of their clients.
’
accurate reporting lies for the bookkeeper or the client.
If the client chooses not to use a Registered BAS Agent, their choice
effectively means that the review function of this activity statement
is the direct responsibility of the client.
The decision the client must make comes down to a cost versus risk
versus time resource analysis and is entirely subjective based on fact.
Need more information?
It is an important issue for businesses that use a bookkeeping
function to understand the impact and potential issues that this
change in reporting and lodging BAS will have on their business and
interactions with the ATO.
For more information about how this impacts you, contact us
at Bates Cosgrave on 02 9957 4033 or via email to enquiry@
batescosgrave.com.au.
Contact Us
Disclaimer
Bates Cosgrave Chartered Accountants
Ground Floor, 123 Walker Street, North Sydney NSW 2060
PO Box 497 North Sydney NSW 2059
Last updated October 2011. The material and contents provided in this publication
are informative in nature only. It is not intended to be advice and you should not
act specifically on the basis of this information alone.
Tel: 02 9957 4033 Fax: 02 9964 0610 Email: [email protected]
Web: www.batescosgrave.com.au
If expert assistance is required, professional advice should be obtained. Please
contact us on 02 9957 4033 to discuss your specific circumstances.
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