7 Reasons Why You Should Hire a BAS Agent
As a small business owner, there are lots of things about your work that you love. And there are lots of things that you are good at. Your passion and experience are high on the list of reasons why you went into business for yourself.
Also important is your freedom, and the fact that you don’t have to do things you don’t want to do. This is the beauty of being the boss.
BAS and other bookkeeping activities don’t really fit into this life of balance, passion, and freedom in your work however, do they?
It’s a rare and special business owner that is as good at their BAS as they are the other parts of their job – and if you are one of those individuals, that’s amazing.
If you aren’t good at doing your BAS, hiring a BAS agent to manage all of this fun stuff for you could be an excellent idea, for your sanity, your business and your budget.
Here are 7 excellent reasons why you should hire a BAS agent to look after your books and help keep you sane and happy.
Ironbark Industries Bookkeeping’s 7 Reasons Why You Should Hire a BAS Agent
BAS is kind of complicated
Bookkeeping lights a fire in some people’s souls (like ours) but it isn’t that much fun for everyone. And getting BAS right is quite complex, so we understand if it isn’t your thing.
Every three months you need to reconcile your business’s GST, PAYG, wages payable and expense, super payable and expense, fringe benefits, luxury car tax, and your ATO integrated accounts (and probably some other stuff too).
If you have recently added single touch payroll, this is another factor that needs to be reconciled and should be correct.
You don’t want to get the figures wrong
BAS statements are a regular occurrence for businesses, but the fact that they are so commonplace doesn’t mean that they aren’t serious.
BAS statements are legal documents that need to accurately reflect your business and provide spot-on information to the ATO. You don’t want to get these wrong. You can’t just wing this and hope for the best.
What happens if you do put incorrect information on BAS statements?
You could spend many valuable hours reconciling your own books, and then just get the details in the BAS wrong.
If you end up reporting incorrectly to the ATO you haven’t just wasted that time, you could now be facing fat overdue tax bills that you aren’t prepared for, as well as hefty fines to encourage you not to report incorrectly again.
And if you repeatedly make mistakes the ATO may take things even further
This area of bookkeeping is constantly changing
The rules and regulations around BAS statements are constantly changing, with the ATO shifting the goalposts often.
If you hire a registered BAS agent to manage this side of your business you don’t have to bother keeping up with all of the changes – it is an essential part of their job that they do this so you don’t have to.
Not just anyone can register as a BAS agent, there are minimum starting and ongoing requirements they have to adhere to. This includes a Cert IV in Bookkeeping, at least 1400 hours of specific experience, professional indemnity insurance and ongoing study to keep up with any changes to the law.
More time and breathing space every quarter
Lodging your BAS through a registered agent is a wonderful way to give yourself more time, protection and breathing space.
BAS agents have more time to lodge the statements, which takes the pressure of you having to do it for yourself. They are also given protection under Safe Harbour laws which cover your business if mistakes are made.
BAS agents are perfect for small businesses
Not every business is large enough or has a big enough budget to hire a bookkeeper. Hiring a BAS agent fills in the gap beautifully, giving smaller businesses all the help they need without breaking the bank. As well as making sure that your BAS goes in accurately every quarter, BAS agents can also help with:
· maximising your eligible benefits within the law
· talking to the ATO about any concerns with your statements
· making sure that you handle GST correctly (another one of those things that not everybody is good at!), and
· handling some day to day bookkeeping activities as well.
Free up your time
Any time spent completing BAS statements is time you could be spending vastly better doing something else. This might mean being able to focus on the parts of the business that you love such as meeting with people or creating new products.
Or it might mean taking an actual break from business and spending time relaxing with family.
Outsourcing is an empowering mindset
We get that you may not feel you have the budget for hiring a BAS agent, and it would save money to just try to handle this for yourself. Sometimes it is hard to trust aspects of your small business to others when you could keep control and be certain that it gets done (because you will do it!).
One of the best steps to growing your small business is to change your mindset from that of a solopreneur to that of a CEO – and outsourcing tasks like this is an important part of being able to look to the future and develop your business into something bigger.
If you have questions about what a BAS agent may be able to do for your specific business, get in contact with us today.
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