Business Services

Overview

At Swan Valley Tax & Accounting we are focused on providing outstanding support to small and medium size businesses in the Swan Valley and surrounds. We are the only accountant in the area with an office you can walk into, 5 days a week!

We aim to partner with your business, acting as your on-call Finance Team to provide the administrative and accounting support that you need, so that you can focus on running the business. In addition to your tax needs, we can provide support for your business from Bookkeeping, right through to high-level managerial support at the Financial Controller level.

Some of the services we can provide your business are listed below:

  • Advice on setting up a new business including what is most appropriate structure;
  • Assistance with ABN, GST, PAYG and other registrations;
  • Annual Tax returns including FBT and PAYG returns;
  • Bookkeeping;
  • GST/BAS preparation;
  • Accounts receivable & credit control;
  • Payroll management;
  • Financial and management accounting;
  • Financial report preparation;
  • Business Process Re-engineering;
  • Maintenance of accounting systems (incl. MYOB);
  • Budgeting, forecasting and management reporting;
  • Cashflow budgeting;
  • Tax planning, objections to assessments and advice;
  • Salary packaging for staff.

Taxation

Ensuring that you tax return is prepared correctly and that all available deductions have been claimed are an essential part of any business.

Bookkeeping

Most small to medium businesses survive with a part-time bookkeeper. For some small businesses, this is all they need. However, too often this bookkeeper is a spouse or friend with the best intentions, but lacking the training and experience to do the job efficiently and effectively. If you are ‘doing the books’ yourself, you need to ask yourself a simple question, “would I give myself a haircut or would I pay someone else to do it?”. If you prefer to pay someone who has been trained in what they do to cut your hair, then why not pay someone who has been trained to keep your ‘books’ in order.

Swan Valley Tax & Accounting can take care of this important task for you and add value to your business in the process. We may charge more per hour than your current bookkeeper, but we can often perform the task more efficiently and add valuable insights into your business which can save you money in the long term. Our bookkeeping service has the added support of our experienced, CPA qualified accountant to mentor them and review your business.

One great product that we use that can assist you with this is Xero. Xero is an online accounting software designed for small business. Xero offers 3 clear advantages over other record keeping options. 1. You can have automated bank feeds from most banks that transmits your daily transactions straight into the accounting software. 2. It’s online, so both you and your accountant can access it anytime and anywhere there is an internet connection. 3. The fees are billed monthly and includes all ongoing upgrades, meaning no more issues with out of date versions.

See below for more details or contact our office to find out whether Xero is right for you. We also support MYOB and Quicken.

Software

There are three main methods for keeping your accounts. 1. Is manually by hand in a cash book. 2. Is electronically on a spreadsheet such as Excel. 3. Is in an accounting software package. There are many reasons to choose any of the three methods depending on whether you are a sole trader, employ staff, have trading stock or are technically savvy. We can help you decide which method to choose.

Should you decide to choose an accounting package, we can guide you through the pro’s and con’s of the major packages such as MYOB, Xero and Quicken. We can also assist you to get started in setting up the file and provide training if necessary or refer you to other training providers.

For more information on Xero click here.

Management Reporting

There is a saying that goes, ‘you can’t improve what you can’t measure’. The main reason to keep accurate and up to date accounts is not to keep the tax man happy (although this is important) it is for you, the business owner, to be able to measure your performance and have the necessary information to make decisions in the business to improve that performance.

We can assist you with setting up your reporting so that the information that comes out of your accounting system is useful and importantly that you understand what it means.

We can also assist in preparing cash flow forecasts to help you know when and how much cash you will need in the future. We can help with a budget so you can see if you will actually make money based on your sales and cost estimates.

Checklists

Listed below are some checklists you may find useful in running your business or getting your accounts ready for us.

Business set up

Are you ready to start your own business? Do you wonder if you are operating your current business with the correct structure? Choosing the most appropriate structure to operate your business in is important from both a tax point of view as well as administratively. Asset protection is also another consideration.

We can discuss with you your current or future business and advise you on the most appropriate structure, whether that be as a sole trader, partnership, company or trust. Importantly, we will help you understand the advantages and disadvantages of each of the structures available.

Please contact-us to discuss your business needs and our fees further.