Lodging your Business Activity Statement (BAS) on time, every period, provides you with a snapshot of your business’ financial position. Comparing your BAS statements from period to period will allow you to track your business performance and growth.
Some of the benefits involved in submitting your BAS Statement on time include:
- You can see how your business is tracking
- More time to focus on running your own business
- Avoid late penalties
If you don’t lodge your BAS on time with the ATO (Australian Taxation Office) you may be subject to a failure to lodge penalty. The fines can vary in amounts and can be higher if you have a poor lodgment history.
- Keep a good lodgment history
If you find yourself in a situation that may require a deferral of payment or if you need toorganise a payment arrangement, a good lodgement history will give you an advantage.
- You’ll have time to organise a payment arrangement
The ATO understands that debt is often a temporary problem for businesses caused by unforeseen personal circumstances or a short-term downturn. To help, the ATO offers assistance to small businesses experiencing financial difficulties by offering them the option of a payment arrangement.
In some cases the ATO offers payment arrangements for activity statement debt, free of the general interest charge for up to 12 months. These payment arrangements are aimed at providing assistance to small businesses that have a good lodgement history, but are experiencing short-term financial difficulty.
Should you hire a bookkeeper?
Although it’s not a necessity to hire a bookkeeper to complete and submit your BAS Statements, many businesses will engage a bookkeeper or accountant to do their books due to being too busy or if they’re not comfortable with taking on the financial and legal requirements required of a business in completing the BAS.
Employing a back office support team, bookkeeper or accountant to perform this task for you is a very cost effective way in freeing up time so that you may concentrate on growing your business.
All information has been sourced from the Australian Taxation Office’s Website.
For further information please don’t hesitate to contact us, book an appointment or reach us at [email protected] or 02 9407 8700 where one of our Australian team members will gladly help you.