Rescue Bookkeeping refers to a situation where you are more than 3 months behind in your business book work. For most people, falling behind is not deliberate and most people have good intentions of staying on top of things. It is easy for time to get away when you are flat out running your business. Before you know it, it’s BAS time again, and you know you’re going to have to spend the weekend getting your books up to date. This is a common scenario for a lot of people. The trouble is that over time the problem becomes so big that it causes you stress (in some cases, severe). You don't know where to start and you spend your time worrying about how you will get it done. It is almost impossible to be creative and proactive in your business when you are operating from a place of stress. When things drag out indefinitely, you can pretty much expect contact from the ATO, and because things are not up to date, you will have no idea of how much GST or tax you owe. We are unfortunately also aware of situations where bookkeepers have let their clients down because of a lack of knowledge or experience. At the end of the day, the ATO doesn't care that your bookkeeper or accountant has not done their job properly. As the business owner, the buck stops with you. Obviously, our preference is to help clients to avoid this type of stress altogether by getting their books set up correctly from the start, with user-friendly, easy to manage systems and processes. However, not everyone starts out this way. The good news is that we have a team of highly skilled and experienced bookkeepers who use The Pure Bookkeeping System to empower business owners in their financial matters, removing confusion, fear and uncertainty and replacing it with clarity, freedom and control. Because every “rescue job” is as individual as you are, we have to assess each on an individual basis and plan your best course of action from there. During the initial consultation when we complete a financial “Health Check” for your business, we will explain to you what the problems are and what needs to happen to transform your data file into a source that provides you with reliable information. Essentially though, we will do whatever needs to be done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Some of the issues we will address are:
Bank accounts or credit cards that don’t reconcile with the statements
Old unpresented transactions in the bank account or credit card
Trade Debtors and Trade Creditors don’t balance with the Balance Sheet
The Trade Debtors and Trade Creditors aren’t “real” i.e. outstanding invoices and bills have already been paid but still showing as outstanding
Incorrect previously lodged BAS’
Payroll Categories that are incorrectly set up therefore giving you incorrect information in Payslips, AL & SL Accruals, incorrect Tax Tables, SGC Calculations and Payment Summaries
Unreliable Inventory figures
The implications of not keeping accurate financial records are:
You may be paying the wrong GST, Tax and Superannuation
You may be subject to fines and interest
You may be making strategic business decisions based on unreliable figures (with dire consequences)
BAS Angels are specialists in Rescue Bookkeeping. Honestly, ignoring the problem will not make it go away, and in reality, it may not be as bad as you think. So call us today to help take the worry away.
