Bookkeeping for Modern Businesses

A bookkeeper records and organises your business’s financial transactions on an ongoing basis — reconciling bank accounts, coding income and expenses, processing invoices and bills, managing accounts payable and receivable, running payroll, lodging BAS statements, and producing financial reports. Bookkeeping gives you an accurate, current picture of your finances throughout the year, not just at tax time. National Accounts delivers bookkeeping via cloud accounting software including Xero, for businesses across Australia.

Hourly rates run $50–$80 for experienced bookkeepers, rising to $80–$150 per hour for registered BAS agents. Monthly packages for outsourced bookkeeping typically range from $300–$600 per month for small businesses with simple books, and $600–$2,000 per month for businesses with payroll or higher transaction volumes. This is a fraction of an in-house bookkeeper’s cost ($70,000–$80,000 per year in salary alone). National Accounts offers fixed-fee packages, contact us for a quote based on your transaction volume and needs.

A bookkeeper handles day-to-day recording and organisation of financial transactions, keeping your accounts current throughout the year. An accountant works with that data to prepare financial statements, lodge tax returns, provide tax advice, and advise on business structure. At National Accounts, our bookkeeping and accounting teams work together — your bookkeeper keeps records current, and your accountant uses those records for tax planning, year-end returns, and advisory.

A registered BAS agent is legally authorised by the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) to prepare and lodge Business Activity Statements on behalf of clients. Only registered BAS agents can charge fees for this service. An unregistered bookkeeper can maintain your records but cannot legally lodge your BAS or advise on GST and PAYG obligations. National Accounts is a registered BAS agent — our bookkeepers handle your complete BAS compliance, not just day-to-day records.

Consider hiring a bookkeeper when: you spend more than two to three hours per week on financial admin; you have employees requiring payroll; you are GST-registered and need quarterly BAS lodgements; your tax return is being prepared from disorganised records; you have received ATO notices due to late lodgements; or your business is growing faster than your ability to keep records current. Catch-up work on disorganised books always costs more than maintaining them properly from the start.

Single Touch Payroll (STP) is the ATO’s mandatory payroll reporting system. Every time you run payroll, your software must report wages, tax withheld, and superannuation to the ATO in real time. STP is compulsory for all employers in Australia regardless of size. Incorrect STP data or failure to report can result in director penalty notices for unpaid PAYG withholding. National Accounts manages STP compliance as part of our payroll bookkeeping service.

Xero is cloud-based accounting software used by millions of Australian small businesses for bookkeeping, invoicing, payroll, bank reconciliation, and BAS preparation. It connects to your bank accounts, automatically imports transactions, and allows your bookkeeper and accountant to both access your records in real time. National Accounts uses Xero as our primary platform. If you are not already on Xero, we can manage your migration from your existing system.

The most common errors we see: incorrect GST coding (classifying GST-free items as taxable, causing incorrect BAS lodgements); mixing personal and business transactions; not reconciling bank accounts monthly; late or missed BAS lodgements attracting ATO penalties; not declaring all income including cash; and leaving catch-up work to accumulate until tax time. All of these are avoidable with regular bookkeeping by a qualified professional.

Yes. National Accounts provides bookkeeping to businesses across Australia via cloud accounting software. Our bookkeepers work remotely with clients in all states and territories — we access your records securely via Xero, communicate via email and video call, and deliver the same service quality regardless of location. We currently work with business clients in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, and regional areas.

Catch-up bookkeeping brings disorganised, incomplete, or months-behind financial records up to date — entering backdated transactions, reconciling past periods, correcting GST coding errors, and preparing overdue BAS statements. It is priced by the amount of work involved, not a standard monthly rate, and always costs more than maintaining books correctly from the start. Contact us for a fixed-price catch-up assessment, after which we can transition you to an ongoing monthly service.