EOFY Survival Guide for Creative Agencies: The Most Commonly Forgotten Financial Tasks

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The end of the financial year (EOFY) is crunch time for creative agencies. While you’re focused on wrapping campaigns, billing clients, and managing deadlines, your financials often take a back seat, until it’s too late. This is why we have created this EOFY checklist for creative agencies.

At Visory, we help creative agencies streamline their bookkeeping and uncover smarter business insights from their finances. So we know exactly where things tend to unravel at the EOFY. This EOFY checklist for creative agencies covers the most commonly forgotten financial tasks, and what you can do now to stay ahead.

 

  1. Unbilled Work That Gets Missed

Have you completed work that hasn’t been invoiced yet? That’s called Work in Progress (WIP), and it may need to be recognised as income, especially for accrual-based accounting.

What to do: Review projects delivered in June. Log hours or progress, and generate any missing invoices. Ensure WIP is properly tracked in tools like Streamtime or Harvest, and synced to Xero.

 

  1. Project Profitability Left Unreviewed

EOFY is the perfect time to understand which clients or projects drove the most profit, and which cost more than they should’ve.

What to do: Run a profitability report across major accounts. Look at time tracked vs. budgeted hours, and flag scope creep for next year’s planning.

 

  1. Accruals and Prepayments Overlooked

If you’ve paid for software or services in advance, only a portion may be deductible this financial year. Similarly, any services you’ve received but haven’t paid for should be accrued.

What to do: Review large annual subscriptions, deposits, or retainers. Work with your bookkeeper or finance partner to allocate expenses across the correct financial periods.

 

  1. Missing Contractor Details for TPAR

If your agency uses freelancers or contractors (especially for design, production, or video), you may need to complete a Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR).

What to do: Confirm if your agency falls under reporting obligations. Gather ABNs and contractor payment details. The deadline is 28 August, but it pays to prep now.

 

  1. Forecasting the New Financial Year

EOFY isn’t just about closing the books, it’s a chance to plan ahead. Many agencies forget to build or update cash flow and revenue forecasts until Q1 is already in full swing.

What to do: Use EOFY as a trigger to reset your forecast. Base it on pipeline activity, retained accounts, and recurring costs and don’t forget to align it with your wider business growth goals

 

  1. Chart of Accounts That No Longer Makes Sense

Over time, your Chart of Accounts can become messy, especially if you’re adding new services or team structures. This creates confusion for reporting and budgeting.

What to do: Look at whether your current setup gives you the clarity you need on things like project profitability, team costs, or software spend. If not, we can help restructure your books and provide you with smarter business insights.

EOFY doesn’t have to be a headache

EOFY can be a huge opportunity to clean up, look ahead, and take control of your agency’s finances. But only if you stop putting it off.

With Visory, you get a team of experts who handle the numbers behind the scenes, so you can stay creative and in control. Whether it’s prepping your tax data, running reports, or highlighting key insights, we’ve got you covered.

 

Book a Quick EOFY Chat

 

Frequently Asked Questions Read more

Visory Insights: Clarity Beyond the Numbers 

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Built for businesses that want to grow with confidence. 

Visory Insights was born out of what we saw every day from years of working with growing businesses. Most businesses were paying for detailed reports accompanied by financial jargon, but few were able to easily interpret them. 

Some had clean books while others had fancy dashboards. But what they lacked was clarity about what was working, what wasn’t, and most importantly, what to do next. 

 

So, we built the solution in-house. Insights is the brainchild of one of our co-founders, Jordan Bevans and with the support of our talented product team and financial specialists, we created Visory Insights: a powerful reporting and business strategy tool that gives businesses the full financial picture, with the support of a dedicated Business Performance team.  

With so many moving parts in a business, from sales to staffing and operations, it can be difficult to keep track of every key metric in your business.  Often, this results in focussing on two to three of the most important ones at a time.  

So rather than inundating our clients with more fluffy commentary, we focus on cutting through to the most important levers a business can pull to achieve its goals. 

 

What is Visory Insights? 

Visory Insights is a business performance tool built directly into the Visory platform.
It takes clean, up-to-date bookkeeping data, combines this with business context you share with us over time, and turns it into a clear strategy, with easy-to-follow, actionable steps.  

Each month or quarter, depending on your plan, you’ll receive an Insights performance report that highlights key trends, risks, and opportunities across your business. You’ll also have access to 1:1 strategic sessions with your Business Performance Partner, who helps you break down your performance and decide what to do next. It’s like having the clarity of a CFO, without the complex financial models, or the price tag.  

 

Sample Insights and action items

 

Why It Works 

Because it’s built on your Visory bookkeeping data, everything is accurate, timely, and easy to action. We already know how your business runs, so we can provide insights that are relevant, not generic. 

Visory Insights lives inside our platform, storing your reports, actions, and results in one place. As the product evolves, it will continue to learn from the context you share about your business and financials and compare your business evolution to trends in your industry, therefore helping you improve faster.
 

Why Choose Visory Insights? 

If you’re a growing service business that wants to stop reacting and start making more profit through actionable steps, Insights is made for you. 

Boost Profitability 

We uncover pricing gaps, unprofitable services, and underperforming areas so you can take action and grow profit without all the hassle. 

Free Up Time 

We strip away the complexity of financial reporting. You’ll get the insights you need, fast and with clear next steps. 

See the Full Picture 

From gross profit margins to project-level reporting, Insights gives you financial visibility that’s easy to understand and allows you spot problems early and make data-backed decisions. 

Make Progress Toward Your Goals 

We align your financials to your strategic goals, so you’re not just tracking numbers, you’re building a sustainable business. 

 

Ready to increase your profits? 

Visory Insights is now available. If you’re ready to stop guessing and start making smarter financial decisions, we’d love to show you how it works. 

Talk to our team Book a Demo

Work-related travel expenses: How to track them and what to claim for your business

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Many business owners and employees travel, so you’ll likely need to record work-related travel expenses. The good news is that business travel expenses are often tax deductible, so tracking them can help you save money on taxes. Tax deductions can lower your taxable income, so you could pay less in taxes overall. 

In this post, we’ll cover everything businesses need to know to track, record, and claim work-related travel expenses, including: 

  • What are work-related travel expenses?
  • Business travel expenses you can claim
  • What you can’t claim
  • Records you need to claim business travel expenses
  • How to track work-related travel expenses

What are work-related travel expenses? 

Work-related travel expenses may include costs for business travel, accommodation, or meals. However, not all travel expenses qualify as work-related. 

Many small businesses run into issues with the Australian Tax Office when they deduct travel expenses. It can be confusing to determine what counts as a qualified business travel expense and what doesn’t.

One of the key issues employers run into is understanding the line that separates personal and business expenses. So, the ATO established clear definitions for the types of expenses that qualify to be tax deductible.

Business travel expenses you can claim

To qualify as a work-related travel expense, you or your employees must be:

  • Travelling away from your home and staying away overnight
  • Able to prove that the travel was necessary for your business

Some of the common travel expenses businesses can deduct are costs for:

  • Rental cars and additional fees for parking, fuel, tolls, etc.
  • Public transport (bus, trains, etc.)
  • Taxis or ride-share (Uber)
  • Airfare (tickets and baggage costs)
  • Accommodations (hotels)
  • Overnight meals

What you can’t claim

You can’t deduct travel expenses that aren’t necessary for conducting business. In other words, you can’t deduct your holiday. However, you can deduct the travel costs to go to another city and meet with a client. In that case, you may deduct transport, hotel, and even some meal costs. 

Other types of non-deductible travel expenses include: 

  • Leisure activities while on a business trip
  • Holidays during business travel
  • Travel insurance, visas, and other documents
  • Gifts and entertainment

If you combine a business trip with holiday, then you can only claim the portion of the trip that was for business. For example, if you live in Perth and attend a work conference in Sydney, you can claim those costs. But, if you decide to stay in Sydney a few days after to sightsee, then the extra days and money doesn’t qualify. 

To qualify part of those expenses, you’ll need to show how you separated the work from personal costs. 

Records you need to claim business travel expenses

Businesses may cover employees’ work-related travel expenses through travel allowances. However, there are specific guidelines for how much an employee may spend daily on travel allowances, which we’ll cover later in this post. 

To claim travel expenses, you’ll need to keep records. If you can prove something was a qualified business travel expense, you should have no issues with your tax return.

Businesses should keep these records for five years:

  • Meal and other receipts
  • Tax invoices
  • Ticket stubs
  • Boarding passes
  • Travel diaries

You may be able to show proof that something is a work-related travel expense through: 

  • Signed contracts 
  • Meetings with documentation
  • Proposals
  • Email confirmations

How to track work-related travel expenses

Businesses can cover work-related travel expenses for employees and track them. To do this, you generally have three options: 

  • Pay for expenses directly with a company card or business bank account
  • Set up a reimbursement program for travel expenses 
  • Pay employees a travel allowance

If your business covers travel expenses through any of the above methods, then employees can’t claim those on their personal taxes. Instead, you may be able to claim them and deduct the cost from business taxes. 

Keep in mind if you offer travel allowances that they might trigger the fringe benefits tax, which is a separate income tax. For example, some businesses offer an employee a living-away-from-home allowance instead of a travel allowance. Because the employee is away from home to work for long periods, it might be considered a fringe benefit.

Businesses need to keep accurate records on those travel expenses. Here are some tips to help you track work-related travel expenses.

1. Educate employees on what they can claim

You can reduce errors and missing records by training employees on how to track travel expenses before they go on a trip. Even a simple checklist of what travel expenses you cover and don’t will be helpful. 

Again, if you offer travel allowances, inform employees of the daily limits or reasonable amounts for meal, accommodation, and incidental expenses. The reasonable amounts vary depending on location and other factors, so consult ATO’s guidelines.

Additionally, your employees should keep all of their receipts and documents while travellingon business. 

2. Track expenses and keep records 

The ATO requires that businesses keep records for five years as proof of travel claims. There are several expense tracking apps that make it easier to save receipts and other documents. 

The ATO app also has a myDeductions tool for sole traders. Larger small-to-medium enterprises will want to invest in a more robust tool. Accounting software like Xero and MYOB also have expense tracking features. 

3. Log a travel diary

If you’re a sole trader or partner and travel for work for more than six consecutive nights, the ATO requires you to keep a travel diary. It’s a logbook of what you do and spend money on while traveling. 

A travel diary can be in any format as long as it shows:

  • The days you travelled
  • What you did each day
  • The times you did it 

These entries should all correlate with the records you keep—this acts as an activity timeline with records. 

Keeping a travel diary even for trips shorter than six nights might be beneficial. If you ask your travelling employees to keep a travel diary, you’ll have an extra way to verify their claimed expenses.

4. Track expenses with a bookkeeper

The ATO is particular about what you can and can’t claim for travel expenses, and it can be costly if you track them incorrectly. At the same time, business travel expenses can become complicated to track, deduct, and report. When your business is fast-growing and you have over 100 employees to track, this is especially true. 

Online bookkeeping services like Visory can help you track, record, and report your travel expenses. Once you need to lodge your business taxes, you’ll have organised books that include all the documents the ATO may need.

To learn how Visory can help you manage work-related travel expenses, and all your back-office finance needs, chat with one of our bookkeeping experts. Once you schedule a time to chat, we’ll get to know your business and identify the best services for you. 

Do I Need a Bookkeeper, an Accountant, or Both?

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As a small business grows into a medium- or large-sized operation, it often becomes impractical for the founder to balance the books. Picture a back-office employee, already stretched thin, trying to manage the detailed work of itemizing and coding transactions—where would they find the time?  While office managers can temporarily bridge the gaps, bringing in a dedicated bookkeeper or accountant becomes essential for maintaining efficiency and accuracy.

The terms bookkeeper and accountant are often used interchangeably, but in fact, they are not one and the same. The educational requirements, daily schedule, and specific skills of these two roles can overlap but are not synonymous. Let’s look at why accountants and bookkeepers can each help your business, and how to tell if you need a bookkeeper or an accountant. 

What does a bookkeeper do?

Bookkeepers are responsible for the day-to-day record keeping of your business’s money. The duties of a bookkeeper can include documenting financial transactions, posting credits and debits to a balance sheet, processing payroll, generating invoices, and merging accounts. The bookkeeper may also stay on top of the vital records required by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) or New Zealand’s Inland Revenue Department (IRD). 

In short, bookkeepers create the financial records that an accountant can later analyse and use to create more complex reports or file full tax returns. A bookkeeper is the first stage in the accounting process. They benefit your business by tackling daily financial records that must be accurate in order to create useful reports later. 

Who is a bookkeeper? Some bookkeepers are trained by their employers, but other bookkeepers learn their skills by getting a Certificate in Accounting and Bookkeeping and registering to become a BAS Agent. You may want to hire a bookkeeper if you have a tax accountant but need someone to handle your office’s in-house financial records.

What do accountants do?

Not only will an accountant use the records that a bookkeeper created, but they will also crunch the numbers on their own reports. Their work tends to be more senior level and they may even advise the company regarding high-level company decisions. As a result, the salary of an accountant can be nearly double that of a bookkeeper. 

The typical role of an accountant encompasses things like prepping for taxes, preparing financial statements, plotting the growth of your business, verifying that the company’s finances are government compliant, examining revenue and recommending budgets, resolving accounting discrepancies, and setting up accounting processes. When you’re deciding between a bookkeeper or an accountant, you know you’re ready for a full-time accountant if you have the need for financial analysis and advice regarding the impact of financial decisions. 

An accountant may have a Diploma of Accounting or another advanced degree. Many businesses can get by with one in-house accountant, but you may need the expertise of a whole team as you grow and scale. 

When you need both an accountant and a bookkeeper

It is important to understand when you might need both a bookkeeper and an accountant. Having both roles working together offers significant benefits. Separating their duties helps ensure compliance with government reporting and creates a built-in system for cross-checking. The bookkeeper records the financial transactions, while the accountant reviews and verifies the books, reducing the likelihood of errors.

A complicated tax structure may also call for both roles. You want one professional to keep an accurate general ledger and track daily expenditures (the bookkeeper) and another to analyse the books, look for available tax credits, and prepare tax reports (the accountant). If your business is growing and in search of investors, having both a bookkeeper and an accountant also strengthens the financial picture of your growing organisation. 

So, do you need a bookkeeper or an accountant, or both? Bookkeeping services keep your day-to-day financial tasks done on time. You’ll never miss payroll again. Meanwhile, an accountant offers more robust analysis and internal financing advice. Larger companies probably need both. Bookkeeping services keep you running smoothly in the present day and accountants make sure the future remains stable, allowing you to focus on growth.

If you need a team of financial experts to keep your company’s ship upright, contact Visory. Our highly skilled experts are tailored to the expertise you need, and we can tackle bookkeeping and accounting projects large and small. We’ll become such a part of your team you’ll want to invite us to the holiday party (after we tell you if that can be expensed).

6 Signs You Need to Upgrade Your Business Bookkeeping

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Here you are again, burning the midnight oil to reconcile your bank statements. Are you spending more time crunching numbers than enjoying the fruits of your labour? It might be time to upgrade your business bookkeeping system. 

As your business grows, your original accounting system won’t make sense anymore. Keeping a general ledger in a spreadsheet is too basic for a growing enterprise. Are you getting in the weeds trying to do your own bookkeeping? You may be able to save time and money by upgrading to a new bookkeeping system. 

Do these sound familiar? It’s time to upgrade your bookkeeping

There are some common red flags that signal your business’ bookkeeping is not up to scratch. Some common themes include: wasted time, wasted money, and lack of compliance. If any of these scenarios sound familiar: you may need to overhaul your bookkeeping system.

You spend more time on bookkeeping than your business

If your DIY bookkeeping system is taking up all your time, who is running your business? Too many business owners waste hours entering transactions and finding accounting errors. This is all time that could be spent winning new business or inventing new marketing ideas.  

It’s also important to acknowledge the differences between an accountant vs. bookkeeper. If your in-house accountant is also doing daily bookkeeping, they may be taking time away from vital business processes like payroll.

You’re always behind on your business bookkeeping

You just can’t seem to get ahead in your bookkeeping anymore. Surprise, surprise — bigger businesses have more complex financial records. If catch-up bookkeeping is your only form of bookkeeping, there is a problem. The health of your business will suffer if you can’t get an accurate snapshot of your accounts payable and accounts receivable when you need it. 

When you try to do your own books as an expanding organisation, you will nearly always make mistakes. Not only are you dealing with an increased volume in transactions, but your small business tactics may not apply anymore. Larger businesses often need to switch from single-entry bookkeeping to double-entry bookkeeping and make other structural changes to stay current. 

You have reached the limits of your current software

Small business software has its limitations, including the number of transactions, staff, and clients you are allowed to track. Your business’ bookkeeping needs an upgrade if you can’t scale within your current system. Simply put, using small business accounting software when you’re no longer a small business is asking for trouble. Ideally, you would upgrade to a new system before you hit your official limit and have to scramble to transfer your data.

Your business’s tax seasons are always chaotic

Do you find yourself in chaos each June? Tax season means tracking income tax rates for business, capital gains tax, fringe benefits tax, PAYG withholdings, goods and services taxes, payroll taxes, tax deductions, tax credits, and more. Plus, staying compliant is the only way to avoid certain government penalties. 

Despite the complexities, lodging your taxes doesn’t have to be a nightmare. If it is, you are probably not using the right bookkeeping system.

Your cash flow is unpredictable

A good business bookkeeping system helps you strategise. You should be able to estimate peak seasons, low seasons, and estimate overhead costs. Another sign that it’s time to upgrade your bookkeeping is that you can’t forecast your cash flow. While there could always be other things at play as well, inconsistent record keeping makes it more difficult to accurately predict your accounts receivable. 

You can never get ahold of your bookkeeper

Your financial records should not be a mystery. Do you struggle to contact your bookkeeper when you have a question about a bank statement, or you need a balance sheet? This is a sure sign that you’ve outgrown the person or service that you currently work with. The right bookkeeper will make your records available to you around the clock, not hold accounting software passwords hostage or failing to offer guidance when you need it. 

Have you outgrown your business bookkeeping system? Whether you are trying to do it all yourself or you just have a bookkeeper who can’t keep up with your growth, it’s wise to bring in reinforcements. Visory is a business bookkeeping service that can scale with you. Begin with basic bookkeeping needs, then add new experts to your remote team as you need them. Contact us today to see if we can help.

How Do Bookkeeping Services Help Small Businesses?

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It can be overwhelming to take care of back-office responsibilities like bookkeeping while still focusing on growing your business. Online bookkeeping services for small businesses can help. 

Bookkeeping services for small businesses should do more than help you track financial records accurately. A professional bookkeeper can keep track of all transactions, reconcile bank statements, prepare financial reports, and more. By depending on professionals with greater bookkeeping and accounting knowledge, you reap the benefits of their expertise. 

This post will reveal the key benefits of bookkeeping services for small businesses. But before then, let us look at what bookkeeping entails.

Table of contents

What Is Bookkeeping?

In the business world, bookkeeping is the process of recording and organising financial transactions. It is an integral part of accounting, focusing on recording daily business transactions in the books of accounts. These include sales, purchases, taxes, loans, investments, payroll, operational expenses, etc.

Bookkeeping establishes the accounting groundwork. In other words, accounting focuses on analysing the data collected from bookkeeping. This process allows business owners to know their financial position, detect financial problems early and fix them before they grow into full-fledged disasters. How you do your bookmaking determines the accuracy of the overall accounting process. Thus, it is vital to hire a qualified bookmaker to do the job.

7 Benefits of Bookkeeping Services for Small Business

The benefits of outsourcing bookkeeping services for your small business are unmatched. Besides helping you organise and analyse financial information, you can accurately conclude the financial health of your business. These are not the only reasons bookkeeping is essential for a small business. 

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) expects all businesses to maintain specific records and utilise accounting practices to track income and expenditure. Without accurate bookkeeping, tracking and reporting appropriate information to the ATO can be difficult. Here is a detailed overview of how bookkeeping services help small businesses. 

1. Makes You Prepared for Tax Time

Every business has to lodge a tax return at the end of the tax year. Tax deadlines are very strict, and lodging can be time-consuming. With a bookkeeping process in place, your financial information will be ready on time. That way, you won’t need to scramble for receipts and invoices with the taxman breathing down your neck. 

2. Enhances Accurate Budgeting

Outsourcing a bookkeeping service makes it easier to budget for the business accurately. With proper organisation of your income and expenses, it’s straightforward to review your costs and financial resources. A budget defines the financial roadmap for your business, helping you plan for the future by creating a manageable budget. 

Comparing your budget and the actual financial data is a perfect way to detect cost reduction opportunities or potential cash flow issues. If your financial books are inaccurate, it’s hard to make accurate budgeting since it will all be guesswork. 

3. Promotes Better Decision Making

As a business person, you need to clearly understand your finances to plan your company’s future effectively. You may have to make significant decisions like opening a new location or hiring a new employee. To make such decisions with confidence, it’s critical to understand your company’s financial performance. 

Accurate bookkeeping with the help of a professional offers up-to-date information, helping you make informed decisions. If the reports say that your business is running out of capital, you can opt to take a loan to boost development. 

4. Maintains Organised Records

The stress of trying to find a crucial document at the last minute can lead to missed deadlines and possibly a few errors. One thing a business can’t afford to do is make mistakes, as it could lead to costly consequences. A bookkeeping service can help with that! It will keep your books updated throughout, and help you maintain organised records. That way, it will be easier to find any information you need in no time.

5. It Helps You Focus on Other Business Operations

If you decide to do bookkeeping on your own, you will spend much of your time paying invoices, processing payroll, and tracking expenses. As a result, you will have insufficient time to attend to other operations. A bookkeeping service allows you to focus on what you do best. Having enough time to focus on operations enables you to grow your business effectively and gives you ample time for research and development plans.

6. Lowers Costs

Every business owner aims to reduce their overall costs of operations. One way of achieving this is minimising the salaries and wages of workers by employing only a few. An in-house bookkeeper requires a significant salary and benefits, but it’s possible to do without them. The cost of hiring a third-party bookkeeping service can be relatively lower, and you will have an assurance of excellent services. 

7. Avoids Conflicts of Interest

It can be risky to entrust bookkeeping and accounting to one of the owners in partnership businesses. Misconduct accusations can potentially ruin the relationship even when a record-keeping error is unintentional. If something goes wrong, the other members might question the intentions of the person responsible. 

Hiring an independent bookkeeping service helps avoid these inconveniences while boosting confidence among the owners. They can have faith that every financial statement is true, accurate, and unbiased.

What Bookkeeping Method Should You Use?

One of the first steps to bookkeeping for small businesses is to decide which method you should use. The method you choose may depend on various factors, including the amount of revenue you earn and the volume of daily transactions your business processes. 

Below, we discuss two of the most popular bookkeeping solutions for small businesses—single-entry and double-entry bookkeeping.

Single-Entry Bookkeeping

A single-entry system tracks all income and expense transactions. That means each transaction is recorded once and posted to the appropriate account. 

For example, if you receive $1,000 from a client, you would enter this into the “Sales” account. This method is ideal for businesses with low volumes of sales or purchases. However, it does not support a detailed analysis of past transactions.

Double-Entry Bookkeeping

As the name suggests a double-entry bookkeeping system tracks all transactions twice. In addition to recording the original entry, it posts the same transaction to both accounts. 

For example, if a customer pays you $1,000, you would first record (debit) the transaction in the Sales account. Then, you would also post the payment to the Customer account (credit). This method supports a more detailed analysis of past transactions because you can access information about previous entries. It also provides better visibility into cash flow.

How to Do Bookkeeping for Small Businesses

Bookkeeping tasks may include: entering transactions, reconciling accounts, analysing financial data, and creating monthly financial reports. Hiring a professional bookkeeper with extensive experience in the field can save you time and improve your business decision-making.

Bookkeeping for a small business requires these three steps: 

Track Each Transaction

The first step in any bookkeeping process is tracking each transaction. The bookkeeper needs to know what type of transaction it is – whether it’s a purchase, sale, receipt, or withdrawal. They must also determine which account to put it in. After entering the transaction, the bookkeeper must ensure that it is correct. This includes verifying the date, amount, and source of funds.

Accounting software like Xero and MYOB can help speed the process along. 

With tools like Xero, bookkeepers create invoices, bills, receipts, and other documents. An experienced bookkeeper has the knowledge to help your business use these tools accurately and effectively. 

Manage Bank Reconciliations

Tracking every transaction goes hand in hand with bank reconciliation. 

Bank reconciliation is the process of matching or comparing the balances in your accounting records against the actual balance in the bank. If there are discrepancies, the bookkeeper must find out why. Some common causes include incorrect debits or credits, missing transactions, or duplicate entries.

The bank reconciliation process is pretty straightforward. First, it involves obtaining the bank’s ending cash balance and adding any deposits in transit from your business. Afterward, the bookkeeper subtracts any funds not yet cleared by the bank and adds or deducts any other items. 

The second part of the reconciliation process involves obtaining your business’s closing cash balance, subtracting any bank fees, penalties, or NSF (non-sufficient fund) checks, and then adding any interest earned. In the end, your company’s adjusted cash balance should match the bank’s closing balance. 

Prepare Financial Statements and Reports

Financial statements provide information about your company’s performance over a specific period. Reports help you analyse your finances and make informed decisions based on the data.

At best, your business should prepare financial statements at the end of each month or quarter. This may include an:

  • Income statement
  • Balance sheet
  • Profit and Loss
  • Cash flow analysis

Visory’s bookkeeping services extend beyond tracking transactions, bank reconciliation, and financial reporting. 

We also offer accounts receivable, payable, payroll, and other support that growing businesses often need. Whether you’re looking for a simple bookkeeping service or one that covers everything, we have what you need.

What to Look For in a Bookkeeping Service

An online bookkeeper is typically an individual with relevant experience in accounting services offered to a diverse range of businesses. When looking for a bookkeeper, choose one that is well-acquainted with your business type and preferably industry. Look for those that specialise in helping small businesses like yours. 

Their service should portray excellent skills and experience to determine profits, losses, turnover, and other financial factors. This will help you determine the financial health of your business with ease. 

Bookkeeping Services for Small Businesses

Visory is a reputable bookkeeping company that gives you access to accounting and finance services that scale with your business. Our team of experts has experience in different industries and is ready to hit the ground running anytime. You will receive strategic reporting and insight to drive growth. Our monthly subscription fee is affordable and worth the investment. Contact us now to book a meeting.

Bookkeeper Salary: How Much Does a Bookkeeper Cost?

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If you plan to hire a bookkeeper, one of the first questions you’ve probably asked is how much does a bookkeeper cost? Bookkeeper salary or cost for bookkeeping services can vary widely, depending on the type of service, experience, qualification, location, and more. 

The various pricing models—hourly rate, monthly fee, and salary—will also determine how much a bookkeeper costs. 

In this guide, we’ll compare pricing models, cost for bookkeeping services, and other factors. We’ll also dive into how much a bookkeeper costs, how bookkeepers charge businesses for their services and when hiring a bookkeeper is worth it. 

How much does a bookkeeper cost in 2023?

The average bookkeeper salary ranges from $60,000 to $80,000 or more, not including benefits and other costs. 

The hourly rate for a bookkeeper in Australia ranges from $100 to $150 per hour, but can also be more depending on the experience and tasks. 

Outsourcing to an online bookkeeping service, often a cost-effective option, has a set monthly fee that ranges from $500 to $2,500, depending on business size and task complexity.

Although these are the averages, the actual cost of a bookkeeper varies depending on a number of factors. Let’s dive into each factor. 

How much do bookkeepers charge businesses? 

Mainly, bookkeepers use any of these three models to charge businesses—salary, hourly rate, and monthly set fee. To help you choose the right model, let’s look at how each works.

Salary – employee

A salaried bookkeeper is usually an in-house employee. They may work full-time or part-time, depending on your arrangement. 

A full-time bookkeeper is ideal for large, international companies with frequent transactions. For example, public companies usually have full, in-house accounting and bookkeeping teams. They also tend to produce annual revenue that’s well over $100 million, so there’s more funding to support it. 

An in-house bookkeeping team can provide time and support to focus on revenue-generating activities, but there are significant costs to consider too. 

  • Base bookkeeper salary
  • Cost of hiring and retaining in-house talent (salary, allowances, training and development costs)
  • Office space and equipment expenses
  • Bookkeeping software costs

In-house bookkeeper salary ($60,000 – $80,000)

The annual salary of a bookkeeper ranges from $60,000 for entry-level to $80,000 for experienced. The median bookkeeper salary is $67,500.

Even if you hire a bookkeeper part-time and spend half the cost of the industry average, it would be about $35,000. Either way, the cost is quite substantial, considering you still need to pay for accounting and tax services.

Generally, the decision to hire an in-house bookkeeper isn’t for cost-cutting purposes, but it can come with its benefits. If your situation doesn’t require an in-house resource, outsourcing bookkeeping usually makes more sense.

Hourly rates – sole traders, freelancers, and consultants

If you engage a sole trader, consultant or freelancer as your bookkeeper, they usually charge hourly rates. The rates vary based on the types of tasks and the expertise you need.

Hourly bookkeeper rates are generally cheaper than bookkeeper salaries because contractors tend to use them. Since a contractor isn’t an employee, you don’t have extra costs for employee benefits and training. You also don’t have to pay for office space and equipment.

However, some freelancers may take advantage of this model. Without an incentive to automate tasks and create efficiencies within your back office, they can drag hours out to increase their earnings. 

Hourly bookkeeper cost ($100-$150 per hour)

Hourly bookkeeper costs add up fast. For example, for 20 hours of basic bookkeeping tasks at $150 per hour, you could easily pay $3,000 per month. During busy months or tax season, you could expect to pay even more. 

Another drawback of hourly bookkeeping rates is that it’s hard to budget for each month when your bookkeeping hours (and costs) fluctuate.

Set monthly fee – bookkeeping service 

Online bookkeeping service providers such as Visory offer a monthly set fee. It’s often the most cost-effective of the three models. You can choose from a range of pricing plans and select one that fits your bookkeeping needs and budget. 

For instance, Visory offers three different plans starting at $545/mo. The most basic plan has features such as: 

  • An expert bookkeeper
  • Real-time, accrual-based accounting
  • Monthly statements (P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow)
  • Quarterly business activity statement
  • A receipt and invoice capture tool

Cost for bookkeeping services (monthly fee – $545-$2,500)

Outsourcing is the best alternative if you don’t have the budget or need for an in-house bookkeeper or you simply want to cut down on employee costs. You could also opt for online bookkeeping services instead of hiring freelancers at hourly rates. 

Since online bookkeeping services charge a flat monthly fee, you know exactly how much you need in your budget each month. Monthly, in-house bookkeepers cost about $5,625, while most outsourced online bookkeeping services are a fraction of this (about $500-$2,500 per month). 

Remember, cost is only one factor to consider. Online bookkeeping services have more flexibility than in-house or freelance bookkeepers. If your business grows rapidly, you don’t have to worry about hiring more talent. Because bookkeeping services have teams of bookkeepers on-hand, they can more easily and quickly scale with you. 

To recap, here’s a comparison of the costs for bookkeeping services based on salary, hourly, or monthly rates. 

Type of pricing Bookkeeper  Average cost per month
Salary In-house employee $5,625 per employee
Hourly Freelance, sole trader $3,000 per month
Monthly fee Bookkeeping service (Visory) Starting at $545 per month

Bookkeeping cost and rates

Besides the contract type, other factors may affect the cost of a bookkeeper, such as: 

  • Location
  • Qualifications
  • Level of experience
  • Type of services
  • Frequency of service
  • Size of your business

When it comes to location, bookkeeper salary and freelancer rates can vary significantly due to cost of living. A report by Indeed shows the average annual salary for a Sydney bookkeeper is about $68,002. On the other hand, the average salary for a Perth bookkeeper is around $63,772. 

Tasks and rates

As mentioned earlier, the cost for bookkeeping services can vary by task. Generally, they should handle the below tasks.

  • Data entry (record and classify transactions to the appropriate accounts on the accounting software)
  • Bank reconciliation (download bank statements and reconcile the accounts)
  • Invoicing (prepare, send, and track invoices)
  • Track expenses
  • Generate reports
  • Manage accounts payable and receivable
  • Other additional duties as their skills allow

More complex bookkeeping and accounting services come with a higher cost. More complex bookkeeping and accounting services, such as BAS Lodgements, come with a higher cost.

Bookkeeping experience and qualifications

The experience and qualifications of a bookkeeper impact their salary significantly. 

For instance, an entry-level bookkeeper should handle data entry, invoicing, tracking expenses, generating reports, and bank reconciliation. If they are skilled in BAS and financial statements preparation, you should expect to pay more, and so forth.

Before hiring, familiarise yourself with the different bookkeeper levels and the duties they can perform. At the same time, look out for their qualifications to help identify the right candidate. 

An entry-level bookkeeper should have a Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping. But to provide business activity statement (BAS) services, they need additional qualifications and experience. These include:

  • Experience – 1400 hours of relevant work
  • Registered BAS Agent with Tax Practitioners Board

In addition to the above work and education requirements, sole traders, contractors and outsourced providers must hold Professional Indemnity (PI) Insurance.

How hiring a bookkeeper saves businesses money

Maintaining your books might seem manageable initially, but keeping tabs can be challenging as your business grows and transactions increase. Having a bookkeeper or bookkeeping service handle the books keeps you compliant and frees up your time to focus on your main objective – generating revenue. 

But that’s not all. Hiring a bookkeeper can save you money in many ways – here are a few of them.

Spend less on accounting

A professional bookkeeper can handle more tasks than you would if you did it yourself. They can keep your books clean and organised, so you spend less time and money on accountants. A bookkeeper can handle this as part of their normal duties, thereby saving what you would spend on accounting services, which are a little pricier. 

Bookkeepers are more affordable 

Bookkeepers can help you perform some tasks at a far lesser cost than if you were to hire an accountant to do it for you. For instance, some bookkeepers can handle payroll processing, accounts payable, BAS, and prepare financial statements. Generally, they charge less than accountants, meaning you can save significant money.

Focus on activities that generate revenue

Hiring a bookkeeper to handle your books frees up your time and ensures back-office tasks are completed at the highest standard. While you incur the cost of their services, it frees up your time, allowing you to focus on growing your business. 

As you bring in more business, the revenue covers the bookkeeping service cost. You also get more time to rest, which minimises the risk of burnout and its potential effect on your business. 

More accuracy

Another benefit of a professional bookkeeper is that they’re responsible for keeping your books updated and accurate. With many duties demanding your attention, the risk of making errors is always present. In addition, a bookkeeper is conversant with how to treat different transactions, which can eliminate compliance-related mistakes. 

Moreover, their advanced bookkeeping knowledge allows them to be more efficient than you would be performing the same tasks. All these factors contribute to savings for your business.

Easy tax lodgements

A bookkeeper helps track transactions and keep your records up to date. Consequently, you spend less time on tax preparations. They also ensure all the necessary documents are accurate and organized for smooth tax payments and return lodgement.

Get a team of bookkeepers and scale your business

Understanding how much a bookkeeper costs can help you choose the best option for your business. No matter the stage of your business (startup or enterprise), a bookkeeper can handle your books and free up your time, so you can concentrate on growing your business. 

Outsourcing is a cost-effective bookkeeping option for small and large businesses. You can find freelancers at a fraction of the cost of an in-house bookkeeper salary, but an online bookkeeping service makes more financial sense. Besides being less expensive than the other two, you get to work with a dedicated team of experts.  

Learn more about us and see how much bookkeeping services cost (and how much you can save), when you use Visory as your online bookkeeping service.