Newsletter

Good record keeping can help you manage your cash flow, make better business decisions and help you avoid refund delays with the ATO. Keeping accurate and up-to-date records is vital to the success of any business and is one of the most important management tools it possesses. Many business owners invest a lot of time and effort into the running of their business and fail to realise the importance of maintaining good record keeping.

An important part of good record keeping is having a system that works for you. Your record keeping system should be most importantly accurate, reliable, easy to follow, consistent and very simple to use. The most important reason for keeping good records is that it’s a legal requirement.

By law, you must keep business records for five years after they are prepared, obtained or the transactions completed, whichever occurs latest. The records must be in English or in a form that the ATO can access and understand, in order to work out the amount of tax you are liable to pay. Some records you may have to keep for longer if you use information from those records in a later tax return – for example, if you claim a loss carried forward from a business activity in an earlier year. Under these circumstances, you must keep the records until the end of any period of review for that later return.

Other reasons for keeping good business records are:

• Assists in the preparation of your financial statements quickly and accurately as well as business activity statements (if registered for GST).
• Assists you in calculating how much tax you have to pay.
• Contributes promptly to assessing the financial situation of the business and monitors the health of your business at any time.
• Provides information to enable the control of cash in the business so you can pay your tax and other obligations when they fall due.
• Provides management information to base business decisions on and improves the success of your business.
• Measures the business performance against the projections that were originally set down in the business plan.
• Highlights quickly areas where problems could arise and enable remedies to be put in place.
• Keeps a good track of the costs of staff and their performance.
• Helps in detecting theft within the business itself and assist in loss prevention.
• Assists in providing financial information required by the bank and other lenders.
• Provides valuable information and details for the future sale of your business where that is required to prospective buyers.
• Saves a lot of time and effort and makes best use of your accountant.

28 APRIL 2013

• March 2013 monthly activity statement - due date for lodgement and payment.

28 APRIL 2013

• Super guarantee contributions for Quarter 3 (January – March 2013) are to be made to the fund by this date. Employers who do not pay minimum super contributions for Quarter 3 by this date must pay the super guarantee charge and lodge a Superannuation guarantee charge statement - quarterly (NAT 9599) with the ATO by 28 May 2013. Remember, the super guarantee charge is not tax deductible.

• Quarterly instalment notice (Form R, S or T), Quarter 3 (January – March 2013) due date for payment. You only need to lodge if you are varying the instalment amount.

15 MAY 2013

• Income tax returns for the 2012 financial year for all other entities that did not have to lodge earlier and are not eligible for the 5 June 2013 concession. Due date for lodging, company and super funds to pay where required, individuals and trusts in this category to pay as per their notice of assessment.

21 MAY 2013

• April 2013 monthly activity statement - due date for lodgement and payment.

26 MAY 2013

• Quarter 3 activity statements (January - March 2013) - due date for lodgement and payment (all electronic lodgement methods).

• Superannuation guarantee charge (SGC) statement - quarterly and paying the super guarantee charge for Quarter 3 (January - March 2013), if the employer did not pay enough contributions on time.

21 JUNE 2013

• May 2013 monthly activity statement – due date for lodgement and payment.

25 JUNE 2013

• 2013 Fringe benefits tax annual return due date for eligible agents. Payment (if required) is due 28 May.

30 JUNE 2013

• Last day for appointing a registered tax agent for an activity statement role.

• Super guarantee contributions must be paid by this date to qualify for a tax deduction in the 2012 – 2013 financial year.

New regulations apply to self-managed super funds (SMSFs) from the 2012-2013 income year. They require trustees of SMSFs to:

• value the fund's assets at their market value for the purpose of preparing financial accounts and statements of the fund
• consider insurance for their members as part of the fund's investment strategy
• review the fund's investment strategy on a regular basis to ensure that it continues to reflect the purpose and circumstances of your fund and its members.

The obligation that you as a trustee of an SMSF are required to keep money and other assets of the fund separate from any money or assets held by you personally or by a standard employer-sponsor or an associated standard employer-sponsor is now a prescribed operating standard.

Trustees who fail to comply with the above requirements may be subject to penalties.

SMSF AUDITOR REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS

From 1 July 2013 auditors will be required to be registered with (ASIC) to conduct SMSF audits. ASIC will accept applications online from 31 January 2013. Transitional arrangements for existing approved auditors will be available for those who apply with ASIC before 1 July 2013.

Auditors will need to meet a number of requirements set by ASIC to be registered as an approved SMSF auditor. These are:

• hold a tertiary accounting qualification which includes an audit component or have successfully completed study in audit as part of a professional accounting body program
• hold professional indemnity insurance
• have 300 hours of SMSF audit experience in the three years prior to registration, subject to transitional arrangements
• pass a competency exam
• ability and agreement to meet ongoing obligations, including continuing professional development, professional indemnity insurance, compliance with auditing and assurance engagement standards, competency standards and independence principles.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR SMSF TRUSTEES

From 1 July 2013, your SMSF auditor must be registered with ASIC and have a SMSF Auditor Number (SAN). You will be required to report the SAN on your SMSF annual returns for the 2012-2013 income year onwards. The SAN is a non-mandatory label in the 2011-2012 annual return.

The government is improving super to help protect and grow the savings of all Australians. As a business and an employer you play an important part in helping your employees save for their future. Changes commencing from 1 July 2013 include:

• an increase in the super guarantee rate from 9% to 9.25% and a gradual increase to 12% over the following six years (by 1 July 2019); and
• removal of the existing upper age limit for paying super for an employee and you will need to start making super guarantee contributions for employees who are 70 years of age or older.

THE SUPER GUARANTEE CHARGE PERCENTAGE (%)  

To give employees more information about their super, employers will also be required to report on employee payslips the amount of super contributions paid into their account and the date the contribution was made (subject to further consultation with industry).

You may need to update processes and systems to incorporate these changes.