A clean set of books at year end means seven things: every bank and card account reconciled to its statements, every transaction coded, a receipt or invoice behind each expense, loans and owner drawings sorted out, a list of the assets you bought, a BAS that matches the books, and, if you have a trust, the trustee’s resolutions. It tends to lower your accountant’s bill because fees usually reflect their time, and time spent chasing missing receipts and untangling transactions is time not spent on your return.
Some of this is law and ATO guidance, and some is plain good practice. Each section below says which. The details are as at October 2026, from the ATO’s own pages (linked at the end).
What the law actually requires, and what is practice
The ATO says you are legally required to keep records of all transactions relating to your tax, super and registration affairs. A record needs enough information to show what the transaction was: generally the date, the amount, a description (sale, purchase, wages, rent), the GST information, and the purpose of the transaction. Most records must be kept for five years, and some for longer.
The law does not say “reconcile your bank account in the last week of June” or “use these categories.” Those are practice. They are how people meet the record-keeping rule in a way an accountant can work from. The sections below mark each one.
1. Bank and card accounts reconciled (practice)
Reconciling means checking that what your books say matches what the bank says, line by line, up to 30 June. The ATO’s record-keeping tips tell businesses to reconcile cash and EFTPOS sales regularly, by making sure payments recorded internally match external records, and to check for mistakes if things don’t add up. Bank statements are also one of the records the ATO names as evidence of business income. An unreconciled account is where missing and duplicate transactions hide.
2. Every transaction coded (practice, resting on a rule)
Coding means each transaction is put against an account: sales, rent, insurance, wages, and so on. The rule behind it is the ATO’s minimum-information list above: a record has to make the nature and purpose of a transaction clear. A bank line that reads “CARD 4471 SQ*” explains nothing. Uncoded or “miscellaneous” lines are the ones an accountant has to ask you about, one by one.
3. Receipts attached (ATO guidance)
The ATO says you must have records to claim a deduction, and that your records must show how you worked out the business share of any mixed-use expense. For GST, you need a tax invoice to claim a credit on a purchase over $82.50 (including GST), and the ATO says to wait for it before claiming. For smaller purchases, a receipt, docket or invoice does, and if you can’t get one, a note with the supplier’s name and ABN, the date, a description and the amount. Attaching the document to the transaction, so it can be found, is the practice part.
4. Loans and owner drawings clear (ATO guidance)
This depends on your structure, so the point is only that the books must show what happened:
- Sole trader: you can’t claim a deduction for money or assets you take from the business for personal use, so drawings must be recorded as drawings, not as expenses.
- Company: the ATO says you must keep records that explain money or assets taken from the business.
- Everyone: if you paid for a business cost personally, or the business paid for a private one, the books should show who owes whom.
5. Asset purchases listed (ATO guidance)
The ATO says to keep records of all transactions for buying, maintaining, repairing and selling business assets, so you can substantiate the amounts in your return. A simple list is enough: what it was, the date, the supplier, the price including GST and whether it was for business use. Your accountant decides how each one is treated for tax, which is why they need to see the full list, including anything that looks too small to mention.
6. The BAS reconciled to the books (practice)
If you are registered for GST, the four BASes for the year should add up to the GST figures in your books. The ATO tips suggest setting GST aside in a separate ledger account, and warn against using estimates for returns and BAS. At year end, add the year’s 1A and 1B and compare them with what the books say for GST on sales and GST on purchases.
For example, a sole trader electrician’s four BASes show 1A of $3,820, $4,150, $3,610 and $4,420, a total of $16,000. The books show $16,330 of GST on sales for the year. The $330 difference is one eleventh of $3,630, which suggests a single invoice dated in the year that never reached a BAS. Finding it yourself at year end costs a few minutes. Finding it when the accountant is doing the return costs their time, and it is a question about whether a BAS needs correcting, which is for the accountant or the ATO.
7. Trust resolutions, if you have a trust (ATO guidance)
The ATO says a resolution making beneficiaries entitled to trust income is only effective for working out who is assessed on the trust’s net income if it is made by the end of the income year, 30 June. The trust deed may set an earlier date, and then the deed governs. Whether the resolution must be in writing depends on the deed, but a written record is better evidence. Resolutions that are not made properly can result in other beneficiaries or the trustee being assessed instead, and a trustee may be assessed at the top rate. This one is a deadline you can’t meet after 30 June, so it is worth asking your accountant about it before then.
Why this lowers the bill
An accountant’s fee usually reflects the time the job takes (how they price is their choice, so ask yours). Clean books cut the time in three places: they don’t chase you for missing receipts, they don’t work out what unlabelled transactions are, and they don’t rebuild balances that should already match. The ATO makes a related point about records generally: accurate and complete records make it easier to prepare and lodge returns and BAS, and, if the ATO audits you, easier and shorter.
Questions
How far back do I need to keep records?
The ATO says most business records must be kept for five years, from when you made or obtained the record or completed the transaction, whichever is later. Some need longer, for example to cover the period of review of an assessment that uses them. The Corporations Act requires companies to keep financial records for seven years.
Do I need a bookkeeper before I see an accountant?
No. The ATO’s rules are the same either way: you must keep the records. Who does the reconciling and coding is your choice.
What if I’ve missed receipts?
For a GST credit on a purchase over $82.50, the ATO says to ask the supplier for a tax invoice, and that the supplier has 28 days to provide one. If they don’t, you can ask the ATO for permission to treat another document as a tax invoice. For anything else, ask your accountant what can support the claim.
Where Beans fits
A clean year end is the result of small jobs done through the year. Beans keeps the books as you go: bank lines and receipts are recorded in the right entity’s books as they arrive, across several entities and your personal money, and receipts can be emailed in. It only asks when the call is yours to make, for example whether something is the business’s or personal. It flags a purchase that is still missing a tax invoice, so you can chase the supplier before the BAS, and it works up the BAS from books that are already done, with the BAS waiting for your yes. Beans doesn’t hold the credit back: when the BAS is ready, it lists the bills still missing a tax invoice, and you choose whether to keep claiming or not.
Sources (all ato.gov.au, checked 15 October 2026): Overview of record-keeping rules for business, Record-keeping tips, Records required for your business’s tax return: income, Records required for your business’s tax return: deductions, Stock and asset records, When you can claim a GST credit, Business structures: key tax obligations, Using your business money and assets for private purposes, Loans by private companies, Trustee resolutions.
General information, not tax advice.