A bookkeeper keeps the day-to-day record of your business’s money: what came in, what went out, what each item was for, and whether your records match the bank. Someone or something has to do that job, but it doesn’t have to be a person, and many small businesses with simple finances do it themselves with software.
Below is what the job involves, what the ATO expects of any business’s records, and where a person is worth paying for. It is as at October 2026.
The work, in the order it happens
The ATO’s own list of record-keeping tasks is a good description of a bookkeeper’s week. It is organised by how often each task comes round.
| How often | The task | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Daily or as it happens | Record income and expenses, including any cash payments or drawings | Every sale, bill and purchase gets a line with a date, an amount and a description |
| Monthly | Do the bank reconciliation, and cross-reference payments with invoice numbers | Check that your records agree with the bank, and that each payment is matched to the invoice it paid |
| Quarterly | Prepare the BAS if you’re registered for GST | Work out the GST on sales, the GST on purchases, and any PAYG amounts |
| Yearly | Summarise income and expenses into a profit and loss statement, and pull together debtors, creditors, stock and asset records | The material your tax agent or accountant uses for the tax return |
Behind those tasks are four jobs that make up most of the hours.
Categorising. Each bank line is given a purpose: rent, software, fuel, a customer payment, a personal withdrawal. The ATO says a record should show the date, the amount, a description, the GST information and the purpose of the transaction. Where an expense is part business and part private, you need clear documents showing the business portion.
Reconciling. The bookkeeper compares the books with the bank statement and chases the differences: a payment recorded twice, a deposit with no matching sale, a bank fee nobody noticed. The ATO lists a bank reconciliation as a monthly task, and a daily reconciliation of sales (cash and EFTPOS) where that applies to the business.
Chasing paperwork. A GST credit needs a tax invoice for any purchase over $82.50 (GST included). A good part of bookkeeping is finding the missing receipt or asking the supplier for the invoice.
BAS preparation. The bookkeeper turns the quarter’s records into the figures for the activity statement. This is the step with a legal line around it, covered below.
Most business records have to be kept for 5 years and must not be altered after the fact. The ATO also notes that ASIC requires companies to keep records for 7 years.
Bookkeeper, BAS agent, tax agent, accountant
The titles overlap, but the law draws one line that matters. Under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009, anyone who provides BAS services for a fee or reward has to be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB), unless an exemption applies. BAS services include working out or advising on a client’s GST and PAYG obligations, where the client can reasonably be expected to rely on that to meet them. Whether a particular task counts depends on the facts, and the TPB’s page on BAS services is the place to check.
In practice:
- A bookkeeper keeps the records. Data entry and bank reconciliations on their own aren’t BAS services, but the TPB counts coding transactions where that means applying the GST rules, and working out or confirming BAS figures, as BAS services. A bookkeeper who does those for a fee must be a registered BAS agent or tax agent, unless they work under the supervision of one (for example, as their employee or contractor).
- A BAS agent is registered with the TPB to provide BAS services, including preparing and lodging a BAS.
- A tax agent is registered to provide tax agent services more broadly, which include income tax returns and tax advice as well as BAS services.
- An accountant is a broader title. What an accountant can do for a fee in the tax area depends on whether they are a registered tax agent.
You can check anyone on the TPB’s public register before hiring them.
When software is enough
Software, or a spreadsheet and some discipline, can be enough when:
- you are a sole trader or a small company with a modest number of transactions a month,
- your sales and purchases are straightforward (no stock, payroll or several entities),
- you keep your business money in its own account, and
- you’re comfortable categorising a transaction and asking a registered tax agent when you’re unsure.
The ATO says a sole trader doesn’t have to open a separate business bank account but that it’s better to, and that a business run through a partnership, company or trust must have one. Keeping business money apart removes much of the sorting work before anyone starts.
When a person is worth it
A person, whether a bookkeeper or a BAS agent, often earns their fee when:
- you have employees, contractors or stock, so there is payroll, super and inventory to keep right,
- you have several entities, such as a company and a trust, or rental properties alongside a business, and each needs its own set of books,
- there are many mixed business and personal items to sort,
- you are behind and need a backlog cleared,
- you’d rather not prepare the BAS yourself.
None of this is a rule. How much of the job you hand over is a question of your time, your confidence and how complicated the money is. If you’re unsure which kind of professional you need, a registered tax agent or the ATO can tell you what applies to your situation.
A worked example
Dana runs a small landscaping business as a sole trader and is registered for GST. In the September quarter she has about 60 bank lines, 9 supplier invoices over $82.50 and a ute shared between work and home.
The bookkeeping for that quarter looks like this:
- As it happens: she photographs receipts and sorts each bank line into income, a business cost or personal.
- Monthly: she compares her records with the bank statement. One customer payment of $880 is missing from the books; it was an EFTPOS payment she never recorded, and the comparison is what finds it.
- Missing invoice: a $462 fertiliser purchase has a card receipt but no tax invoice. The GST in it is $462 divided by 11, which is $42. She asks the supplier for an invoice and doesn’t claim the $42 until it arrives.
- At quarter end: she totals the GST on sales and the GST on purchases for the BAS, and works out the business-use share of the ute’s costs.
Dana can do this herself. If the quarter instead included three employees’ pay and super, or a second business, she’d be weighing a bookkeeper’s fee against the hours she could spend working.
Questions
Do I need a bookkeeper if I have an accountant?
Not necessarily. An accountant or tax agent usually works from records that already exist. Someone still has to keep those records during the year, and that can be you, software or a bookkeeper.
Can I do my own books and still use a BAS agent?
Yes. Many people keep their own records and give them to a registered BAS or tax agent for the BAS. The records still need to be complete and kept for the required period.
Does a bookkeeper have to be registered?
One who provides BAS services for a fee needs to be a registered BAS agent or tax agent with the TPB, unless an exemption applies. Whether a given task counts as a BAS service depends on the facts, so check the TPB’s guidance or its register.
How long do I keep my records?
Most business records have to be kept for 5 years, and longer in some cases. The ATO notes that ASIC requires companies to keep records for 7 years.
Where Beans fits
Beans is built for the recording part of the job. It 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, such as whether something is the business’s or personal. 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 (checked 15 October 2026): Overview of record-keeping rules for business (ato.gov.au), When to do record-keeping and reporting tasks (ato.gov.au), Banking records (ato.gov.au), When you can claim a GST credit (ato.gov.au), BAS services (tpb.gov.au), Apply to register: who needs to register (tpb.gov.au).
General information, not tax advice.