Categories

Accountant Aged Care Allied Health Andrew Bragg Annuity Apps Asic Asset Finance Asset Planning Asset Protection Asset Protection Strategies Assets Assets and Risks Ato Auction Audit Insurance Australian House Market Report Baby Bonus Bas Binding Death Benefit Nominations Binding Financial Agreement Binding Financial Agreements Body Corporate Bonds Borrowing Brexit Budget Budgeting Business Business Registrations Business Support Business Tax Deduction Business Value Capital Gains Tax Capital Gains Tax: Will Capital Protection Catherine Frost Cgt Checklists Commercial Loans Commercial Property Company Tax Concessional Superannuation Contribution Corporate Trustee Cryptocurrency Darren Foster Debt Debtors Deceased Estate Depreciation Dereen Wallace Director Director Id Divorce Economic Update Economy Emily Kermac Employees Estate Planning Executor Fbt Federal Budget Federal Election Finance Finances Financial Advice Financial Plan Financial Update Franking Credits Government Grants Gst Holiday House Home Office Hybrid Unit Trust Individual Ownership Insolvency Insurance Insurance In Super Interest Rates Investment Investment Loan Investment Loans Investment Property Investments Janet Kohan Jobkeeper Jobmaker Joint Ownership Ken Burk Land Tax Lending Life Insurance Linda Hamilton Loan Repayments Loans Lvr Margin Loans Margin Scheme Market Update Medical Expenses Mortgage Mortgage Broker Mortgage Broking Mygov Negative Gearing Offset Account Overseas Gifts Parental Leave Paris Financial Pat Mannix Payg Payg Variation Pension Practice Valuations Private Wealth Property Property Development Rebecca Mackie Record Keeping Redraw Facility Refinance Renovating Research & Development Retirement Retirement Planning Retirement Savings Salary Sacrifice Scams Self Managed Superannuation Self Managed Superannuation Fund Seminar Shares Small Business Smsf Smsf Borrowing Smsf Property Smsf Self Managed Superannuation Fund Steve Golding Steve Wildes Strategic Business Structuring Structures Subdividing Property Succession Plan Superannuation Superannuation Fund Tanya Hofbauer Tax Tax Benefits for Super Tax Concession Tax Deduction Tax Investment Property Tax Losses Tax Offset Tax Planning Tax Savings Tax-Free Temporary Full Expensing Tenants in Common Tessa Testamentary Trusts Tfe Training Transition to Retirement Trust Trusts Ttr Will Working from Home
Home » E-News » Latest News

Record keeping is more than a lock and key

Record keeping is more than a lock and key

Good business records include all the information you need to:

  • know if your business is profitable
  • calculate how much cash you need to pay your bills on time
  • meet your tax reporting and other compliance obligations.

Accurate and complete records will also help you if the ATO ever asks you about the information you reported in your income tax return.

5 rules for good record keeping

These rules will help you keep good records:

  • Keep all relevant tax and super records related to starting, running, changing, selling or closing your business.
  • Store records safely to prevent damage and protect information from being changed (you must not change relevant information in records).
  • Keep most records for 5 years; however, there are some situations where you need to keep your records for longer than 5 years.
  • Be able to show the ATO your records if they ask for them.
  • Ensure your records are in English or easily converted to English.

Digital record keeping

In addition to securely storing hard copies of your records, you can also keep digital copies. Just make sure:

  • you keep copies of all tax invoices issued from your suppliers
  • the tax invoices your suppliers give you are valid.

If amounts have been withheld from payments to your business, ensure your payer has given you a valid payment summary.

Another helpful tool to use for storing your receipts if you’re a sole trader, is the myDeductions tool in the ATO app. This can help you capture your expenses on the go.

If your tax records are damaged, destroyed or lost, the ATO may be able to help you reconstruct them.

Rate your record keeping

If you’re not sure how your business ranks with record keeping, you can check by using our record keeping evaluation tool. This helpful tool takes 5 to 10 minutes to use and will let you know how well you’re keeping records.

Find out more at ato.gov.au/keepinggoodrecords.

Source: ATO Newsroom


Tags: Record Keeping |