Bookkeeping without the Expensive Software

Bookkeeping without expensive software is easy if you set it up correctely.

Tips

1. Only spend on your business bank account.
2. If you don’t have a business bank account set one up immediately, what were you thinking!?
3. Make sure you have a VISA or MasterCard facility so you can use it anywhere.
4. Export your transactions to spreadsheet periodically and enter a category in the first free field.  Suggested categories at the end of the blog.Doing it regularly means you don’t have to wade through receipts to remember what each transaction was.
5. To speed things up you can select the whole spreadsheet and sort the rows by the description column. This way you have all the suppliers names listed alphabetically which may help with tip 4.

By watching the video and remembering the key tips to Bookkeeping without expensive software, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and stress.

 

Contact us if you have any queries, we’re happy to help.

If your business employs people, is a company or trust, or you are required or wish to producer financial statements, you may need a specialist bookkeeping software such as Xero or Quickbook Intuit

Transaction Categories

Income/Revenue
Drawings – Money taken for Owner
Asset e.g. Laptop, equipment Over $1,000
Asset e.g. Lenses < $1,000
Accounting
Advertising and promotion
Bad debts written off
Bank fees and charges
Borrowing expenses
Cartage and freight
Cleaning and rubbish removal
Commission
Contract Payments
Depreciation
Donations
Drench, dip
Electricity
Environment protection exp
Fodder
Fuel and oil
Government charges, fees, etc
Hire or rent of plant, equip.
Home office
Insurance premiums
Interest (Australian)
Interest (overseas)
Landcare/water conservation
Lease payments
Legal fees
Maintenance
Materials and supplies
Minor Equip < $1,000
Pest and weed control
Personal
Postage
Printing and stationery
Protective clothing etc
Rates and land taxes
Rent on land and buildings
Repairs
Replacements (tools etc)
Royalties (Australian)
Salaries, wages – ordinary
Salaries, wages – associates
Seed
Subscriptions & publications
Sundry expenses
Superannuation – ordinary
Telephone
Travel & accommodation
Veterinary expenses
Superannuation – associates

 

Motor Vehicle Logbook How & Why Tutorial

This motor motor vehicle logbook tutorial video will tell you why keeping a 12 week motor vehicle logbook is worth it and show you how to do it.

Download the spreadsheet I used. Right click and select download in the next window.

This ATO link on Motor Vehicle Logbooks is also very beneficial.

Here is a link to an old fashioned paper logbook to keep in your glove box.

Here’s a link to a list of the best Smartphone Logbook Apps. I plan on doing a review of these later.

Please contact us if you haven any more questions

When you can claim and can’t claim for car expenses

When you can claim

You can claim a deduction for work-related car expenses if you use your own car in the course of performing your job as an employee, for example, to:

• carry bulky tools or equipment (such as an extension ladder or cello) which your employer requires you to use for work and cannot leave at work
• attend conferences or meetings
• deliver items or collect supplies
• travel between two separate places of employment, provided one of the places is not your home (for example, when you have a second job)
• travel from your normal workplace to an alternative workplace that is not a regular workplace back to your normal workplace or directly home
• from your normal workplace or your home to an alternative workplace that is not a regular workplace (for example, a client’s premises) while you are on duty
• perform itinerant work.

If you receive an allowance from your employer for car expenses, it is assessable income and the allowance must be included on your tax return. The amount of the allowance will usually be shown on your payment summary.

When you can’t claim

Most people can’t claim the cost of travel between home and work because this travel is private.

Calculating your deductions

There are some changes to work-related car expense deductions from 1 July 2015. Following is a breakdown of the methods and calculations which applied from and before 1 July 2015.

You cannot claim any expenses relating to motorcycles and vehicles with a carrying capacity of one tonne or more, or nine or more passengers, such as a utility truck and panel van using these methods. You need to use the general deduction provisions to claim for these vehicles.

From 1 July 2015 – two methods

The government has simplified the car expense deductions for 2015–16 and future income years. From 1 July 2015, the one-third of actual expenses method and 12% of original value method have been abolished.

The two methods available from 1 July 2015 are:

• cents per kilometre method (with some changes)
• Motor Vehicle logbook method (with no change to its rules).

Cents per kilometre method

The cents per kilometre method is available for use with some changes. Separate rates based on the size of the engine are no longer available from 1 July 2015. Under the revised method, individuals use 68 cents per kilometre for all motor vehicles for the 2018–19 income year. The rate for 2017–18 was 66 cents per kilometre. The Commissioner of Taxation will determine the rate for future income years.

• Your claim is based on 68 cents per kilometre for 2018–19 income year (or 66 cents per kilometre for the 2017-18 income year).
• You can claim a maximum of 5,000 business kilometres per car.
• You don’t need written evidence but you need to be able to show how you worked out your business kilometres (for example, by producing diary records of work-related trips).

Where you and another joint owner use the car for separate income-producing purposes, you can each claim up to a maximum of 5,000 kilometres.

Motor Vehicle Logbook method

• Your claim is based on the business-use percentage of the expenses for the car.
• Expenses include running costs and decline in value but not capital costs, such as the purchase price of your car, the principal on any money borrowed to buy it and any improvement costs.
• To work out your business-use percentage, you need a logbook and the odometer readings for the logbook period. The logbook period is a minimum continuous period of 12 weeks.
• You can claim fuel and oil costs based on either your actual receipts or you can estimate the expenses based on odometer records that show readings from the start and the end of the period you had the car during the year.
• You need written evidence for all other expenses for the car.