Bookkeeper, BAS Agent or Accountant: Who Does Which Job for a Small Business

Maybe it is a shoebox, maybe it is a folder on your desktop called “receipts (sort later)”, and maybe “later” has been going on for a while now. If running the business is the part you enjoy and the books are the part you keep putting off, you are in very good company. The next question, who to ask for help, can feel just as confusing, because bookkeepers, BAS agents and accountants can sound like three names for the same person. They are not, and the difference matters more than you might expect. Some tasks can be done by anyone you trust. Others, when you pay someone to do them, need that person to be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board. The short question flow below helps you work out which is which for the job in front of you, and the rest of this guide explains each role gently, one at a time.

The bookkeeper

A bookkeeper looks after the day-to-day records of your business. That usually means entering transactions, reconciling your bank accounts against your software, raising and chasing invoices, and processing payroll in whatever system you use. If the shoebox is your problem, a bookkeeper is probably the person who will make it disappear.

Good bookkeeping does a lot of work without anyone noticing. Clean, up-to-date records make every other job easier, including the ones that come later in this guide. They also mean you can look at your own numbers and actually understand them, which is a lovely feeling if you have been avoiding them.

There is one line a bookkeeper cannot cross unless they are registered. Giving BAS services for a fee is a registered activity. A bookkeeper who is not registered can keep your records beautifully, but if they prepare or lodge your BAS for payment, or advise you on your GST or PAYG obligations in a way you rely on, they need to be a registered BAS agent or tax agent. Some bookkeepers are registered BAS agents too, so it is worth asking.

The BAS agent

A BAS agent is someone registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) to provide BAS services. The TPB is clear that you, your company or your partnership must be registered to provide BAS services for a fee or other reward.

So what counts as a BAS service? In plain terms, it is a service that relates to working out or advising on a client’s liabilities, obligations or entitlements under a BAS provision, or representing the client in dealings with the Commissioner of Taxation, where the client is likely to rely on it. GST and PAYG withholding are two of the areas it covers. If you are going to rely on the advice or the lodgement to meet your obligations, and you are paying for it, that is the territory of a registered agent.

Registration is not just a form to fill in. To be registered, a BAS agent needs:

• the qualifications and relevant experience the TPB sets
• to be a fit and proper person
• professional indemnity insurance

That last one is quietly reassuring. If something goes wrong with the advice you have relied on, there is insurance behind the person who gave it.

The tax agent or accountant

The third role is the one most people picture first. A tax agent prepares and lodges income tax returns, gives tax advice, and often helps with bigger decisions such as how to structure the business. Many also prepare year-end accounts and financial statements. Registered tax agents can provide BAS services as well, so one person can cover both if that suits you.

“Accountant” on its own is not a registration, and that surprises plenty of people. Someone can call themselves an accountant without being a registered tax agent. What tells you they can lodge your tax return for a fee is their registration with the TPB, and that is the thing to check.

If you are at the stage of choosing someone for your tax return, our guide to choosing a tax accountant walks through the questions to ask and what a good first meeting looks like.

Checking the TPB register

This is the step that takes the least time and gives you the most peace of mind. Before you hand over the logins to your bank feeds, your accounting software or your ATO online services, look the person up on the TPB Register.

You can search by name or by registration number. The register shows whether someone is a registered BAS agent or tax agent, so you can see straight away whether their registration matches the job you are asking them to do.

You may also see an agent using the registered tax practitioner symbol. It is a helpful sign, but it is still worth checking the register itself, because that is the record that counts. It only takes a minute, and nobody good will mind that you looked.

Software setup and who owns the file

This part is not about registration at all, but it causes more headaches than almost anything else, so it is worth thinking about at the start.

When you bring someone in, a few practical questions are worth asking:

1. Who sets up the software? Someone has to set up your chart of accounts, which is the list of categories your income and spending are sorted into. A tidy setup at the start saves a great deal of tidying later.
2. Whose subscription is it? If the subscription is in the bookkeeper’s or agent’s name, ask what happens to it, and to your data, if you part ways.
3. What access do they have? It is fine to give each person the level of access their role needs, and no more.
4. How do you get it back? If you change provider, how will your file, your records and your logins be handed back to you?

None of these questions is rude. A provider who has done this for a while will have answers ready, and you will feel much more settled knowing the file is yours.

How the costs compare

Every provider sets their own fees, and they might charge by the hour or offer a fixed fee for a set package of work. Because fees vary so much, there is no single figure that would help you here, but there is a pattern that might.

Many small businesses find it works well to split the work by skill. The routine jobs, such as entering transactions, reconciling accounts and processing payroll, are done by a bookkeeper. The advice and the tax return go to a tax agent. That way you are not paying for advice-level time on data entry.

There is a nice knock-on effect too. When your books are clean and up to date, your accountant spends less time untangling them before they can do the work you actually came for. A tidy year of bookkeeping can make the year-end conversation shorter, calmer and often less expensive.

If you are not sure where to start, it is okay to start small. A bookkeeper who is also a registered BAS agent can often cover the routine work and your BAS together, and you can bring in a tax agent for the income tax side once a year.

An example to put it all together

This one is made up, but it is the kind of setup plenty of small businesses land on. Imagine Mia, who runs a small homewares shop in Geelong. For her first two years she did everything herself, mostly on Sunday nights, and her receipts lived in a drawer under the counter.

Now a bookkeeper comes in for a few hours each month. They enter the transactions, reconcile the bank account against the software and process payroll for Mia’s two casual staff. That bookkeeper happens to be a registered BAS agent as well, so when the BAS falls due, the same person prepares and lodges it. Mia checked their name on the TPB Register before handing over any logins, and the software subscription sits in her own name.

Once a year, Mia’s tax agent prepares her income tax return, and they talk through anything bigger, such as whether her business structure still suits her. Because the books arrive clean, that meeting is mostly about decisions rather than tidying.

There is no single right way to do this. Mia’s setup is just one example of matching each task to the person registered for it.

Questions people often ask

Is a bookkeeper worth it if my business is small? It depends on how much time the books take you and what that time is worth to you. A good bookkeeper can also help keep the accountant’s fees down, because clean records mean less untangling at year end. If the shoebox is eating your weekends, it is worth having the conversation.

Can my bookkeeper lodge my BAS? Only if they are registered. A bookkeeper who prepares or lodges your BAS for a fee needs to be a registered BAS agent or tax agent. The quickest way to find out is to ask for their registration number and look it up on the TPB Register.

My partner does the books and I do not pay them. Does any of this apply? The registration rules apply to services provided for a fee or other reward. Whoever does the work, though, you remain responsible for what is lodged in your business’s name, so it is still worth making sure the records are right.

Is a BAS agent the same as a tax agent? Not quite. A registered tax agent can provide BAS services, but a BAS agent’s registration does not cover income tax returns. If you would like one person for both, a tax agent can do it, or you can split the work between two people.

Match the task to the registration

You do not need to understand every rule to make a good choice. You only need to match the job in front of you to the right person. Record-keeping, reconciling and processing payroll in your software can be done by a bookkeeper. Preparing or lodging your BAS, or advising you on GST or PAYG in a way you rely on, needs a registered BAS agent or tax agent when you pay for it. Your income tax return, when someone else prepares it for a fee, needs a registered tax agent. Whatever you decide, the TPB Register is where you check, and it only takes a minute. Once that is settled, the shoebox can finally go back to holding shoes.

Sources: BAS agent registration, Tax Practitioners Board (https://www.tpb.gov.au/bas-agent-registration); BAS services, Tax Practitioners Board (https://www.tpb.gov.au/bas-services)