Accountants for Australian SMEs.
A complete finance function for Australian small and mid-sized businesses: bookkeeping, BAS, GST, STP payroll, superannuation guarantee and FBT. Xero and MYOB specialists, ATO-compliant filing, AAS-trained team.
Built around the ATO and Single Touch Payroll.
Accountants for Australian SMEs run a quarterly rhythm rather than an annual one. The Business Activity Statement carries GST, PAYG withholding and PAYG instalments together, payroll is reported to the ATO on every pay event through Single Touch Payroll, and superannuation is paid on a quarterly cycle of its own.
Australia's 2.5 million small businesses operate within a famously digital tax administration. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) administers GST, PAYG, FBT and corporate income tax through a single set of identifiers and portals. Single Touch Payroll (STP), mandatory for almost all employers since 2019, requires real-time payroll reporting on every pay event, making payroll the most visible compliance touchpoint for ATO oversight.
GST sits at a flat 10% on most goods and services. Businesses with GST turnover above AUD 75,000 (AUD 150,000 for non-profits) must register. Quarterly Business Activity Statements (BAS) cover GST, PAYG instalments, PAYG withholding and (where applicable) FBT and fuel tax credits. Monthly BAS applies to larger businesses; annual BAS is an option for very small concerns.
Corporate income tax sits at 25% for base-rate entities (turnover under AUD 50M with passive income under 80% of total) and 30% for others. Trust structures are common for SMEs (discretionary trusts, unit trusts, family trusts) and bring their own income-distribution rules. The superannuation guarantee is now 12% of ordinary time earnings (from July 2025) and rises every July through 2026.
Accountaire handles all of this. We're Xero and MYOB certified, STP-enabled, and integrate with major Australian banks (CBA, NAB, Westpac, ANZ) for live feeds. Our timezone overlap means morning Sydney is afternoon Lahore, with full-day asynchronous coverage for the rest.
Two groups make up most of our Australian work. Owner-managed companies and trusts should start with small business accounting for 5 to 50 employee firms, and online retailers with accounting for online brands. The ledger runs in MYOB or Xero depending on the payroll setup, indirect tax is covered on our GST and tax compliance page, and pay events on our multi-jurisdiction payroll page. The quarterly activity statement is covered step by step in our BAS lodgement guide for Australia, including due dates, PAYG instalment variations and the superannuation deadlines that run alongside. Australian engagements are assembled from the same full accounting service list as every other market, with the BAS and Single Touch Payroll pieces sized to the business.
Built for Australian businesses.
Every service in our catalogue, calibrated to the Australian regime.
Australian cloud bookkeeping
Daily Xero or MYOB bookkeeping with AAS-compliant coding, live feeds from CBA, NAB, Westpac and ANZ.
STP payroll
Single Touch Payroll-enabled payroll. Superannuation guarantee, PAYG withholding, payslip distribution.
GST & BAS
Quarterly or monthly BAS via ATO Online Services. GST registration, fuel tax credits, instalment activity statements where applicable.
Corporate income tax
Annual company income tax returns at base-rate (25%) or general (30%) rates. Imputation credits tracked for franking.
Management accounts
Monthly AAS-aligned reporting. Trust distribution schedules where applicable.
CFO-as-a-Service
Strategic finance for Australian growth businesses: fundraising, scaling, R&D Tax Incentive planning.
What do accountants for Australian SMEs lodge, and when?
The recurring ATO cycle we schedule against for every Australian client.
| Obligation | Frequency | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Single Touch Payroll report | Every pay event | Reported on or before payment to the employee |
| Business Activity Statement | Quarterly for most, monthly above thresholds | GST, PAYG withholding and PAYG instalments together |
| Superannuation guarantee | Quarterly | Currently 12 percent of ordinary time earnings |
| Fringe benefits tax return | Annually | FBT year runs 1 April to 31 March |
| Company or trust tax return | Annually | Base rate entities are taxed at 25 percent, others at 30 percent |
| Taxable payments annual report | Annually | Where the business pays contractors in reportable industries |
| GST registration check | Ongoing | Required above AUD 75,000 turnover, AUD 150,000 for non-profits |
Australian compliance, handled.
The filings, portals and deadlines we own for every Australian client.
- ATO authorisation & access We register as your authorised representative through Access Manager. Submissions and correspondence flow through ATO Online Services on your behalf.
- GST registration & BASGST registration where turnover exceeds AUD 75k. Quarterly or monthly BAS filing via ATO Online. Cash or accruals basis applied per registration.
- Single Touch Payroll reportingSTP Phase 2 reporting on every pay event. Employee income types, country codes and other Phase 2 data points captured correctly.
- Superannuation guarantee12% of ordinary time earnings (effective July 2025) remitted quarterly. SuperStream compliant. Choice of fund administered.
- PAYG withholding & instalments PAYG withholding remitted monthly or quarterly per ATO classification. PAYG instalments calculated and paid on the BAS or IAS cycle.
- Annual company tax return Filed within statutory due dates. Base-rate entity assessment applied (25%) vs general rate (30%). Franking account maintained for dividend distributions.
- Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT)Annual FBT returns for entities providing reportable fringe benefits. Statutory and operating-cost methods applied as appropriate.
- R&D Tax IncentiveFor qualifying R&D activities: registration with AusIndustry, calculation of notional deduction or tax offset, claim filed with the company tax return.
What Australian clients tell us they value.
ATO procedure & AAS-aware.
Trained on Australian Accounting Standards and ATO administrative procedure. Trust structures, base-rate entity tests and FBT all handled in-house.
Xero & MYOB specialists.
Xero Certified Advisors and MYOB Partners. Live feeds from major Australian banks. STP-enabled across all client payrolls.
Books on the 5th. BAS on time.
5-day month-end SLA and a discipline around BAS deadlines that means missed quarterly filings are not part of our vocabulary.
AUD-priced. Fixed monthly fees.
Local AUD pricing. From AUD 760/month. No hourly billing. R&D Tax Incentive support included on Professional and Enterprise tiers.
"We were paying a Sydney bookkeeper $2k/month for service that lagged six weeks. Accountaire delivers cleaner books, on time, every month, and BAS just happens without us thinking about it."