Last updated: 02 October 2026. Written by the FreeMyCloud team.
Pay slip and record-keeping rules checked against the Fair Work Ombudsman on 2 October 2026; the legislation linked in each section was checked the same day.
A bookkeeper keeps the financial records of a business accurate and current, so that every reporting obligation can be met from the books rather than reconstructed later. In an Australian small business the work runs on a fixed rhythm: bank reconciliation and invoice entry weekly, Single Touch Payroll reporting and superannuation at every pay run, payroll and supplier reconciliations monthly, and the GST return at the end of each quarter. The question “what does a bookkeeper do” has a specific answer in Australia, because the jobs are set by law. This article walks the actual calendar, names the sections that create each obligation, and marks the point where the work has to pass to a registered BAS or tax agent.
What does a bookkeeper do in an Australian small business?
A bookkeeper records and reconciles transactions, runs payroll, maintains the employee and supplier records the law requires, and prepares the figures that go into a Business Activity Statement. An accountant then uses those figures for the annual return, tax planning and advice. The split matters because the two roles carry different registration requirements, which is covered in detail in our guide to who does what between a bookkeeper, a BAS agent and an accountant.
What makes Australian bookkeeping distinct is that most of the cadence is statutory rather than a matter of preference. The seven year retention period for employee records, the one working day window for a pay slip, the day a payroll amount must be reported to the Commissioner, and the quarterly GST lodgement dates are all written into legislation. A business can choose how tidy its filing is. It cannot choose those dates.
The practical consequence is that bookkeeping cannot be saved up for the end of the year. The obligations arrive at every pay run, and the records have to exist when they do.
Which bookkeeping jobs need doing every week?
The weekly block is transaction work: coding and reconciling the bank feed, entering and approving supplier bills, raising customer invoices, chasing overdue accounts, and filing the source documents behind each entry. None of these has a legislated weekly deadline, but all of them feed something that does, which is why they are done little and often rather than in a monthly scramble.
Reconciliation is the core of it. Every line on the bank statement is matched to an invoice, a bill, a payroll payment or a transfer, and anything unmatched is queried while the owner can still remember what it was. A reconciliation left for three months becomes guesswork, and guesswork produces an amended BAS.
Tax invoices get checked at this point too. Section 29-70 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 sets out what a document must contain to be a tax invoice, including the supplier identity and ABN, what was supplied, the date, and the GST payable. Where the total price is $1,000 or more, the document must also allow the recipient identity or ABN to be clearly ascertained (GST Act s 29-70, compilation current to 1 January 2026). A GST credit claimed against a document that is not a valid tax invoice is the most common correction a bookkeeper makes.
What does a bookkeeper do at each pay run?
At every pay run the bookkeeper calculates gross pay, withholding, leave accruals and superannuation, issues pay slips, reports the run to the Australian Taxation Office through Single Touch Payroll, and schedules the superannuation payment. Payroll is the highest risk part of the week because the reporting is tied to the payment date, not to a later cut off.
Single Touch Payroll reporting sits in Division 389 of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953. Section 389-5 requires an employer to notify the Commissioner of withheld amounts and the related withholding payment on or before the day the amount is required to be withheld, and to notify qualifying earnings on the day the amount is paid (TAA 1953 Sch 1 s 389-5, compilation current to 27 August 2026). In practice that means the pay run is reported as it is processed.
Pay slips carry their own deadline. Under section 536(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009, an employer must give a pay slip to each employee within one working day of paying an amount for the performance of work (Fair Work Act s 536, compilation current to 7 July 2026). Modern payroll software issues these automatically, which is why the failure mode is usually a new employee set up without an email address rather than a missed run.
Why does superannuation now attach to payday rather than the quarter?
Because the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 now measures the obligation against each payment of qualifying earnings rather than against a quarter. The Act defines the usual period for a qualifying earnings day as the period starting on that day and ending on the seventh business day after it, which is the window in which the contribution has to be received by the fund. An extended usual period, ending on the twentieth business day, applies in the limited cases the Act sets out (SGAA 1992 s 6, compilation current to 1 July 2026).
The same compilation sets the charge percentage at 12. That is the rate used to work out the superannuation guarantee amount on qualifying earnings.
The charge percentage is 12. Contributions are tested against each payday: the usual period ends on the seventh business day after the qualifying earnings day, with an extended period ending on the twentieth business day in the cases the Act specifies. Source: Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992, compilation current to 1 July 2026.
For the bookkeeper this converts superannuation from a quarterly job into a payday job. The contribution has to be lodged with the clearing house early enough for the fund to receive it inside the window, and clearing house transit time is part of the window, not an extension of it. We have written about the mechanics of this change in more detail in our post on payday super and the business day deadline.
Which bookkeeping jobs are monthly?
The monthly block is reconciliation and review rather than data entry: closing off the bank and credit card accounts, reconciling payroll totals to the ledger, reviewing receivables and payables, checking the superannuation liability has cleared, and producing a profit and loss and balance sheet the owner can read. Monthly GST reporters also prepare a return here.
| Cycle | What the bookkeeper does | What creates the deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | Bank feed coding and reconciliation, bill entry and approval, invoicing, debtor follow up, tax invoice checks | No statutory weekly date. Feeds payroll, GST and year end |
| Each pay run | Gross pay, withholding, leave, superannuation calculation, pay slips, Single Touch Payroll report | TAA 1953 Sch 1 s 389-5 (report on or before payday). Fair Work Act s 536 (pay slip within one working day) |
| Within 7 business days of payday | Superannuation contribution lodged so the fund receives it in time | SGAA 1992 s 6, usual period ends on the seventh business day after the qualifying earnings day |
| Monthly | Account close off, payroll to ledger reconciliation, receivables and payables review, management reports | Internal, plus the GST return for monthly reporters |
| Quarterly | GST return and Business Activity Statement preparation, instalment review, quarter close | GST Act s 31-8 (quarterly return dates) |
| Annually | Year end reconciliation, finalisation of payroll reporting, handover file to the accountant | Set by the accountant’s return cycle and payroll finalisation |
What falls due at the end of each quarter?
The quarterly job is the GST return, which for most small businesses is lodged as part of the Business Activity Statement. Division 27 of the GST Act sets three month tax periods as the general rule. One month tax periods become compulsory where the Commissioner is satisfied that GST turnover meets the tax period turnover threshold, which section 27-15(3) sets at $20 million, and also where the enterprise will be carried on for less than three months or there is a history of non compliance (GST Act ss 27-5 and 27-15).
Section 31-8 sets the lodgement dates for quarterly tax periods, and section 31-10 sets the date for other tax periods, including monthly.
| Tax period | Quarter containing | GST return due |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 1 September | 28 October |
| Quarterly | 1 December | 28 February |
| Quarterly | 1 March | 28 April |
| Quarterly | 1 June | 28 July |
| Monthly and other periods | Any month | 21st day of the following month, per s 31-10 |
These are the dates in the Act for giving the GST return to the Commissioner. Where a registered agent lodges on a business’s behalf, concessional dates can apply, which is a matter for that agent. Our BAS due dates guide sets out the cycle in full.
The preparation work behind the return is where the quarter is won or lost. If the weekly reconciliations were done, the quarter is a review: check the GST coding on unusual transactions, confirm no private expenses have been coded as business, confirm the GST credits are supported by valid tax invoices, and reconcile the GST control accounts. If they were not done, the quarter becomes three months of catch up against a fixed date.
What records does a bookkeeper have to keep, and for how long?
Employee records have a specific statutory retention period. Section 535(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009 requires an employer to make, and keep for 7 years, employee records of the kind prescribed by the regulations for each of its employees. The records must be in any prescribed form and include any prescribed information, and an employer must not make or keep a record it knows to be false or misleading (Fair Work Act s 535).
Fair Work Act 2009 s 535(1) requires employee records to be made and kept for 7 years. Section 536(1) requires a pay slip within one working day of payment. Both are civil remedy provisions. Source: Fair Work Act 2009, compilation current to 7 July 2026.
Keeping them matters beyond the filing cabinet. Under section 557C, an employer that has not met the record keeping or pay slip requirements may bear the burden of disproving allegations in proceedings about certain civil remedy provisions. Good records let an employer answer a question about a past pay run with a document rather than a recollection.
On the tax side, the records that support a GST return are the tax invoices, bank statements, payroll reports and reconciliations behind it. Keeping those filed against the period they belong to, as the period is reconciled, is the difference between an ATO-ready file and a reconstruction project.
Where does bookkeeping stop and a registered BAS agent begin?
The line is drawn by the Tax Agent Services Act 2009. Section 90-10 defines a BAS service as a tax agent service that relates to ascertaining or advising on liabilities, obligations or entitlements arising under a BAS provision, or representing an entity in its dealings with the Commissioner about a BAS provision, where the entity can reasonably be expected to rely on the service for those purposes (TASA s 90-10, compilation current to 21 February 2025).
Section 50-5(2) then provides that a person contravenes that subsection if they provide a service they know or ought reasonably to know is a BAS service, charge a fee or other reward for it, and are not a registered tax agent or BAS agent. The civil penalty is 250 penalty units for an individual and 1,250 penalty units for a body corporate.
Preparing, reconciling and recording the underlying figures is bookkeeping. Ascertaining or advising on a BAS liability, or dealing with the Commissioner about it for a fee, is a BAS service and requires registration. Source: Tax Agent Services Act 2009 ss 90-10 and 50-5.
This is why well run arrangements put the bookkeeper and the registered agent on the same file. The bookkeeper reconciles the period and prepares the figures. The registered BAS or tax agent reviews them, forms the view on the liability and lodges. FreeMyCloud works this way by design: its staff handle the bookkeeping and the preparation, and the client registered agent lodges. FreeMyCloud is not a registered tax or BAS agent and does not lodge returns or activity statements.
What does the accounting software do, and what still needs a person?
The software automates capture and calculation. Bank feeds import transactions and suggest coding, payroll modules calculate withholding and superannuation and file the Single Touch Payroll report, and the GST tracking accumulates the figures for the return. What the software does not do is decide whether a suggested code is right, notice that a supplier has started charging GST, or query a payment that does not belong to the business.
Plan costs, read from each vendor’s own pricing page on 02 October 2026, after any introductory discount period ends:
| Plan | List price | Payroll included |
|---|---|---|
| Xero Grow | $78 per month | Payroll for 2 people |
| Xero Comprehensive | $107 per month | Payroll for 5 people |
| Xero Ultimate 10 | $143 per month | Payroll for 10 people |
| MYOB Business Lite | $315 per year | Up to 2 employees, extra $3 per month per employee |
| MYOB Business Pro | $70 per month | Unlimited employees, extra $3 per month per employee |
| MYOB Business AccountRight Plus | $165 per month | Included |
| MYOB Business Payroll Only | $15 per month | Standalone payroll, up to 4 employees |
Sources: Xero Australia pricing plans and MYOB Australia pricing, both read 02 October 2026. Vendors change pricing and inclusions, so confirm the current figure before relying on it. Each plan above includes GST tracking, and each still needs someone to review what it produces.
FreeMyCloud staff are able to work with Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks, Reckon, or the client’s own industry accounting software, so the software choice stays with the business.
How do these jobs change as a business grows?
The list of jobs does not change much. The volume and the consequence of getting them late both do. One employee means one pay run to report and one superannuation window to meet. Fifteen employees across two locations means award interpretation, timesheet approval, leave management and a superannuation window that has to be met every cycle without exception.
The usual signals are practical rather than financial: reconciliations slipping past a month, the quarter becoming a catch up exercise, the owner doing data entry at night, or payroll questions nobody can answer from the file. The choice then is a local hire, a local bookkeeping firm, or an outsourced team, and the right answer depends on how much work there is and how much supervision the business can give it.
Where an outsourced team fits, FreeMyCloud has placed university-qualified graduate accountants based in the Philippines with Australian businesses since 2010, from individual operators to ASX-listed companies. The cost is typically 50 to 70% less than a local equivalent, there are no lock-in contracts and no setup fees, and staff work Australian business hours under a signed NDA. Our bookkeeping services for small business page sets out how the arrangement is structured and what a graduate accountant takes on in the first few weeks.
Want the weekly and monthly jobs off your desk?
A university-qualified graduate accountant, ready to start, working your books in your own software during Australian business hours.
Or call 1300 66 88 14, or try the savings calculator. No lock-in contracts.
Frequently asked questions
What is bookkeeping?
Bookkeeping is the recording and reconciling of a business’s financial transactions: sales, purchases, payments, payroll and bank movements, kept in accounting software so the business can report GST, PAYG withholding and super, and so its accountant can prepare the annual return.
What do bookkeepers do day to day?
Most days a bookkeeper codes the bank feed, matches it to invoices and bills, enters supplier bills, raises customer invoices and follows up overdue accounts. On paydays they prepare the pay run and its Single Touch Payroll report, and each month and quarter they reconcile payroll, super and GST so the figures are ready for the BAS.
Bookkeeper role and job description: what goes in it?
A typical bookkeeper job description lists bank and card reconciliation, accounts payable and receivable, payroll and Single Touch Payroll, super payments, GST and BAS figures prepared for a registered agent to lodge, month-end reports and record keeping. It should also say whether the bookkeeper is a registered BAS agent, because only a registered agent can lodge a BAS or advise on it for a fee.
Bookkeeper duties: which ones does the law set?
Five are set by law: keep employee records for 7 years (Fair Work Ombudsman, record-keeping); give each employee a pay slip within 1 working day of payday (Fair Work Ombudsman, pay slips); report each pay run through Single Touch Payroll on or before payday; pay super so the fund receives it within 7 business days of payday (ATO, payment deadlines for Payday Super); and keep business records for 5 years (ATO, record keeping for business). The weekly reconciliation work is what keeps those duties easy to meet.
Bookkeeper vs accountant: what is the difference?
A bookkeeper records and reconciles transactions, runs payroll and prepares the figures behind an activity statement. An accountant uses those figures for the annual return, tax position and advice. The roles also differ in registration: advising on or dealing with the Commissioner about a BAS liability for a fee is a BAS service under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 and requires registration, while recording and reconciling the underlying transactions does not.
Can a bookkeeper lodge my BAS in Australia?
Only if they are registered. Section 50-5(2) of the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 provides that a person contravenes that subsection if they provide a service they know or ought reasonably to know is a BAS service, charge a fee for it, and are not a registered tax agent or BAS agent. An unregistered bookkeeper can reconcile the period and prepare the figures, and the registered agent reviews and lodges them.
Does a bookkeeper do payroll and superannuation?
Usually yes. At each pay run the bookkeeper calculates gross pay, withholding, leave and superannuation, issues pay slips and reports the run through Single Touch Payroll. Under the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 the charge percentage is 12, and the usual period for a contribution to reach the fund ends on the seventh business day after the qualifying earnings day, so superannuation is now a payday task.
How long do employee records have to be kept in Australia?
Seven years. Section 535(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009 requires an employer to make, and keep for 7 years, employee records of the kind prescribed by the regulations for each employee. Separately, section 536(1) requires a pay slip to be given within one working day of paying an amount for the performance of work. Both are civil remedy provisions under that Act.
How often should a small business have its bookkeeping done?
The cadence follows the obligations rather than preference. Transaction coding and bank reconciliation suit a weekly rhythm, payroll reporting and superannuation fall at each pay run, reconciliations and management reports are monthly, and the GST return is quarterly for most small businesses under Division 27 of the GST Act. Work left longer than a month tends to turn the quarter into a catch up exercise.
Do I still need an accountant if I have a bookkeeper?
In most cases yes, because they do different work. The bookkeeper keeps the records current and accurate through the year. The accountant, as a registered tax agent, prepares and lodges the annual return and advises on the tax position. Accurate bookkeeping usually reduces the accountant’s time at year end, because the file arrives reconciled rather than needing reconstruction.
This article is general information about Australian bookkeeping and reporting obligations, current as at 02 October 2026. It is not tax, financial or legal advice. FreeMyCloud is not a registered tax agent and does not prepare or lodge tax returns. Rates, thresholds and dates change. Confirm your own position with your registered tax or BAS agent.
