For Melbourne sole traders
A sole trader accountant who tells you the number early.
You are taxed on your profit whether you have spent it or not. Most sole traders find that out in October, from a bill. We work the other way round: you know what you owe before 30 June, while there is still something you can do about it.
Returns from $390 · GST registered and lodging BAS? From $220/month.
- You have no idea what you owe until the return is done.
- You are not sure whether you should have registered for GST by now.
- Someone at a barbecue told you to "get a company" and you do not know if they were right.
- Your receipts are a photo roll and a shoebox.
The three things that catch sole traders out
Almost every expensive surprise we see traces back to one of these.
Profit is taxed, not drawings
You cannot pay yourself a wage. Whatever the business made is added to your personal income and taxed at your marginal rate, even if it is still sitting in the account or went back into stock. Leave nothing aside and the bill arrives anyway.
The second-year double hit
Your first profitable year produces a tax bill. The ATO then usually puts you on PAYG instalments, so in the following year you pay that bill and start prepaying the next one. Plenty of sole traders have a good second year and still run out of cash.
The GST threshold is a rolling test
$75,000 of turnover in any twelve-month period, not per financial year, and it counts from the moment you expect to cross it. One big job can trigger it in March. Register late and you can end up owing GST on sales you never charged it on.
What we actually do for sole traders
Two ways in, depending on whether you are registered for GST.
Your tax return, done properly
from $390
One return a year, including the business schedule. For sole traders under the threshold, side businesses and anyone with a second income stream.
- Individual return with the sole trader business schedule
- Every deduction you are entitled to, including vehicle, home office, tools and depreciation
- Checked by a CPA and Registered Tax Agent before it is lodged
- A written note of what to change before next year
Honest version: if your return is a payment summary and a bank interest line, do it yourself on myTax. By the time people come to us there is usually a business schedule, a rental, or a few years to catch up.
The whole year, handled
from $220/month
Once you are lodging BAS you are running a business, not doing a tax return. This is the same fixed monthly fee our business clients are on.
- Quarterly BAS prepared, checked and lodged
- Your annual return and business schedule
- A tax planning conversation before 30 June, so the number is never a surprise
- Xero set up so the bookkeeping stops eating your Sundays
- Unlimited support for day-to-day queries, not billed by the six minutes
The trigger is being registered for GST and lodging BAS, not a turnover figure. Plenty of our clients registered voluntarily well under $75,000.
Every fee is fixed and agreed in writing before any work starts, and accounting fees are themselves tax deductible. Full detail on the pricing page.
Should you become a company?
This is the question we are asked most, and the honest answer is that the number people quote at you is made up. There is no turnover figure at which a sole trader should incorporate. What actually decides it is four things.
- Retained profit. A company only saves tax on profit you leave inside it. If you draw everything out to live on, you end up at your marginal rate either way and have bought yourself an annual bill for nothing.
- Liability. As a sole trader your personal assets sit behind the business. If the work carries real risk, that alone can justify a company regardless of the tax.
- Personal services income. If your income is mostly your own skill and effort, the PSI rules can attribute the company's income straight back to you, and the structure achieves nothing. This catches a lot of contractors who incorporated on advice from a friend.
- What is coming. A business partner, an investor, a sale, or employees changes the answer. Restructuring later is possible but rarely free.
We model both structures against your actual numbers, including the ongoing cost of the company, so you can see the difference in dollars rather than in principle. Sometimes the answer is a company. Often it is "not yet, and here is the number to watch". Either way you get a decision instead of a hunch. If you are only now setting up, the starting a business guide covers structure, ABN and GST from scratch.
Sole traders we work with most
Deductions and record-keeping differ more by trade than most people expect.
Already have an accountant?
Sole traders are the easiest clients of all to move. Since November 2023 the ATO has required most entities to nominate their own tax agent before that agent can act for them, and an agent is not permitted to do that step on a client's behalf. Sole traders are generally exempt from that process entirely, so there is nothing for you to do at the ATO end.
We send the professional clearance letter, request your prior returns, financials and depreciation schedules, and check every lodgement is up to date. There is no charge from us for the handover and you can switch at any time of year. Your previous accountant may hold the clearance letter until any outstanding invoices are paid, so it is worth settling those first.
Sole trader questions we get asked
Not legally. You can lodge your own return through myTax. It stops being sensible at roughly the point where you register for GST, buy equipment, use a vehicle for work, or start earning enough that the difference between a good and a bad decision is worth more than the fee. If your return is genuinely simple, do it yourself and keep the money, we would rather tell you that than take it.
Here, a sole trader return including the business schedule starts at $390. If you are registered for GST and lodging BAS, ongoing work starts at $220 a month covering the quarterly BAS, the annual return, tax planning before 30 June and support through the year. A Melbourne competitor publishes the market rate as $150 to $400 an hour or $250 to $800 a month on retainer, so that monthly fee sits below the bottom of the range they define. And the fee is deductible.
When your GST turnover reaches $75,000 in a twelve-month period, or when you expect it to. It is a rolling test rather than a financial-year one, so a single large job can trigger it mid-year. Ride-share and taxi drivers must register from the first dollar regardless of turnover. You can also register voluntarily below the threshold, which many sole traders do to claim GST back on equipment and vehicles, at the cost of a quarterly BAS.
No. You and the business are the same legal entity, so money you take out is a drawing rather than a wage. There is no PAYG withholding on it and no compulsory super for yourself, though personal contributions you make can generally be claimed as a deduction if you lodge a notice of intent with your fund first. You are taxed on the profit whether you have drawn it or not.
Anything that genuinely relates to earning your income: tools, equipment, software, insurance, the work-related portion of your phone, internet and vehicle, and home-office running costs. Two traps. Vehicle claims above the cents-per-kilometre method need a logbook, and occupancy costs for a home office can affect the main-residence CGT exemption on your house, so that one is worth a conversation before you claim it.
Usually not. The agent nomination requirement introduced in November 2023 applies to most entities but generally exempts sole traders, so moving across is typically just a conversation and a signed engagement.
It is common and it is fixable. We get you current first, then move you onto the monthly arrangement so next year is not one painful bill. The ATO is markedly more accommodating about payment arrangements when you come to them with everything lodged rather than waiting to be chased.
- On time, every time. Every lodgement in on time, provided your records reach me by the date on your calendar.
- The price you agreed, and no other. Your fee is agreed in writing before any work starts, and it doesn't go up for 12 months.
- Never locked in. No fixed term. If it isn't working, end it with 30 days' notice and I'll hand your file to your next accountant promptly.
These promises are in addition to your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
Ready to stop worrying about your tax and bookkeeping?
In a free 30-minute strategy session, I'll personally review your situation and we'll map out a clear plan together. If it feels like a good fit, I'll send you a straightforward, fixed-fee proposal. No pressure, no surprises.
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