Tax Return Preparation for Small Business: What You Need
Preparing your business tax return should not mean spending days searching through old emails, receipts and bank statements.
For most Australian small businesses, good tax return preparation for small business starts with one thing: giving your accountant complete, accurate and organised information.
Want expert help? Daintree Consulting's tax and BAS services can take this off your plate. Book a free consultation.
Your accountant needs more than a profit-and-loss statement. Depending on your business structure and circumstances, they may need details about business income, expenses, assets, loans, payroll, GST, motor vehicles, private use, previous losses and other financial transactions.
The better your records, the easier it is for your accountant to identify legitimate deductions, resolve questions and prepare your return accurately.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) expects businesses to keep records that support the amounts reported in tax returns and activity statements. Most business records generally need to be retained for five years, although some records have longer retention requirements.
So, what exactly should you give your accountant?
Quick answer: What does your accountant need for small business tax return preparation?
At a minimum, your accountant will generally need information covering:
Business income — sales, fees, commissions and other business income
Business expenses — supplier bills, operating costs and other deductible expenses
Bank and credit card records — statements and reconciliations
GST and BAS information — where applicable
Payroll information — wages, PAYG withholding and superannuation records
Asset purchases and disposals — equipment, vehicles, property and other significant assets
Business loans and finance — loan statements, interest and repayments
Motor vehicle use — business kilometres and supporting records where relevant
Home-based business expenses — where eligible
Previous tax returns and financial statements
Changes during the year — business structure, ownership, new assets, loans or major transactions
Any ATO correspondence that may affect the business or return
The exact information required depends on your business structure and circumstances. A sole trader, company, partnership and trust can have different reporting requirements.
Why getting your information ready matters
Tax time becomes difficult when the accountant receives incomplete information.
A common scenario looks like this:
You send your accountant a bank statement and say, “Everything should be there.”
But then questions start appearing.
What was that $12,000 payment?
Was that computer purchase a business expense or an asset?
Was the vehicle used privately?
Which expenses include GST?
Where are the invoices?
Was that loan used for the business?
Did you sell any business assets?
Did you receive income through another account?
These questions are not necessarily signs that something is wrong. They are part of making sure the tax return is based on accurate information.
The ATO specifically recommends keeping accurate records of cash and electronic transactions and having enough documentation to substantiate business expenses claimed as deductions. It also advises businesses not to rely on estimates when preparing tax returns or BAS.
That is why good tax return preparation for small business starts well before your accountant begins preparing the return.
1. Business income records
Your accountant needs to know how much income your business earned during the financial year.
This can include:
Customer sales
Service fees
Consulting income
Commissions
Online sales
Contract income
Other business receipts
Relevant government payments or grants
Other income connected with the business
If you use accounting software such as Xero, MYOB or another platform, your accountant may be able to work from your accounting file — provided the records are complete and reconciled.
You should also make sure all business bank accounts and payment platforms have been accounted for.
This includes transactions received through:
Bank transfers
EFTPOS
Credit cards
Payment platforms
Online marketplaces
Cash
The ATO advises businesses to keep accurate records of cash and electronic transactions and regularly reconcile sales with external payment records.
Don't forget income that doesn't appear in your main bank account
If customers pay you through different platforms or accounts, make sure your accountant knows about them.
For example, your business might receive payments through a bank account, PayPal-style payment platform, Stripe, an online marketplace or another merchant provider.
The goal is simple: your accountant should be able to reconcile your reported business income back to your underlying records.
2. Business expense information
Your accountant also needs a complete picture of your business expenses.
Depending on your business, this could include:
Rent
Utilities
Insurance
Advertising and marketing
Software subscriptions
Professional fees
Accounting fees
Legal fees
Office supplies
Telephone and internet
Repairs and maintenance
Contractor payments
Travel
Motor vehicle costs
Interest and finance costs
Employee-related expenses
Equipment and other business assets
Don't simply send a spreadsheet with a list of amounts.
Where appropriate, keep the supporting invoices, receipts and other records.
The ATO says business records need to contain enough information to calculate and support amounts claimed in tax returns and activity statements.
What if you don't have every receipt?
Tell your accountant.
Don't simply guess the amount or create a replacement figure because it “looks about right”.
The ATO specifically advises businesses to use complete and accurate records rather than estimates when preparing tax returns and BAS.
Your accountant can tell you what evidence is available and what may or may not be claimable.
3. Bank statements and reconciliations
Your accountant will generally need access to the financial records that show your business transactions.
This can include:
Business bank statements
Credit card statements
Loan statements
Merchant facility statements
Payment platform reports
Petty cash records
Other accounts used by the business
Ideally, these accounts should already be reconciled with your accounting software.
Why?
Because unreconciled accounts can hide:
Missing transactions
Duplicate transactions
Incorrect classifications
Unrecorded expenses
Unrecorded income
Personal transactions incorrectly treated as business expenses
If your bookkeeping isn't up to date, your accountant may need to spend additional time cleaning up the records before preparing the tax return.
Daintree's bookkeeping approach similarly focuses on accurate transaction coding, reconciliations, document capture and records that can support tax and BAS work.
4. GST and BAS information
If your business is registered for GST, your accountant may need your BAS records and supporting information.
This can include:
BAS lodged during the financial year
GST collected
GST paid
PAYG instalments
PAYG withholding information
BAS working papers
Outstanding BAS obligations
Adjustments or corrections
Your accountant may compare the information in your accounting system with the BAS already lodged.
This is important because your annual tax records should make sense alongside your GST and other reporting obligations.
Daintree's taxation and BAS service includes BAS preparation and lodgement support, GST and PAYG compliance support, year-end tax planning discussions and coordination with bookkeeping and accounting.
5. Payroll and employee information
If you employ staff, your accountant may need payroll-related information.
This can include:
Total wages
PAYG withholding
Superannuation information
Payroll reports
Single Touch Payroll records
Employee-related expenses
Leave-related information
Contractor information, where relevant
Payroll doesn't exist separately from the rest of your accounting system.
Wages affect your expenses, PAYG obligations, superannuation obligations and financial reporting.
That's why keeping payroll records accurate throughout the year can make year-end tax preparation considerably easier.
6. Asset purchases and disposals
Did your business purchase expensive equipment, computers, vehicles, machinery or other assets during the year?
Tell your accountant.
You may need to provide:
Purchase invoices
Purchase dates
Amounts paid
Finance or loan documents
Date the asset was first used
Details of private use, where relevant
Disposal or sale documents for assets you sold
Not every purchase should automatically be treated as an ordinary business expense.
Some assets may need to be treated under depreciation or other applicable tax rules.
For example, current ATO guidance on the small business instant asset write-off contains specific eligibility and threshold rules, and businesses need records such as invoices, receipts and delivery documentation to support claims.
Your accountant can determine the appropriate treatment based on the applicable rules and your circumstances.
7. Business loans and finance
If your business borrowed money during the year, provide the relevant loan information.
This might include:
Loan statements
Interest paid
Principal repayments
New finance agreements
Equipment finance
Business credit facilities
Loans used to purchase business assets
Your accountant needs to understand not just how much you paid, but what the finance relates to.
A loan repayment is not automatically treated the same way as an ordinary business expense.
Providing the complete loan documentation helps your accountant correctly identify the relevant interest, asset and liability information.
8. Motor vehicle information
If you use a vehicle for business purposes, your accountant may need additional information.
Depending on your circumstances and the method used, this could include:
Vehicle purchase documents
Registration costs
Insurance
Fuel
Repairs and maintenance
Finance costs
Lease information
Business kilometres
Logbook information
Evidence supporting business use
Don't assume that owning a vehicle through the business automatically makes all vehicle costs deductible.
The business-use component and the applicable tax rules matter.
Your accountant can determine which method and records apply to your circumstances.
9. Home-based business expenses
Many small businesses operate partly or entirely from home.
If you work from home, tell your accountant.
Potentially relevant information can include:
Electricity
Internet
Phone expenses
Home office costs
Occupancy-related expenses where applicable
Equipment
Office furniture
Work-related software
However, eligibility and calculation methods can vary.
The important thing is to give your accountant the underlying information rather than trying to decide yourself that a certain percentage is deductible.
Your accountant can assess the claim based on your circumstances and the applicable ATO requirements.
10. Previous tax returns and financial statements
If you're using a new accountant, provide your previous records.
Useful documents may include:
Previous business tax returns
Previous individual tax returns where relevant
Financial statements
Previous depreciation schedules
Prior-year workpapers
Loss schedules
ATO notices or correspondence
Details of unresolved tax matters
This gives your accountant historical context.
For example, previous tax losses, depreciation or other carried-forward items may affect the current year's tax position.
A new accountant shouldn't have to reconstruct your entire financial history from scratch if the information is already available.
11. Changes to your business structure
Tell your accountant about major changes during the year.
For example:
You changed from sole trader to company
You established a partnership
You established a trust
Ownership changed
A director or shareholder changed
You bought or sold a business
You started another business
You ceased trading
You added a new business activity
Business structure matters because tax and reporting obligations can differ between sole traders, partnerships, companies and trusts.
The ATO notes, for example, that sole traders report their business income through their individual tax return, while partnerships and trusts have their own reporting arrangements and distributions can flow through to beneficiaries or partners.
If there has been a structural change, tell your accountant early.
12. Major transactions during the year
Don't only send your routine bookkeeping records.
Tell your accountant about unusual or significant transactions.
Examples include:
Buying or selling property
Buying or selling a business
Selling business assets
Receiving an insurance payout
Taking out significant finance
Restructuring the business
Receiving grants
Making large investments
Disposing of shares or other investments
Transactions involving related parties
Major changes in ownership
These transactions may have tax consequences that aren't obvious from a normal profit-and-loss report.
If you're unsure whether something matters, tell your accountant anyway.
It's much easier for an accountant to decide that something isn't relevant than to discover it after the return has already been prepared.
A simple tax return preparation checklist for small business
Before sending your information to your accountant, work through this checklist.
Income
All business sales recorded
Online and electronic payments included
Cash income recorded
Other business income identified
Expenses
Supplier invoices recorded
Receipts collected
Software and subscriptions included
Professional fees included
Advertising and marketing expenses included
Travel and vehicle information prepared
Home-based business information prepared, where relevant
Banking
Business bank accounts reconciled
Credit cards reconciled
Merchant/payment platforms accounted for
Loan accounts reconciled
GST and payroll
BAS records available
GST information reconciled
PAYG information available
Payroll reports available
Superannuation records available
Assets and finance
New asset purchases identified
Asset sales identified
Vehicle purchases or disposals identified
Loan statements available
Finance documents available
Changes
Business structure changes reported
Ownership changes reported
Major transactions identified
ATO correspondence provided
Previous tax information available
What happens if your records aren't ready?
Don't panic — but don't ignore the problem either.
If your bookkeeping is incomplete, your first step may be to get the records brought up to date before the tax return is prepared.
That might involve:
Reconciling bank accounts
Reviewing uncategorised transactions
Matching invoices and receipts
Checking GST coding
Reviewing payroll
Identifying missing income
Reviewing asset purchases
Preparing the year-end financial reports
Resolving outstanding questions
Preparing the tax return from the cleaned-up records
This is one reason bookkeeping and tax preparation work so closely together.
Clean bookkeeping gives your accountant a reliable foundation.
Daintree's service model connects bookkeeping, accounting and taxation rather than treating them as completely separate processes.
How to make tax return preparation easier next year
You don't have to wait until June or July to start preparing.
A better approach is to make tax readiness part of your normal financial routine.
1. Keep business and personal transactions organised
Mixing personal and business transactions makes reconciliation harder and increases the chance of incorrect claims.
2. Capture receipts immediately
Don't leave a box of receipts sitting in the office for 12 months.
Use a consistent digital filing or receipt-capture process.
3. Reconcile regularly
Monthly reconciliation is much easier than trying to reconstruct an entire financial year at tax time.
4. Keep your accounting software current
Your accountant should be working from financial data that reflects the actual position of the business.
5. Ask questions before making major transactions
Thinking about buying a vehicle, property, equipment or another business?
Ask your accountant before the transaction where possible.
Tax considerations can sometimes influence how you structure or time a transaction.
6. Keep records long enough
The ATO generally requires most business records to be kept for five years, although some records need to be retained longer depending on the transaction or circumstances.
Why Daintree Consulting takes a connected approach
Tax return preparation shouldn't be an isolated year-end exercise.
Your tax return is built from the financial information created throughout the year.
If bookkeeping is inaccurate, tax preparation becomes harder.
If BAS records don't reconcile, questions arise.
If financial reporting isn't clear, it becomes harder to understand what is happening in the business.
Daintree Consulting provides connected accounting, bookkeeping and payroll, taxation and BAS compliance, business advisory and outsourced CFO support for Australian businesses.
The objective isn't simply to lodge another return.
It's to give business owners clearer numbers, fewer surprises and better information for decisions.
Daintree's taxation and BAS service covers business and eligible individual tax returns, BAS support, GST and PAYG compliance, year-end tax planning discussions and coordination with bookkeeping and accounting services.
For a business owner, that means your accountant can spend less time asking, “Where is this information?” and more time asking, “What does this information tell us?”
Ready for a smoother tax return?
You don't need to have every number perfectly organised before asking for help.
If your bookkeeping is behind, you're unsure what information your accountant needs, or tax time keeps turning into a last-minute scramble, the first step is simply understanding what's missing.
Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Daintree Consulting.
We'll look at where clarity is breaking down and identify a practical next step — with no pressure and no obligation.
FAQs: Tax Return Preparation for Small Business
What information does an accountant need for a small business tax return?
An accountant will generally need information about business income, expenses, bank accounts, GST and BAS records, payroll, assets, loans and other significant transactions. The exact requirements depend on your business structure and circumstances.
Do I need to give my accountant every receipt?
You should keep appropriate records that support your income and expenses. The ATO requires businesses to maintain records that substantiate amounts reported in tax returns and activity statements.
Your accountant can advise which documents are relevant to your particular claims.
How long should a small business keep tax records?
Most business records generally need to be kept for five years, although some records need to be kept longer depending on the transaction and circumstances.
What if my bookkeeping isn't finished before tax time?
Tell your accountant. You may need to complete bookkeeping, reconciliations and record collection before the tax return can be prepared accurately. Trying to estimate missing figures can create unnecessary risks.
Does my accountant need my BAS records?
If your business is registered for GST or has other BAS obligations, your accountant may need your BAS records and supporting information to reconcile the year's reporting and prepare the relevant tax work.
Can an accountant help with more than preparing my tax return?
Yes. Depending on the engagement, an accountant may also provide bookkeeping, BAS support, financial reporting, tax planning, business advisory and CFO services. Daintree Consulting provides these capabilities as connected services for Australian businesses.
Final takeaway
Good tax return preparation for small business starts with good information.
If your accountant receives complete income records, supported expenses, reconciled accounts, BAS information, payroll records, asset details and information about major business changes, the preparation process becomes much more straightforward.
More importantly, clean records give you a clearer picture of the business itself.
Tax time shouldn't be the first time you look closely at your numbers.
Keep the records current. Reconcile regularly. Ask questions early. And use your accountant not only to lodge the return, but to help you understand what the numbers are telling you.
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