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Bookkeeping for tradies in Melbourne, handled by a registered BAS agent who knows CoInvest, Incolink, TPAR, and the compliance most generic bookkeepers miss. Most tradies come to us when the paperwork starts slipping.
- 15+ Years Integrating Melbourne Business Systems
- Registered BAS agent on every lodgement
- Dedicated Team of Specialists
Bookkeeping Services Built for Melbourne Trades Businesses
Bookkeeping and Reconciliations Bank feeds stay reconciled week to week, supplier bills get processed and coded correctly, and job costs track against each project. You see which jobs are profitable, in time to do something about it.
Payroll for Tradies Weekly or fortnightly pay runs with apprentice rates, RDO accruals, and award allowances calculated properly. Super paid on time. Payroll services for tradies in Melbourne that won’t leave you exposed at Fair Work.
BAS, PAYG and ATO Lodgements Handled by a registered BAS agent. Quarterly BAS was prepared and lodged on time. PAYG withholding reconciled against pay runs, and when the ATO needs to be dealt with, we handle that on your behalf.
TPAR, CoInvest, Incolink and Protect Portable long service leave lodgements on their proper cycle, whichever fund applies. TPAR subcontractor reporting filed by 28 August. The tradie-specific compliance most generic bookkeepers quietly leave out.
What Goes Wrong with Tradie Bookkeeping in Melbourne
Bookkeeping for tradies in Melbourne goes wrong in predictable ways, not because owners are careless, but because the work is busy and the admin slips. Jobs overlap, invoices sit in the ute, and subbies wait on payment. BAS creeps up, CoInvest deadlines move past, and by the time anyone looks properly, there’s a mess to clean up.
Good tradie bookkeeping needs more than software literacy. Trades payroll has its own shape, apprentice rates, RDO accruals, award allowances, and portable long service leave. The compliance items sit alongside: TPAR, CoInvest, Incolink, and Protect. Most generic bookkeepers don’t touch them. That’s where construction bookkeeping in Melbourne earns its keep, and where the work tends to go wrong quietly.
BAS lodgements fall behind when work picks up
Quarterly BAS creeps up fast. A busy March or June means April or July lodgement gets pushed, rushed, and then filed with errors. ATO penalties compound. Catching up properly takes longer than staying current.
TPAR missed the 28 August deadline
Subcontractor payments across the year have to be reported to the ATO by 28 August. Most tradies find out about TPAR when the first penalty notice arrives. The lodgement itself is straightforward; missing it isn’t.
CoInvest, Incolink and Protect lodgements go untracked
Portable long service leave doesn’t sit on most bookkeepers’ radar. Monthly and quarterly lodgements to CoInvest, Incolink or Protect get missed, accrue penalties, and create compliance exposure most tradies didn’t know they had.
Trades’ payroll gets underpayment errors
Trades payroll isn’t standard payroll. Apprentice rates change each year. RDO accruals need tracking. Award allowances, such as tools, travel, and leading hands, get missed. Underpayments surface months later and cost more than the original error.
Outsourced Bookkeeping for Tradies, What’s Included
Outsourced bookkeeping for tradies covers the weekly and monthly admin cycle, handled by a registered BAS agent who understands how trades businesses actually run. The work is ongoing, not a one-off. Books stay current week to week, payroll goes out on the right cycle, and compliance deadlines stop creeping up on you.
Day-to-day, that means reconciling bank feeds and processing supplier invoices. Job costs get tracked against suppliers and subbies so you can see which jobs are actually profitable. Unpaid customer invoices get chased before they become cash flow problems.
Weekly or fortnightly pay runs go out with apprentice rates and award allowances calculated correctly, RDO accruals tracked against the right cycle, and leave entitlements kept accurate. Super gets paid by the due date.
Monthly and quarterly, BAS gets lodged. PAYG withholding sits inside that cycle. CoInvest, Incolink or Protect lodgements go in on their own schedule, whichever fund applies to your crew. TPAR is handled once a year by 28 August.
Most Melbourne trades businesses work with us on fixed-fee bookkeeping for tradies, a flat monthly cost, and no surprise invoices. You deal with the same person each time.
Hear From Our Melbourne Tradies
Tired of Your Books Falling Behind?
If your tradie bookkeeping has slipped past where it should be, we can bring it current and keep it there, including BAS, super, CoInvest lodgements and all.
Tradie Bookkeeping, Common Questions From Melbourne Trades Businesses
Do you handle WorkCover, Payment Summaries and STP reporting too?
Yes, all of it. WorkCover annual declarations get handled as part of the ongoing service with no separate billing. STP Phase 2 is built into every pay run, so lodgements go to the ATO at the time of processing rather than as a separate task. Payment summaries, now called income statements under STP, finalise at year-end alongside the rest of the payroll close.
Are there lock-in contracts?
No. Fixed fee bookkeeping for tradies runs month-to-month, and you can stop the arrangement with reasonable notice if it isn’t working. We’d rather keep clients because the work is good than because they’re tied in. In practice, most of our Melbourne trades clients have been with us for years, but the option to leave clean is always there.
How quickly can you start, and what does onboarding look like?
Onboarding usually takes a week or two, depending on the state of the existing books. A first conversation covers what software you’re on, where your files sit, how far behind things are, and what we’d prioritise first. From there, we set up access, review the last BAS period, and get a plan in place before anything goes live. No surprises.
What software do you use, and do I have to switch?
We’re an Xero Partner and work across Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks; you don’t have to switch unless your current setup is the actual problem. On the trades side, we integrate with ServiceM8, Tradify, simPRO and AroFlo for job costing, and use Hubdoc or Dext for receipt capture. If you’re already on any of those, setup is quicker.
Do you work with sole traders, or only tradies with employees?
Both. Sole trader tradies get the same bookkeeping cycle as larger crews, just without the payroll side. The BAS obligations, super on your own wage, TPAR if you pay subbies, and job costing all still apply. If you’re a one-person operation now but planning to bring on staff or apprentices later, the setup scales without needing to start over.
What if the ATO has already sent a penalty notice, or I'm under review?
This is where a registered BAS agent earns their keep. If the ATO has flagged something, the first step is getting the books reconciled and the underlying lodgements corrected, whether that’s a late BAS, PAYG that’s fallen behind, or unpaid super. From there, we can deal with the ATO on your behalf and apply for penalty remission where the grounds exist. The aim is to stabilise the situation before it compounds.
From Behind on BAS to Books That Just Run
Most tradies we work with came in after a stretch of pushing the paperwork later and later. The books were behind, a CoInvest quarter had been missed, or a BAS penalty letter made it real. Within a few weeks, things were current. A few months in, the Thursday-night admin catch-up had stopped being a thing.
If your tradie bookkeeping has been sitting in the too-hard basket, that’s usually the right time to have a conversation. No sales pitch, no obligation. Just a plain-English chat about where the books are now and what it would take to get them sorted.