ABN Tax has a unique business model which differs to most accounting and taxation firms in five key areas:

ABN Tax is a fully staffed accounting and taxation firm, backed by a team of highly qualified accountants and tax agents with vast industry experience. ABN Tax only services ABN Members and their clients.

ABN Tax has seven directors. Among these are four Registered Tax Agents and four Chartered Accountants / CPAs.

Visit our Meet The Team page to learn more about the people behind ABN Tax.

ABN Tax is located in the inner Brisbane suburb of Woolloongabba. Click here to view a Whereis Map of our location (Open in a New Window).

Absolutely not. ABN Tax is staffed by a team of highly qualified accountants and tax agents with vast industry experience. We do all of the work at our Brisbane office using qualified professional staff. Under no circumstances do we outsource work elsewhere.

Australian Bookkeepers Network (ABN) has served the bookkeeping industry since 2001 and in that time has grown to become Australias largest private representative body for self-employed and contract bookkeepers with over 1000 members spread across all states and territories. In broad terms, ABN helps bookkeepers to build bigger and better businesses by providing them with a vast range of resources, tools and support aimed at improving knowledge, streamlining business, increasing profit and expanding horizons. Further information on ABN can be found at www.austbook.net.

ABN Tax is a fully staffed accounting and taxation firm that only services ABN Members and their clients.

The relationship between the two companies is two-fold:

Many accounting and taxation firms do not make their charges known and the client learns of the cost for the first time once the work has been completed. ABN Tax does it differently.

At ABN Tax, we make sure that there are no nasty surprises for the client when it comes time to paying our bill. In relation to Compliance Services, we provide an upfront written quote. We do not start work until the client has approved that quote. As far as our other services are concerned, many of these are performed at fixed prices which are detailed in our comprehensive fee menu. Visit the Our Services page for more details.

Managing workflow to meet the needs and expectations of you and your clients is essential. Our workflow comes in two forms:

• Urgent tasks which require immediate attention. Examples include urgent tax advice regarding the sale of a property, or the giving of financial information to a lender for finance approval; and
• Non-urgent tasks which require less immediate attention. An example is the routine preparation of financial statements and income tax returns.

We endeavour to deal with urgent tasks as quickly as possible and sometimes this can mean that there will be some delay in the completion of non-urgent tasks, however we still aim to manage non-urgent tasks within a stated turnaround time.

ABN Tax commits to a 6-week turnaround policy on Compliance Services. ABN Tax Client Manager have access to a secure, on-line system called Job Watch which enables them to check the status of a client's work at any point in time.

From ABN Tax's perspective, it is essential that we are working with the best bookkeepers in Australia and for this reason, the process of becoming an ABN Tax Client Manager is a rigorous one. A bookkeeper must:

Further information on the process to become an ABN Tax Client Manager can be found on the Become a Client Manager page.

Many accounting and taxation firms do not involve a client's bookkeeper as much as they should. This can result in costly duplication of work. ABN Tax does it differently.

We refer to the bookkeeper as the ABN Tax Client Manager because they play a central role in managing the relationship between ABN Tax and the client.

In broad terms, the ABN Tax Client Manager will have the task of:

Of course, this only describes the role of the ABN Tax Client Manager in relation to year-end compliance services. The ABN Tax Client Manager may also have a role to play in other aspects of our relationship with the client, such as corporate secretarial services or the variety of other services that the client may require of us from time to time.

Although ABN Tax will be the client's Registered Tax Agent and accountant, because it is the bookkeeper that introduces the client to ABN Tax, it is the bookkeeper who ultimately owns the client.

If a bookkeeper were to part ways with ABN Tax, then we would cease to act for the client (unless the bookkeeper consented to the client shifting their affairs to another bookkeeper involved with ABN Tax).

If a client were to part ways with you as their bookkeeper, we would first wait for your confirmation that you had been officially dis-engaged, before attempting to find a new ABN Tax Client Manager for the client.

The ABN Tax business model has been built with the electronic delivery of our products and services in mind. ABN Tax Client Managers transfer client information to ABN Tax using our Bookkeeper-Client Connect file transfer facility. This is a secure 128-bit encrypted channel which is protected by Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. Similarly, the information that ABN Tax supplies to you and your clients will be sent via email and only to the email addresses that you and your clients stipulate.

In terms of support, you will be able to call ABN Tax at any time to discuss a particular issue. There will also be a forum where you can post questions to other ABN Tax Client Managers.

In short, distance is no barrier and if anything, the electronic nature of our interactions will speed things up.

ABN Tax Client Managers greatly assist the year-end compliance process through the preparation of a range of workpapers and the collation of key client information.

In recognition of this assistance, ABN Tax Client Managers receive 15% of the total fee that is charged to clients for their year-end compliance services. This provides an opportunity for ABN Tax Client Managers to derive a significant additional income stream.

Importantly, this comes out of ABN Tax's profits and is not an additional cost borne by your client. For example, if ABN Tax billed a client $1,500 for year-end compliance services, the ABN Tax Client Manager would receive a payment of $225 from ABN Tax.

The ABN Tax Client Manager Payment is also payable on certain other services as indicated in our Menu of Services document. Wherever a code bears an asterisk, the ABN Tax Client Manager Payment will apply at the rate of 15%, the only exception being year-end compliance services for Self-Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSFs) where a rate of 10% applies. The rate is lower as the ABN Tax Client Manager's role in SMSFs is merely that of records collation.

Aside from the ABN Tax Client Manager Payment, there are many other compelling reasons why, as a bookkeeper, you should be a part of ABN Tax. Please visit our Benefits page for more information.

A recipient created tax invoice (RCTI) will be emailed to you by the 14th day of each month which will itemise all of the ABN Tax Client Manager Payments you are owed for the preceding month. This amount will be transferred electronically to your nominated bank account on the same day as the RCTI is emailed.

As an ABN Tax Client Manager, you will be given access to a secure, on-line system called Job Watch which enables you to check the status of your client's work at any point in time, thereby identifying the jobs that you are owed for, or will be owed for.

Absolutely. ABN Tax services ABN members and their clients. We would be delighted to be your tax agents and accountants!

Certainly. The payment applies in the same way that it would for clients. Effectively, this means you are receiving a 15% discount on your own affairs.

Ultimately, it is ABN Tax - and not the bookkeeper - that is responsible for the end service provided to the client. This is because it is ABN Tax that is the registered tax agent and accountant, and it is ABN Tax that is rendering the fee to the client for the services provided.

ABN Tax has Professional Indemnity (P.I.) insurance in place with coverage of $1 million.

As an ABN Tax Client Manager, you will be given access to a secure, on-line system called Job Watch which enables you to check the status of your client's work at any point in time. This will make it easy for you to:

• Advise a client where their work is up to should they ask;
• Check on the status of jobs that are being handled by other staff in your firm;
• Identify the jobs that have been completed which will then give rise to your ABN Tax Client Manager Payment.

For more information on our range of services and how we charge, visit the Our Services page.

At the end of the day, you won't be required to learn anything that goes beyond bookkeeping. There may simply be a little more rigour around what you are currently doing in terms of workpapers and checklists. This enables us to rely on larger portions of your work without having to re-do it.

In any event, you will be fully trained on any such checklists and workpapers that you need to prepare as part of the ABN Tax Induction Training day. More information can be found on this at the Become a Client Manager page.

ABN Tax is a fully staffed accounting and taxation firm, backed by a team of highly qualified accountants and tax agents with vast industry experience. We place a high emphasis on knowledge and training and remain at the cutting edge of all things accounting and tax.

As such, ABN Tax has the technical capability to act for clients of any size and complexity. The suitability or unsuitability of a client to ABN Tax will instead turn on whether certain circumstances are at play.

The following clients would be unlikely to be suitable for ABN Tax:

• Clients who are adamant that they have regular face-to-face contact with their accountant;
• Clients who would not be willing to involve their bookkeeper in all facets of their taxation affairs;
• Clients who employ different bookkeepers for different facets of their taxation affairs;
• Clients with substantial foreign holdings, such that Australia is not their main tax jurisdiction.

Many accounting and taxation firms will charge by the clock for each and every phone call they have with a client. ABN Tax does it differently.

ABN Tax prides itself on providing personalised advice to its clients. Although our business model does not enable face-to-face meetings, we offer the highest quality telephone advice as and when needed.

ABN Tax Clients are welcome to telephone us at no cost. If there is a question that can be dealt with there and then, there is no charge. Should the conversation result in the identification of further tasks which will be at a cost, then we'll discuss this with the client at the time and get approval before proceeding.

Aside from clients not having to worry about being charged for every instance that they talk to us, this approach also allows us to break down some of the barriers that might otherwise exist in dealing with clients from afar.

For some clients, this may prove to be an insurmountable issue. But for other clients, it won't be an issue at all.

The ABN Tax business model is premised on the bookkeeper being the central figure in the client's affairs - the person that "does the books", looks after the BAS and, now, facilitates the completion of the tax and accounting work. The bookkeeper is thus able to play a key role in allaying any concerns that the client may have about not being able to meet with ABN Tax face-to-face.

Although the ABN Tax business model does not enable face-to-face contact with clients, this is more than made up for by the close working relationship we will have with the ABN Tax Client Manager and the fact that the client can talk to us on the telephone without charge.

Yes. This is of paramount importance to ABN Tax as it no doubt is to you and your clients. As registered tax agents, we are governed by an industry code of conduct which places high emphasis on these issues.

When we ask you to send us confidential client information, we will recommend that you do so through our Bookkeeper-Client Connect file transfer facility. This is a secure 128-bit encrypted channel which is protected by Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology.

The information we supply to you and your clients will be sent only to the email addresses that you and your clients stipulate.