Our Melbourne bookkeepers explain the JobKeeper monthly declaration

A lot of things have changed over the last couple of months.

And while some of those changes are starting to revert to normal, there are others that look like they’re going to persist for the foreseeable future.

One of these is your small business bookkeeping.

We aren’t just talking about how your cash flow and revenue have been affected, either – for many small business owners, they’ve also had to change how their bookkeeping works.

Today, our small business bookkeepers in Melbourne are here to explain how your bookkeeping may have to change with regards to JobKeeper payments…

a calculator on a stack of Australian money

Will JobKeeper change my small business bookkeeping?

You’re no doubt familiar with the federal government’s JobKeeper program, intended to help affected businesses keep up with the cost of wages, taking care of at least one ongoing expense.

A couple of weeks ago, our team of Melbourne bookkeepers did a great write-up breaking down how JobKeeper works (which you can read here if you need a refresher on the details).

That’s not what we’re here to talk about today – rather, we’re here to talk about how JobKeeper may require you to change your small business bookkeeping.

Making a business monthly declaration: what exactly does it mean, anyway?

JobKeeper payments don’t just come in by themselves – you’ll also need to do a little bit of work on your end as well.

Specifically, that means making a business monthly declaration – something you may not have had to do before.

Each month, you need to make a monthly declaration in order to receive JobKeeper payments for eligible employees.

As long as you get your declaration in before the 14th of the month you’re claiming for, you’re in the clear.

Does this mean my eligibility is being reassessed?

No.

Just to be clear, this is NOT a re-evaluation of your eligibility.

As long as you were eligible when you first applied for JobKeeper, you will still be eligible to receive JobKeeper payments for as long as the scheme runs.

So, what’s this declaration for, then?

What’s the point of your JobKeeper monthly declaration?

As part of this declaration, you’ll need to re-state particular information regarding your business, including:

• GST turnover for that particular month
• Projected GST turnover for the coming month
• Your eligible employees’ details
• Your business information

Again, this isn’t to determine whether you’ll continue receiving payments – like we mentioned above, if you qualify, you will continue to receive payments for as long as the scheme runs for.

No, this information is used to get a feel for how your business is progressing.

Not to mention, it also helps keep the ATO updated (more on that later).

Things you’ll need before you make your monthly declaration

First thing’s first: you’ll need to make sure that you pay your employees first!

After that however, you’ll also need a lot of other information.

While most of the information that goes into your monthly declaration you should already have access to – that is to say, your business and employee details – there are some that you may not have on-hand.

Part of your monthly declaration will be GST information – specifically, your GST turnover and predicted GST turnover.

If you use a cloud bookkeeping solution, this information is easy to find.

However, if you don’t have the information you need, consult your small business bookkeeper in Melbourne, and they’ll get it for you!

What happens if one of my employees has left?

In this case, you’ll need to include this in your monthly declaration.

The whole point of JobKeeper is to – what else? – help you retain staff.

If one of your employees decides to leave of their own free will, the ATO will need to be informed (and reduce your total JobKeeper payments accordingly).

It may not even be because an employee has left – it could just be that they’ve become ineligible because they’ve recently been accepted for conflicting government assistance, such as paid parental leave. 

Luckily, this is pretty easy to update!

You have two options for going about this.

The first is to make edits directly into the Business Portal using your myGovID:

1. Under business monthly declaration, find the employee in question
2. Change their JobKeeper status to ineligible (or remove them as one of your employees)

The second is to update employee details using your STP payroll software.

Our small business bookkeepers in Melbourne have one goal: to make your bookkeeping easier

Whether it’s your ongoing BAS statements, cash flow monitoring or looking after your JobKeeper monthly declarations on your behalf, our small business bookkeepers in Melbourne are committed to making your bookkeeping:

• Faster
• More convenient
• Effortless

Our team can take care of all the heavy lifting, eliminating the grunt work and letting you keep your attention on the things that only you can do.

That isn’t what sets us apart, however.

We’re proud of our bookkeeping services – however, we’re more proud of our cloud bookkeeping.

As a small business owner, we know you want to keep things in-house as much as possible. 

Using powerful cloud-based solutions like MYOB, Xero and QuickBooks, our cloud bookkeepers give you the best of both worlds (including automated JobKeeper reporting).

No matter what it is you need, our team can help – all you have to do is get in touch.

Take your bookkeeping to the next level by calling Maximum Business Solutions’ small business bookkeepers in Melbourne on (03) 9589 0128, or click here to reach out online.

You can also visit us for bookkeeping service in Melbourne: pop into our office at 13 North Concourse, Beaumaris 3193.