Between BAS, GST, Super and Single Touch Payroll, Australian compliance is relentless. We keep your Xero or MYOB lodgement-ready and your payroll STP-aligned all year, and your registered agent lodges. Published prices exclude GST.
Most outsourced providers quote only on request. Every figure on this page is published, in AUD, for Australia work — so you can hold it against a quote you already have instead of booking a call to find out.
| Tier | A local firm charges | Salt publishes | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essentialup to 150 transactions a month | A$250 – A$650a month | A$300a month | Up to A$350 a month |
| Growth150–500 transactions a month | A$650 – A$1,500a month | A$700a month | Up to A$800 a month |
| Scale500–1,000 transactions a month | A$1,500 – A$3,000a month | A$1,500a month | Up to A$1,500 a month |
Above 1,000 transactions a month — quoted in 24 hours.
“A local firm charges” is the going rate for the same scope in Australia, in AUD, benchmarked September 2026. Salt's card is reviewed on 1 December 2026. Where Salt sits inside the bottom of the local range rather than under it, the row says so.
Prices exclude GST.
Xero
Xero is the default in Australia, and Single Touch Payroll means payroll must report to the ATO at every pay run rather than at year end.
| Obligation | Frequency | Due | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Activity Statement (quarterly)GST-registered businesses lodging quarterly | Quarterly | 28 October, 28 February, 28 April, 28 July | ATO |
| Business Activity Statement (monthly)Businesses with turnover of A$20m or more | Monthly | 21st of the following month | ATO |
| Superannuation guarantee contributionsEmployers | Quarterly | 28 October, 28 January, 28 April, 28 July | ATO |
| Single Touch Payroll reportingEmployers | Per event | On or before each payday | ATO |
| Company tax return | Annual | 28 February, or 15 May when lodged through a registered tax agent | ATO |
Last reviewed against the source . These are the standard dates. Extensions through a registered agent, a non-calendar year end, and volume-based filing frequencies all shift them — confirm your own dates with ATO. This is general information, not tax advice.
Thirteen services across three teams, each described for Australia specifically rather than in general. Compliance is deliberately a separate team from bookkeeping, so liability and pricing stay clean.
A$300 per month · up to 150 transactions a month · AUD
Australian books live on a quarterly rhythm. BAS falls on 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July, and each one is only as reliable as the GST coding underneath it. We reconcile Xero or MYOB against bank feeds weekly so the activity statement is prepared from the ledger, and so 30 June arrives as a close rather than a rebuild.
Read the Australia bookkeeping guideA$350 per month of backlog · AUD
Most Australian catch-up work starts with unlodged activity statements and ends with superannuation. Missing a quarterly super date — 28 October, 28 January, 28 April, 28 July — costs the deduction outright and triggers the Superannuation Guarantee Charge, so we sequence super ahead of BAS and rebuild the Xero or MYOB file against bank feeds rather than from a spreadsheet nobody can audit.
Read the Australia catch-up bookkeeping guideA$7,500 12-month reconstruction · AUD
The tell in a messy Australian file is a GST control account that never agrees to the lodged BAS. Once activity statements have gone in from adjusted figures, every later period inherits the difference. We reconcile GST and PAYG withholding back to what was actually lodged, correct the coding in Xero or MYOB, and document any variance your registered agent may need to revise.
Read the Australia accounting cleanup guideA$700 per month · 50–300 invoices · AUD
Australian AP feeds the BAS directly. Input tax credits depend on holding a valid tax invoice, and GST-free supplies coded as taxable inflate every claim you have already lodged. We capture bills through Dext into Xero or MYOB, code GST at supplier level rather than by assumption, and reconcile creditors before each activity statement goes out.
Accounts Payable in AustraliaA$300 per month · AUD
Australian receivables interact directly with your GST basis. On an accruals basis GST is payable when you invoice, so an ageing debtor book means remitting GST on money you have not collected — and the pressure lands on 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July. We run structured collections and report ageing against the BAS cycle, not in isolation from it.
Accounts Receivable in AustraliaA$125 per month · up to 10 staff · AUD
Australian payroll runs on two independent clocks. Single Touch Payroll reports to the ATO on or before every payday, while the superannuation guarantee is a separate quarterly obligation due 28 October, 28 January, 28 April and 28 July. Miss the super date and the contribution stops being deductible. We run STP-enabled payroll and treat super as a scheduled payment, not an afterthought.
Read the Australia payroll guideA$500 per month · AUD
An Australian controller has to reconcile management reporting to a 30 June year end and a quarterly BAS cycle that never pauses. We own month-end close, enforce GST and PAYG withholding controls so the activity statement is a by-product rather than a project, and produce AASB-aligned management accounts your registered tax agent can build the company return from.
Controller in AustraliaA$2,500 per month · AUD
An Australian virtual CFO plans around a 30 June year end and quarterly cash claims that never stop: BAS on 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July, and superannuation on its own quarterly cycle. Lodging the company return through a registered tax agent moves the deadline to 15 May but not the cash. We model the obligations and the runway together.
Read the Australia virtual cfo guideA$225 per return · AUD
The Australian company tax return is due 28 February, or 15 May when it is lodged through a registered tax agent — and that extension is why most businesses use one. We prepare the return, the reconciliation from accounting profit to taxable income, and the supporting workpapers, then hand the package to your registered tax agent to review and lodge under their own agent number.
Tax Preparation in AustraliaA$70 per month, managed · AUD
GST registration is required at A$75,000 of turnover, or A$150,000 for not-for-profits, and reporting runs through the BAS — quarterly on 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July, or monthly on the 21st once turnover reaches A$20m. We prepare the activity statement from a reconciled Xero or MYOB ledger for your registered agent to lodge.
Read the Australia sales tax · vat · gst guideA$20,000 per project · AUD
Australian raises get tested on R&D. The R&D tax incentive is often a material part of the runway, and the claim has to be traceable to time and expenditure records inside the ledger rather than reconstructed at year end. We build the model to a 30 June year end, evidence the claim as it accrues, and reconcile the cap table to what ASIC holds.
Get a quote for fundraising finance in AustraliaA$1,250 per entity · standard · AUD
Australian migrations usually mean Xero or MYOB, and the risk sits in the GST history. If prior periods do not carry across cleanly, every future BAS reconciles to a ledger that disagrees with what was already lodged. We migrate transaction history with GST coding intact, reconcile opening balances to the last activity statement, and wire Dext and Employment Hero around it.
Get a quote for tech stack migration in AustraliaAustralian firms use us to take on work they cannot staff. We prepare bookkeeping, BAS workpapers and management reporting inside your practice file, and your registered BAS or tax agent reviews and lodges under their own agent number — so the Tax Agent Services Act relationship between your firm and its client is untouched.
Read the Australia white-label accounting guideA Melbourne e-commerce brand, 3,100 transactions a month, quarterly BAS, 11 staff.
Figures in AUD. Fully loaded cost includes superannuation, leave loading, software and supervision.
Added when you need them, priced the same way — a published figure in AUD, not a range that resolves on a call.
| Service | Basis | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Catch-up bookkeeping | per month of backlog | A$350 |
| Accounting cleanup | 12-month reconstruction | A$7,500 |
| Accounts payable | per month · 50–300 invoices | A$700 |
| Accounts receivable | per month | A$300 |
| Payroll — base | per month · up to 10 staff | A$125 |
| Payroll — per head | per employee per month | A$12 |
| Sales tax · VAT · GST · BAS | per filing | A$200 |
| Sales tax · VAT · GST · BAS | per month, managed | A$70 |
| Business tax return | per return | A$1,000 |
| Personal / director return | per return | A$225 |
| Controller / management accounts | per month | A$500 |
| Virtual CFO | per month | A$2,500 |
| Tech stack migration | per entity · standard | A$1,250 |
| Fundraising finance | per project | A$20,000 |
Busy-season surge
Standard turnaround is 48–72 hours. A turnaround under 48 hours during peak season is charged at +25% on the line above. Standard turnaround is the default; the surcharge applies only when you ask for the faster one.
Prices exclude GST.
Salt Accounting Group is a front-end brand. Delivery is by contracted partner firms working to Salt's scope and review. Salt holds no offices, no employees and no professional registration in Australia, and nothing on this page should be read as a claim to any. Every engagement runs under a multi-jurisdictional NDA, agreed before access to your file is set up.
Lodging a BAS with the ATO requires registration with the Tax Practitioners Board. Salt holds no TPB registration and does not lodge activity statements. Preparation is carried out by a contracted partner firm working from India under the authority and supervision of a registered agent, who reviews the work and lodges it. Activity-statement preparation is priced at A$200 per filing, or A$70 a month managed, separately from the bookkeeping tier.
These are statutory fees set by ASIC. Salt does not charge them, does not mark them up and does not take any part of them — they are listed so you can budget the whole Australia obligation rather than only our share of it. Rates below take effect on 1 July 2026; if a quote you are comparing still shows an older figure, it predates that change.
| ASIC filing | Payable to ASIC |
|---|---|
| Annual review — Pty Ltd | A$342 |
| Company registration | A$636 |
| Late lodgement — up to one month | A$102 |
| Late lodgement — over one month | A$428 |
No Salt price on this page includes one of these. Where a ASIC fee is paid on your behalf it is passed through at cost and itemised as a ASIC fee on the invoice, separate from anything Salt charges for the work.
The difference, taken at its worstAt least A$69,000 a yearThat is the cheapest in-house figure, A$87,000a year, set against Salt's most expensive published tier, A$18,000 a year. Every other pairing is a larger gap.
The two are not like for like and it would be dishonest to present them as such: an in-house hire is one person's full working week, while Salt's tiers are priced by transaction volume. Compare the cost of getting the books done, not the cost of a desk.
Prices exclude GST.
Built for the Australian pain points we hear most: BAS lodgement cadence · Superannuation compliance · STP payroll alignment.
We prepare to Australian Accounting Standards (AASB), IFRS-aligned. These are the bodies that set that framework and the authorities you file with — linked so you can verify the standard rather than take our word for it.
Listed for reference. Salt Accounting Group is not stating membership, registration or affiliation with any of these organisations. Where a filing must be lodged by a registered local agent, it is — your agent keeps the lodgement and the professional sign-off.
Tell us where you trade and what shape the books are in. You get scope, price and a start date in writing within one business day — no obligation.
