Enhancements to your Activity Statement preparation and lodgement process.
We want to let you know of improvements we are making to the method and process we follow for the preparation of your Activity Statements. These improvements will apply to all Activity Statements from the December 2024 Activity Statement onwards. These changes are focused on protecting and improving the security of your information.
Firstly, your Accountant may contact you to reaffirm the scope of the work you would like us to undertake to verify the accuracy of the information to be used to complete the Activity Statement. This will ensure all tasks completed by us are in line with your expectations.
In order to ensure we complete your Activity Statement by the ATO’s required due date of lodgement, we advise that we require all necessary information/records, or, confirmation of an up to date & reconciled data file ready to complete the BAS, no later than 2 weeks before the due date of lodgement. If notification to us is received within 2 weeks of the due date we cannot guarantee completion of work before the due date, however we will endeavour to do so.
The main update to improve the security of your information, and which will affect the way we lodge your work, will be that all Activity Statements will be forwarded to you for signing prior to lodgement with the Australian Taxation Office. This will ensure we are meeting the Australian Taxation Office’s requirements & expectations and will minimise any potential adverse security risks. If signing prior to lodgement cannot be completed, we will require a declaration from you that:
- You have authorised us to lodge the Activity Statement and
- The information is true and correct.
This process and declaration will apply each time an activity statement or document is lodged with the Australian Tax Office from the December 2024 Activity Statement onwards.
If you wish to engage us to assist with the preparation and lodgement of activity statements on your behalf, you will be requested to “opt in” to our client communication process to ensure timely reminders of timeframes and due dates are provided to ensure your Activity Statements are sent for your review, signed, and lodged on time.
Where you do not already have an existing fee and service proposal in place, invoices for the preparation and lodgement of you Activity Statements will be prepared and sent with each Activity Statement for payment.
In addition, there will be a 2-step authentication process introduced to notify the Australian Tax Office of any change to your financial institution details held with the Australian Tax Office effective immediately.
We would like to thank you for your support as we have introduced these improvements to protect and securely manage your information.
