Count The Beans

Xero can look perfectly fine on screen and still be quietly wrong underneath — a chart of accounts that doesn't fit the business, GST codes applied inconsistently, transactions left uncategorised. None of it flashes an error. It just turns up as a headache at BAS time.

A Xero health check is simply a proper look under the bonnet before that happens: what's set up well, what's drifting, and what to tidy so the numbers you rely on are actually right.

If your Xero's been running a while but never really reviewed, I'd be glad to take a look. Get in touch:
https://countthebeans.com.au/
I am a registered BAS Agent for Count The Beans
Registered BAS Agent No. 26358963

Ever looked at your Xero profit, then your bank balance, and thought "so where actually is it?"

They often don't match — and usually nothing is wrong. On accruals accounting, income shows up when you invoice it, not when the money lands, so you can look profitable while the cash is still sitting in unpaid invoices. Understanding that gap is what lets you make calm decisions instead of second-guessing every report.

If your reports have ever left you more confused than clear, that's worth a chat — a report should make sense to the person reading it.

https://countthebeans.com.au/
I am a registered BAS Agent for Count The Beans
Registered BAS Agent No. 26358963

"A small thing that makes bookkeeping enormously easier:
a separate bank account for the business.

When personal and business spending run through the one account, every reconciliation turns into a sorting exercise — was that coffee a client meeting, or Saturday? Keep them apart and your records almost keep themselves. The ATO recommends it for exactly that reason.

If your business and personal spending currently live in the same account, that's the first thing I'd gently help you untangle.

To find out more simple ways to keep your books tidy, get in touch:
https://countthebeans.com.au/
I am a registered BAS Agent for Count The Beans
Registered BAS Agent No. 26358963"

Just took on your first employee? Congratulations — that's a real milestone, and it quietly brings a few new obligations with it.

Once you're paying someone, you generally need to be set up for PAYG withholding, report payroll to the ATO on payday through Single Touch Payroll, and pay super (now 12%). None of it is hard when it's set up properly from the start — it only gets stressful when it's pieced together afterwards.

If you've just hired, or you're about to, that's the ideal moment to get payroll set up calmly, once, so payday is just payday.

Question about setting payroll up the right way? Get in touch:
https://countthebeans.com.au/
I am a registered BAS Agent for Count The Beans
Registered BAS Agent No. 26358963

A quiet question for the owners still doing their own books after hours:
how much of your week goes to it — and how much of that would you rather have back?

I have room for a couple of new clients right now, and I'd genuinely rather help someone stop dreading the BAS than watch them lose another weekend to it. Whether you want it all taken off your plate or just a careful set of eyes on a file that's drifted, that's exactly what I do — clearly, and in plain English.

If you've been wondering whether it's worth having a bookkeeper, that wondering is usually the sign it's worth a chat.

Not sure what support you need? Book a free 15-minute consultation:
https://countthebeans.com.au/
I am a registered BAS Agent for Count The Beans
Registered BAS Agent No. 26358963

I'll be honest — I'm the quiet one at the barbecue. But put me in front of a messy Xero file and I come alive.

I started Count The Beans because I kept being told to "just do the BAS" and get through files faster — when those files were full of mistakes that only got worse the longer they were ignored. I couldn't work that way. I need the numbers clean before I put my name to them.

So now I do it properly: a little more care up front, and then the file stays right. Want me to look after your books for good? I will. Want me to set you up and teach you to run it yourself in Xero? I'd love that too — showing people how it works is my favourite part.

And if your books are behind or messy right now, I'm not the person who'll make you feel small about it. I've seen it all. To me it's just a chance to make something work beautifully again.

https://countthebeans.com.au
I am a registered BAS Agent for Count The Beans
Registered BAS Agent No. 26358963

Three questions I want a small-business owner to be able to ask of monthly reports:

• What changed since last month?
• Which balances still need an answer?
• What decision does this information help me make?

Bookkeeping should give you something more useful than a neat PDF.

Which question would help you most right now?

I am a registered BAS Agent for Count The Beans
Registered BAS Agent No. 26358963

You receive the reports. You open them. You still do not trust yourself to make a decision from them.

That hesitation is worth noticing.

A useful report should let you understand the important balances, identify what changed and see which questions are still unresolved. If it only creates a new folder called "reports", the bookkeeping has not finished doing its job.

Which figure do you wish someone would explain properly?

I am a registered BAS Agent for Count The Beans
Registered BAS Agent No. 26358963

If you report GST monthly, the August BAS is due next Monday, 21 September.

This is the moment to finish the reconciliations, locate the missing source documents and answer the questions that a bank feed cannot settle by itself.

The date matters. So does the work underneath it.

Questions are welcome.

BAS Agent No. 26358963