How to Keep Business Tax Records in Australia Using PDFs.

Whether you’re a sole trader, a partnership, an independent contractor, a small business, or a large company, there is a range of business-related documents you need to keep track of to meet your tax obligations and file your tax returns in Australia. Being systematic and organized with your paperwork is a must. Using PDFs can help you streamline the tax preparation process and make it easier to get everything in on time.

What you’ll learn

• Basic tax obligations for Australian businesses
• Benefits of PDFs for business tax records
• Managing your business documents in PDF format
• Tips for managing digital tax records for businesses
• PDF apps to help take care of tax

Australian tax obligations for businesses.

Annual tax returns are due for Australian business on 31 October each year for the previous financial year from 1 July to 30 June. Australian businesses may also have regular weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or quarterly tax filing responsibilities for Pay as You Go (PAYG), Goods and Services Tax (GST), Pay as You Go (PAYG), and Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT).

In Australia, you may submit tax returns yourself as a business owner or engage the services of a tax agent or accountant to do it for you. Whichever way you choose to do your business taxes, being efficient and organized with your documentation and record-keeping is going to save time and money.

General tax records Australian businesses need to keep.

In general terms, businesses need to have good record-keeping systems for all financial transactions and activities related to their operations. That means right from the start-up phase, throughout running the business, and if/when the business is closed or sold. This includes documents that are true and accurate records of —

• Assets (physical assets owned by the business or personal assets used for business use)
• Income
• Expenses
• Payroll and employees, and superannuation (if applicable)
• Stocktakes
• Suppliers
• Contractors
• Banking

The documents that need to be retained include copies of invoices, receipts, bank statements, contracts, and stocktakes — all of which might be in paper or various types of electronic file formats, including those you may already receive or generate for customers in PDF format.

The exact types of tax records and returns you need to keep and submit will depend on your business size, structure, nature of work, and your chosen accounting method. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) website provides detailed information on tax obligations for different business structures in Australia including, but not limited to, sole traders, partnerships, companies, and trusts. Tax agents and/or an accountant can also help with more information specific to your business and circumstances.

The benefits of PDFs for business tax documents.

Portable Document Files (PDFs) have been around for quite some time and most people, at a minimum, are familiar with using the free Adobe PDF Reader whether on a computer or a smartphone. First developed by Adobe in 1992 to meet the need for an electronic file format that could be easily sent and shared between different operating systems and devices, PDFs can now be as dynamic, and interactive as you want them to be.

Some benefits of using PDFs for tax filing include —

• Safety and security — PDF standards are maintained by the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO)

• Accurate replication — whether you’re scanning tax records to PDF format, converting to PDF, or printing to PDF from within the software, you get the true and accurate copy and original formatting retained from your original document.

• Save on storage — not only does saving documents in PDF format save on physical storage space, but you can also compress PDFs to further reduce digital storage space.

• Easy to send — PDF files are readily accepted by tax agents, accountants, and the Australian Tax Office.

Managing your business documents in PDF format.

The Australian Tax Office supports digital record keeping for tax purposes and accepts digital copies, as long as they are unaltered copies of the original. Many features in Acrobat products help to make it easy to manage PDF tax records and files.

• Merge PDFs — got lots of individual receipts, invoices from a supplier, or documents to prove ownership of an asset? Merge them into one PDF so you’ve got one record to go to.

• Convert image files to PDF — taken a photo of an important document on your phone? Just drag and drop it and you’ve got a PDF in no time.

• Excel to PDF — worked hard on spreadsheet calculations and just want a copy of your results to send in? Convert to and from Excel, Word, and other applications.

• Rotate PDF Pages — found a page upside down? Drag and drop and flip them around.

• Rearrange PDF Pages — pages of a multiple-page document not quite in the order you want them? Rearrange the pages to follow the flow you want.

• Split a PDF — received an invoice or receipt that’s attached to other information, such as a product catalogue, that you don’t need to keep? Split out the tax-related information that you need to retain.

Tips for managing digital tax records.

Financial records need to be kept for five years for tax purposes by law, but managing your business tax records doesn’t need to be a chore. So, it’s important to have a safe and secure that you can still access as and when you need to.

• Make it a daily or weekly task to ensure you’ve scanned or converted paper documents to PDF files.

• Create a checklist of the documents you will need to submit to the ATO or your tax agent every year.

• Use a systematic and structured electronic folder system and file naming conventions, with subfolders for different categories/types of documents.

• Keep your computer systems and devices security.

• Ensure any cloud storage system you use, such as Acrobat Pro Document Cloud is secure.

PDF apps to help take care of tax.

Check out the different Acrobat products on their own or as a PDF Package that can help make your life easier at tax time. Acrobat PDF features can also add value to other aspects of your business operations.

These include:

• Free mobile scanner app — Scan and save receipts and invoices while you’re on the go.

• Free Adobe PDF Reader — View, print, share and comment on PDF files.

• Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Pro — Create, collaborate, and store documents on your devices or in the cloud.