Cash sales used to make bookkeeping simple in one sense — money in the till was money in the business. However, as more transactions move to cards, tap-and-go, and payment apps, the record-keeping habits that worked for a cash-based business no longer capture the full picture on their own.
Every digital transaction leaves a data trail — through your bank, payment terminal, or app provider — which is generally a good thing for accuracy. Consequently, the businesses that struggle aren’t the ones going digital; they’re the ones still relying on manual, cash-era habits while payments have already moved on.
Where a business once had one primary income source (cash and maybe EFTPOS), many now juggle card payments, buy-now-pay-later platforms, QR code payments, and online sales — each with its own settlement timing and fees. Therefore, reconciling all of these accurately against your accounting software each period is essential to avoid discrepancies creeping into your BAS.
Fees charged by payment processors are a legitimate deductible business expense, but they also affect how much you actually receive from each sale compared to the sale price recorded. Consequently, it’s important that your bookkeeping reflects the gross sale amount (for GST purposes) separately from the processing fee deducted, rather than only recording the net amount received.
A card or app payment made by a customer on one day might not settle into your bank account until a day or more later, which can create timing mismatches if your bookkeeping is based purely on bank feeds rather than actual sale dates. Therefore, using point-of-sale or invoicing software that records the sale at the time it occurs — rather than relying solely on bank settlement dates — leads to more accurate BAS reporting.
Integrated POS and accounting software. Systems that sync sales data directly into your accounting software reduce manual entry errors significantly.
Regular reconciliation. Reconciling all payment sources against your accounting records at least monthly, rather than only at BAS time, catches discrepancies early.
Clear separation of fees and gross sales. Ensuring your reporting reflects the full sale amount, with fees recorded as a separate expense, keeps GST reporting accurate.
Digital receipt storage. Keeping digital copies of invoices and receipts, properly categorised, makes both BAS preparation and EOFY significantly smoother.
While it requires a small shift in habits, digital payment tracking generally makes record-keeping more accurate over time, not less — since manual cash counts and handwritten records are far more prone to human error than a well-reconciled digital system.
EBATS helps small businesses set up reliable bookkeeping systems for the way they actually take payments today, keeping BAS lodgements accurate every quarter.
📍 Suite 2.2/47 Queen St, Campbelltown NSW 2560, Australia 📞 0404 471 816 🌐 www.ebats.com.au 📧 [email protected]
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