Who Needs to be a Registered BAS Agent?
All bookkeepers who wish to provide a BAS service for a fee, must:
- Hold a Certificate IV in Financial Services (Bookkeeping or Accounting), or higher, to be eligible for registration; where you are taught about GST and BAS. This subject is delivered by thousands of Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) across Australia and you can learn more at training.gov.au including how to find an RTO to teach you.
- Register with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) and adhere to the requirements of this body, which includes:
- Being a fit and proper person
- Having the qualifications above
- Possessing the experience (more on relevant hours below)
- Professional Indemnity Insurance
- Demonstrate ongoing education (CPD/CPE)
Get the Experience You Need to Become Registered as a BAS Agent: Our Connect with a BAS Agent Service
Registering with the TPB is a lot like getting your drivers license: you need to be able to demonstrate the relevant experience of at least 1,400 hours (or 1,000 hours if you’re a member of a professional organisation, like the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, Australian Bookkeepers Association or the Association of Accounting Technicians).
If you’re working under the supervision of another registered Tax or BAS agent, you can only provide tax or BAS services to clients who are known to your supervising tax/BAS agent or accountant. This means you can not provide these specific services to your own clients until you are registered.
However, this does not mean you have to engage in permanent employment for a BAS agent or accountant who is registered with the TPB; indeed, we can help you connect with a Registered BAS Agent.
Still unsure what a BAS agent actually does? The BAS services page on the ATO website can provide you with information about the qualification requirements and the education requirements for BAS agents to become certified with the TPB, thereby enabling you to provide tax and BAS services to clients.
Not a Registered BAS agent? Don’t worry!
Connect with a Registered BAS Agent for Relevant Hours
One of the benefits of joining National Bookkeeping is that you can still perform non BAS-related work, like:
- Installing computer accounting software (without tailoring GST and tax codes to the client)
- Entering data according to tax codes that are already determined and set up for the client
- Preparing bank reconciliations
- Providing general training in software and systems for accounting and bookkeeping purposes
- Coding transactions, into accounting software without interpretation of tax codes for BAS purposes.
If you find a client that needs BAS Services, you can work with one of our registered BAS agents to ensure these services are delivered legally, while also using your hours as “Relevant Experience”.
Read details about our Membership Packages
Kick Start Your Own Business
Performing non-BAS services to start with is a good way to start your own bookkeeping business NOW, while gaining the skills, experience and connections to become a registered BAS Agent and offer BAS services in the future.
National Bookkeeping aims to help you utilise your knowledge, qualifications and experience to build a solid marketing strategy & plan to go to market with a compelling reason for businesses in your area to use your services. You can start for a low fee as a Self Starter or utilise our joint marketing resources to get to market and be discovered quickly.
