What Can Thornton & Associates’ Accountants In Sydney Do For Your Business?

While it may be tempting to cut corners and attempt your own accounting and bookkeeping, there are so many things a professional small business accountant in Sydney can do for your business. The Thornton & Associates team is proud to have helped countless companies plan for financial success, so we know first-hand that of an accountant. Here are a few things our business accountants in Sydney can do for you.

Misconceptions about Business Accountants in Sydney

• Accounting is expensive. Many business owners don’t want to pay for the services of business accountants in Sydney, so they’ll try to do their own accounting. However, when you consider how much time you’ll spend learning tax jargon and trying to crunch the numbers yourself, you’ll find it’s much more economical to hire a professional. Plus, if you make errors when calculating tax or wages, it could end up costing you a lot down the line.

• You’ll only need accountants in Sydney for tax time. If you want your business to grow, you’ll need the regular help and input of an experienced accountant. At Thornton & Associates, we help companies with reporting, forecasting, and budgeting all year round to help them meet their financial goals. Plus, we can help set you up with Xero accounting software to streamline your payroll and bookkeeping processes through automation, making your life even easier.

• Automation makes accountants redundant. At Thornton & Associates, we’re big advocates for automating accounting processes because we understand how automated processes make our clients’ lives easier and our own. Automation doesn’t make accountants redundant; instead, it helps us correlate the information we need far more quickly. All the documentation we need to file reports or make lodgements is easily accessible, meaning we can focus on helping you grow your business.

Why Every Start-Up Needs a Small Business Accountant in Sydney

Starting your own business is a huge, exciting decision, especially if you’ve been dreaming and planning for quite some time. When launching your business and brand, you may be overwhelmed by just how much stuff there is to get through! The Thornton & Associates team loves working with start-ups, as we’re a firm which genuinely understands how important your business is to you. Our firm offers small business accounting services to help the owners of start-ups through the hectic confusion of launching a business. While you might be tempted to try and cut corners in the early days, we can assure you that the help of a small business accountant is invaluable to your long-term success. Here are a few reasons why every start up should consider hiring a small business accountant from the very beginning.

What Can A Small Business Accountant In Sydney Do For You?

Thornton & Associates’ accountants in Sydney are an experienced group of professionals eager to help your business grow and succeed. We can help you with:

• Bookkeeping. As Thornton & Associates are a Xero partner, we use the latest accounting software to look after our clients’ payroll and bookkeeping. We’ll automate as many bookkeeping processes as possible to save you time and money, allowing you to focus on the aspects of your business that require your attention. As part of our accounting and bookkeeping services, we’ll also manage your business taxes, lodgements, and reporting to ensure your business is always compliant.

• Personal income tax and finances. Thornton & Associates’ business accountants in Sydney can also help clients with their personal taxes and finances, streamlining the whole process to make tax time simple and straightforward. We’ll make sure you’re tax compliant each year, and we’ll do our best to maximise your returns.

• Grow your business’s wealth. Using timely advice, informed forecasting, and detailed financial management strategies, your small business accountant in Sydney can help you steadily grow your business’s wealth over time. We’re the experts at recognising opportunities and solving accounting problems, so make sure you let us know your short-, mid-, and long-term goals for your business so we can help you plan accordingly.

5 Mistakes Start-Ups Often Make Doing Their Own Accounting and Bookkeeping

Without a small business accountant in Sydney, start-ups run the risk of making simple yet costly mistakes. Here are a few avoidable mistakes the team at Thornton & Associates see time and time again when business owners attempt their own bookkeeping.

1. Not reconciling bank accounts. When you report to the ATO, your bank accounts have to align with business accounts. Many small businesses don’t think to reconcile their accounts before submitting tax paperwork, and when errors occur, the penalties can catch them off guard. Don’t take the risk of fines; instead, leave the details to the SME accounting specialists at Thornton & Associates.

2. Miscalculating GST. We see so many small businesses misunderstand the regulations around GST. They fail to give customers proper sales receipts; they neglect to register for GST; or they forget to save a small portion of the sales to pay their GST dues when the time comes. Thornton & Associates’ bookkeeping services for small businesses include the organisation of GST obligations, so you’ll never have to worry about it again.

3. Spending too much time on accounts. For an experienced small business accountant in Sydney, bookkeeping isn’t too complicated. We know what to look for, what to file, and we understand the terminologies very well. However, when a small business owner with no accounting experience attempts to do their own bookkeeping, it becomes a complicated, time-consuming process. Spend your time on operations, sales, and marketing and leave the accounting to the experts at Thornton & Associates.

4. Failing to hold important documentation. It’s easy for small pieces of paper to slip through the cracks and go missing. That’s why Thornton & Associates don’t use paper at all. We’re a completely paperless accountancy firm, and we use the latest accounting software and technology to keep track of your records. When we need a specific document, we only have to search our database to find it in seconds.

5. Neglecting employee records. It’s exciting to hire your first few employees; it’s a sign your business is growing. However, maintaining employee records can be time-consuming and incorrect information can lead to miscalculations in entitlements. Thornton & Associates will help you take care of your records such as general information, pay records, PAYG reporting, leave entitlements, and superannuation contributions to ensure your staff are getting everything they deserve.

The Benefits of Hiring a Small Business Accountant in Sydney

When it comes to accounting for a small business, you’ll want to enlist the help of experts so you can enjoy the benefits of excellent bookkeeping. That’s where Thornton & Associates come in. We have a real focus on automation and streamlining your accounting processes, so you can save time and money in the long-term.

• We can help your business grow. Our team are incredibly experienced in accounting and business development, and we want to help guide your business to success. We’ll help you create a future-proof business plan and put in place financial strategies that will see your start up business flourish.

• We’ll help you with budgeting. Unless you have a history in accounting, creating budgets to achieve business goals can be confusing. The Thornton & Associates team will help you forecast expenditures and sales to develop a detailed, accurate budget for each month, quarter, or year depending on your needs. We’ll also make sure we explain the budget to you so you can understand how we got the figures we’re presenting and how to stick to it closely.

• We’ll take care of the details. You probably started your business because you’re passionate about what you do and sell. If you don’t know how to look after your books, that’s okay. You’re the expert in your business, and Thornton & Associates are the experts in small business accounting. We’ll take care of GST, BAS statements, tax lodgements, payroll, reporting, and all the other accounting details so you can focus your attention on running your business. Together, we can help your business flourish.

Why Choose Thornton & Associates’ Business Accountants In Sydney?

There are a few reasons why Thornton & Associates are one of the leading accountants in Sydney.

• We’re renowned for our customer service. Communication is our number one priority. The Thornton & Associates team understands the importance of clear, honest communication, so we’ll make sure you’re always informed on all aspects of your business’s accounts. If you ever have questions about your finances, budgets, forecasts, or you’re seeking advice to grow your business, your accountant at Thornton & Associates is always ready and willing to help.

• We’re passionate about your business. The team at Thornton & Associates wants to see your business grow and flourish, so we offer tailored accounting solutions that allow you to focus your attention on other important details of your business.

• We have plenty of experience. Our accounting team has years of accounting and bookkeeping experience across several industries. We’ve worked with businesses of all shapes and sizes, so you can rest assured that your accounts are in the very best of hands.

• We’re entirely paperless. Thornton & Associates are a digital accounting service, meaning we’re entirely paperless. When you enlist our services, you’re not only reducing your carbon footprint, but you’re also reducing clutter in your office. We’re Xero partners, so we use Xero’s cutting-edge accounting software with each of our clients. Everything needed for your business’s accounts is available on a database, which makes searching for a specific document or reports so much easier for both you and us.

• We offer a wide range of digital services. No matter what your new business needs, Thornton & Associates can take care of it. We’ll help with:

  • Payroll and bookkeeping

  • Initial setup help such as business name registration, GST registration etc.

  • Training for Xero accounting systems

  • Reporting as needed for your business

  • Wealth growth strategies

  • Income tax services for individuals, sole traders, and businesses

  • Business advisory services

Everything You’ll Need for Your First Appointment with Thornton & Associates

Unlike other accounting firms, Thornton & Associates are 100% paperless, so everything we do is done digitally. Here are a few things we’ll need to set up automated accounting processes that will make your life infinitely easier.

• Your personal information. This includes ID, bank statements, any other income you may earn, and your previous year’s tax statement.

• Basic business details. This includes your ABN, business name, domain details, and bank accounts linked to the business.

• Details on any employees you may hire. We’ll need information on their wages, their entitlements, and their PAYG details.

• A list of your expenses. Anything you spend on your business, keep a record of it. This includes internet and phone bills, rent for physical stores, car usage, uniforms etc.

• Invoices. Anything you’ve sold before visiting us, keep your invoices. We’ll make sure you’ve been charging GST correctly.

• A business plan. We’d love to see your goals and ambitions, so we can help you achieve them. Tell us all about your business during your appointment.

• Any past reports. If you have any statements on depreciation, sales, projections, etc., we’ll go over them and let you know whether they need fine-tuning.

When You Need a Small Business Accountant in Sydney, Call Thornton & Associates

At Thornton & Associates, we do things a little differently. Even though the world is changing, evolving, and becoming more digitised, we noticed that the accounting industry lagged. We decided to bring innovation to accounting and become one of the first completely paperless practices in Sydney. We’re committed to using cutting edge technology and the latest accountancy software to provide our clients with practical, tailored accounting and business solutions. No matter what industry you’re in, Thornton & Associates can help you with all your finance management needs. When you need a small business accountant in Sydney, the team at Thornton & Associates can help. Give us a call or email us today to find out how we can help your business grow.

Our Story

Thornton & Associates was established to address the severely under serviced needs of growing and mid-sized enterprises in Australia. These businesses were in need of two tiers of help, that typically only large and multinational corporates were able to avail themselves of: firstly, the automation of basic day-to-day accounting operations; and secondly the provision of timely business consulting and tax advisory that is enabled when the books are able to take care of themselves.

As this two-tiered service strategy permeated the market, clients of Thornton & Associates realised that the considerable time and effort spent keeping ahead of accounting work that our firm could automate, is overwhelmingly better spent leading and strategising the operations of their respective businesses — and resulted in enduring business success.

Certified Xero Accountants

Xero is the most powerful growing and mid-sized accounting platform in the world, and is what enables Thornton & Associates accountants and business consultants to excel in servicing its clientele. Whether your business is using Xero or using another accounting product, Thornton & Associates can assist you in transitioning to Xero or empower you to use Xero to the fullest extent available by its constantly evolving and newer features.