Frequently Asked Questions

All of our bookings are done online using the pop up buttons on our website. In order to keep the costs of tax returns to a minimum, we have embraced technology and provided an easy to use system that now empowers you with the ability to show you all the types of consultations available and the fees associated prior to you making an appointment. This function is available 24/7 and will only display available appointments. Once submitted the appointment is automatically approved and secured with automated reminders and calendar appointments to help you keep track

All necessary paperwork must be uploaded onto the ENKE & Co. Document Portal prior to consultations.
Please note additional fees may apply when dealing with hardcopy paper work.

What if I cannot remember my username?

An SMS can be sent containing your Client Portal User ID, simply email info@enkeco.com.au

I don’t have access to ENKE client portal.

For new clients an activation email will have been forwarded shortly after making your appointment. Please follow the prompts contained in the email, if you are having any difficulties please contact a team member here at ENKE.
Please call: 02 9212 3083 or info@enkeco.com.au

ENKE & Co. offers a suite of services and different styles of consultations to try and optimize the best return for each individual client whilst factoring in that we are all time poor these days. That being said, as a general rule, if your circumstances are different to prior years or you are a first time client, we encourage you come into the firm first and engage in face to face discussion. For such consultations, ENKE offers a “role play” environment where we talk though your daily movements and try to uncover additional deductions, perfect for new clients or new circumstances.

We offer 6 different types of Individual Income Tax Return appointments, each specifically designed to meet your unique needs.

• Our “Face-to-Face” Individual ITR is best suited for clients new to ENKE & Co. or current clients whose financial situation is significantly changed from previous years or is expected to change significantly in throughout the new financial year. In this consultation, you will meet at our offices for an in-person discussion. Length: 45 minutes

• Our “Online Live-Chat” Individual ITR is best suited to current clients whose financial situation is relatively unchanged from previous years. These consultations are completed remotely, using our Live Chat system, with clients uploading their documents before their consultation into the Document Portal System. This appointment offers you more flexibility, allowing you to complete your appointment anywhere with access to the internet and a computer. Length: 45 minutes

• Our “Phone Call” Individual ITR is best suited to present clients new to ENKE & Co. or current clients whose financial situation is significantly changed from previous years or is expected to change significantly in throughout the new financial year. This appointment offers you more flexibility, and is completed remotely via a 30-minute phone call. Length: 30-45 minutes

• Our Sole Trader Business ITR (turnover less than $20,000 annually)prepares your individual and sole trader returns, and  is best suited to new sole trader clients or current clients whose situation has or is expected to change significantly in the coming financial year. This appointment type is typically completed in person, and is tailored to you as a sole-trader. Length: 1.5 hours

• Our Sole Trader Business ITR (turnover between $20k and $75k annually) prepares your individual and sole trader returns. This consultation is specifically designed for sole-traders with turnover between $25,000 and $75,000 annually . This appointment type is typically completed in person, and is tailored to you as a sole-trader. Note: Clients are required to have been using either Xero of MYOB for the full financial year, and preparation of manual accounts may attract additional fees. Length: 2 hours

• Our Sole Trader Business ITR (turnover exceeding $75,000 annually) prepares your individual and sole trader returns. This consultation is specifically designed for sole-traders with turnover in excess of $75,000 and the entity is registered for GST . This appointment type is typically completed in person, and is tailored to you as a sole-trader. Note: Clients are required to have been using either Xero of MYOB for the full financial year, and preparation of manual accounts may attract additional fees. Length: 4 hours

Our Individual Tax Returns start from $165. However, pricing may vary based on the amount and complexity of your income tax return. The basic pricing structure for consultations is as follows:

• Individual “Face to Face” Income Tax Return – $200
• Individual “Online Live Chat” Income Tax Return – $165
• Individual “Phone Call” Income Tax Return – $200
• Sole Trader Business (turnover less than $20K annually) Income Tax Return – $330
• Sole Trader Business (turnover between $20K and $75K annually) Income Tax Return – $550
• Sole Trader Business (turnover more than $75K annually) Income Tax Return – $1100

Note: Out-of-Scope work may incur additional charges. This includes but is not limited to: Schedules, Hard-Copy Paperwork, and ATO Investigations.

Schedules are effectively additional tax returns within your main tax return that require specific information and preparation.

Examples of schedules include: depreciation schedules, capital gains schedules, investment schedules and rental schedules.

As is often the case, clients may have multiple schedules for the same type. For example, you may have two investment properties and would therefore be receiving two revenue streams of income and corresponding expenses. These will need to be prepared as separate schedules as each property or investment needs to be assessed individually.

The ENKE & Co. policy is to disclose that processing takes on average between 14-21 days, allowing us ample time to ensure due diligence is exercised at all times and we are appropriately able to contact you should we have any concerns. Once lodged, which is done almost automatically after you electronically sign your tax return, refunds tend to be processed by the ATO between 12-20 days.

The highest care and precaution is taken when preparing your tax return – ENKE & Co. is here to advise you on the rules and regulations of lodgement and explain what these mean in a way that you understand.However, from time to time the ATO will, often randomly, investigate clients and challenge your declaration.

We remind you that the lodgement of your tax return is based upon a self assessed system and if you decide to sign and authorize ENKE & Co. to lodge on your behalf, you are disclosing that you can substantiate your claims with evidence.

Note the fees associated with the preparation and lodgement of a tax return do not include time that may be required to satisfy an investigation or audit.

ENKE & Co. does not operate trust accounts and therefore is unable to withhold payment from your refund. Operating trust accounts are costly and time consuming and in a continued effort to keep fees as low as possible we do not accept fee withholding from refunds.

Payment is required at the end of your consultation, prior to lodgement.

Payment can be made by either contacting the firm directly on (02 9212 3083) or online for our international clients using our “make payment” tab on our website. We accept all forms of credit cards and EFTPOS with AMEX attracting a 2% surcharge.

Please note we do not accept cash payments or offer bank transfers.

In the unlikely event 21 days has passed and you have not received your refund, please contact the firm directly and speak with one of our consultants.

Be advised that the ENKE & Co. policy is to adhere to strict proof of identity checks and will require these checks be met before disclosing any information about your file. In the event that the ATO has withheld your refund we will happily request an escalation and access the matter of a case by case scenario.

ENKE & Co. no longer receives NOA on behalf of clients. With the introduction of the governments MyGov, it is almost impossible to efficiently manage the recording and gathering of assessment notices as clients whom have registered with MyGov are automatically removed from our mail distribution without notification. As a result we are having all ATO correspondence redirected to our clients home address.

Live Chat is similar to Facebook Messenger and is available on either your mobile device or computer. All you will need to do is head to our website and select the live chat option [LIVE CHAT]. A pop up window will appear and this is where the consultation will be conducted.

One you have opened the chat window, complete the “Introduce yourself” section by entering your name and email address and then simply chat by typing into the message box.

No, unlike Skype, there are no video or audio options here. Live Chat is exclusively a chat environment and therefore can be done anywhere at anytime without the concern of video or audio interaction.

Yes, while there are components of the consultation where we will simply be entering the data you have uploaded onto our document portal, which won’t require much interaction, we do suggest for the duration of the consultation, you have the Live Chat window open, in anticipation of any questions we may have. The consultation will take 30-45 minutes.

All necessary paperwork must be uploaded onto the ENKE & Co. Document Portal prior to consultations.
Please note additional fees may apply when dealing with hardcopy paper work.

When confronting the daunting world of business, there are a few things you should consider. The first and perhaps most important question you should ask is ‘who do I speak too?’ followed by ‘who do I listen to?’

Take advice from everyone but only listen to someone you are paying. That’s not saying that the advice you may be getting isn’t correct, it’s simply getting back to basics. The age old question, ‘what’s in it for me?’ is important here – when getting advice, you want to ensure the person advising you is also getting something out of it. It motivates and quantifies what they are saying and prevents it from being made more in the capacity of a projection, something we often get from family and friends.

More often than not, hearing the things nobody wants to say will help you the most. This is always better coming from someone external. Look for someone who has experience in startup business in your industry or profession; you need someone who has a sound cross-section of experience both in success and failure, typically an accountant or business coach.

This is always a difficult question to answer. In short, yes. You really do need to have a plan for the milestones you will come across and what you need to keep an eye out for. The majority of businesses that fail do so because they mismanaged their finances, often due to an underestimation of their taxes.

This is a difficult question to answer is because tax is extremely complicated. If you were to start teaching yourself everything, you probably wouldn’t start a business. It’s overwhelming.

However, in reality, tax is good – it means you are making money, it means you are making profit.

We advise you to have a consultation with a professional, ideally a management accountant that can help you with setting up some financial systems and teach you how to run your financials. A tax accountant isn’t always the best person to speak with, because while they have a firm understanding of tax, they may not understand the complexities of running and business, and may not be well-positioned to provide you with strategic advice relating to tax.

Being realistic, an accountant can never get the same information from your excel spreadsheets as you can – we don’t know how it’s formatted or whether it is correct.

Accounting software will provide everything we need and further, it can’t be easily modified. It will most likely take less time to operate than your spreadsheet once you know what you’re doing and will support substantiation and record-keeping standards if in any case you are investigated by the ATO. Your fabulous spreadsheet will not.

If you can’t afford accounting software, consider holding off on starting your business. Mismanagement of finances is the major reason businesses fail. Software manages your financials and fundamentally improves your chances of success.

Staff, your biggest asset and your biggest liability! There are few obstacles less painful than the ongoing and ever-changing issue of staffing.

A recurring issue with start up businesses is deciding the framework in which you are going to employ or contract staff. We believe the key is to understand what the expectations exist for both the individual and the role.

Common mistakes that people make relate to how they employ or “contract” staff. Keep in mind, that depending on how someone is employed and the industry or profession they fall under will determine the relevant rules and regulations.

We advise that for staff and/or contractors, you should always speak to professionals. There are  tax implications regarding PAYG Withholding to be considered, guidelines that need to be followed relating to Fairwork Australia, lawyers to be consulted around contracts and agreements as well as the mandatory insurances like workers compensation to abide by.

As frustrating as staffing may be, it’s the best way to move onwards and upwards and is simply a necessity we are required to deal with. When the perfect staff come along, look after them. Its been said that on average it takes the equivalent of 3 months worth of wages to train a replacement.

Like most things in taxation, there is a particular criteria that needs to be accessed prior to establishing if GST registration is legally required and it can be total opposites depending on the industry or profession you are in. For example, ride sourcing versus the sale of goods or a service.

Ride sourcing taxpayers are required to register for GST, no matter what the turnover whereas most businesses selling a good or service are required to register until turnover is expected to hit $75,000 in a single financial year.

The best thing to do here is to make sure you have a sound financial system in place that lets you track your sales income. When you are looking like you’re going to hit the threshold, speak with your accountant, do it sooner rather than later as there are a number of things that need to be considered, for example your pricing structure.

Determining the best entity structure for you is a relatively simple process.

The first and foremost question you have to ask yourself is related to risk. What are the risks you face whilst being in business? Is it possible that you may have legal action taken against you and if so what can possibly go wrong? What’s the worst case scenario?

This is one of the simplest things you can do to protect yourself and your family from the risks associated with running a business. We encourage you to speak with someone about your particulars and weigh up the Pro’s and Con’s. There may even be some tax advantages as a byproduct…

Ideally, we would suggest business clients only used bookkeepers within the same management accounting firm.  Although they are still a bookkeeper, like an apprentice, they want to work their way up. They need to learn the ways of the accountant, understand how things should be and prove they can do it. You want the team who prepare your end of year lodgements to be managing the books throughout the year. Ultimately, this will save time and money and allow a greater sense of transparency in what’s being prepared.

ENKE & Co. founded out of a desire to understand why a business behaves the way it does, and what can be done to enhance its strengths, so as to boost profit.

In most cases businesses have patterns, some monthly, some seasonal, but these patterns are almost always present.  We specialise in helping you firstly identify where these patterns are in your business, and secondly how we can forecast the business’ behaviour into the future, based on these patterns. Based on this, we help you to plan a strategic and practical course of action.

Traditionally, accounting firms focus on the past, on what was and how much tax was required to be paid. ENKE & Co. is more interested in the future, the past has happened and we know that that is. We want to be able to utilize all this information and data and use it to help educate our business owners and improve cash flow into the future.

Naturally, we do the compliance as well. It makes sense to have it all under the one umbrella. Compliance is a requirement that nearly all business owners hate enduring, but still appreciate its significance. Our aim is to maintain focus on strengthening the business and driving revenue up whilst simultaneously absorbing compliance as we go.  Profit makes for a nicer conversation.

Due dates for lodging and paying your BAS

The due date for lodging and paying is displayed on your business activity statement (BAS). If the due date is on a weekend or public holiday, you can lodge your form and pay on the next business day.

Quarterly reporting

You may be eligible for an extension of time. See our two week deferral offer.

Monthly reporting

The due date for your monthly BAS is usually on the 21st day of the following month. If the due date is on a weekend or public holiday, you can lodge your form and make any payment due on the next business day.

How to pay

Payment should be made directly into your ATO Integrated Client Account, for first time payers these details can be provided for you by ENKE.

The details for this account doesn’t change so we suggest after the first payment save the details and reference the payee as ATO – Integrated Client Account.

	Biller code:	75556
	Reference:	Your payment reference number

^{Registered to BPAY Pty Ltd ABN 69 079 137 518}

You can make a payment from your Australian cheque or savings account at your financial institution’s local branch or using their phone or internet banking service.

Credit card

To pay online

• Individuals and sole traders – log in using your myGov account linked to the ATOExternal Link
• individuals and businesses – use the Government EasyPayExternal Link online service.

To pay by phone, call the Government EasyPay service on 1300 898 089.

What you need:

• your payment reference number this can be provided by ENKE & Co.
• a Visa, MasterCard or American Express card.

A card payment fee may apply to card transactions.

See also:

Interest on early payments and overpayments

Interest-free payment arrangements for activity statement debts

If you’re a small business with an activity statement debt you may be able to pay it off interest-free over 12 months. You need to have a good history of tax lodgments and payments. To apply:

1. Check your eligibility.
2. Use the online payment arrangement calculator to work out a suitable payment plan.
3. Phone 13 28 66 (8.00am to 6.00pm weekdays) to set up the payment plan
   • Registered agents call 13 72 86 (fast key code 1 2 2) to discuss your client’s circumstances.

Eligibility

You’re eligible for an interest-free payment plan if your business:

• has an annual turnover of less than $2 million
• has a recent activity statement debt of $50,000 or less, which has been outstanding for no longer than 12 months
• has a good payment and lodgment compliance history, including
  • no more than one payment plan default within the last 12 months
  • no outstanding activity statement lodgments
• is unable to obtain finance (such as a loan) through normal business channels
• is able to demonstrate ongoing viability.

How it works

You have to agree to a payment plan that allows the debt to be paid by direct debits within 12 months. Even if you receive a letter stating that interest will apply, it will be remitted as long as you maintain your payment plan.

While you’re paying off the debt:

• you can check your running account balance by logging into the Business PortalExternal Link or phoning us on 13 28 66 (8.00am to 6.00pm weekdays)
  • registered agents can check by using the Tax Agent PortalExternal Link or BAS Agent PortalExternal Link, or call 13 72 86 (fast key code 1 2 5 1)
• you must meet all of your other tax payment and lodgment obligations.

If you default on the plan, the interest-free period will end immediately

If you’re already in a payment plan:

If you’ve already entered into a payment plan with us, you can ask that it be changed to an interest-free payment plan if you satisfy the eligibility criteria.

If we agree, we’ll cancel your previous plan. The interest-free period will start from the date you enter into the new plan.

If your debt is with an external collection agency, you can still enter into an interest-free payment plan but you’ll need to negotiate this with the collection agency.

See also:

• Assessing business viability
• Serious hardship and natural disasters

When to pay super

You pay super for eligible employees calculated from the day they start with you. You must make the payments at least four times a year, by the quarterly due dates.

When a due date falls on a weekend or public holiday, you can make the payment on the next working day.

You can make payments more regularly than quarterly if you want to (for example, fortnightly or monthly) as long as your total SG obligation for the quarter is paid by the due date.

If you haven’t paid the minimum amount on time and to the correct fund, you may have to lodge a Superannuation guarantee charge statement and pay the superannuation guarantee charge (SGC).

Members’ personal super contributions

If you arrange with your employee to make post-tax super contributions on their behalf, the payments are referred to as personal super contributions.

Make sure you pay these contributions promptly, in accordance with the employee’s terms of employment and any legal requirement (that is, industrial award conditions).

Members’ personal super contributions don’t count towards your SG obligations.

Other contractual requirements

Some super funds, awards and contracts require superannuation to be paid more regularly (for example, monthly) than the SG quarterly requirement. Meeting the SG requirement does not ensure compliance with other requirements.

Clearing houses

A clearing house distributes super contributions to your employees’ funds on your behalf. If you use a clearing house, the employee’s super contribution is counted as being paid on the date the super fund receives it, not the date the clearing house receives it from you. The exception is the free Small Business Superannuation Clearing House service.

Check with your clearing house to make sure you allow enough time for your payments to be processed before the quarterly due dates.

Next step:

• Where to pay super contributions

Finding your superannuation liability 

Superannuation becomes payable once an employee begins to exceed $450 in payments in a calendar month.

The (SG) is the minimum payment that needs to be paid to an employee’s super fund. The SG is 9.5% of an employee’s ordinary time earnings.

Running the report in Xero

Reports > All Reports > Payroll Reports > Superannuation Accruals. Edit drop-down boxes as required and click update.
Note: to group information by employee, click the “Standard View” drop-down box and select “Group by Employee”.

Running  the report in MYOB

Payroll > Payroll Summaries > enter relevant period > Summary Report.
Each employee’s superannuation amount will be shown in the Super column.

SuperStream is a standard that requires employers to provide payments and the associated data to super funds in a specific electronic format.

Small employers (19 or fewer employees) must meet the SuperStream standard by 30 June 2016. However, we will provide compliance flexibility to small businesses not yet SuperStream ready, until 28 October 2016. Larger employers should already be using SuperStream.

Potential benefits for you include:

• the opportunity to use a single channel when dealing with super funds, no matter how many funds your employees contribute to
• less time spent dealing with employee data issues and fund queries
• reduced cost of processing contributions and payments
• more timely flow of information and money in meeting your superannuation obligations.

There are a number of options available to help you move to SuperStream. Your fund or service provider (such as a clearing house, payroll software provider, accountant or bookkeeper) can help you find the right one for your business.

See also:

• SuperStream for employers
• SuperStream Testimonials

In 2015, ENKE & Co. moved away from traditional written signatures and embraced an electronic signing system approved by the Australian Taxation Office. This system utilizes an online portal where you can download your tax return once prepared and then electronically sign off with the click of a button.

If you have previously lodged a tax return with ENKE since 2015 it is highly likely this facility is already active. The portal is totally secure; you have access to this facility 24/7 with an online help function if required. We encourage that you upload all information relating to your tax affairs throughout the year instead of leaving it all to the last minute.

An SMS can be sent containing your Client Portal User ID – simply email info@enkeaccounting.com.au

To upload documents onto your ENKE document portal, please follow the steps below:

• Click on the link Document Portal 
• Login as instructed
  • Note Accountants Practice ID is ENKE0001
  • Usernames are in capitals containing the first letter of your first name and next 5 letters of your surname followed by a numerical (e.g. 01, 02, 03)
  • Passwords will have been set by yourself and is unknown to the firm. It will contain both numerical and capital letters.
  • Forgotten Password reset is available Here

You will receive a notification by email advising that a new document has been placed into your ENKE Accounting Client Portal:

Document: {Document.Name}
Uploaded By: {Uploader.FullName}
Author: {Author.FullName}
Comment: {Document.Comment}

The email will contain a request that you electronically sign the document by completing the following steps:

1. Log into your Client Portal {UrlBase}Account/Login/{Company.Ref}

2. Select the above document in the list

3. From the “Document Details” page, select the “Download from Portal” icon to download a copy of the document

4. Once you have reviewed the document and are ready to sign:
a. From the “Document Details” page, click the “Sign Document” icon to electronically sign the document

5. The requestor will be notified automatically that you have signed the document

If you have any further questions relating to signing a document please contact ENKE directly on 02 9212 3083

Document Uploading Process:

• Located in the upper right on your document listing is a upward facing arrow in a green circle, this is the upload button. Select this button.
• A new window will appear “Upload File” Select the Browse button, a file upload window will appear, select the file you are uploading, and select open. The window will close and the file name should now appear to the right of the browse button.
• At this point in time you can add a comment if you wish to share additional information about the document.
• Click on the Upload  button to start the upload process
• Once uploaded you will be redirected to your document listing page. Hit refresh and you should now be able to see the document listing including the document you have just uploaded 
• To view your uploaded document, click on the document, a new window will appear. Select the download icon located in the bottom left hand corner of the Document Details page, the document will now download to your computer. 
• NOTE: Files must be uploaded and referenced individually.

How should I label the files?

Remember that the referencing of a file will assist ENKE in providing the ATO with any information that may be requested. We suggest that you include the following information in the name.

1. ENKE Client Reference or Fulle Name
2. Financial Year
3. Document Name

(for example: BLOG0001_2016_PAYG SUMMARY)

Please make sure that your file name does not contain any special characters: accents, tildes, symbols, etc. (e.g., è, é, ñ, &, *, #).  Additionally, please refrain from using non-English characters or digital signatures in the body of your documents as this may cause conversion errors. 

Please limit your files to a maximum of 512 MB  in size.

Uploading Documents with Special Characters or Formatting

To upload documents that contain special characters or formatting, you must upload the document in a PDF format.  Uploading Word documents that contains text with special characters may be changed and distorted in the process.  It is suggested that users convert word documents into a PDF format 7 or lower to upload these documents properly.

Documents can be uploaded in any of the following file formats:

• PDF (accepts created PDF’s in Acrobat 7 and earlier)
• Doc and Docx (Microsoft Word Format)
• Generic CSV (Excel)
• Note:  It is highly suggested that PDF’s (created in Acrobat 7 and earlier) are uploaded, preventing any compatibility issues.

Mac Word Processor Formats

Text files created on Macintosh software such as AppleWorks and Pages should be saved as an Acrobat 7 PDF version or lower.  Check the documentation on your software for specific instructions on how to save files under different formats.

Converting Paper Documents Into Electronic Files

If you need to convert a paper document into an electronic file you will need a scanner.  When you scan your image we suggest saving the document in one of the accepted image formats listed above.  As stated above the file size CANNOT exceed 512MB .  Once you have scanned your image you can then attach it to your document portal.

 Supported Browsers

• Firefox 2.0 and above
  
• Chrome 20 and above
• Internet Explorer 7.0 and above

(Chrome and Firefox are recommended)

Other requirements
-Adobe Reader 8.0 and above
Download here.

When preparing your income tax return ENKE & Co. will review the uploaded documents and enter them into your tax return in preparation for your consultation.

Once entered the documents are removed from the document portal and filed in our back end systems to ensure your document listing only contains relevant and new information such as signed and lodged tax returns or activity statements and information relating to the current financial year (the year we are in, not the year we are lodging).

In the event that documents were accidentally deleted you would automatically be advised by way of email.

Live Chat is similar to Facebook Messenger and is available on either your mobile device or computer. All you will need to do is head to our website and select the live chat option [LIVE CHAT]. A pop up window will appear and this is where the consultation will be conducted.

One you have opened the chat window, complete the “Introduce yourself” section by entering your name and email address and then simply chat by typing into the message box.

No, unlike Skype, there are no video or audio options here. Live Chat is exclusively a chat environment and therefore can be done anywhere at anytime without the concern of video or audio interaction.

Tax tables

The ATO produces a range of tax tables to help you work out how much to withhold from payments you make to your employees or other payees. A tax withheld calculator that calculates the correct amount of tax to withhold is also available.

In the May Budget the government announced changes to individual tax rates for the 2016-17 income year. Legislation dealing with those announced rates was introduced to Parliament on 31 August 2016. As a result a number of tax tables have been updated to apply from 1 October 2016. Those tax tables that have not been updated will continue to apply.

Updated tax tables do not include any catch-up component for the portion of the year which has already passed. Individuals affected will receive the full benefit of the tax changes upon assessment of their income tax return for the 2016-17 income year.

Tax tables with an ‘*’ have downloadable look-up tables available in Portable Document Format (PDF). If you would like a copy of the PDF, select the tax table you need and go to the heading ‘Using this table’. The link to the PDF is in the ‘Get it done’ section.

Tax tables for previous years are also available.

The following tax tables have been updated and will apply from 1 October 2016

Statement of formulas

Regular payments

Medicare levy

Superannuation payments

Other tax tables

The following tax tables have not been updated but will continue to apply:

Higher Education Loan Program (HELP), Student Start-up Loan (SSL) and Trade Support Loan (TSL)

Student Financial Supplement Scheme (SFSS)

Superannuation payments

Other tax tables