The cost of a tax accountant varies according to state, company structure, tax return type, the complexity of related issues, and more. By hiring a capable and more importantly, reliable, tax accountant, you’ll be able to see a huge difference in retained funds for personal or corporate use. The cost of a tax accountant can vary around Australia. Below is the average cost to hire a tax accountant in different states.

State	Average Cost for Tax Accounting
NSW	$100- $260
VIC	$110- $250
WA	$130- $265
SA	$100- $235
QLD	$100 – $250

Tax accountants are in high demand during the End of Financial Year (EOFY) period to ensure you receive the highest amount of tax back. Tax accountants’ roles are only useful if you hire the right one, for the right price, at the right time. The deadline from the Australian Taxation Office for Australian tax returns is Sunday the 31st of October 2021.

 

 

Oneflare Accountant Services 

Services	Average Cost
Personal Tax Return	$100 – $400
Business Tax Return	$300-$1000
Business Advisory	$150 – $700
BAS Lodgement	$160-$490
Bookkeeping	$70 – $300
Remote or in-person	Both
Free accountant quotes	3

 

Tax Return – $100 – $1,000: Hiring an accountant for tax returns is the most popular service type on Oneflare. Tax accountants can help you uncover as many tax deductions as possible for individuals and businesses to ensure you receive the maximum amount of tax back at the end of the financial year.

To find out more details on how to claim your expenses due to working from home, see A guide to submitting your business tax return 

Business Advisory – $180 – $700: Business advisory services have the ability to provide insightful investment advice and general financial planning services. No matter how big or small your business, it can be seen as a small investment to potentially make or save a heap of money.

BAS Lodgement $160 – $490: If you are a registered business, it’s likely that you will need a tax accountant to lodge a business activity statement (BAS) if you’re registered for goods and services tax (GST). These statements are usually lodged monthly or quarterly. The BAS report will assist in reporting and paying GST, PAYG instalments, PAYG withholding tax as well as other taxes.

While the service type is the main factor the tax accountant takes into account when quoting a price, there are other factors that can affect it in other ways. The structure of your business can affect the tax requirements and the frequency of appointments ultimately will affect the amount of work the accountant has to do, therefore, affecting the cost.

• Working from home 

With many of us still working from home, the ATO has prolonged the Shortcut Method to claim on running and home office expenses. The Shortcut Method allows for you to claim 80 cents per work hour, as long as you fulfil your employment duties working at home, calculate your actual working hours spent at home and have records of a 4-week period representative of your usual working pattern. 

To find out more details on how to claim your expenses due to working from home, see our How to Lodge Your Tax Return if You’re Working From Home guide.

 

• Business Structure

The structure of your business can impact the price quoted, as different business structures have different tax requirements. 

• • For a company, you can expect to pay somewhere between $180 to $1000
  • For sole traders expect to pay between $180 to $500
  • For personal, individual tax returns, the prices range from $100 to $400

 

• Frequency 

How often you require a tax accountant’s services can impact the overall price you pay for each appointment. Oneflare customers pay the following on average:

Annually: $150 to $250

Quarterly: $120 to $250

 

• Remote or face-to-face consultations 

 Oneflare customers have the luxury of choosing the nature of the correspondence between themselves and tax accountants. We see a mixture of remote correspondence and face-to-face communication for tax accountant jobs. This doesn’t usually affect the price of the service, just the timeliness and efficiency of tax jobs.

 

• Complex issues

Depending on the type of work you do or your business provides you may also have a level of financial complexity that would benefit from an accountant who has an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL). Accountants with this license are able to give advice about self-managed super funds as well as investment issues.

Be organised and keep records

Part of minimising the costs involved in hiring an accountant is by making sure you’re organised with your tax-related documents. Make sure you file and maintain your receipts in a way that is easy to audit, that your expenses and income are clearly logged. The better you maintain your records the less time your accountant has to spend and the lower your fees will be.

Consistency

If possible it is worthwhile to check in with your accountant on a quarterly basis. This way you can review any financial issues you may be having and take an objective look at where your money is going. A good accountant should be able to offer more than just crunching the numbers but also provide guidance as to how you can better save money or mitigate any financial risks.

Tax apps

If you’re hoping to have your tax return filed remotely this year, it’s a good idea to download any certified e-sign application e.g. DocuSign. This allows you to sign formal documents remotely, keeping time wastage to a minimum resulting in a more efficient tax return.

Qualifications and insurance
Most accountants are likely to have completed a university degree or diploma, having one of these qualifications can contribute to making your decision on who to hire. Also, check if the accounting business belongs to an accounting association such as Chartered Accounts for Australia and New Zealand, which will further aid their abilities and trustworthiness.

Reviews
By reading these testimonials, you can get a good idea of what it’s like to work with this business, and you can decide if it suits you and your needs – whatever they may be. Look for reviews that match the service type, for example, if you are looking at hiring a tax accountant to complete and lodge a tax return it would be best to check reviews that relate to tax return services. Finding someone who you can work with who understand both your situation and how you operate as a business or individual is extremely important as the person you choose will be helping make important life choices. Rather than seeing them as a once a year necessity the right accountant should be able to provide you or your business with lifelong financial advice and support.

To receive the most accurate quote, be sure to include as much information about the job as possible.

 

 

 

* The cost data is based on Oneflare and third-party sources