If you are a Brisbane tradie or sole trader, the last thing you want to do after a long day on the tools is paperwork. But neglected books cost real money — missed GST claims, late BAS penalties, and chasing invoices that should have been paid weeks ago.
Here is the minimum-effort bookkeeping rhythm I use with tradie clients across North Brisbane.
Daily (5 minutes from your phone)
- Photograph every receipt before it goes in the glovebox. Use Hubdoc, Dext, or Xero's mobile app — they read the data automatically.
- Log fuel and tolls the same day. Fuel receipts fade fast and the ATO does not accept "estimates."
- Send the invoice the day the job finishes. Every day you delay invoicing is a day you delay getting paid.
Weekly (15 minutes)
- Reconcile your bank feed in Xero or MYOB. If you do this weekly, it takes 15 minutes. If you do it monthly, it takes hours.
- Chase any invoice over 14 days unpaid with a polite reminder. Most late payments are just oversight.
- Process timesheets if you have apprentices or subbies.
Monthly (1 hour)
- Run your P&L and check it against your gut feel. Are revenue and expenses where you expected?
- Reconcile credit cards, PayPal, Square — anything you used during the month.
- Pay super for staff (it is due quarterly but monthly is easier on cash flow — and from July 2026 it will be due every payday).
- Categorise any uncategorised transactions before they pile up.
Quarterly (BAS time)
- Confirm every account is reconciled to the last day of the quarter.
- Review GST coding on bigger purchases (vehicles, tools, equipment).
- Lodge BAS by the due date — or get it done by a registered BAS agent who can extend your deadline by four weeks. (See my full BAS preparation guide.)
Annually (year-end)
- Reconcile motor vehicle logbook (or start one — the ATO requires 12 continuous weeks).
- Confirm your home office hours and any tools depreciation with your accountant.
- Run a final reconciliation and hand off clean books to your accountant for tax time.
What costs tradies the most money
In my experience, three things consistently cost tradies far more than they should:
1. Missed GST claims on cash receipts that never made it into the system. 2. Late BAS lodgement penalties — usually because the books were not kept up to date. 3. Slow invoicing — money you earned in March that you do not see until June.
All three are solved by the same thing: a simple, consistent rhythm. The checklist above is exactly that.
If even an hour a week feels like too much, that is a sign it is time to hand it off. A few hours a month with a bookkeeper usually pays for itself in recovered GST claims alone. See my bookkeeping services and transparent pricing, or get in touch for a free chat.