Books, BAS and tax for Eltham's makers, builders and traders.

What Eltham does for a living

Eltham has always had a strong streak of people who make things. The Montsalvat artists' colony, founded by Justus Jörgensen in 1934, and the mudbrick houses that grew up around that tradition still shape the town's character. The same spirit carries on in the painters, potters, woodworkers, jewellers and designers who work from studios and sheds across the area.

The commercial centre is the Eltham Major Activity Centre, which runs mostly along Main Road, with more shops in Pryor Street, Arthur Street and Dudley Street and a food precinct around the Town Square and Commercial Place. The Eltham Chamber of Commerce and Industry represents more than 180 traders across the precinct. On Bridge Street, the industrial precinct holds the workshops and yards behind a good share of local building and fabrication work. Nillumbik Shire Council, run from Civic Drive in Greensborough, names Eltham as one of the shire's hubs for retail, construction, hospitality and creative industries.

Makers and market stallholders

If you sell at the Eltham Craft and Produce Market at Alistair Knox Park on the third Sunday of the month, your income probably arrives in bursts: a strong market day, a commission, a run of online orders before Christmas. Card reader payouts, cash, online store deposits and the odd gallery consignment all need to land in one place so you can see what you actually earned. We set up Xero, QuickBooks Online or MYOB with sensible bank rules, then keep it reconciled through our bookkeeping service.

Creative work raises tax questions that are easy to get wrong on your own. Which materials, tools and studio costs can you claim? Does a commission paid in advance belong to this year or next? When is it worth registering for GST? We work through those with you and prepare your income tax return as a registered tax agent.

Builders, renovators and Bridge Street workshops

Construction is Nillumbik's largest employing industry, and Eltham's older mudbrick and timber homes keep plenty of builders, carpenters, landscapers and restoration specialists in work. For these businesses the figures that matter are per job: materials ordered, subcontractor invoices, progress claims and variations. We allocate costs to each job so you can see which ones paid well and which quietly ate your margin. Large invoices going in and out also make GST worth watching closely, and we prepare and lodge your BAS from reconciled numbers rather than estimates.

Shops and cafés on Main Road

For retailers and food businesses in the Activity Centre, the pressure usually comes from staff and stock. Weekend casuals, school-holiday rosters and penalty rates make each pay run a little different, and Single Touch Payroll reporting has to be right every time. Our payroll service handles the pay runs, leave and super, while regular reconciliations keep supplier bills and point-of-sale takings lined up. Cafés and restaurants around the Town Square also tend to buy from several food and drink suppliers on weekly accounts, so we keep those bills entered and scheduled, which means fewer awkward phone calls about an invoice that slipped through.

Seeing Brian in Eltham

Our office on Grimshaw Street is about 7 km away, and Eltham station is two stops from Greensborough on the Hurstbridge line. Brian can meet you at your studio, site office or shop in Eltham, at our office, or by phone and video if that suits your week better. Most of the ongoing work then happens in your accounting software, with a call whenever something comes up.