Follow these steps to set up your business accounts and find the tools and help you need to start managing your business finances.
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1
Find professional support for your business finances
When starting a business, it's important to have a good team supporting you.
Professional finance advisers and service providers can help you with your business finances.
You may want to consider using these professionals:
Accountant – to help with your business financial needs like preparing financial statements, managing your tax and providing you with financial and business advice.
Bookkeeper – to keep track of your day-to-day financial transactions, look after your banking, chase overdue payments, pay wages and prepare some financial statements.
Business activity statement (BAS) agent – to help you prepare and lodge your BAS so you get it right the first time. They're registered professionals who are specialists in their field. You can find registered BAS agents on the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) register.
Find out more about what support is available to help with your business finances.
Support for your business finances
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2
Calculate the start-up costs of your business
There are many costs that come with setting up a business and different businesses have different setup costs. Understanding start-up costs can help you to plan ahead, seek finance and increase your chances of business success.
Use our start-up costs template and tips to help calculate your business start-up costs.
Calculate the start up costs of your business
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3
Create a budget
Budgets are essential for tracking the financial health of your business. Your budget is your planned income and spending. It helps you to allocate funds for particular items and activities.
Your budget also helps you to:
set business goals
make good business decisions
get finance.
Budget
When you’re starting out in business, there are things you’ll need to include when preparing your budget. This includes:
Keeping your private and business transactions recorded separately can save you time and money when it comes to preparing financial documents, activity statements and tax returns, but it's not a requirement for all businesses.
If you're operating as a:
sole trader – you don't have to have a business bank account, but it's a good idea to
partnership, company or a trust – you must have a separate bank account for tax purposes.
Find out when you need a business bank account, and the benefits of having one.
Set up your business bank account
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5
Choose payment methods
There are many payment methods to consider when setting up your business. This is an important part of managing your business cash flow and meeting your customer's needs.
No one type of payment is best – it will depend on the needs of your business.
Setting up a good record-keeping system can make running a business much easier. Keeping good records may also help you to:
keep track of your business’ health, so you’re able to make good business decisions
meet your tax and superannuation obligations
manage your cash flow
demonstrate your financial position to banks or other lenders.
Record keeping obligations
It is also a legal requirement that you keep certain types of records.
The records you need to keep depend on the tax and superannuation obligations of your business and the structure of your business (sole trader, partnership, company or trust).
Learn more about what records you need to keep and how long to keep them for.
Record keeping
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8
Understand key financial terms
Financial language can be confusing. We have collected a glossary of the key financial terms you might come across when setting up your business finances, dealing with accountants and financial services or while running your business.
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Read next
Learn what funding types are available and how they compare.