“I don’t know what I’m doing”

• People in their first few years of business, or who have just gone from employee to self-employed.
• Owners whose business grew faster than their systems — more staff, more clients, more obligations.
• People who inherited the books from a partner, a parent or a bookkeeper who left.

• You are not sure what you have to lodge, when, or whether it has been done.
• Terms like BAS, PAYG, GST and super guarantee blur together.
• You make decisions on gut feel because the numbers do not tell you anything.
• You avoid opening certain emails or letters because you are not sure what they mean.

Questions worth asking — we’d rather ask than assume.

• Is it that nobody has ever shown you the handful of things that actually matter for your business — rather than everything at once?
• Could the setup (structure, registrations, software) have been chosen in a hurry at the start and never revisited?
• Are you carrying the job of three people — owner, bookkeeper and finance manager — with no one to ask?

• It tends to bite at the first BAS, the first employee, the first big tax bill, or the first ATO letter.
• The best time to ask is before the next lodgement date — not after a deadline has passed.

• Your ATO online services (through myGov) shows what is registered, lodged and owing.
• Your bank statements and accounting software show what is actually happening.
• Any letters you have put aside are worth gathering in one place — unopened is fine.

1. 1

   Listen first

   We start with what your business does and what is worrying you — in plain English, no jargon test.

2. 2

   Map what applies to you

   We work out which registrations, lodgements and deadlines genuinely apply, and which do not, so the list gets shorter, not longer.

3. 3

   Check where you stand

   With your permission we look at your ATO account to see what is lodged, what is outstanding and whether anything is urgent.

4. 4

   Give you a simple calendar

   A one-page view of what happens when, and who does what — you, us or your bookkeeper.

This is how we would start with you — general information, not a do-it-yourself checklist or personal advice.

• We explain things the way you would explain your own trade to a new apprentice — patiently, and as often as you need.
• Nothing gets lodged or signed without you understanding what it is.

• You talk to Graham Chee FCPA, the principal — the same person from the first conversation onwards, with 25 years in public practice. About Graham
• Local Knowledge Pty Ltd is a CPA public practice and a registered tax agent — you can check us on the Tax Practitioners Board public register. TPB register
• Finalist, Accountants Daily Australian Accounting Awards — Multiservice Firm of the Year (2025 and 2026) and Marketing Program of the Year (2025).
• We show our reasoning in the open, so you can see how we think before you ever pick up the phone. Watch it think