Hi,

I am a small business owner that previously used the ATO's E-Record software. I have heard that this year the ATO has withdrawn E-Record.

Can you tell me if there are any cheap or free alternatives out there? (I only process a few transactions each month so don't want the expense of something like MYOB).

Please help!

Hi Mark!

You haven't specified in your post whether you employ staff or are registered for GST but I am assuming that as you only do a few transactions this is not the case??? A good product to look at would be Saasu. Saasu is an online accounting product and if you do less than 20 transactions per month then this is free!!!! If you do more transactions than this, you would need to pay $25 per month but have the added bonus of payroll (Under 25 staff). There are other options available depending on your size & requirements.

I understand that Saasu allows you to change your plan up and down as required depending on your transactions. Transactions are defined as "Sales, Purchases, Bank Transfers, Pay or Journal entries". And the brilliant thing with online accounting is that you can access it anywhere and all updates are done automatically!!

Saasu can even do basic GST reporting but be careful as these are linked only to the existing tax codes - if you need to create other tax codes, they won't appear in your GST reports.

There are probably some other options out there but this is simple and easy to use. Hope this helps?

Great news for all those small businesses out there - MYOB has just released LiveAccounts!!! MYOB LiveAccounts™ takes the hassle out of doing your accounts. From just $25 per month. Contact Us for packages incorporating LiveAccounts subscription and Bookkeeping Services.

The MYOB LiveAccounts Homepage keeps you informed with key information about your business. It’s always up-to-date so you can clearly see how your business is going at any time.

You can see:

Your business bank balances
Who owes you money
Your Top 5 business expenses
An estimate of the GST you currently owe
Any transactions or messages received since you last logged in

Your accounts and banking working together

You can link your business bank accounts and credit cards to MYOB LiveAccounts. This means all your transactions, like any payments you make or payments you receive, are securely transferred into your MYOB LiveAccounts file for you. This saves you keying in your bank statements so you can spend more time running your business and less time doing your accounts.

Keeping track of your business

Each time you log into MYOB LiveAccounts you’re updated with what’s changed in your accounts since your last visit. You’ll see key information like how many transactions have been received from your bank accounts, what transactions MYOB LiveAccounts has automatically allocated for you, how many customers have paid their invoices , what messages have arrived plus an up-to-date estimate of the GST you currently owe – all in one place.

Tracking your invoices

MYOB LiveAccounts is always tracking who owes you money. On the Homepage you can clearly see how overdue your customer invoices are.

Managing your expenses

You can keep track of your expenses with your current Top 5 year-to-date expenses clearly displayed on the MYOB LiveAccounts Homepage.

Monitoring your money

Keeping an eye on your bank accounts is made easier in MYOB LiveAccounts with your current balances displayed for you on the Homepage.

Teamwork

You can give other people access to your LiveAccounts file. This means you can invite your accountant, your bookkeeper or the person who does your data entry to work on your accounts, from anywhere. The bonus is everyone is working from the same data – so everyone’s on the same page.

Delivering flexible working options

LiveAccounts removes common hurdles in having others work on your accounts with you. Being an online system, you can:

Give other employees access so they can update your accounts from their own computer
Give your accountant or bookkeeper the flexibility do your accounts at any time, from any location
Use a PC or a Mac. You can access LiveAccounts using either.

Easy messaging

You can send emails to people from LiveAccounts. This might be an accounting related question to your accountant or a quick note to an employee about the accounts. It’s a great tool to make working with others easy.

Working with your accounting advisor

Whether it’s an accountant, bookkeeper or consultant, LiveAccounts makes it simple to get your accounting done. With your permission, they can log in and see your up-to-date business information. If anything needs to be changed, your accountant can do it there and then. This puts an end to posting or emailing information to your accountant – the information is available whenever it’s needed.

Online

You never really knock off when you run your own business, so having access to your business information whenever or wherever you need it makes sense. Being an online solution, MYOB LiveAccounts provides the flexibility and control to manage your business whenever you need to.

Available all the time

MYOB LiveAccounts is ready and available to use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You have unlimited access to MYOB LiveAccounts so you can access your accounts whenever you can access the internet.

Available from anywhere

Being online, where you access MYOB LiveAccounts is up to you. All you need is an internet connection and you’re ready. From a PC or a Mac, from your home computer or a friend’s computer, you can access MYOB LiveAccounts and work!

Always up to date

Software installs and updates become a thing of the past with MYOB LiveAccounts. You have no software to install and it’s always up-to-date – we take care of all that for you.

Always backed up

Many people worry they haven’t backed up their accounts correctly and many forget to. Using MYOB LiveAccounts your information is securely stored and backed up every day for you – even if you haven’t logged in.

Hi Kelly, thanks for posting this information. The Live-Accounts is sure to appeal to lots of people who don't want the hassle of having to keep upgrading and changing their software everytime the leglisation changes!!