An Australian journal of the books
Rosebery, Sydney · Perth desk
Long-form essays for people who keep Australian books — or who pay someone else to, and still want to understand the file. 30 pieces, all original to this masthead.
Industry guides · 13 August 2026
Lawyers, consultants and designers do not go broke on a quiet week. They go broke in lockup. How to keep time, work in progress, retainers and disbursements honest in an Australian firm.
Read Professional services — time, WIP, retainers and lockup · 11 min
Industry guides · 30 July 2026
Member fees are not a grant, a surplus is not always spendable, and DGR is an endorsement you either have or you do not. A practical file for Australian associations, charities and the boards that must read it.
Read Bookkeeping for not-for-profits and associations · 11 min
Industry guides · 16 July 2026
A till that balances is not a business that does. How Australian cafés, bars and shops reconcile takings, treat tips, see wastage, and stop merchant fees and GST on food from lying.
Read Retail and hospitality — tills, tips, wastage and stock · 11 min
Systems and software · 16 July 2026
MFA, adviser versus standard users, password managers and a way to offboard staff without leaving the tax agent a spare key. Practical security for an Australian Xero or MYOB file.
Payroll · 2 July 2026
From 1 July 2026 Super Guarantee travels with the pay, not with a quarterly intention. Here is the clearing-house timing, the journals and the mistakes bookkeepers still make.
Read Payday super and what actually changed in the file · 12 min
Industry guides · 2 July 2026
A claim is not cash, a retention is not a surprise, and TPAR is not optional. How Australian builders and trades keep the job file honest from the first deposit to the last defect.
Read Bookkeeping for tradies — progress claims, retentions and the job file · 12 min
Systems and software · 18 June 2026
An honest comparison for Australian tradies — jobs, inventory, progress claims and BAS — written for the person who has to code the invoice, not for a software brochure.
Industry guides · 18 June 2026
Draws are not wages, a health-fund batch is not a till, and not every service in the rooms is GST-free. A practical file for Australian clinics — the sort of health client the Rosebery desk used to keep calm.
Systems and software · 11 June 2026
If materials hit the profit and loss the day they are bought, the month is lying. Here is how stock, WIP and job costing should sit on an Australian ledger.
Financial control · 4 June 2026
A busy job can still lose money. Here is how Australian builders, clinics and professional firms keep work in progress honest, recover labour, and stop a handsome invoice from lying.
Payroll · 4 June 2026
Casual loading is not a bonus and it is not a leave provision. Here is how the National Employment Standards, the award and the ledger should show the difference.
Financial control · 21 May 2026
Restricted money is not a surplus. Here is how to keep a grant ledger, unspent funds and an audit trail a treasurer can defend — the file the original Rosebery desk used to quietly finish.
Read Grant acquittals for not-for-profits that survive a funder · 11 min
Payroll · 21 May 2026
ABN and invoice are not a conclusion. Here is how PAYG, super, STP and the Taxable Payments Annual Report actually behave when the person on the tools might be an employee.
Systems and software · 14 May 2026
A feed that is “pretty much there” is not a reconciliation. Here is how rules hide drawings, transfers and merchant fees — and how an Australian file pretends it is closed.
Payroll · 7 May 2026
The Super Guarantee is 12 per cent from 1 July 2025, but 12 per cent of the wrong base is still a shortfall. Here is how OTE actually behaves on an Australian payroll file.
Financial control · 7 May 2026
Health-network boards and owner-operators need the same thing — a short pack that survives a question. Here is what to include, what to leave in the file, and how the old Rosebery desk used to write it.
Financial control · 23 April 2026
A cash forecast that is not opened on Tuesday is decoration. Here is how to build thirteen weeks from the bank, debtors, payables, payroll, BAS and super — and keep the sheet alive.
Payroll · 23 April 2026
Phase 2 is mandatory, and a tidy pay run can still miscode income types, allowances and unused leave on termination. Here is what a bookkeeper should check before the next STP event.
Read STP Phase 2 mistakes that still sit in the pay file · 11 min
Systems and software · 16 April 2026
Conversion balances, GST at 10 per cent, payroll, lock dates and a chart an activity statement can reprint. Here is the Xero file you want before you lodge the first BAS.
Financial control · 16 April 2026
A bookkeeper keeps the file honest. A tax agent lodges. A part-time controller sits between them and the Monday decision. Here is what the original Rosebery offer meant, and what to buy.
Read The part-time financial controller an SME will actually use · 11 min
Bookkeeping practice · 9 April 2026
The wellbeing of a business depends on everyday decisions. Here is a one-day Australian close that produces cash, profit and a BAS you can lodge without a Sunday panic.
Read A month-end close an owner-operator will actually finish · 10 min
Bookkeeping practice · 26 March 2026
The default Xero or MYOB list is not a chart. Here is how to build accounts that match an Australian BAS, a tax return and a conversation with a bank.
Read A chart of accounts for an Australian small business · 10 min
Bookkeeping practice · 12 March 2026
A file that lodges is not the same as a file an accountant can work from. Here is the Australian month-end that survives review, BAS and the year-end meeting.
Read How to keep books a tax agent can actually use · 11 min
BAS and GST · 3 March 2026
Fuel tax credits are not the GST on diesel. Here is how an Australian trades file separates the two, which heavy vehicles and machines usually qualify, which light utes do not, and what to keep so label 7D reprints.
BAS and GST · 24 February 2026
Simpler BAS reports GST on sales, GST on purchases and total sales. That is enough for many Australian small files, and it is how a mixed café or an exporter loses the plot. Here is when to use it and when to go back to full.
BAS and GST · 10 February 2026
Taxable, GST-free and input-taxed are not moods. Here is how an Australian clinic, café or association codes mixed supplies, claims input tax credits, and keeps the tax invoice that makes the credit real.
Bookkeeping practice · 14 January 2026
Cash GST is a timing choice, not a simpler business. Here is how Australian sole traders and companies choose a method, what happens to debtors and WIP, and when a cash activity statement hides a hole.
BAS and GST · 2 December 2025
The due date is not the work. Here are the quarterly and monthly Australian activity-statement dates, the next-business-day rule, the tax-agent concession, and the working-paper habit that makes lodge a reprint.
Read A BAS lodgement calendar that an Australian file can actually keep · 10 min
Bookkeeping practice · 18 November 2025
A bank feed is not a record. Here is what Australian files actually have to keep for five years, what counts as a source document, and how a clinic or a tradie stores it so someone else can find it.
BAS and GST · 28 October 2025
Most Australian businesses must register at $75,000 of GST turnover, non-profits at $150,000, and taxi or ride-share from the first fare. Here is how to measure the threshold, when voluntary registration helps, and how cancellation actually works.
Read When to register for GST · 11 min