recommended music industry accountant in Sydney

[Ben M]

Hi everyone

My accountant has decided to finish up and I was wondering if any Sydneysiders could recommend an accountant that is familiar with the music industry.
Local to the inner west would be preferred.

Thanks in advance.

Ben

[ChrisW]

Had very good outcomes with Electra Frost over the last few years.
http://www.electrafrost.com.au

[Ben M]

Thanks Chris, good to know you've had good outcomes with them. I'll give them a call to discuss. cheers

[TimC]

I used Electra for a few years and found her excellent and thorough..
I moved to Konnaris CPA in Kogarah, as I find them a bit cheaper and they all seem to have different ways of interpreting some laws, his way in certain fields works better for me in regards to touring..
They both finished my consultations with "now, you just need to make some more money"

[The Tasmanian]

Roughly what sort of hourly rate are you guys paying for your accountants?
My guy is WAY too pricey ($250 per hour)
I'm thinking of changing mobs.

[jkhuri44]

^ thats how much I paid this financial yr. i think thats how much it is in general? When doing comprehensive returns i dont think i've ever paid under $220. if there's anything cheaper im all ears!

[The Tasmanian]

OH.... I really chose the wrong career...
But then I think of the old saying:
What do accountants use for contraception?
Their personalities

[jkhuri44]

My accountant was done in about 1.5 hours. so maybe being charged $500 for 2 hours is a bit ridiculous. I just went to HR block....nothing fancy, i had all my expenses, purchases, and stuff, sorted, listed and categorised.
I think if you categorise your returnitems...it makes the process faster...if you just have a massive list of shit you wanna claim, the accountant will prob bill you for trying to work out which category those things go.... you could ask for a list from the ATO which explains the categories, etc.

[ChrisW]

All I can say is that Electra is reasonable costwise, and she's saved me more money (legally) than she cost me in accountancy bills.
I had the same accountant in the UK for over ten years. When I moved here i was all at sea, especially as most of the musicians I asked for a personal recommendation revealed they were looking for an accountant too, having not filed a return for many years.

In desperation I went with my partner's accountant, who literally stitched me up (illegally) with the ATO, gave me bad, outdated advice and over charged me hugely. It was quite a frightening experience, especially having the ATO chasing me when I had done nothing wrong and this accountant had filed returns without my signed permission.

So, in short, if sometimes you have to pay top dollar, it's worth it to me to have peace of mind.

[chribble]

realistically, how much can you make in deductions?
most of it is common and non music industry related right?

stuff like

1) depreciation on assets
2) travel expenditure
3) office/studio operation budget.

is it really industry specific?

[jkhuri44]

-all music you buy, records, cds under "reference material"

- tools, for building and or fixing things in studio as well.

[Alistair]

-Going to gigs (but not the beer you drink at them)

Theres a nice simple depreciation scheme for assets over $1k in value if your business earn less than a few mil a year. 10% of value for the first year, 30% per year for the next 3. To be honest, I just use that rule and do my tax myself. Everything else is simple enough.
Takes about 4-5 hours usually, most of which is just finding receipts which I'd have to do if I went to an accountant anyway.

[ChrisW]

is it really industry specific?

I have different kinds of income - fees, rolling royalties. Plus income that comes in from Europe as well as Australia.
When I was looking for an accountant I sat down with a couple of non-music industry specific guys and they clearly didn't know where to start.

[jon.l.hunter]

Hey a few folk i know have told me about income averaging for creative industries and how that saved them a bomb... worth asking about if your going to an accountant

[rob]

I have a great accountant... but he is in Adelaide and isn't taking on new clients.

He plays guitar, builds tube amps and is damn good at the accounting business. I'm pretty organised and land in his office once a year with all paperwork sorted. So we talk guitars, amps, renovation, holiday destinations for half an hour then we push and pull apart my documentation for half an hour and I walk out and leave him to wrap it up.
I pay exactly and only the amount of tax I should.

[Drumstruck]

makes me think of the python lampoons about "not all accountants are boring" .... erring on the side of caution is part of the bookkeeping business......