Retail Shop

Bookkeeping for Sydney retail shops

You open the doors at 9. You close at 6. The books should not be the third shift.

Sound familiar?

If any of these describe your week, you are not alone — and you do not have to keep doing it yourself.

POS and bank never match

Eftpos settlements, cash takings, gift cards, and refunds — the POS says one number, the bank says another. Reconciling them takes longer than it should.

Stock control is manual and unreliable

You know roughly what you have. You do not know what you should have. Shrinkage, miscounts, and supplier discrepancies eat your margin invisibly.

Staff costs are your biggest expense and your biggest unknown

Rostering, award rates, penalty rates, leave accruals — if payroll is not right, your biggest cost line is also your biggest risk.

What we handle for you

Every item below is done by our team and reviewed by your CPA. You do not touch any of it.

  • POS-to-bank daily reconciliation
  • Stock adjustment tracking and cost-of-goods reporting
  • Payroll processing with retail award compliance
  • BAS preparation with correct GST on all revenue and expenses
  • Accounts payable management for supplier invoices
  • Monthly trading report — sales, margin, and labour cost ratio

The outcome

Your till balances daily. Your stock is tracked. Your payroll is award-compliant. And your monthly report tells you whether the shop is actually profitable — not just busy.

They set up POS reconciliation and found $2K per month in settlement discrepancies we had been missing for a year.

Retail shop owner, Balmain

Common questions from retail shops

Do I charge GST on gift cards?

No. Gift cards are not a supply — they are a payment method. GST is charged when the card is redeemed, not when it is purchased. We set up your accounting to defer the GST liability until redemption.

How do I account for stock shrinkage?

Shrinkage (theft, damage, spoilage) is a cost of goods adjustment. We reconcile physical stock counts against system records at least quarterly and adjust the inventory valuation accordingly. This gives you accurate margin numbers and correct year-end financials.

Is the shop fit-out deductible?

Fit-out costs are capital expenditure, depreciable over their effective life (or the lease term, whichever is shorter). Some items may qualify for instant asset write-off. We build a depreciation schedule that maximises your claim.

Need tax and advisory too?

Tax structuring, advisory, and strategic planning for your industry — from the same team.

Ready to talk?

15 minutes. No obligation. We assess whether our specialisations match your situation. If they don't, we'll tell you straight.