What Does the ATO Actually Say About Overseas Bookkeepers?
The Australian Taxation Office does not restrict or regulate who prepares your business financial records. There is no law, regulation, or ATO guideline that says bookkeeping must be performed by an Australian resident or a locally based firm.
What the ATO does require is straightforward:
- Financial records must be accurate and reflect actual transactions
- Records must be retained for a minimum of five years
- GST records must be kept in a form that can be audited
- BAS statements must be lodged correctly and on time
None of these requirements say anything about where the bookkeeper is located. Thousands of Australian businesses — from sole traders to medium enterprises — already use offshore bookkeeping services, and the ATO has no issue with this practice as long as the records are accurate and compliant.
The One Rule You Must Follow — BAS Lodgement
This is where many Australian business owners get confused, and it is important to understand the distinction clearly.
Under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA), anyone who provides BAS services for a fee — including lodging a BAS with the ATO — must be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB). TPB registration requires Australian residency and relevant qualifications.
In practice, this means a simple two-step process:
- Your Indian bookkeeper prepares the BAS — all reconciliation, GST calculations, and review done offshore at A$12–A$22/hr
- Your Australian accountant or BAS agent reviews and lodges it — this review typically takes 15–30 minutes and costs a fraction of what full-service BAS preparation costs locally
Many of our Australian clients at Sharma Jyoti and Co use exactly this model. We prepare a complete, reviewed BAS package — your local accountant simply checks and clicks submit. You get offshore cost savings without any compliance gap.
What Australian Privacy Law Says About Sending Data to India
The second concern Australian business owners raise is data privacy. Sending financial records — which contain employee details, supplier information, and business transactions — to an overseas firm is governed by the Privacy Act 1988 and specifically Australian Privacy Principle 8 (APP 8).
APP 8 does not prohibit overseas disclosure. It requires you to take reasonable steps to ensure the overseas recipient handles personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles. In plain terms:
- Use a firm with a signed confidentiality and data protection agreement
- Ensure data is transferred via secure, encrypted channels (not email attachments without encryption)
- Confirm the firm has a clear data handling and deletion policy
- Know where your data is stored and who has access to it
Any professional CA firm operating internationally will have these protections in place as standard. At Sharma Jyoti and Co, all client data is handled under a signed NDA, transferred via secure portals, and never shared with third parties.
What Can Australian Businesses Legally Outsource to India?
The following services are fully legal to outsource to an Indian bookkeeping firm with no restriction:
| Service | Can Indian Firm Do It? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction coding and data entry | ✅ Yes | No restriction |
| Bank reconciliation | ✅ Yes | No restriction |
| Accounts payable / receivable | ✅ Yes | No restriction |
| Payroll processing | ✅ Yes | No restriction |
| BAS preparation (figures and reconciliation) | ✅ Yes | Preparation only — not lodgement |
| GST reconciliation | ✅ Yes | No restriction |
| Monthly P&L and balance sheet | ✅ Yes | No restriction |
| Xero / MYOB data management | ✅ Yes | No restriction |
| BAS lodgement with the ATO | ❌ No | Requires TPB-registered agent in Australia |
| Tax return lodgement | ❌ No | Requires registered tax agent in Australia |
How Australian Businesses Structure This Compliantly
The most common compliant setup used by our Australian clients is straightforward:
- Day-to-day bookkeeping — handled entirely by Sharma Jyoti and Co at A$12–A$22/hr using Xero or MYOB
- BAS preparation — we prepare the complete BAS package each quarter, ready for review
- BAS lodgement — client's local accountant or BAS agent (often billed at 30 minutes, not hours) reviews and lodges via the ATO portal
- Year-end tax return — Australian tax agent handles this using the workpapers we prepare
This structure gives you 80–90% of your bookkeeping costs offshore at Indian rates, while keeping the regulated activities — BAS and tax lodgement — with your Australian-registered advisors. The saving is typically A$15,000–A$40,000 per year for a small-to-medium Australian business.
Cost Comparison — Local vs Indian Bookkeeper for Australian Businesses
| Option | Hourly Rate | Monthly Cost (80 hrs) | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local Australian bookkeeper | A$45–A$80/hr | A$3,600–A$6,400 | A$43,000–A$77,000 |
| Australian bookkeeping firm | A$70–A$100/hr | A$5,600–A$8,000 | A$67,000–A$96,000 |
| Sharma Jyoti and Co (India) | A$12–A$22/hr | A$960–A$1,760 | A$11,500–A$21,000 |
The saving is not marginal. For a business using 80 hours of bookkeeping per month, outsourcing to India saves between A$31,000 and A$55,000 per year — with the same accounting software, the same output, and full ATO compliance.
Written by Sharma Jyoti, CA (ICAI) — Founder, Sharma Jyoti and Co. We are an ICAI-registered Chartered Accountant firm providing outsourced bookkeeping and BAS preparation to Australian SMEs. Learn more about our firm →
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