Modern Etiquette: 10 things your accountant wishes you'd stop doing.

In 2023, there's one thing that's become alarmingly apparent: No one knows how to behave anymore. 

And it's not our fault. After all, we were locked inside for basically two years. Isolated. Spent a lot of time online wearing stained trackies and watching celebrities make TikToks.

So, in a bid to help remind us all how to behave like polite human beings, we're taking a leaf out of New York Magazine's viral guide to existing in modern society and sharing some new rules.

In the Modern Etiquette series, Mamamia asks people in different fields to share their hard-line dos and don'ts, according to their expertise. We've spoken to hotel staff, hairdressers and therapists. 

And now it's an accountant's turn.

Watch: 5 money lessons your parents told you, that you should probably forget. Post continues below.

Because it's tax time and heading to the accountant for your annual appointment can be daunting. What are we supposed to prepare? (Hang on a sec, are we supposed to prepare anything???) Can we claim the milk in the fridge when we work from home? (Asking for a friend.) Are all these questions really, really annoying?  

To help sort us out, Carmel Lacey, Managing Director of accounting practice Lacey Partners in WA, shares this list of all the things accountants would love us to stop doing.

1. Bringing a shoebox of receipts.

"People, it’s 2023! There is no excuse for bringing us a pile of receipts," Lacey says. 

"We really appreciate when our clients use a program like Excel to summarise expenses and provide us with detail as to what items are. We don’t always know what your receipts are for, it’s not always obvious. Making assumptions can be dangerous. 

"If it’s a couple of receipts, fair enough, otherwise, please organise your claims coherently. If you are a small business, there are some great software packages that can help you organise your records." 

 2. Telling us you’ve been busy.

"Bringing your tax work to us late in the financial year (April to June) or taking a long time to get back to us if we have questions about your work, because you’ve ‘been busy’, does not go down particularly well," says Lacey. 

"In our industry, we are busy most of the year. Our job is demanding, and at times, we put in long hours for our clients to get their work done on time. Please help us help you by responding in a timely manner."

 3. Selling an investment without talking to us first.

Lacey says, "We’ve seen clients make a rough calculation to determine if they will have a capital gain on the sale of an investment without realising the calculation is much more complex than they think, especially when selling an investment property. 

"There are quite often adjustments and addbacks most people are not aware of. It’s always worth having your accountant spend 20 to 30 minutes preparing a more thorough estimate for you. That way, if you do end up in a profit situation, you can discuss options for reducing your tax or putting funds aside to pay the tax."

 4. Not reading what we send you.

"Most accountants will send updates throughout the year on any pertinent changes in legislation that impact their clients. For example, the recent requirement to record all your home office hours from 1 March 2023. 

"You could be missing out on valuable deductions by not paying attention to information sent through to you," Lacey says.

 5. Contacting us in the last week of June for tax planning advice.

"We love to tax plan for clients and save them money! However, we do need a bit of notice. If you are thinking of contributing to super, making a large donation, or purchasing a much needed piece of equipment to reduce your tax, please get in touch with us in plenty of time to allow us to assist you. Most accountants start tax planning in April and May."

6. Getting your tax advice from your friends at the pub.

"How often we hear, ‘A mate told me I could claim this’, or ‘My co-worker reckons I can do this to save tax’. Please, please, please, get your advice from a professional. Sometimes it’s great to discuss ideas with friends, however, you should always check in with your accountant to see if and how a situation may apply to you." 

Listen to this episode of The Quicky on tax-time scams. Post continues below.

 7. Taking funds from a redraw on an investment loan for private purposes.

"You cannot draw back funds from an investment loan for private purposes," Lacey says. "For example, you may have a redraw facility on a rental property loan, be ahead in your repayments, and think it’s okay to draw some of the funds back to go on a holiday or renovate your principal place of residence. 

"Wrong! We see this all the time. The situation can be different if your funds are sitting in an offset facility. It's always best to check with your accountant before you do anything."

8. Refinancing loans without talking to us.

"If you have existing investment loans and are looking at refinancing, beware of finance brokers or banks who advise you to combine existing loans, split loans, or change the borrowings in any way. 

"Split purpose loans take time for us to work out the interest claim, and can end up costing you more in our time and fees. Again, talk to us before you put pen to paper."

9. Investing in Cryptocurrency and not providing a summary at year end.

"Cryptocurrency transactions are typically very onerous to work through. The purchases and sales are usually in odd amounts and increments that are impossible to match up, with multiple pages of transactions for some investors over the course of a year. 

"There are some clever software options that allow you to import all your crypto trades and match the buys and sells, providing us with a simple summary. Be aware too that ‘swaps’ from one currency to another do constitute a disposal (sale) and repurchase, which must be reported to the ATO."

10. Apologising for calling us

"Yes, we are busy people but what drives us is our work and our clients, and doing the best job for you," Lacey emphasises. "We hate to see people make mistakes (see points 1 to 9 above!), because they're afraid to ‘bother us’ with a 10-minute phone call. 

"It’s why we do what we do – to get the best result for our clients. Most of us like talking to people (we are not all grey cardigan-wearing dorks!). Our work can be very intense and sometimes isolating, so some contact with other humans to discuss tax matters is usually very welcome."

Read more Modern Etiquette articles here:

• Modern Etiquette: The 10 things hotel staff wish you'd stop doing.
• Modern Etiquette: The 12 things teachers wish parents would stop doing and saying.
• Modern Etiquette: The 10 things makeup artists really wish you'd stop doing.

What do you think of the above dos and dont's? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Feature image: Canva.