IntermediateBEHAVIORAL
Tell me about a time you managed the end-to-end month-end process remotely for an Australian client, including reconciliations, BAS preparation, and reporting. How did you organise your workflow, deal with missing information from stakeholders, and ensure deadlines were met?
Remote Australian Bookkeeper
General

Sample Answer

For one Brisbane-based client in construction, I owned the full month-end remotely for about 40 entities. I worked in Xero and a shared folder structure, with a standard checklist that covered bank/credit card reconciliations, payroll journals, intercompany loans, BAS workpapers, and management reports. I blocked out the first three business days for reconciliations and review, and days four to six for BAS prep and reporting. To handle missing info, I set up a simple “information required” tracker in Trello, colour-coded by urgency, and sent one consolidated email every second day instead of ad hoc chasers. I also created cut-off rules: if invoices weren’t supplied by day three, they rolled to next month unless material. That structure cut our month-end from 10 days to consistently 6, BAS was lodged on time for 12 straight quarters, and ATO queries dropped because our workpapers clearly tied to the GL.

Keywords

Standardised month-end checklist and timelineUse of simple remote tools (Trello, shared folders) for visibilityClear cut-off rules and consolidated communication to stakeholdersTangible improvements in cycle time and ATO/BAS accuracy