• Organised
• Communicates well
• Is genuinely invested in their clients
• Maintains their own development and learning
• Whilst delivering quality work;

Will convince themselves that not yet holding BAS agent registration makes them less worthy of the work. It does not. BAS agent registration is a genuine professional achievement — one worth working towards — but clients are not evaluating you against it. They are evaluating whether you are someone they can trust, rely on, and contact when they need you, and whether the work you produce is accurate and consistent.

Those qualities are yours. And this is not an open-ended arrangement. You are working towards your own BAS agent licence. Every client you work with, every BAS you facilitate the preparation for, and every hour you log under supervision is building towards that goal.

Why Transparency Is Not Just Encouraged — It Is Required

Under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA), anyone providing BAS services to clients for a fee must do so either as a registered BAS agent or under the supervision of one. This is not a formality. It is a legal requirement, and one we take seriously at BAS Advisory Group.

It is also important to be clear on what this means in practice. The mentee does not charge for BAS services. They cannot. Under the TASA, charging a fee for BAS services requires registration. What the mentee does is facilitate the process, they prepare the BAS work as part of their broader bookkeeping service. BAS Advisory Group, as the registered agent, carries the authority for that work and invoices the client separately for the lodgement fee. The mentee’s role and the agent’s role are distinct, and the engagement agreement makes that clear to the client from the outset.

And consider the alternative. A client who finds out after the fact that work was done unlawfully — or that they never properly understood the legal obligations involved — loses trust in a way that is very hard to recover from. That outcome is far more damaging to the relationship, and to your reputation, than an honest conversation at the start. The supervised pathway exists precisely to prevent that. It protects the client and it protects you.

What We Provide to Support the Conversation

Mentees under our program do not walk into this conversation without support. We provide everything needed to set the engagement up correctly from day one:

• Engagement agreement terms ready for client use
• Advertising statements and guidance on what mentees can and cannot promote under their own name
• BAS agent authority arrangements so lodgements are properly authorised
• A supervision structure that is documented, auditable, and defensible

The engagement agreement wording we use frames the supervision arrangement in positive terms. The client benefits from the bookkeeper’s hands-on knowledge of their business and the oversight of an experienced, registered agent. It is presented honestly and professionally, and clients consistently accept it.

The Mentee Retains Full Client Ownership

One concern we occasionally hear is whether bringing BAS Advisory Group into the arrangement changes the nature of the client relationship. It does not.

The mentee remains the client’s bookkeeper. They are the primary point of contact. They manage the day-to-day relationship, the communication, the bookkeeping work, and the client’s overall experience. BAS Advisory Group works in the background — reviewing work, providing guidance, and handling lodgement authority. We support the mentee. We do not step in front of them.

For the client, the arrangement looks and feels like working with their bookkeeper, because that is exactly what they are doing.

How to Frame the Conversation

The mentees who handle this conversation most confidently are the ones who approach it as a business strength, not an apology. A practical way to frame it:

“I run my own bookkeeping business and I am working towards my BAS agent registration. While I am completing that process, my BAS work is reviewed and lodged by a registered BAS agent at BAS Advisory Group. That means before anything is submitted to the ATO, it has gone through a compliance review. You are getting my work and an added layer of quality assurance.”

That framing is accurate. It is professional. And it positions the supervision arrangement as something that benefits the client rather than something that limits the bookkeeper.

What Clients Actually Care About

Most clients are not concerned about registration status. What they want is a bookkeeper they can trust, someone reliable who they can contact when they need to, and confidence that the work being done is accurate and compliant. A mentee who is transparent about their situation, communicates clearly, stays on top of their client’s books, and operates within a structured compliance framework delivers all of that.

The supervision arrangement is not a gap in the service. It is part of what makes the service credible.

In most cases, once the client understands what the arrangement actually involves, they have no reservations. The clients who raise questions are usually satisfied once the engagement agreement is explained. And the clients who are genuinely not comfortable with the arrangement are, in truth, not the right fit at this stage — and that is fine too.

The Bigger Picture

Being under supervision is not a weakness in your service offering. It is evidence that you are operating lawfully, that there is accountability behind your work, and that you are serious enough about your profession to build your business the right way.

That is something worth telling clients directly. And it is something worth believing about yourself.

If you are a bookkeeper building your business while working towards BAS agent registration, BAS Advisory Group provides the supervision structure, compliance framework, and ongoing support to help you operate with confidence.