The Bookkeeper Event 2026

Get ready to be energised with keynote speaker Anthony Laye, a behaviour expert who helps his audience understand the hidden drivers behind how people think, communicate and make decisions. In this engaging session, Anthony will reveal how subtle behavioral signals shape trust, influence and outcomes in every interaction. In a world of AI and constant change, he’ll show why human behaviour remains your greatest advantage. You’ll walk away with practical tools to read the room, communicate with clarity and show up with confidence when it matters most.

Change has always been a defining feature of our profession. From the introduction of GST in 2000 to the many reforms and developments that have followed, adapting to new challenges and opportunities has become part of our DNA. While change can sometimes feel daunting, it also creates opportunities for growth, innovation, and success. In this session, Clayton explores where the profession stands today and examines the latest wave of changes shaping our future. Join him as he unpacks what these developments mean in practice and highlights the opportunities available for those ready to embrace them.

Every bookkeeper in the room would have felt the pain, chaos and consequences of employee onboarding in the post-Payday Super world. We’ll share three months of post-Payday Super data on stapling, MVRs and employer readiness to show which problems have been solved, and which remain. Benchmark your personal experience against all employers and discover the chaos is not your own.

Grant has taken on an ambitious role that centres on improving the way the ATO interacts with BAS Agents and will join us and share his vision for the ATO’s interaction with BAS Agents into the future.

The Federal Budget has put important tax and structural issues on the horizon for small businesses — and for BAS Agents themselves. This panel-led session focuses on the issues BAS Agents most need to understand and identify. Particular emphasis will be placed on the proposed discretionary trust changes and the potential need for some clients - and some BAS Agents - to review whether their existing structures remain appropriate. Other relevant measures, including asset write-offs, CGT and investment property issues, will also be considered through the practical lens of what BAS Agents need to recognise and refer for specialist advice. Drawing on tax agent and BAS Agent perspectives, the session will use practical examples and diagrams to highlight the big issues without turning BAS Agents into tax advisers.

The bookkeeping industry is evolving faster than ever. With AI, automation, and smart software rapidly reducing manual data entry and transactional work, many bookkeepers are asking the same question…What does the future of bookkeeping actually look like? The truth is this: the future does not belong to the historian who simply tells clients how they performed last year. It belongs to the strategic financial partner who helps clients understand where they are going next. Professional bookkeepers already possess something incredibly valuable — deep financial visibility into the heart of a business. The opportunity now is learning how to leverage that insight to become a cash flow strategist, growth partner, and Virtual CFO-style leader for your clients. In this powerful and practical session, you’ll discover how to confidently evolve in the age of AI, elevate your value by leveraging compliance work, and step into the higher-level services that modern businesses truly need. We’ll explore how to transition from transactional bookkeeping into a “Strategic Financial Partner” through: • cash flow forecasting, • management reporting, • strategic financial conversations, • business growth insights, • and AI tools that can amplify your expertise, communication, and confidence.

AI is changing the way bookkeeping services are delivered, but it doesn't diminish the value bookkeepers bring to their clients. In fact, as efficiency increases, the opportunity to rethink how services are priced has never been greater. This session will explore modern approaches to pricing, profitability and value creation in a rapidly evolving profession. From fixed fees and packaged services to communicating value and managing client expectations, discover how successful firms are adapting their pricing strategies to remain competitive, profitable and future-ready.

How to Bulletproof Your Client’s Business

• As a bookkeeper, you’re across the ins and outs of your client’s business and often have a clear view of their personal position as well. But when things go wrong, the outcome often comes down to how the business was set up.
• This session will give you clear options available to provide added protection to your client’s business and personal assets. You will walk away understanding where clients are often exposed in times of crisis, and what can be put in place early to better protect them when it matters most.

The New BAS Workflow: Less Stress, More Margin

• BAS does not have to be the high-stress, high-friction service it has become in many practices. This session explores how better client setup, cleaner workflows and AI assistance can reduce rework, cut write-offs, improve review quality and help bookkeepers process more BAS without adding headcount.
• You will see why the biggest gains come from fixing the work upstream, not just working harder at quarter-end, and how AI can act like a trusted co-pilot by surfacing issues early while keeping you firmly in control of review and sign-off.
• If you want to turn BAS into a more scalable, profitable and client-friendly service, this session will give you a practical view of what that looks like and why now is the time to get started.

Using AI for your BAS Practice has moved well beyond…. “how do I write a better prompt” — instead, AI should be used as a practical lever for running a smarter, more efficient BAS Agent practice. ABN Director Kelvin Deer explores in detail, The AI Opportunity Ladder, and how BAS Agents can move from simple productivity gains to improved workflows, stronger compliance processes, added client value and new services, through the use of AI. Delegates will leave with a clearer view of where AI can safely and practically fit inside their practice, and how the AI change can create real commercial opportunity.

Australian Bookkeepers Association (ABA) directors work tirelessly for its members in representing them in government forums. Hear from ABA directors as they discuss the major changes and challenges impacting the profession and the current issues that are most relevant to BAS Agents and Bookkeepers.

Every bookkeeper has lived through a change that, in hindsight turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened in their business lives- even if it didn’t feel like it at the time. Cloud accounting, Xero, COVID, offshoring threats, losing a major client or a health scare that forced you to look honestly at how you were spending your time each week. Each one follows the same pattern: change strips something away, reveals what was load-bearing and what was just noise and hands you a choice about what to rebuild. The biggest changes are on our doorstep and we have a profession now asking, what its time is actually for? I’ll share a simple framework I’ve used for 25 years in owning a bookkeeping firm, then accounting firm and now SAAS business, while raising two girls on my own. You’ll leave with the framework to one of the only questions that matter when change arrives: what is your time actually for? Change creates opportunity- but only if you do the choosing deliberately, before life does it for you.

Every wave of change that has disrupted the bookkeeping profession has quietly created a new opportunity and payroll is one of the biggest ones most bookkeepers are failing to capitalise on. APA CEO Ross Heron draws on his experience building a payroll outsourcing business from startup to successful exit via an ASX listed global payroll provider to show you how to transform payroll from an accidental service into a deliberate, premium and highly saleable business model. You'll walk away with a concrete shopping list of actions to elevate your payroll offering, attract new clients and build a more profitable business.

Be inspired by keynote speaker Matina Jewell, whose remarkable journey from the frontlines of conflict to the boardroom brings a powerful perspective on resilience and leadership. Through her story, Matina will challenge you to rethink how you respond to adversity and equip you with the mindset to move forward with confidence and purpose.