AI & Automation · Tax Agent ASIC Fee Management

Tax Agent ASIC Fee Management

An internal tool built for a Melbourne tax agent practice

The whole process runs itself. People review, then send.

The fee reminder tool runs on the practice's own network

Before and after

Each year the practice sends ASIC fee reminders to several hundred companies it acts for. Each email was once researched, dated, addressed and logged by hand. Every step carried a risk of omission, duplication or miscalculation.

Before: each email prepared by hand

  1. Sign in to the ASIC agent system and find each annual statement in turn.
  2. Download the outstanding-fees report and reconcile each company against it.
  3. Work out the due date and late-fee band by hand.
  4. Search past correspondence and the practice software for the contact's name and email address.
  5. Copy the previous year's email and amend the company name, amount and dates.
  6. Prepare a separate bilingual version for Chinese-speaking clients.
  7. Download the statement and invoice as attachments, and BCC a copy for the practice's records.
  8. Record each email in the ledger, follow up before the due date, and check for payment every few days.

Every step was done by hand, and each was open to omission, duplication or miscalculation.

Now: the system prepares, staff review and send

  1. A staff member syncs ASIC notices and the outstanding-fees report in one step.
  2. The status engine applies ASIC's rules to identify each company's stage and calculate its due date. Amounts are read from the outstanding-fees report.
  3. The system drafts the first notice and each follow-up reminder, with bilingual text, attachments and BCC in place.
  4. Each salutation uses the contact's name. Where none is on record, the draft is highlighted in yellow.
  5. Each draft is checked item by item, and any that fails is held back from review.
  6. A staff member reviews and approves each draft.
  7. The signed-in staff member sends it. The mailbox is checked first, so no email goes out twice.
  8. The mailbox syncs on a schedule, filing replies and bounces under the relevant company. Once the fees report shows payment, reminders for that company close.

The 142 companies tracked this cycle move through these stages

  1. S1 Notice window
  2. S2 Reminder before the due date
  3. S3 Telephone follow-up before the due date
  4. S4 Overdue follow-up, or closed on payment

A fee is not overdue on its due date. Amounts are always taken from ASIC's own report.

Principal functions

  • 01

    ASIC portal and one-step sync

    From any office computer, staff can sign in to the app, access the ASIC agent system within it and sync in one step. They enter their own ASIC credentials, which the system neither stores nor fills in.

  • 02

    Status engine

    Identifies each company's stage under ASIC's rules, calculates due dates and reads amounts from the fees report. Companies being deregistered are excluded automatically.

  • 03

    Drafting

    Initial notices and follow-ups are drafted in rounds, modelled on correspondence the practice has actually sent, with bilingual text, attachments and BCC complete.

  • 04

    Review and send

    The review page sets out the checks on each draft. Once approved, drafts are sent by the signed-in staff member in small batches, never all at once.

  • 05

    Mailbox sync

    The practice's mailboxes sync on a schedule, with sent mail, replies and bounces filed under the relevant company.

  • 06

    Audit trail

    Every script run and every click is recorded: who acted, when, and what was done.

The ASIC portal is now live, and synchronisation no longer depends on any single computer.

It also covers BAS and tax return reminders.

Security and operational controls

  • Email is sent only by people

    AI and scripts prepare drafts only. Only a signed-in staff member can send an approved draft, and nothing is sent on a timer or automatically.

  • No tax file numbers

    Tax file numbers are never read, stored or displayed, and every release is scanned for them.

  • Staff sign in to ASIC themselves

    The system neither stores nor enters ASIC login passwords.

  • No duplicate emails

    The mailbox is checked at the moment of sending, and anything already sent is skipped.

  • Wording with a source

    Templates keep the practice's own wording. New phrasing is decided by staff on the template page, never by AI.

  • Practice network only

    It runs only on the practice's own network, requires a login, and read-only roles cannot send.

  • Every change is traceable

    Each release must pass its release checks and 194 tests before it is installed. Every action is recorded in the audit trail.

Results, and how they are counted

  • 657

    fee reminder emails sent in the past twelve months, per the practice's records

  • 142

    companies tracked by stage this cycle

  • 6,658

    emails synced and searchable by company

  • 194

    automated tests run before every release

As at 18 October 2026. The figure of 657 is the practice's recorded twelve-month total, not the volume handled since the tool went live.

VJO is not a tax agent and does not lodge or pay anything with ASIC on anyone's behalf. The tool was built for the practice and is operated by its staff.

The practice is not named. Figures are drawn from the practice's ledger and system records as at 18 October 2026. Time saved has not been measured, so no figure is given.

If your practice has recurring paperwork of this kind, one task can be piloted first.

The first consultation is free. Whether or not we work together, you receive a one-page written recommendation.

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