Situations we sort out
An ATO review is a test of evidence. Sit it prepared.
A review or audit letter is not an accusation — it is a request to show your workings. The mistake is answering fast instead of answering well. We build the evidence file first, then respond.
An ATO review or audit letter does two things at once: it asks specific questions, and it starts a record. Everything said in reply becomes part of that record, which is why the instinct to ring up and explain — quickly, apologetically, from memory — is the instinct to resist. The letter deserves an answer built from documents, delivered once, in order.
Broadly, a review is the ATO checking a position and an audit is the ATO examining one — the practical difference for you is depth, formality and what gets requested. In both, the same thing decides the outcome: whether the figures can be substantiated. Our work is to establish what is actually being asked, gather the records that answer it, and put the response in writing with the evidence indexed to each question.
With your authority, the correspondence runs through this office: requests logged, response dates managed, nothing answered casually. And if the work uncovers a position that was wrong, we say so and correct it properly — a documented correction is a better fact in a review than a defended error. That judgment, between what holds and what needs fixing, is the core of the service.
What we see when the letter arrives
- Explanations given by phone in the first anxious week that the file then has to live with.
- Responses that answer questions the ATO never asked, and open doors it had not.
- Sound positions that look weak because the evidence was never assembled in one place.
- Extensions never requested, so a considered answer becomes a rushed one.
How we answer
Scope established first
We read the letter for what it actually asks — the years, the items, the information sought — and confirm the scope before a word goes back.
Your position tested privately
Before the ATO tests a figure, we do: each questioned item is traced to its records, so you know what holds before anyone answers.
The evidence file, indexed
Records gathered into one file and indexed to each question, so the reviewer receives answers rather than a pile.
The ATO deals with us
With your authority the ATO's contact point becomes this office. You stop interpreting letters alone; we answer them from the file, in writing.
Corrections made properly
If a position cannot be substantiated, we say so, correct it through the proper channel, and record the reasoning — candour, documented.
The outcome retained
However the matter ends, the correspondence, evidence and final position stay on file — so the same question never needs answering twice.
A review tests whether figures can be shown — the eight proofs exist so that, when the question comes, the file already answers it. See our method →
Common questions
I've just received a review letter. What should I do in the first week?
Read it, note any response date, and resist the urge to ring the ATO and explain from memory. Then get advice before anything is said. Once appointed, we confirm the scope, tell you what records matter, and where more time is genuinely needed we request it — a considered answer beats a fast one.
What is the difference between a review and an audit?
In broad terms, a review is the ATO checking whether a position needs closer attention, and an audit is that closer attention — more formal, more detailed, more documentation requested. The labels matter less than the response: both are answered the same way, with substantiated figures and evidence organised against each question. We prepare for a review as if it could become an audit, because sometimes one does.
Should I just call the ATO and explain the situation myself?
You can, but understand what a call is: statements made without the records in front of you, on a line that forms part of the ATO's file. Most people under review are honest, and most explain badly under pressure. The safer sequence is evidence first, explanation second — and once we hold your authority, the explaining is done in writing, from documents.
What if the review finds something actually wrong in my return?
Then it is corrected — properly, through the right channel, with the reasoning documented. Defending a figure the evidence does not support is not a strategy; it converts a fixable issue into a credibility problem. Part of our first pass is telling you frankly which positions hold and which do not, so any correction is offered on our terms rather than extracted.
The review covers years another accountant prepared. Can you still act?
Yes. With your authority we take over the correspondence, obtain what the ATO holds, and request the working papers from the previous accountant. We deal with the years as they stand — whoever prepared them — because the review is about the evidence behind the figures, not about who typed them in.
Can you guarantee the outcome of a review or audit?
No, and be wary of anyone who says otherwise. Outcomes rest with the ATO and on the facts. What we control is the quality of the response: the position tested honestly, the evidence assembled and indexed, corrections made where they are due, and every exchange conducted in writing by a registered tax agent. That is what a reviewer can work with, and what protects you.
General information only — not tax, legal or financial advice. Advice specific to your circumstances is provided within a signed engagement.
Related reading
Speak to the person who signs the return.
Consultations are with a registered tax agent — by phone or video, wherever you are in Australia.