After-Hours Answering Service for Tax Agents and Small Practices

Say it's twenty to eight on a Thursday in late October. Your office shut at half five. The lights are off and the front desk phone starts ringing.

On the other end is a café owner. Call her Jo. She's made up, but you've met her plenty of times.

Jo has just closed up her own shop. Her quarterly BAS is due on the 28th and she hasn't started it. There's also a letter from the ATO on her kitchen bench that she's been worrying about all afternoon. She wants someone to tell her it's going to be fine.

The phone rings out. Voicemail picks up. Jo doesn't leave a message. She opens her laptop and starts looking for another accountant.

That's the call this article is about.

An after-hours answering service for tax agents picks up your practice's phone when you can't: evenings, weekends and those weeks in October when it never stops. It takes the caller's name, number and reason for ringing, and gets that to you so you can call back. It shouldn't give tax advice, it has to keep client information confidential, and it should never write down a tax file number.

Who rings a tax practice after hours

Plenty of your clients run their own businesses, so they ring after their own workday. Which means after yours.

Tax time is the first lot. People who lodge their own return have to do it by 31 October. The ATO also says that if you're using a tax agent for the first time, or changing agents, "you should contact them before 31 October to be part of their lodgment program" (ATO: Lodge with a registered tax agent). So October brings new people trying to get onto someone's list. Some will try you at night.

Then there's BAS. Quarterly BAS is due on 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July, and monthly BAS is due on the 21st of the following month. You can get extra time if you lodge through a registered tax or BAS agent (ATO: Due dates for lodging and paying your BAS). The week before each due date, the owners who are behind start ringing, often after dinner.

ATO letters are the third lot. The ATO's phone lines are open 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday (ATO: Contact us). Someone who opens a letter on a Thursday night can't ring the ATO, so they ring you. They're worried, and they want to know someone will call back.

And then there are new clients, like a sole trader who's finally given up doing their own books. If nobody answers, the next practice on the list is one tap away.

None of these people need advice at 8 pm. Not one. They need to be heard, and they need a call back from you.

Deciding how to cover the phone during the day as well? We've laid out voicemail, your mobile, a human answering service and an AI receptionist side by side.

Your four options

You've really got four ways to handle Jo's call.

Voicemail costs nothing. But you only hear from people who leave a message, and plenty of new callers won't. Jo didn't.

Your own mobile means clients reach someone who knows their file. The cost is your evenings, and in October that adds up fast.

A human answering service puts a trained person on the line in your practice's name. Ask which hours they actually cover and whether they know what BAS and lodgement mean.

An AI receptionist answers every call and sends you a written summary. Some callers would rather talk to a person, and an AI that's set up badly can say things it shouldn't. Check its guardrails before you trust it with your clients.

You can also mix them. One way is an AI receptionist after hours that puts truly urgent calls through to the principal's mobile.

What to check before you pick one

Whoever answers Jo's call is handling a client's affairs. For a registered tax agent, that matters. The TPB Code of Professional Conduct says: "Unless you have a legal duty to do so, you must not disclose any information relating to a client's affairs to a third party without your client's permission" (TPB: Code of Professional Conduct). So ask any service where recordings and transcripts are stored, who can see them, which outside providers handle them, and whether it'll delete them if you ask. Get the answers in writing.

TFNs need their own question. The Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015 says TFN recipients "must take reasonable steps to safeguard TFN information from loss, unauthorised access" and other misuse (OAIC: The Privacy (TFN) Rule 2015). A phone message is no place for a TFN. Ask what the service does when a caller starts reading one out. If the answer is "we write it down", keep looking.

Then there's advice. "Is it deductible?" is a question for you, not for whoever picks up your phone. A good service books a time with you. It doesn't have a go at answering.

Last, look at what reaches you: name, number, what they need and how urgent it is, fast. For a new client, a consultation booked during the call beats "someone will call you back".

What Mia does with Jo's call

Mia is the AI receptionist we build at RipperReceptionist. Here's the same Thursday night with Mia answering.

The phone rings at twenty to eight and Mia picks up. The call opens with your practice's name and a recording disclosure, same as it would at ten in the morning. She answers every call, 24/7, on every plan. Starter included.

Jo says she's behind on her BAS and she's got a letter from the ATO. Mia's speech recognition is tuned to the words your callers actually use (BAS, SMSF, ATO, PAYG, lodgement), so none of that trips her up. When Jo gives her surname, Mia spells it back if it's unclear. She doesn't guess.

Then Jo asks the question everyone asks. Can she claim the new coffee machine? Mia won't answer that. That's your billable work, so she offers a consultation. On Pro, Mia books it straight into your RipperReceptionist calendar, checked live against your hours and existing bookings. If the time Jo wants is taken, Mia offers another.

Halfway through, Jo starts reading out her TFN "so you've got it". Mia stops her before it lands in any note.

When Jo asks when her BAS is due, Mia knows. BAS quarters, individual return deadlines and monthly IAS dates are on her calendar, and she gives dates as logistics, never as advice.

When Jo hangs up, a summary reaches you by SMS within seconds. The full transcript and an AI summary are waiting on the call's page. On Pro, hot leads are flagged on your dashboard with the reason. And if a call really can't wait till morning, you can set rules so Mia transfers urgent callers to your mobile.

A few honest notes. Recordings are kept for up to 12 months, and you can turn recording off on Pro and Pro Max. Voice is paid from call credit you top up. If your credit hits $0, Mia stops answering until you top up, rather than billing you. On Xero, invoices and contacts export in Xero's import format today, plus a quarterly BAS-period summary. Native Xero sync is coming soon. Plans and the per-minute rate are on the pricing page, and our Privacy Policy names each outside provider we use.

Setting it up

You keep your number. Clients keep ringing the one they know.

1. Sign up and finish onboarding. Paste your website so Mia learns your services and hours. Then set your rules: what to capture and when to transfer.
2. Pick your forwarding type. In the dashboard, open Settings, then Forwarding, and choose your carrier. You'll see the codes with your Mia number filled in:
   • Always forward sends every call to Mia. On a mobile, dial it when you leave the office and cancel it in the morning. Telstra, Optus and Vodafone mobiles use **21*<your Mia number>#.
   • When unanswered sends a call to Mia only if you don't pick up. Once it's set, it covers after hours on its own. Telstra, Optus and Vodafone mobiles use **61*<your Mia number>**10#.
   • Telstra landline: *21*<your Mia number># (always) or *61*<your Mia number># (unanswered). For other landlines, ask your provider. For a 1300 number, change the routing in your provider's portal. Many providers can route by time of day.
3. Test it. Ring your own number from another phone. Mia should answer.
4. To switch off: dial ##21# to cancel always-forward, or ##002# to cancel all forwarding. It takes effect immediately.

Setup takes about five minutes. Every plan comes with a 14-day refund, and you only pay for the minutes you use. There's no lock-in.

Before you sign up, ring Mia yourself on the demo line: +61 2 4072 7246. Ask her about the coffee machine. Or read more about our AI receptionist for accountants.

If you're still not sure after-hours calls matter, start with What Does a Missed Call Cost an Accounting Practice?.

So, back to Jo. Next time she rings at twenty to eight, someone picks up. She gets a time with you, you get a text with her details, and she's got no reason to go looking for another accountant.

Set up Mia for your practice

Frequently asked questions

Do tax agents need an after-hours answering service?

Not every practice does. If your clients are small business owners who ring after their own workday, or you get a rush before BAS dates and 31 October, an after-hours service means those calls get answered and logged instead of going to voicemail.

Can an answering service give my clients tax advice?

It shouldn't. Mia never answers questions like "Is it deductible?" on the phone. She books a consultation instead, because that answer is your billable work.

What happens if a caller reads out their TFN?

Mia stops them before it lands in any note. Whichever service you choose, ask how it handles TFNs. The Privacy (TFN) Rule 2015 requires TFN recipients to take reasonable steps to safeguard TFN information.

What should I ask about where call data is stored?

Ask any service, human or AI, where call recordings and transcripts are stored, who can see them and which outside providers handle them. Ask whether they'll delete records if you ask. Get the answers in writing.

Can I keep my existing phone number?

Yes. You forward your existing number to Mia using your carrier's code. You can cancel forwarding at any time by dialling ##002#.

Does Mia work with Xero?

Invoices and contacts export in Xero's import format today, plus a quarterly BAS-period summary. Native Xero sync is coming soon.