A Brisbane plumbing business, 14 staff, one bookkeeper. She'd been there nine years. On a Wednesday, she went into hospital and didn't come back to work for six weeks.
What broke first
- Payroll — no one else knew the STP submission process.
- Supplier payments — approvals lived in her head.
- The BAS was due in ten days.
- The bank had two-factor on her phone.
What they wish they'd done
One afternoon, once a year, sitting down and writing: if this person didn't come in tomorrow, what would we not know? Bank logins, approval limits, the accountant's mobile, which supplier accepts which payment method. Not a fancy document. A shared note.
"It cost us $18,000 in accountant fees and late payments. It would've cost us an afternoon."