Brewing is one of the most heavily taxed businesses you can run in Australia, and excise is where breweries and distilleries most often come unstuck. Between tracking your excise liability on everything you send to market, applying the remission scheme correctly, and keeping on top of an excise system that indexes twice a year, a brewery needs a bookkeeper who understands excise, not one who treats it as an afterthought and lands you with a liability you did not see coming.

Published: July 2026

If your brewery is not tracking excise and the remission cap properly, start with proper monthly bookkeeping and read on.

What a brewery bookkeeper actually does differently

• Excise liability tracking. Beer and spirits are excisable, and excise duty is generally payable on what you enter into the domestic market for home consumption. Your bookkeeping has to track this liability accurately, because it is often the single largest tax the business faces.
• The remission scheme. Eligible manufacturers receive a full automatic remission of excise duty up to a cap, which increased to $400,000 per financial year from 1 July 2026. You must keep records of how much remission you have applied, because once you hit the cap you pay full excise on everything after it. Tracking your position against the cap through the year is essential.
• The draught beer freeze. Draught beer excise rates are frozen for two years from August 2025, while packaged beer, spirits and RTDs continue to index. This changes the relative economics of your keg versus packaged product, and your bookkeeping and pricing should reflect it.
• Stock, WIP and payroll. Raw materials, work in progress in the tanks, and finished stock all tie up cash and need tracking, alongside payroll, run through our payroll service, with super paid each payday under the Payday Super rules.

Worked example: running past the remission cap without noticing

Take a growing Sydney brewery that has always comfortably sat under the excise remission cap and never really tracked its position. In a strong year it grows fast, and somewhere around the middle of the year it quietly passes the $400,000 remission cap, without anyone noticing, because nobody was tracking cumulative remission applied. From that point every beer entered for home consumption carries full excise duty the brewery has not been setting aside for, and by year-end it faces an excise bill it did not budget for, potentially a serious cash problem. A brewery bookkeeper tracks the cumulative remission all year, so the brewery sees the cap approaching and plans for the excise that follows.

(Figures are illustrative, based on the $400,000 remission cap applying from 1 July 2026. Confirm current figures with the ATO.)

What good bookkeeping looks like for a brewery

For a brewery or distillery, good bookkeeping means excise is never a surprise. Your excise liability is tracked accurately on what you send to market, and your cumulative remission is tracked against the cap all year, so you know exactly when full excise starts to apply and can budget for it. The draught freeze is reflected in how you cost and price keg versus packaged product. Stock, work in progress and finished goods are tracked so your margins are real and your cash tied up in tanks and kegs is visible. Payroll runs correctly with super on time. The practical result is a brewery that treats its largest and most complex tax with the discipline it demands, prices its products with the excise built in correctly, and is never blindsided by an excise bill it should have seen coming.

Excise, GST and WET: keeping the layers straight

Alcohol businesses often juggle more than one tax layer, and keeping them straight is core to correct bookkeeping. Excise applies to beer and spirits you manufacture. GST applies on top, as it does for most businesses. And if you also make wine, cider from fruit juice, mead or similar, those generally fall under Wine Equalisation Tax rather than excise, an entirely different regime with its own producer rebate. A bookkeeper who does not understand which product sits under which tax will misreport, and the corrections are painful. Good bookkeeping codes each product line to the correct tax treatment, so excise, GST and any WET are all reported properly and your BAS and excise returns both hold up. For a business already carrying one of the heaviest tax burdens in the country, getting these layers right is not optional, it is the foundation of staying compliant and knowing your true margins.

What you should stop tolerating

Excise tracked loosely or not at all, the remission cap nobody is watching, product taxed under the wrong regime, and a bookkeeper who treats excise as somebody else’s problem. A Free Xero Roast will show you where your excise and stock stand, how to change bookkeepers covers the switch, and The Packs lay out fixed-price bookkeeping built for breweries and distilleries.

FAQ

What does a brewery bookkeeper cost in Sydney?
Fixed-price bookkeeping scales with your production volume, excise complexity and payroll. A brewery needing excise tracking, remission management and stock control is priced as a clear monthly figure rather than an unpredictable hourly bill.

What is the excise remission scheme?
It gives eligible alcohol manufacturers a full automatic remission of excise duty up to a cap per financial year, which increased to $400,000 from 1 July 2026. You must track how much remission you have applied, because once you reach the cap you pay full excise on everything after it.

How does the draught beer excise freeze work?
Draught beer excise rates are frozen for two years from August 2025, while packaged beer, spirits and RTDs continue to index twice a year. This affects the relative economics of keg versus packaged product, which your costing and pricing should reflect.

Is beer taxed differently from wine?
Yes. Beer and spirits are subject to excise duty, while wine, cider from fruit juice, mead and similar generally fall under Wine Equalisation Tax, a separate regime with its own producer rebate. Products must be coded to the correct tax treatment.

How does Payday Super affect my brewery?
From 1 July 2026, super must be paid every payday and reach the fund within 7 business days, rather than quarterly. For your production and venue staff, that is a real change your bookkeeper should have running.

Why does stock and work in progress matter for a brewery?
Because raw materials, beer in the tanks and finished stock all tie up significant cash and drive your true cost of production. Tracking them keeps your margins accurate and your cash position clear.

How do I switch to a bookkeeper who understands breweries?
You can switch with a clean handover: transferring your Xero subscription to you, handing over records, and a short onboarding where the new bookkeeper reviews your excise tracking, remission position and stock. If excise has been handled loosely, getting it onto a proper footing is the first priority.

About Sydney Bookkeeper

Sydney Bookkeeper is the modern, fixed-price Sydney bookkeeper for businesses with staff that are tired of slow, hourly, jargon-spouting incumbents. We work with professional services firms, construction and property businesses, agencies, tech and ecommerce companies, hospitality groups, and health practices across Sydney. Monthly bookkeeping, BAS lodgement, payroll, and Xero file cleanups, all on fixed monthly pricing, no lock-in.

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This content is general information only, written for Australian small and mid-market businesses. It does not constitute tax, financial product, or legal advice and should not be relied on as such. The figures used are illustrative estimates and will differ for your business, and rates, thresholds and rules change; confirm current figures with the relevant authority. The team uses a registered BAS Agent for all BAS and IAS lodgement services; registration particulars are available on request. For advice specific to your situation, contact the team directly or consult a registered tax agent or licensed financial adviser. Sydney Bookkeeper is not a licensed tax agent or licensed financial adviser. Information was current at the time of publication and may change without notice.

Sources

• Australian Taxation Office, Remission scheme for alcohol manufacturers: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/gst-excise-and-indirect-taxes/excise-on-alcohol/excise-remissions-for-excisable-alcohol/remission-scheme-for-alcohol-manufacturers
• Australian Taxation Office, About Payday Super: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/super-for-employers/payday-super/about-payday-super