A consultation paper released by Treasury has sparked a national debate about the role, purpose and access to superannuation ahead of the 2023-24 Federal Budget.
The ‘Super’ Wars
read more
What’s the Deal with Working from Home?
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has updated its approach to how you claim expenses for working from home.
SMSF Reporting Changes from 1 July 2023
If you have an SMSF with a total balance of less than $1 million, from 1 July 2023 you will need to report quarterly to the ATO instead of annually. Previously, SMSFs with a balance under $1m reported annually at the same time as lodging the SMSF annual return.
The ATO’s final position on risky trust distributions
The ATO has released its final position on how it will apply some integrity rules dealing with trust distribution – changing the goal posts for trusts distributing to adult children, corporate beneficiaries, and entities with losses. As a result, many family groups will pay higher taxes because of the ATO’s more aggressive approach.
Is ‘downsizing’ worth it?
From 1 January 2023, those 55 and over can make a ‘downsizer’ contribution to superannuation.
Full throttle in 2023
In a volatile market, keeping to a strategy, or let’s face it creating one, can be tough.
How good is ChatGPT at tax?
Not being paranoid or anything but we were curious about the skills of the latest innovation to take the world by storm, ChatGPT, and its ability to work with the Australian tax system.
Bad Debt – What Is It and How to Avoid It
Understanding and incurring bad debt is part of doing business… because there is ALWAYS a risk that payments won’t be collected, especially for businesses that extend credit to customers.
Automating your Business: 11 Focus Areas
Automating business processes through technology is not especially new… but the range of options continues to grow. As a result, more businesses are investing in automation tools to increase efficiency and profit. In this article, we look at some business areas where the benefits of automation are well-established.
Avoiding the FBT Christmas Grinch!
It’s that time of year again – what to do for the Christmas party for the team, customers, gifts of appreciation, etc. Here are our top tips for a generous and tax effective Christmas season.
What do the ‘Secure Jobs, Better Pay’ reforms mean?
The Government’s ‘Secure Jobs, Better Pay’ legislation passed Parliament on 2 December 2022. We explore the issues.
Missed the director ID deadline? Now what?
If you missed the 30 November 2022 deadline for obtaining a Director ID, the Australian Business Registry Services have stated that they will not take action against directors that apply for their ID by 14 December 2022.
Successful Delegation to Drive Business Performance
In many businesses, a major cost is people… and leaders should ensure they are getting the best return on this investment. DELEGATION – when done well – can create efficiency in an organisation leading to growth and profit.
In this article, we look at 8 ways to delegate effectively. This month’s video presents 6 ideas on managing in an inflationary environment.
Australian super funds gorge of cryptocurrency
The value of cryptocurrency assets inside Australian self managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) increased by 589.9% ($1.17bn) between June 2019 and June 2022, according to the latest ATO statistics.
To cut or not to cut? Stage three personal tax cuts
Stage three of the Personal Income Tax Plan is legislated to take effect from 1 July 2024.
How high will interest rates go?
Low interest rates have been a mainstay since the global financial crisis of 2008. When the pandemic hit, Governments pushed stimulus measures through the economy and central banks reduced interest rates even further.
Lessons from a data breach
A data breach happens when personal information is accessed or disclosed without authorisation or is lost.
Scams and how to avoid them
The ACCC’s Targeting Scams report states that in 2021, nearly $1.8bn in losses were reported but the real figure is likely to be well over $2bn.
Can you prevent a hack?
Can any business claim that customer data will be protected from hackers?
Reengineering Your Business – For Profit and Sustainability
Business Reengineering usually means eliminating activities or processes which are not adding value. In some cases, they will be substituted with better processes. This is challenging because changing the way a business acts and thinks is complex.
ATO contacts ‘at risk’ professional services firms
New guidelines for professional services firms – lawyers, architects, medical practitioners etc., came into effect on 1 July 2022.
States move on property-based taxes
The Queensland Government has backed away from an amendment that would have seen the land tax rate for investment property in Queensland assessed on the value of the investor’s Australia wide land holdings from 1 July 2023, not just the value of their Queensland property.
30 November Director ID deadline
The deadline for existing directors of Australian companies to obtain a Director Identification Number is 30 November 2022.
Taxing fame: The ATO’s U-turn
If you’re famous and make an income from your fame and image, the way the ATO believes you should be taxed on the income you make may change under a new draft determination set to take effect on 1 July 2023.
Pricing Strategy to Drive Growth and Profit
Pricing strategy is a pathway to increased revenue and profit… but it’s often neglected by management. In this article, we look at factors which influence price and actions you can take to develop and implement an effective pricing strategy.
Strengthening Your Brand – What is Involved and Why Does it Matter?
Most business leaders agree that branding is important in business. Given the opportunity, they’d like to strengthen their brand to generate more leads, grow sales and increase customer loyalty. How do you ‘strengthen a brand’? It can get murky at this point… so let’s take a closer look.
Four Ways to Finance Your Business Growth
Maybe your business provides a great product or service in high demand by customers. There’s an opportunity to grow, which should be good news… but what happens when the business doesn’t have the cash to fund this growth?
Managing Your Business in an Inflationary Environment
Many businesses are facing increased costs. This is not necessarily a new business challenge… but the COVID-19 pandemic is driving significant and unpredictable “price spikes”. Let’s look at what business leaders should be thinking about in this environment.
7 Ways Leaders Inspire Change (in Challenging Times)
Successful leaders adapt their style based on prevailing business conditions. When initiating change, simply mandating new rules and policies without explanation is unlikely to succeed. How can leaders implement change in an environment of uncertainty and confusion? Let’s explore this topic further.
Managing Costs – Best Practices in Expense Reporting
Expense Reporting is often considered a ‘back office’ process which shouldn’t consume much of anyone’s time. That may be true… but how a business regulates spending requires a lot of discipline and accountability.
7 Ways to Navigate the Changing Employment Landscape
For now, finding employees is more competitive in most industries and businesses are working harder to position themselves as attractive employers. How are businesses approaching these emerging employment challenges? Here are seven ideas.
Brainstorming: Harvesting Brilliant Ideas for your Business
Many businesses are re-evaluating the way they work. BRAINSTORMING is a good starting point to take advantage of future opportunities. To help you generate brilliant ideas which can also be implemented in your business, we are sharing some guidelines on brainstorming.
Remote Work – The Impact and what Leaders can do
There’s a lot of talk about the impact of ‘remote work’. What does this mean for businesses? What should leaders be thinking about?
The Finance Function – 12 ways to Drive Strategy and Value Creation
What does it mean to have a strategic finance function? Led by an experienced and skilled Chief Financial Officer (CFO), let’s consider some of their priorities.
9 Best Practices in Hiring and Working with Subcontractors
The employment environment is always changing…as workers consider their options and businesses look for flexible, cost-effective solutions. Let’s look at some BEST PRACTICES when working with independent contractors (or subcontractors).
7 Best Practices in Digital Transformation of a Business
Not surprisingly, businesses continue to invest in digital, data, and analytics to improve performance and get ahead of the competition. Let’s look at some approaches which help you succeed in this area.
5 Ways an Accounting Function Should Create Business Value
Let’s look at how a multiskilled accounting function can provide critical support to enable the best outcomes.
Breaking Old Habits to Drive Costs Down
As accountants we often see our clients locked into old ways of doing things – sometimes to the detriment of their business. An obvious place to look is expenses, especially since even a small reduction in costs directly impacts the bottom line. Here are some examples where old habits may be keeping your business from maximum profitability – and there could be some quick wins:
5 Cash Management Strategies
thing that is critical in any business at any time. Yes, cash is a priority in your business, but when conditions are unpredictable, you must be particularly astute about cash management.
7 Ways to Manage Through Uncertainty
Managers usually try to keep teams focused on long-term goals and strategies. But these are uncertain times… and leaders are challenged to find new ways to help employees feel productive, safe, engaged and motivated.
Three Financial Mistakes Made by Many Businesses
Many of our clients tell us that they got into business to make more money, achieve a better lifestyle, or simply because they felt they could do a better job than their old boss.
How The Tough Get Going: The Evolving Role of Leadership
It is a challenging time to be leading an organisation… but some leaders have stepped up admirably and are running thriving enterprises.
Business Resilience: Understanding Your Market
As accountants, we want our clients to build resilient and successful businesses.
Brainstorming: Harvesting Brilliant Ideas for your Business
Great businesses and projects start with an initial idea. BRAINSTORMING is the process of developing ideas which can be implemented in successful businesses. Occasionally, brilliant ideas can ‘just happen’… but more often, they are the product of a...
Getting the Most from Your Financial Statements
What Best Practices should you follow when conducting a Financial Review to ensure your decision-making is based on a thorough understanding of your business? This article provides pointers to help you get the most out of your Financial Statements. Traditional...
The Three Categories of Succession Planning
There are many benefits to being a small business owner such as being your own boss, leading a team and the ability to give back to your community. A well-funded retirement account, though, is not one of these many benefits. Most of us believe that, when the time is...
Advantages of Forecasting
Financial forecasts assist in managing your finances. They are future predictions of your business finances, as compared to statements, which provide details of actual results of progress. The following are five ways forecasting can help your business: 1) Focus on the...
The Importance of Tax Planning!
Tax planning plays a key part in managing your tax affairs, it offers several benefits to all businesses, whether big and small. At a high-level tax planning is firstly about giving you an estimate of what your tax position will likely be for the current...
Developing a Business Plan
Why have a business plan? At a high level a business plan can help you as a business owner prioritise, it gives your business direction and defines the objectives. A business plan maps out strategies to achieve your business goals and identifies the potential...