Bookkeeping and Accounting Blog - Articles for Bookkeepers in Australia

December 16, 2020 Attitude, Mindset

Five Tips For Running Good Performance Reviews

The concept of boosting business performance

When times get tough it can be easy to let some of your people processes fall away as you concentrate on the basics of the business.

Take the performance review. They can be unpopular, sucking up a lot of time and making employees and managers stressed. So why not skip them? Well, because good performance reviews work. They’re an effective way to track people’s progress, provide feedback, gain insight, support development and align individual performance with company goals, which helps the business achieve results.

It’s imperative however that they are done well. So here are some tips for getting the most out of your performance reviews:

Target the right people – not everyone has to have full, formal reviews. Prioritise the positions that have a genuine opportunity to deliver over-and-above results.
Focus on the conversation – documentation provides a basic way to articulate expectations, track performance and measure results, but it shouldn’t replace honest, two-way communication with your people.
Keep it simple – structure the review around the objectives needed for success in the role, the skills needed to achieve the objectives and a development plan that aims to improve skills, reach goals and help with career development.
Get the review cycle right – align full-scope reviews to an annual cycle and schedule regular check-ins at meaningful times throughout the year.
Use software – good software will help lighten the admin load and make it easier to chart and really analyse employee performance.

December 2, 2020 Attitude, Mindset

Christmas Parties and Presents On A Budget

A Christmas hat displayed on a beautiful beach

It’s been a financial rollercoaster of a year for most businesses, but Christmas time invites us to pause and celebrate what’s gone right and thank the people we rode with. Here are eight ways to keep your costs down without sacrificing festive fun.

Go alfresco – Enjoy a free venue that’s good for the body, mind and party games….outside! Ask everyone to bring a rug and head to the local park or beach for a picnic-style Christmas bash.
Share the love – Is your business in a large office or shared space? Throw a party with your neighbours. Saves money, resources and creates a valuable networking opportunity.
Plan a potluck – Putting on a huge spread or taking your team out for dinner can be costly. Why not ask everyone to bring a plate? (Nibbles, cookies or fresh bread).
Go locally-made – Support our economy and buy locally-made gifts for staff and clients.
Make it a day thing – Serving a holiday lunch, brunch or mid-afternoon party can be more affordable because guests fill up with satisfying but inexpensive fare like sandwiches, pancakes, muffins, finger foods, crackers and dip. Plus, it’s often easier to fit into people’s diaries during the busy festive season.
Choose a local venue – Keep costs down for you and your staff by hosting your Christmas party close by. That way people don’t have to spend lots on taxis getting to and from the party.
Give the best present ever – Get in everyone’s good books and give them the morning off after the Christmas party. A small gesture that’s worth its weight in gold.
Take the pressure off – If last year was the bash of the decade, don’t worry – people understand it’s been a tough year. Parties thrown on a shoestring budget can be the most memorable because they strip away all the window dressing and put the focus on people and fun.

November 24, 2020 Accounts, Bookkeeping

Christmas Parties and Presents – and Tax!

Christmas is a great time to acknowledge and reward your employees and other associates by celebrating and giving gifts. But don’t get caught out by entertainment rules! Claiming entertainment and gifts as business expenses is not always straight-forward, as there are implications for GST, income tax and fringe benefits tax (FBT).

Is it Entertainment?

Entertainment is generally not a deductible business expense. Entertainment rules can be tricky, but in general, the more lavish the meal or event, the more costly, the later in the day and if alcohol is involved then it will generally be called entertainment.

Fringe benefits tax may apply to entertainment benefits provided to employees, and if an event or gift is considered to be entertainment then you cannot claim a business deduction or GST.

A Christmas party for employees, spouses, suppliers and customers may or may not be classed as entertainment. Check with us to see if any of the party costs can be claimed.

Keep it Free From FBT

If you give gifts to your employees keep them under $300 each. Benefits provided which have a value of less than $300 are exempt from FBT.
Give gifts to employees that they otherwise would have claimed as a tax deduction. For example, you could pay for a professional development course or give new tools.
Give gift cards or vouchers up to the value of $300. (Vouchers are not considered to be entertainment).
Avoid giving ‘entertainment’ gifts over $300, such as membership to clubs, tickets to events or travel.
Pay a Christmas bonus. Process through payroll like any other wage payment and withhold tax. Remember that superannuation applies to bonus wages.

Enjoy the Party

Talk to us when planning your Christmas gifts and events to check how much may be claimed as business expenses. Once you know the costs of throwing a party and giving gifts and bonuses, you can put your feet up and enjoy your own party!

November 3, 2020 Accounts, Bookkeeping, Planning

Top Eight Things To Outsource In Your Business

A man is pointing his finger on the word outsource

If you’re looking to scale your business, you’ll need to spend more time working on it than in it. Finding ways to leverage your time is critical, and outsourcing your least favourite tasks is a great way to do this.

Things you should consider outsourcing in your business:

Digital marketing.
From your content strategy to your social media accounts, if this is not a strength of yours, outsource it! There are many freelancers who have multiple clients at this level, who’ll likely be more knowledgeable regarding SEO and much more effective and efficient in general.
Graphic design.
Your brand is a key reflection of your product offering. If you don’t have the skill, software and time to do this well, you’ll potentially damage your brand.
Scheduling and administrative tasks.
A Virtual Assistant can help you manage anything from your appointments to flights, emails and beyond (virtually anything admin). At a lower level, consider adopting software that’ll automate or minimise processes, such as self-booking appointment apps where your clients can schedule a meeting with you, e.g. Calendly.
Customer feedback.
Many businesses miss this valuable opportunity to connect with customers and improve their experience. A Virtual Assistant can help, but there are also apps (such as Ask Nicely) that automate the process of asking for feedback; directing happy responses to leave you Google reviews and negative responses back to you to quickly resolve!
Inventory management.
Too much stock can cause cashflow issues and affect sales price (due to resulting discounting), but not enough equals lost sales. Outsourcing inventory management can help you minimise stock-carrying costs and allow you to focus on more important things.
Payroll.
This task is best left to the professionals. Outsourcing payroll will minimise the risk of inadvertently getting it wrong, while saving you time and, most likely, reducing the cost of this task. Utilising a payroll product is another great option.
Bookkeeping.
Do bookkeeping tasks often infiltrate your evenings or weekends? Does the stress of these tasks piling up occupy your mind? Outsourcing these tasks (and the stress) to someone else can be liberating and cost-effective.
Virtual CFO.
If you find budgeting and forecasting a struggle, a virtual CFO can wear this important hat for you. They’ll monitor the financial health of your business and provide a fresh perspective which will help you make better strategic decisions and improve your results.

Tempted to start outsourcing some of your tasks to free up your time? We can help by taking the last three roles off your hands! We work with a number of our clients in this way, allowing them to focus on what they do best.

While outsourcing takes a little bit of setting up, it’s worth the short-lived pain for massive gain. We don’t have to be jacks of all trades. In fact, this thinking often leads to begrudgingly doing many things poorly rather than doing a few things really well – and enjoying doing them.

Work to your strengths, outsource the rest! Need help? Get in touch.

October 15, 2020 Mindset, Planning

Top Tips For Building A Strong Company Culture

A group of people are discussing about strategies to establish a new business

Like it or not, all companies have a culture.

While it might be easy to define culture in nice words, it can be much harder to grab hold of in daily business, especially when times get tough.

A strong company culture is a driving force, underpinning a successful, resilient team. It shouldn’t be ignored, especially during testing times.

But what are the best ways to develop and manage a good company culture? Here are some top tips:

Get the basics right – sorting out the basics is critical to establishing solid employment relationships and building credibility, which become the foundation of your company culture. All your people processes are important, from the beginning of employment until its end.
Be human – once the compliance work is complete, treat people fairly, listen and seek to understand. There’s little to be gained by approaching every situation like it’s a courtroom drama or your company is an army.
Have a clear strategy – when your business strategy is clear, it will shape your culture. You can hire people who support the strategy, team members will know what to expect and what is expected of them, and management can be genuine.
Manage problems swiftly – allowing behaviour that is at odds with the company’s values and culture is incredibly damaging, no matter how good a person is at their job. Deal with issues quickly and ethically and stay focussed on the wider team.
Be consistent and stay true – a good culture will help carry the company through tough and turbulent times. Stick to your principles, maintain standards, and resist looking for shortcuts when the pressure is on.

Remember, company culture is organic, built by a team, and influenced by many things, never just one department or individual. Business leaders can seek to influence culture, but they can’t own it.

October 1, 2020 Accounts, Bookkeeping, Planning

Demystifying Your Balance Sheet

The concept of balance sheet written on a blackboard

Do you understand the story your Balance Sheet tells about your business? It’s important you understand the components of your Balance Sheet and the key ratios that measure the health of your business.

1. It measures the net worth of your business.
Your Balance Sheet is made up of all of your assets and liabilities; your net worth is your total assets less total liabilities.

Current assets are assets which are expected to be converted into cash within 12 months; current liabilities are expected to be paid within 12 months
Non-current assets aren’t expected to be converted into cash in the short-term; non-current liabilities are long-term liabilities which aren’t expected to be paid within 12 months
Your net worth is the owners’ interest in the business. In other words, if your business was to be wound up this is how much you’d be left with as the owner of the business.

2. It tells you if your business is solvent.
Solvency is the acid test for survival. If your business is insolvent, without immediate action to remedy this, it’s unlikely to survive for long. There are two components to solvency:

Current ratio greater than 1 (current assets / current liabilities)
Positive net assets (total assets – total liabilities)
If your business is insolvent, you’ll struggle to pay bills on time and you may be personally at risk. It’s imperative you seek help immediately if your business is insolvent.

3. It allows you track the strength of your business.
By comparing your Balance Sheet to previous periods, you can track whether your net worth is increasing or decreasing. The stronger your Balance Sheet, the easier it will be for your business to survive a downturn. For example, if your retained earnings are diminishing over time, it’s clear that you need to take action to strengthen your Balance Sheet to ensure you’ll receive value upon the wind up or sale of your business.

4. You can calculate key ratios.
Key ratios not only allow you to compare your results year on year or to industry benchmarks, they also highlight areas for improvement.

For example, calculating your debtor days may show that it takes on average 35 days for customers to pay you. If your payment terms are within 7 days of invoice, it’s clear that your debtor processes need to be strengthened.

Perhaps you calculate how long it takes inventory to sell and see it’s taking twice as long to sell this year than it did last year. Or, maybe a specific product is taking a lot longer to sell than others, which may indicate you should discontinue it. Key ratios calculated using your Balance Sheet can tell a us a multitude of things.

Every business owner should be able to read their Balance Sheet and understand what it’s telling them. If you need help demystifying your Balance Sheet and identifying key areas for improvement, get in touch now!

September 23, 2020 Mindset, Planning

Inspirational Podcasts For Your Business

Podcasts are often on our list of things to do, but for many business owners, there are often not enough hours in the day. The current crisis has challenged normal business activity. It is a stressful time. But it may provide an opportunity to think about where you want your business to head.

Are there opportunities you can grab? These podcasts might provide the inspiration for your business planning or just something interesting to listen to for your walk around the block.

Find them on the author’s website, Spotify or iTunes.

TED Talks – super popular and there are thousands to choose from. Top picks include Simon Sinek and Brene Brown.
Lewis Howes School of Greatness – downloaded over four million times a month; hear interviews with world-class game changers in entrepreneurship, health, athletics, mindset and relationships.
The Bite-Size BizRoom – 15 minute podcasts with business advice you can easily action to grow your business.
The Mike Dillard Podcast – captivating interviews with inspiring leaders to help you fulfil your potential.
The Happiness Lab – surprising and inspiring stories based on the latest scientific research that will change the way you think about happiness.
Building a Storybrand – Donald Miller has helped thousands of businesses grow by getting them to clarify their marketing messages.
How I Built This – Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world’s best known companies. Hear about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists — and the movements they built.
The Mindset Mentor – 10-20 minute podcasts designed to give small business owners a motivational boost.
Goal Digger – a live workshop style podcast to help businesspeople redefine success, chase bolder dreams and tackle their biggest goals.
RISE – this is a series of bold conversations with business powerhouses and personal development leaders that offers real-life valuable takeaways.

September 16, 2020 Accounts, Planning

Thinking of Buying a Business? Things to Consider.

Buying an existing business can be a great way to get started as a business owner or to expand operations.

Established businesses have already done the hard work of setting up; so you can get up and running on day one without a lengthy formation process.

Things You’ll Need

Why is the business for sale – it’s important to understand the motivation for the sale, whether strategic or whether an emergency sale. There may also be hidden reasons for the sale which your research can uncover.
Research – do more than you think you need to! Market research, investigation, learning and questioning about the potential business, the locale, the industry, the customers, the suppliers, the competitors, the market and the nature of the goods or services being sold will ensure you don’t rush into a decision just because it looks like a good deal.
Due diligence – you’ll need to see detailed financial records, contracts, licenses, supplier agreements, lists of equipment, assets and inventory, lists of liabilities, loans and debts, and all employee records before making your decision.
A good business plan – that covers one year, two to three years and possibly five years as well. This will help you to look at the longer term and big picture, assess the potential of the business and give a realistic picture of what you are committing to.
Independent advice – from your tax agent and other business advisors such as an industry expert, business broker or lawyer. You might think a business looks like a great potential, but objective observers may pick up issues or queries that you have not.
Finance – whether it’s your own funds, a business loan or short term finance options, you will need to work with your advisors and refer to the business plan to assess how much you will really need for the initial purchase, transition period, and future investment.
Commitment to the work – Being prepared for responsibility required to run a business. Running a business does require certain skills, as well as time, energy and money. You need to be clear about your reasons for going into business and to be sure you are up for the challenge!

When considering a business, we can help you to analyse the financial reports, activity statements, tax returns and sales and purchases records to give you an independent overview of the financial performance and potential of the business.

We can assist in understanding the financial performance and benchmarks of a business you are considering buying, so that you make the best decision possible!

September 9, 2020 Accounts, Planning

Succession Planning For Small Businesses

It takes guts to start a business. It also takes a strategic mindset to succeed.

Business owners are no strangers to weighing risk and navigating uncertainty, but the current climate has dialled everything up. Many business owners face the uncomfortable position of having to remap carefully thought-out succession plans and exit strategies and to consider selling their business before they’re ready and, possibly, for less than it’s worth.

Transition may be a better option

Rob Young, Managing Director of Platform 1, works with business owners on ensuring they get the best possible return when selling their business. Rob’s advice is to start by thinking about what options you have first.

There are five different ways to sell:

Close the business down and sell the assets
Sell to a family member
Sell to an employee
Just a straight sale to an outside party
Gradual buy-out; The Platform 1 model.

The Platform 1 model is a gradual buy-out program. It involves finding a manager to take the reins early on. Gradual buy-out a process that involves:

Figuring out what kind of individual would be right to run the business; finding that person and developing them.
Creating a plan where the new manager buys in gradually over three to six years. The objective is to get the owner out of the business physically as quickly as possible by transferring relationships and processes to the incoming person, so the owner becomes more of an investor rather than a manager.

Preparing for sale – what’s important

Get your house in order – Ensure you have systems and processes in place so the business isn’t reliant on you, but can run as a standalone entity.
Maximise your profit – Make sure that you are not taking decisions to minimise your tax liability – because what you’re trying to do is create a profitable business.

Don’t put off your succession plan, even if you are not ready to sell

It’s a good idea to think about this long before you need to sell so that you maximise the value of the business and achieve a better outcome. It’s also worth remembering that retirement doesn’t need to be doing nothing. If your business can run as an asset without your involvement you don’t have to sell it completely, so not selling down 100% of the business is a viable option.

Talk to us today about your succession plan

If you don’t already have a succession plan in place, we can help so that you have options when you need them.

September 2, 2020 BAS, Bookkeeping

Report PAYGW Correctly to Claim Tax Deductions

If you don’t meet PAYG withholding obligations for your workers, by not withholding tax from their payments and not reporting it to the ATO, you could lose your tax deduction.

This will apply to income tax returns lodged for the 2020 financial year and beyond.

If you withhold tax from payments to workers, you must withhold the required amount and report correctly to the ATO in order to receive a tax deduction for your business.

PAYG withholding and reporting obligations apply to payments for:

Salary, wages and other payments to employees
Directors’ fees
Religious practitioner payments
Labour hire arrangements
Voluntary withholding arrangements
Payments to contractors with no ABN

Withholding rules still apply to cash payments. Similarly, for non-cash payments such as property or exchange of services, withholding rules still apply even if your worker agrees to receive a non-cash payment in place of money.

The payment of PAYGW to the ATO is a separate issue. The new rules are aimed at getting employers to report correctly and on time. Once you have reported an amount to the ATO, they expect payment of that obligation by the due date.

If you make an honest mistake, such as treating an employee as a contractor, you won’t be penalised. You can correct your mistake by lodging a voluntary disclosure

Book in a call with us to review your PAYGW reporting obligations to ensure you maximise your business tax deductions.

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