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Many small business owners tend to handle their own accounting and bookkeeping, especially when they’ve just started out. However, keeping track of the finance-side of the business– everything from income to expenses to tax compliance– can be overwhelming. Mistakes can happen quite easily and can have costly consequences to your business. Below are five of the most common DIY accounting errors that you should avoid. Unorganised Records It takes excellent…  Read more

Every small business owner knows how challenging it is to cut down expenses without somehow compromising internal or external quality. Regardless of the nature of your business, the first step to reducing your overhead costs is to take the time to go through every single expense you have. Next, assess which ones are necessary for your business to operate smoothly, what can be trimmed down, and what can be eliminated…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s updates and some ideas that will help us all overcome this crisis. No locally acquired cases for the first time since Feb! Great news this week for Victoria who recorded 12 days with no new COVID-19 cases and the rest of the country as Australia recorded its third…  Read more

So you’ve set up your business and sold some products and services. Now, you have to send an invoice to collect your payment. But what should you include on your invoices in order to get paid faster? Even if you’ve been running your business for a while, you might be missing other information that you should include. So here is a step-by-step guide on what to include on your invoices.…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s updates and some ideas that will help us all overcome this crisis. Victoria Reports No COVID-19 Cases For Fifth Straight Day Victoria, Australia’s coronavirus hotspot, reported zero COVID-19 cases for the fifth straight day as states started easing regional border restrictions. This increases the prospects for a faster…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s updates and some ideas that will help us all overcome this crisis. Australia Starts Fourth Quarter on Stronger Economic Footing Flash Australia PMI signals faster output growth in October as COVID-19 restrictions loosen. The IHS Markit Flash Australia Composite PMI, covering both manufacturing and service sectors, increased from…  Read more

When customers make a buying decision, they’re not just considering the quality and price of your products or services, they’re also evaluating the ease and convenience of the whole buying process. As a business owner, you should offer different payment options to provide the best customer experience and to ensure you receive timely payments Here are four ways your small business can accept payments in 2020: 1. Credit and debit…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Lately, economists have been talking about a “K-shaped” recovery from the current recession. As this article in The Conversation explains, this kind of recovery happens when different parts of the economy recover at different rates. White-collar workers who can more easily work remotely may have an easier and faster path to recovery than…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. Proposed Superannuation Reform Measures The Government has announced that it will spend $159.6 million over the next four years to implement a number of reforms to the superannuation system that will save fund members $18 billion in fees and other costs between now and 2030. The key…  Read more

In these difficult times, you may find your business slowing down and sales harder to come by. Given this trend, establishing and maintaining connections with existing and potential customers have become more important than ever. So here are some simple tips to help you step up your marketing game: 1. Strengthen your social media presence. With the extended lockdowns and social distancing rules in place, it is the perfect time…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. Federal Budget 2020 Released The Federal Budget was released earlier this week. Here’s a quick rundown of the key points: This budget is based on economic assumptions including that there will be a COVID-19 vaccine rolled out by the end of 2021. Asset write off – businesses…  Read more

The Federal Budget was released on Tuesday 6th October. This article has a good summary of the “Winners and Losers” of the Budget. You’ll also find a recap of the key points below. Key Points: This budget is based on economic assumptions including that there will be a COVID-19 vaccine rolled out by the end of 2021. Tax cuts for workers – more money in pockets for more Australians. JobMaker…  Read more

It has been extremely difficult for many to keep their businesses afloat amid the COVID-19 crisis. Throwing a lifeline to small businesses, the government has overhauled bankruptcy laws to save thousands of jobs and companies on the verge of collapse. What Are The Changes? From the current ‘creditor-in-possession’ regime, Australia’s insolvency laws shifted to a ‘debtor-in-possession system’. Entities with liabilities below $1 million will be able to access the scheme.…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. $800m Digital Business Plan to Drive Economic Recovery The Australian Government has announced a Digital Business plan to enable businesses to take advantage of digital technologies to grow their businesses and create jobs in the wake of COVID-19. PM Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced the…  Read more

The Australian Government has extended and expanded the Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy, to include medium-sized businesses who had an eligible apprentice in place on 1 July 2020. This may be of particular interest to employers who are not eligible for the JobKeeper extension. What is the Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy? The Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy is part of the Australian Government’s COVID-19 Economic Response.…  Read more

Now is the perfect time to evaluate your financial position and come up with innovative ways to add revenue streams and generate cash. Here are five ways you might consider to improve your cash inflow: 1. Evaluate your current company assets. Take a look at your assets, both fixed and human. Could you make slight pivots to create a new form of income? For instance, if you run a coffee…  Read more

The first tranche of JobKeeper ends on 27 September 2020. Those needing further support will need to reassess their eligibility and prove an actual decline in turnover. To receive JobKeeper from 28 September 2020, eligible employers need to assess their decline in turnover with reference to actual GST turnover for the September 2020 quarter (for JobKeeper payments between 28 September to 3 January 2021), and again for the December 2020…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. Queensland Border Zone Extensions from October 1st Queensland’s border zone will be extended to 5 local government areas in NSW starting October 1st. These areas include: Byron, Ballina, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Glen Innes councils. South Australia-NSW Borders to Open at Midnight South Australia will reopen its…  Read more

When you’re a small business owner, you get used to people giving you advice. Sometimes you seek out their insights while other times they share whether you want them to or not. While the advice is almost always well-intended, it’s not always good. In fact, sometimes it’s downright awful. Here are some tips that well-meaning people give to small business owners that definitely should not be followed. 1. Never turn…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. Melbourne’s Roadmap to ‘COVID Normal’ A staged plan to ease Melbourne out of tight COVID-19 restrictions has been released. Stage 4 restrictions will remain in place for another two weeks with some minor changes, and will start to ease further from 28 September. The final step should…  Read more