Monthly Archives: March 2019
Receipt Bank – another way to better help you
We are always looking for ways to make your life easier.
Our latest initiative is Receipt Bank, a tool which allows a more automated bookkeeping workflow, solves typical specific compliance problems and serves as a back-up system. It does so in a most cost effective manner.
Receipt Bank allows you to upload your business receipts, invoices and expenses into your software or provide them to us seamlessly and easily. You can do so via photo on a mobile app downloaded to your smart phone or via personalised @ Receipt Bank email address.
The twelve main benefits from using Receipt Bank:-
- You save time on sending in your paperwork, time that you can spend on your core business services or more time not attending to paperwork.
- You can use up to any one or combination of four methods to submit information to Receipt Bank.
- The two main methods are taking a photo on your mobile phone or on-forwarding an e-mail.
- It is great solution to those who incur lots of costs on the road whether it be coffee meetings or receipts from Bunnings that are paid by cash or credit card.
- You limit the number of questions we ask.
- You don’t have to forage for receipts from up to 23 months ago.
- You save space as there’s no need to retain your physical documents (if you so wish), with all documents easily searchable and securely stored on the cloud.
- Or you can still keep those physical records but sleep easy in the knowledge that you have a back-up. Furthermore, you can rest easy knowing that your data is stored securely and encrypted.
- You now have real time information flowing into your accounting system, which allows us to provide you with better and more timely insights to improve your business. Receipt Bank works best with Xero and QuickBooks Online.
- No more lost receipts & invoices! No more paying too much tax or GST because you lost invoices and receipts.
- You can access your records from anywhere anytime.
- You can also rest easy in the knowledge that you have read only access after your business has ceased operating.
We welcome your call so e can explain the benefits to you – and other ways we can both simply and improve your life.
LRBA’s to go?
LRBA’s to go?
Labour says so according to the Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen.
Missing from the statement is how this and all the other proposed changes to super are going to further limit one’s ability to provide for one’s own retirement.
It flies in the face off all initiatives made between 1983 and 2006 – by Labour and the Coalition alike.
Loans by companies – welcome relief in sight
Accountants call loans by companies to the shareholders and trusts as Division 7A loans. It requires corrective action to avoid being penalised.
It’s an area of tax law that clients just don’t understand. It is so incomprehensible that some four years ago the Board Of Taxation recommended a simplification of the rules. This welcome idea was backed up and supported by a statement within the 2016 Federal Budget.
Only trouble was that Treasury released a position paper in October 2018 that is a complete 180 in the other direction with:-
- Suddenly retrospectively penalising positions that were previously OK.
- Greater penalties.
- More complex rules.
And it’s all supposed to start from July 1 2019!
I have read this morning that the assistant Treasurer has stated that he and the ATO (of all people) are in line. He also said that he and Treasury are not in line with each other.
Thankfully sanity has returned. Pity though that it has taken over four months as Treasury has created great concern and panic. Hopefully they will now go back and do what they were asked to do and formulate a simplified set of rules.
What is left to explain is how it ever came to be that Treasury took off hard 180 degrees in the opposite direction….
And why the picture of the owl? Well they are supposed to be quite intelligent and able to turn their head back to normal after turning it 180. Over to you Treasury…
Cash flow troubles
Xero has just released its big data cash flow analysis of it users from January.
Xero in its Small Business Insights has reported that 50.12% of its users were cash flow positive in January. This means that just on every second business consumed more cash than came in during that month. And that is probably after keeping tight control of the purse strings.
January as we all know is usually the toughest month of the year for most small to medium sized businesses. And with that comes great stress and sleepless nights.
We have tools that will help you track your cash flow and forecast where it is going.
We also have many years of experience of dealing with all sorts of business. We can draw on that wealth of experience to help you improve your cash flow.
Ask us how by calling us to arrange a free meeting.
Instant asset write-off gets even better!
Small businesses receive a number of valuable tax concessions. And now the instant asset write-off gets even better!
It has been announced that the $20,000 limit will increase to $25,000. But please note that this is not yet law.
And there is more good news!
This concession which was due to expire at the end of June will be extended to 30th June 2020.
What you need to do about the instant asset write-off:-
- If your intended purchase costs more than $20,000 (excluding GST) then wait until the new limit has become law – so come back to our web page.
- That said, don’t leave it to the last day of June. Often the discounting on common items is reduced the closer one gets to the end of June.
- Refer to our other blogs which set out some of the tips and traps to be mindful of. Type asset into the search bar to find past blogs. Or better yet, ask us.
Your will and passwords
Your will becomes a public document once probate is granted. One can search on probates that have been granted.
It is therefore not the place to record usernames and passwords.
Please contact us if you would like the solution which we provide to our clients.
Cash flow control
In Xero’s most recent edition of Small Business Insights, they reported that those businesses with positive cash flow fell in December for the first time in four years.
What this means is that less businesses received more money than they paid out. With cash flow and cash holdings being the life blood of any business, this is of concern.
Business confidence was down in December. Retail sales were weak (but often this should be viewed in conjunction with January retail sales data).
We also have the doubt that comes when the polls say that there will be a change of government at the upcoming election. Last year Budgets tend to be generous but perhaps investors and households are more interested in what Labour’s major tax policies mean to disposable income. People and markets tend to fear change more than the change itself. The election can’t come soon enough!
Ask us if you want to find out ways to improve your cash flow. We also have tools that help you control and predict your cash flow. WE can even roll out a projection on a daily basis. Stop losing sleep and ask us!
Single Touch Payroll exemptions
Single Touch Payroll has now been legislated to apply to all employers from July 2019. So from 1st July, 2019, all employers must notify the Tax Office of every employees gross pay, tax and super at the time of payment.
Some exemptions and deferrals have been granted.
However, you shouldn’t need them. The main accounting software products offer Single Touch Payroll solutions. Furthermore, there is much preparatory work for which you will need to change and or improve your processes. It is not something bets left to deal with later.
Keep an eye out for future educational and preparatory steps.