Continuing on from our earlier post “Hot tips for business at EOFY Part 1“, here is Part 2!

Over the course of the two posts, I’ll be providing a total of 10 hot tips – if you implement two of these each week for the next five weeks, you’ll have everything sorted by mid-July…just be sure to prioritise the ones that NEED to happen before 30th June!

Today’s hot tips for business are:

1. Update your business and marketing plans…or create one if you don’t have one
2. Review your business structure to ensure it meets your needs, take a look at our previous series here
3. Have a look at your business and personal insurances – if you need help with this, contact me and I’ll send you a referral
4. Ensure you backup your files – both on your hard drive and to an external source such as an external hard drive or USB (and keep them safe)
5. Check you have the correct details of your employee – this will ensure your end of year payroll processing will run smoothly

Let me know how you go with these!

Regards

The EOFY is upon us…(that’s the end of financial year if you need another acronym to remember!)

While many of the things I’m about to mention should be on your radar throughout the year, the end of the financial year is often an opportune time to review these items.

I especially encourage those of you who are new in business to take note of the following, and I wish you well with your first EOFY!

Today’s hot tips for business are:

1. Make sure your records are up to date and all of your Business Activity Statements (BAS) and Instalment Activity Statements (IAS) have been lodged
2. Ensure you can locate all of your paperwork to claim a tax deduction, you might also want to revisit our previous posts regarding deductions here and here
3. If you haven’t already, engage the services of a Registered Tax Agent (yes, The Tax Chic is a Registered Tax Agent!)
4. Be wary of scams…the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and banks will never ask for personal information in an e-mail, so please take care!
5. Check your finances – review the terms of your overdraft and loans to ensure they still meet your needs

Stay tuned for more hot tips for business at EOFY later in the week!

Regards

As a business owner, do many of you bother to invest in your education?  Do you make it a priority? Or do you simply not find the time?

Many of us have had to do some type of formal training to get to where we are today…and it’s no secret that some of us have professional membership requirements of continuing professional education that must be satisfied – but if you aren’t required to do any further education…do you bother?

If you do get out and partake in some education and training, does it have a direct link to your occupation, or do you look for education tools regarding your role as a business manager or ways to improve your business that might not be your speciality?

I’m an information junkie…I’m happy to listen to anyone who is an expert in a field I am not an expert in, in the hope that I can tap into the way their brain works and see if I might be able to implement a piece of their knowledge in my business!

Due to my junkie status, I attended an education event in Melbourne over the weekend…it was focussed on the use of technology and marketing in small businesses and I found I learnt a lot and actually gained some confidence to try a few different tools that I might have otherwise put in the “too hard basket”!

The bonus, especially at the tax planning stage of the year, is that the cost of the event and my associated travel expenses, as well as the cost of any initiatives I decide to implement are all tax deductible!

Let me know your thoughts on investing in your education…

Regards

It is not uncommon for business owners to use or take goods from their business for private use, but did you know that you must make an allowance for these goods taken in your annual financial statements and tax return?

To avoid having to keep detailed records, each year the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) issue a Taxation Determination (TD) setting out an acceptable dollar value of goods taken from trading stock for own use by business owners (or their associates).

The TD is only relevant for certain industries and for businesses operating as a sole trader or partnership.  Of course you can always use a lesser amount than referred to in the TD, but you need to be able to justify the lower amount to the Commissioner of Taxation.

You can find the TD for 2014/15 here.

The purpose of including these amounts is to record income in lieu of the sales value you have forgone, note that a GST adjustment will need to be made also…

The TD is not applicable to businesses operating as a company or trust, in these cases the business owner will need to consider the application of Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT).

If you need help applying these measure, contact me for assistance.

Regards