…on my shoulders, makes me happy! (a la John Denver…and a sweet reminder of my dear Papa)

We haven’t had “Frivolous Friday” for a while so I thought I’d take some time out of what has been a very busy schedule…to reflect on something happy!

This past fortnight seems to have seen the weather turn for us Victorians (well, almost)!  The sunshine has been gorgeous and is so uplifting and refreshing…even if there is the odd bit of drizzly rain still about!

Is it just me, or is everyone a little brighter now that Winter is over?

It’s about this time of year when I look at my calendar and think “Oh my goodness…”, almost every week and weekend has some significant event booked in…lots of socialising and still lots of work to do – and before we know it, Christmas will be here (to date I have managed to ignore the many Facebook posts about “how many weeks until Christmas…”)!

This weekend sees me at the launch of the annual City of Warrnambool Art Show , a first birthday party for a special little girl, a hens day for a special big girl, a baptism and an overdue luncheon with a couple of girlfriends…I’m going to need a week to get over my weekend!

Does everyone else have a diary that looks like this?  I hope so, and I hope you all have as much fun as I plan on having…

PS don’t forget that daylight saving starts this Sunday – more daylight, more sunshine – yay!

Regards

I’m getting in a few days early so that everyone has time to prepare…this Saturday, 4th October, 2014 is “Support Small Business Day”!

An initiative of the Victorian Government, “Support Small Business Day” aims to celebrate the huge contributions that small businesses make to local communities.

This Saturday, everyone is encouraged to explore your local community and visit (and spend up!!) at local small businesses…

According to the “Support Small Business Day” website (which can be found here), there are over half a million small businesses in Victoria, with a combined contribution of approximately 30% of the output and sales of the state…add to that the fact that almost half of the private sector jobs in the state (some 1.2 million…) are provided by small business (either by way of self-employment or by employing others) – and it’s easy to see just how important small businesses are!

I love small business – I love seeing others follow their passion and their dreams and create a lifestyle that works for them…and I especially love being able to help these businesses and their owners to take control of their financials and bookkeeping to make the most of their efforts!

If you are a small business owner and you’d like some personalised one-on-one help with anything to do with the financial aspects of your business – drop us a line via the Contact page.

Regards

Since it’s almost the end of September (yes, it’s almost the end of September…already!!), I wanted to put a little reminder out there to everyone!

If you choose to prepare and lodge your tax return yourself, you must have it completed and lodged with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), by 31st October.

Having said that, to take advantage of the lodgement concessions made available by the ATO to registered tax agents – you also need to register with the agent by 31st October.

It’s safe to say 31st October is a very important date for everyone – and it’s coming quickly!

For some individuals, I often hear them saying they can’t find their “group certificate” – don’t panic, contact your tax agent and discuss with them – they may already have access to that information via the Tax Agent Portal!

Also, it’s very common for people in business to leave the preparation of their tax returns until quite late in the year – just because it was done later last year (and probably the year before that…), doesn’t mean you always need to wait!  if you’ve lodged your June Business Activity Statement, there is no reason why your year end reconciliations cannot be completed and your tax returns prepared and lodged – doing so may even be to your benefit in calculating Pay As You Go Instalments…

You can read about the various methods for lodging your tax return here, and if you’d like to consult with The Tax Chic, you can contact us here!

Regards

Tomorrow is the Australian Football League (AFL) Grand Final for 2014!

Come Saturday afternoon, tens of thousands of supporters will pack the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to witness the spectacle that Grand Final Day has become…in addition, many hundreds of thousands of football fans will be glued to their television sets all across the country – beer in one hand and meat pie in the other – cheering on either the Sydney Swans or the Hawthorn Hawks.

It’s a fabulous display of dedication at its best!

While the AFL is “big business” in Australia – the same dedication is shown at sporting clubs, from metropolitan clubs in the city, to the smallest of regional and rural clubs in the country – each and every club being run as a business in their own right.

I think there are many business owners who could take some lessons in business by watching how these clubs go about revenue raising and budgeting…and many employees could learn a thing or two from the legion of volunteers who help these clubs to prosper…

No need for me to get anymore serious on this topic…if you’re a football fan then I hope you enjoy your day – and if football isn’t your cup of tea, I strongly recommend you hit the shops or the movies…it’s generally pretty quiet!

PS While I do barrack for the mighty Collingwood Magpies, I’ll be cheering on the Hawthorn Hawks tomorrow…my little brother wouldn’t have it any other way!

Regards