All Posts by Renae Pitargue

How to say thank you this Christmas

It's that time of year again! The temperature is getting warmer and holiday music is playing everywhere.

That can only mean one thing - it's time to start thinking about Christmas gifts!

If you're like most business owners, you want to reward your team for their hard work over the past year and thank your top customers for their loyalty.

But what's the best way to do that? And how can you stay within your Christmas budget? Keep reading for some tips and ideas.

Ideas for Rewarding Your Team

One of the most common ways to reward employees at Christmastime is with a bonus. A bonus is a great way to show your appreciation for a job well done and give your team members a financial boost during the holiday season.

If you decide to go this route, be sure to run the numbers beforehand so you don't overspend. Talk to us about doing this for you.

Alternatively, you may also want to consider giving each member of your team a gift card or voucher that they can use as they please. This allows them to buy exactly what they want or need, which is always appreciated.

Another thoughtful way to show your team how much you appreciate them is with a personalised gift. This could be something as simple as a mug with their name on it or a gift basket filled with their favourite things.

Whatever you choose, make sure it comes from the heart and shows that you know and appreciate them as an individual.

Ideas for Thanking Your Top Customers

Your customers are the lifeblood of your business, so it's important to show them how much you appreciate their loyalty.

You could send them a handwritten thank-you note along with a small token of appreciation, like a branded keychain or pen.

If you really want to go above and beyond, invite them to an exclusive event or give them VIP treatment when they next visit your store or office.

Whatever you do, make sure your top customers feel valued and appreciated this Christmas season.

Your Christmas budget

Your Christmas budget is an important consideration when it comes to gift-giving.

To stay on track, set a budget at the start of the season and decide in advance how much you are willing to spend per person for both your team members and clients.

You might like to create categories based on how much your clients spend with you and how valuable they are to you. Your top customers might all receive a larger gift, while the smaller customers might get something more modest.

It's important to understand what you can afford to spend. We can help you run the numbers to understand this.

Saying thank you

Christmas is a great time to show your team how much you appreciate their hard work and thank your top customers for their loyalty.

There are many different ways to do this, so take some time to decide what would work best for your business.

And don't forget to stay within your budget! With a little planning and thoughtfulness, you can make this holiday season one to remember for all the right reasons.

Building and Construction Industry Bookkeeping

Are you looking for expert bookkeepers in the building and construction industry?

We know it's a complex industry, and it's been hit hard recently. Getting professional help to get your business finances under control will help ease the stress of pressures that many in your industry are facing.

Engaging a bookkeeper who is a specialists in your unique industry can help you to sustain your business and even thrive in difficult times.

There are many areas of bookkeeping for the building and construction industry that we often see could be managed better (and more profitably) with sound advice and the right software.

• Tracking work in progress
• Applying customer and supplier deposits
• Allocating progress payments
• Accounting correctly for retentions
• Complex payroll and contractors
• Accurate job costing
• GST and BAS payment planning
• Managing the fixed asset register
• Control of inventory stock levels and costs
• Taxable payments annual report
• Accounts payable and receivable management
• Cash flow forecasting and budgeting

Just like your construction work, using the right administration tools always makes the job easier. Businesses often start with simple accounting and business management software but don't upgrade the admin, payroll and accounting tools in line with business changes or growth.

Talk to us if you’re ready to review or upgrade your current bookkeeping and business systems. 

We can advise on the best accounting software and related add-on solutions for your business and help implement best practices to streamline the administration and accounts.

Let us help your business to thrive.

Meeting your goals during a global slowdown

Optimism among business owners was high coming into 2022. But a number of factors are now making things a lot more challenging:

• Global events are pushing up energy prices to astronomical levels.
• Ongoing supply-chain issues are making it difficult to source raw materials.
• A scarcity of talent is causing problems when it comes to staffing and hiring.
• Covid is still around and making trading more complex and difficult.

Faced with these hurdles, you might feel that your goals are no longer attainable. But is this true? Growth is likely to be a challenge, but not impossible.

5 steps for meeting your goals during a slowdown

Moving forward during a period of economic recession is certainly more of a challenge. But what's needed is an updated plan with awareness of the major external threats.

Here are five steps to set you on the right path:

1. Revisit your goals and see how realistic they are

Look at the numbers and make a call on whether they still make sense in the current business market. If necessary, update your goals and make them challenging. But, importantly, make any goals attainable during a time when cash and resources are in short supply.

2. Get the best possible understanding of your financial position

Take a deep-dive into your finances and see how you’re tracking against your budgets and targets. How is your cashflow looking? Do you have enough working capital to fund your growth? If additional funding is needed, where could it come from?

3. Decide if you have the right team for the job

Whatever your key goals, you need talented people on board who share your core aims for the business. Think about whether you have the team you need, or if there’s a pressing need to hire new people. And consider if artificial intelligence (AI) and automation could fill some of the resourcing gaps and help you scale up.

4. Assess the current situation in your sector

You can’t change the big external threats in your industry. But you can do your homework and find out what the immediate threats will be. Are there supply chain issues? Are prices going sky high? Get up to speed and look for ways to minimise the impact and rise to the top of the crop.

5. Update your plan

Once you’ve looked over your numbers, goals and strategy, you’re likely to need an updated business plan. Factor in the threats, set meaningful goals, but give your company a target that’s realistic during a global slowdown. Successful small steps towards a goal are better than one giant leap; a leap where you may land flat on your face.

Getting prepared

The sooner you start revisiting your goals and business plan, the better prepared your company will be for the ups and downs of a recession.

Come and talk to us about your financial position, your core strategy and your concerns about the next six to twelve months. We’ll help you set practical, attainable goals that will push your business forward.

Is your business attracting the right talent?

We all know that business owners are finding it challenging to find good people to join your team.

Have you considered what your employer brand says about your business?

Your employer brand is like the tone of voice for your business. It should reflect you and what makes it unique, while also attracting people who want to work there too!

The right employees are a business’ most valuable resource. With the changing needs of industry, it's important to have an attractive brand that will attract those with skills relevant for your company - and keep them around longer than before!

So how are you attracting great talent to your business?

Start with sharing the full picture

To get good people, you need to tell them what your company is like.

This includes talking about the work environment and company culture. You can do this by describing your work environment in job descriptions. Including that on your website or social media.

Also make sure your careers page has more information about your company, the culture, and the roles available.

And it helps if you can also provide some insight into company life and why your people currently work for you.

Know your Employer Value Proposition

Your Employer Value Proposition (EVP) is what makes your company different from others and attractive to potential employees.

Your EVP includes things like your company's values, offerings, and associations.

Having a strong EVP makes it more likely that people will want to work for you, and it can also help reduce turnover if current employees feel aligned with your company culture.

Attracting the right talent

When it comes to attracting the right talent, you need to first understand who your ideal candidate is. Build a profile of your ideal candidate by thinking about their:

• Work experience
• Aspirations and goals
• Values
• Education
• Personal activities
• Personal life and family situation.

Then, create questions to ask potential employees to see if they fit your ideal person. You can also tailor your advertising based on the profile you develop to attract the right candidates.

Plan for the future

What positions do you need to fill in the next 6-12 months, and what skills are required for each?

Build relationships with potential candidates now. This will take time, but it will be worth it.

Make your company an attractive place to work by investing in your employer brand. This includes things like culture, environment, values, and strategic vision.

Doing this will help you save money on recruiting costs and reduce the number of employees who quit.

Knowing what your customer wants

Knowing what your customers want helps you meet your growth targets. We’ve outlined a couple of ways to improve your understanding of your customers, through better data, analysis and feedback.

The increase in digital business systems has opened up forensic ways of understanding your customer base. That's a huge bonus when you're aiming to build better connections, relationships and experiences with your audience.

Knowing what your customer wants is a fundamental piece of knowledge for any successful business to get to grips with. And when you're running a modern, digital business there's an overwhelming wealth of customer and sales data and analytics at your disposal – making it easier than ever to dig down into the needs and habits of your end user.

Detailed CRM records and customer notes

A CRM system becomes the heart of your customer management, business development and marketing activity, allowing you to log activity, keep notes and record progress throughout the sales pipeline.

The more information you have about your valued customers, the more you can do to meet their needs and deliver the perfect customer experience. And by maximising your use of this customer data, you can tightly focus your marketing campaigns and do more to make every customer feel understood, valued and (most importantly) satisfied.

Apps such as Active Campaign and HubSpot are very popular, with information being generated from accounting sales data or add-on sales management POS systems.

Drilled-down sales records

Keeping tabs on your sales activity is central to any business model. In an ideal world, you want regular, repeatable sales from a loyal customer base. But sales activity can be hard to predict, especially when you’re setting ambitious sales targets for your team to hit.

Having detailed sales records and data at your fingertips has two key benefits:

• You know how sales have fared in the past
• You know how sales may pan out in the future

Being able to run forecasts, based on your historic sales data gives you a stable foundation on which to build your future sales targets. It’s a solid projection, based on real business data.

This data also gives you an encyclopaedic overview of what your customers have been buying.

This sales data helps you understand:

• Which products/services your customers want to spend their money on
• Which specific products/services are failing to convert
• Which points in the year will have peaks and troughs in sales
• When it’s the right time to invest in more sales and marketing activity

This is all gold dust when it comes to planning out your strategy, assigning your sales and marketing resources and building engagement with your core audiences.

Hitting your growth targets, is far easier when you know the needs of your customers and can accurately target your sales, marketing and social activity.

When to Register Your Business for GST

Should you register your business for GST?

Many business owners register their businesses from day one, regardless of income. Others, for example, many sole traders, choose not to register for GST until it is mandatory.

However, it is common that new businesses don’t realise they have exceeded the income threshold at which they must register! This can result in having to pay GST on sales to the ATO even if you haven’t included it in your prices – so you could lose one-eleventh of your income.

When is GST Registration Compulsory?

Your business must register for GST when it makes $75,000 income within a financial year. If you’re regularly making $6,250 or more each month, it’s time to check whether you should register for GST.

It’s good practice to check your turnover every quarter, and when you are getting close to the threshold, check every month. If you’re not yet using online accounting software, talk to us about your options, as this will make reporting and preparing for GST registration much easier.

You must register for GST within 21 days of reaching the threshold.

Special Rules

• You can voluntarily register even if your turnover is less than $75,000. This means you can complete an annual BAS if you prefer.
• If you’re making money through a ride-sharing platform like Uber, you must register for GST immediately. All commercial driving income, regardless of turnover, is subject to GST registration.
• If you want to claim fuel tax credits, you must register.
• If your business is a not for profit, the registration threshold is $150,000 per financial year.
• If you’re not an Australian resident business, the rules for working out GST turnover are different, so talk to us before registering.

Need Help?

When starting a new business, there are many decisions to make, and GST registration is just one of them. Get in contact about the benefits of registering, and we'll help you get set up on appropriate accounting software to help you on your way to business success.

Payroll Updates Sept 2022: Minimum Wage, Super Increase and STP

Are you across the recent payroll and employment law updates?

Below is a summary of these updates. 

Remember, we can help check your payroll setup, award provisions, employee agreements, and payroll costing. We can also assess if your software is ready for ATO STP Phase 2 reporting, so feel free to get in touch. 

Minimum Wage Increased on 1 July 2022

The national minimum wage increased on 1 July by 5.2% to $21.38 per hour (or $812.60 per week).

The minimum wage increase applies to employees if an award or national minimum wage defines their pay rate.

This year, the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has once again implemented minimum wage increases to awards in a staggered approach. Most awards increased on 1 July; however, some will increase on 1 October.

For full details of October award increases, visit Fair Work Ombudsman October 2022 minimum wage increase. The main industries changing in October are Aviation, Hospitality and Tourism.

Tax Table Updates

While most tax tables remain the same for the 2022-23 financial year, the annual indexing of the study and training support loans have been applied.

Check the study and training support loans and working holiday makers tax tables for current withholding rates.

If you use online payroll software, the updates will be taken care of already. But if you process payroll manually, you’ll need to factor in the new rates for these tax types.

Superannuation Increase from 1 July 2022

The superannuation guarantee statutory rate increased to 10.5% on 1 July. Your payroll software should automatically update the rate, but check that the rate has updated, just in case you have manually entered the rate for some employees or payroll categories.

Review any agreements or annualised salary arrangements you have with employees that may be inclusive of superannuation.

Also, remember that the monthly $450 threshold has been removed, meaning that you must pay superannuation for all earnings. If you have a large casual workforce, this could impact your costs significantly.

Your first quarterly superannuation payment at the new rate will be due in October 2022.

Unpaid Pandemic Leave Reinstated for Some

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Schedule X was added to most awards to allow for two weeks of unpaid pandemic leave. The schedule expired in June 2022 but has been reinstated for some awards:

• Aged Care
• Ambulance and patient Transport
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Services
• Health Professionals and Support Services
• Supported Employment Services
• Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services

Employees who no longer have unpaid pandemic leave available in their awards can take personal leave if unwell or use annual leave if they need to isolate themselves but are otherwise well enough to work. They can also use carer's leave if they need to look after unwell family members.

Review Your Payroll

Now is an excellent time to assess your payroll systems in readiness for the busy summer season ahead.

Talk to us. We can help check your payroll setup, award provisions, employee agreements and payroll costing. 

There are many details to take care of when engaging workers, and we can also advise on the software you are using and make sure it meets the ATO’s Single Touch Payroll reporting requirements. Note: STP reporting requirements are due for all employers by 31 December unless you use Xero, in which case the date has been extended to 31 March 2023.

Changes to Annualised Salaries in Restaurant and Hospitality Awards

Annualised salary arrangements in restaurant and hospitality awards are changing in September 2022.

After a review of the annualised arrangements in these awards, the Fair Work Commission has introduced changes that will make payments for salaried workers fairer.

Employers have been able to pay 25% on top of the base wage to allow for overtime and penalties. This meant they could do an annual reconciliation of actual hours worked to ensure the salary covered the overtime and penalties there were entitled to had they been paid by the hour. Any shortfall in wages could be paid with a single top-up payment each year.

New arrangements

The new arrangements bring in weekly outer limits to overtime and penalty hours. Employees who work more than 18 hours on weekends and public holidays within a week will need to be paid the hourly or penalty rate in addition to the regular wage.

If you’re paying staff an annual salary, the new rules mean you will need to review hours each week to check staff are not working more than the prescribed outer limits for extra hours. If they are, you will need to calculate the amount owing and pay it each week.

While an annual reconciliation of hours worked against the wages paid is still required, you can no longer wait until the end of the year to calculate and pay any shortfall.

The new system should make it fairer for salaried employees who will receive payment in the week that extra hours over the limits were worked. It should also assist with your business’s cash flow, as you'll be paying wages during busy times, and the annual top-up payment should be smaller.

Review Your Annualised Salary Agreements

If you’re paying staff a salary, there are certain obligations you have to meet.

We can help get systems in place to manage your employer obligations and make it as easy as possible to track time and perform the annual reconciliations of hours against wages paid.

Book a time to talk to us about the new provisions for restaurant and hospitality workers and how to implement them in your business.

Why you should have a business continuity plan

Keeping your business operational is a full-time job. It’s a balancing act that requires you to keep a multitude of plates spinning, while your executive team and employees support you at every stage of the operational journey.

But what happens if these plates stop spinning?

Sudden unexpected threats can catch you on the hop.

What if an unexpected circumstance comes up that derails your usual operational procedures? How will you cope? What will you do to overcome the issue? And how will you get the business back on target?

The answer lies in having a thorough business continuity plan.

What’s a business continuity plan?

A business continuity plan is an executive plan that describes the risks that exist in the business, your strategy for dealing with these known and unknown risks, and how you will mobilise your team to overcome any issues, emergencies or gaps in trading etc.

None of us truly knows what lies around the corner. Most businesses were not expecting the 2008 economic crash, or the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. If you can plan ahead and put contingency plans in place, you'll be better prepared when a worst-case scenario does appear.

How do you formulate your plan?

Every organisation’s business continuity plan will be different. We all have different business models, different company hierarchies and different risks that are peculiar to our own sectors.

But the fundamental basis on which you create your business continuity plan will be the same however your company works.

For example:

Identify the critical areas of your business

Look at your operational business model and think about where it’s most likely to break down under pressure. Are you reliant on a specific supplier to operate? Which are the fundamental departments in your model and what do they bring to the business? Who are your core heads of department and staff, and who could deputise for them in their absence? In short, look for anything that could break down and how this could affect the whole business.

Create back-up continuity plans for each critical area

You obviously need your main continuity plan to cover the entire business. But it’s also important to look at the risks, essential personnel and key operational activities for each separate department in the company. Your finance team will need a very different continuity plan to your logistics and delivery team, for example. So, tailor each continuity plan to fit the needs of your main business areas, and make sure they’re all fit for purpose.

Assign a continuity lead and department leads

It’s a good idea to assign a main business continuity lead role or champion, so the responsibility for reviewing and updating the plan sits under someone’s remit. You’ll also need to have a lead person for each critical department, so every cog in the wider machine is represented.

Make sure everyone knows the continuity plan

A business continuity plan is useless unless the whole company is aware of the plan and knows what to do. Have a central phone number, WhatsApp group and email address set up for any business continuity emergency. And use your internal communications team to provide regular messaging, training and updates on changes to the ongoing continuity plan.

Keep the business operating

Ultimately, your continuity plan exists to keep the company operating in challenging times. It could be that your HQ is flooded out and has to be closed down and moved to an alternative location. It may be that significant employee sickness hits you, leaving only a skeleton staff to run each department. Whatever the circumstances, your plan needs a contingency in place, so you and your remaining staff can continue to trade, make sales and bring in revenues.

No plan can completely remove the threat of the unknown – that’s an impossibility. But with a continuity plan that’s well-conceived and ready to implement, you reduce the potential risks and give you and your team a practical strategy and tactics to work with.