Category Archives for "Business Tips"

Outsourcing to help grow your business

Outsourcing to help grow your business can be an effective strategy, especially during periods of unexpected growth.

When managing a small business, it's not always practical to hire additional staff to handle increased workloads. However, outsourcing can provide the flexibility and support you need to manage your business efficiently during busy periods.

By outsourcing tasks that are outside your expertise or time constraints, you can focus on the core aspects of your business, such as strategy and growth. And, with the right outsourcing partner, you can ensure that your business runs smoothly and efficiently, giving you the confidence and freedom to focus on what you do best.

What could you outsource

Outsourcing can be an incredibly effective way to streamline your business operations and improve your bottom line. By outsourcing certain tasks, you can free up your time and energy to focus on the core aspects of your business that you're truly passionate about. Here are some types of jobs that are particularly well-suited for outsourcing:

Tasks you dread

We all have tasks that we dread or procrastinate on, whether it's dealing with paperwork, answering emails, or making phone calls. Outsourcing these tasks to a virtual assistant or freelancer can be a great way to free up your time and reduce your stress levels. You'll be able to focus on the aspects of your business that you enjoy, while still ensuring that these important tasks are being taken care of.

Tasks where you have low expertise

As a business owner, it's important to recognize your strengths and weaknesses. If there are certain tasks that you or your team aren't particularly skilled at, outsourcing them to an expert in that field can be a smart move. This could include tasks like graphic design, web development, or social media management. By outsourcing these tasks to someone with more experience and expertise, you can ensure that they're done well and to a high standard.

Tasks that don't require access to your systems or clients

Finally, there are certain tasks that can be outsourced without requiring the contractor or freelancer to access your systems or deal with your clients. For example, you might outsource data entry, transcription, or research tasks. These types of tasks can often be done remotely and independently, which makes them ideal for outsourcing.

Who could do the work for you?

Outsourcing can be an excellent way to save time, reduce stress and ensure that your finances are being managed efficiently. However, it's essential to choose the right service provider to ensure that your tasks are being handled accurately and professionally.

For example, when it comes to managing your business finances, bookkeeping and payroll are two essential tasks that can be time-consuming and complex. That's why it's important to have a reliable and experienced service provider to handle these tasks for you. We offer a range of services that can help you to manage your finances with ease.

By outsourcing your bookkeeping and payroll requirements to our firm, you can free up your time and energy to focus on the core aspects of your business.

You can rest assured that your finances are being managed accurately and professionally, allowing you to make informed decisions for your business.

Need help getting started?

If you're considering outsourcing and wondering how much to spend or where to start – or if you need help with bookkeeping and payroll – get in touch with us.

Digital Signatures and Cyber Security

Authenticated digital signatures can be a valuable part of your cyber security approach. They are more efficient than printing, signing and scanning documents and provide one-off encryption for the highest level of security. In fact, they are more secure than a handwritten signature.

If you have a lot of documents that require signing within your business, whether internally or externally, using a digital signature app will streamline your workflow and make managing the signing of documents more accessible. Documents are also secured against manipulation after they have been signed.

However, not all digital signatures have the same level of verification and cyber safety.

Digital signatures vs Electronic signatures

It's important to understand the difference between electronic and secure digital signatures.

For example, you can scan your signature, save it as an image file, and attach it to documents. This is an electronic signature but not an authenticated digital signature and is easily copied and hacked.

An authenticated signature includes unique digital verification that uses public key cryptography technology within the signature. So, the signature comes with encrypted authorisation embedded in it, and it’s virtually impossible to hack.

Digital signature process

Digital signatures also provide an audit trail of the signature process – from sending the document to when it's read and signed, and sent back to the document owner.

Once you’ve created a document and sent it for signing, you can see outstanding documents at a glance and send reminders from within the platform.

There are many options available for authenticated digital signatures. Look at DocuSign, Adobe or Secured Signing to start with and ask others in your industry if they use a solution they would recommend.

Check their level of encrypted security and audit trail functions. Most are very simple to use, requiring nothing more than you opening an account, uploading documents and sending. The recipient may need to create an account, but some apps use a code sent separately to sign the document without the recipient needing their own account.

Digital signatures are an easy tool to help your business's cyber safety, and there are many other simple tips you can implement. Talk to us if you’d like to learn more about how your business can stay cyber-safe and secure.

Business plant and equipment: Buy or lease?

When your business needs new plant or equipment, what’s the best choice – buy or lease? The answer will depend on your specific circumstances, but there are some basic considerations that can help you weigh up the options.

The advantages of buying

Buying gives you certainty and ownership, at a higher upfront price, but a lower total price. Owning an item of plant or equipment gives you unrestricted use for the lifetime of the item. You can alter it to suit your business, and you can sell it if you need to free up some cash. The full cost is paid up front, so you have no ongoing payments, and there may be opportunities for tax depreciation.

When equipment lasts for a long time and maintains its value, ownership can be a particularly good choice. Overall, the total price of ownership is usually lower than the total cost of leasing the item.

The advantages of leasing

Leasing tends to give you more flexibility, at a higher cost. It spreads out the cost of an expensive item – you don’t need to save or borrow the purchase price, and instead you make regular payments. You can return a leased item if it’s not working out, or upgrade to a better model as your business grows.

If the equipment or plant is something that quickly becomes obsolete, or that you’re likely to upgrade, or that you’re not totally certain is right for your business, leasing could be ideal. While leasing is generally more expensive across the lifetime of the item, it also frees up your money to invest in other areas of the business.

Running the numbers can help you find the right decision

The decision to invest in new plant or equipment can be a tricky one, but we can help.

We can tally up the upfront and ongoing costs, and weigh these against the economic benefits you might get from the new equipment. We consider your cashflow, the cost of borrowing, and sales projections, so you can make an informed choice.

Drop us an email or give us a call – we’re here to help.

New accountability measures proposed for ABN holders

Originally announced in the 2018–19 Federal Budget, and now set out in draft legislation, are newly introduced accountability measures for ABN holders.

Once in effect, this will mean you will have to:

• lodge outstanding income tax returns, and
• confirm the accuracy of your entity's details on the Australian Business Registrar annually.

Currently, there are no registration penalties for ABN holders when it comes to lodging tax returns. That is, you can continue to quote an ABN regardless of whether you have lodged outstanding returns.

The regulator will now have the ability to cancel your ABN if you have 2 or more outstanding income tax returns for income years commencing on or after 1 July 2022. Also, the regulator will be able to cancel your ABN if you do not confirm the accuracy of your ABN details in an annual form on or after 1 July 2024.

If your ABN gets cancelled by one of these measures, the registrar must reinstate your ABN once the outstanding items have been resolved.

We are closely monitoring the progression of this draft legislation and once further information is provided by the Treasury, we will inform you of the specifics surrounding the legislation.

Improve your financial stability

We know that building long-term relationships with your customers makes good sense for your customer experience. But good relationships are also a key factor in making your business more financially stable and improving your bottom line.

The answer lies in nurturing the relationship, building a sense of trust and satisfaction that leads to regular sales and a boost to your revenue.

Nurturing customer relationships that drive your profits

A business with no customers has no future. But a business with a pipeline of happy, satisfied customers can rest assured that it has a more stable and successful future ahead of it.

This network of happy customers doesn’t appear overnight. It takes time. But once you’ve built these foundations, you’ll begin to see the financial and non-financial benefits.

To drive your financial stability through customer relationships, you’ll need to:

Build trusted relationship with your customers

Having strong relationships with customers helps to create loyalty. If you can succeed in building this feeling of trust between both parties, you’re onto a winner – and can rest assured that you have a receptive audience who will want to buy your products and services.

Aim for repeat business and increased sales

A trusted customer relationship can lead to repeat business. As the old saying goes, you only have one chance to make a first impression. But if you continue to make a good impression, time after time, sale after sale then your customers will come back for more.

Turn your customers into brand advocates

Customers that see the value in your proposition, and repeatedly buy from your brand, become advocates for your brand. They’ll tell their friends, their colleagues and others in their network just how great you are – and that’s the best kind of advertising a company can buy. This leads to referrals and word-of-mouth promotion, creating another channel for enquiries and sales.

Learn from your customers

Deeper relationships also help you understand your customers’ needs in a broad and detailed way. Talk to your satisfied customers, listen to their feedback and use this information to develop and build products or services that truly meet their needs and expectations.

Keep the business competitive and agile

Closer customer relationships help you stay competitive in your industry by offering solutions that cater specifically to your target audience. If there’s a significant change in your customers’ needs, or a seismic shift in the market, you can pivot, diversify and take the business in a new direction.

Keep the cash rolling in

A satisfied customer base will spend more readily and will also spend more. These benefits deliver a more predictable level of sales – a huge advantage for any business. Predictable sales = stable revenue + positive cashflow. And that’s excellent news for your financial health and your end profits.

This means:

• You can accurately predict your income over a given period
• You can easily cover your operational expenses and ad hoc costs
• You have money to invest back into the business for development or growth
• You have better end-of-period profits, keeping you and your investors happy.

Talk to us about improving the financial stability of your business

Long-standing, evolving and trusted relationships with customers are the bedrock of your business. If you get it right, these solid relationships can result in increased sales, income and profits – all of which keeps the business more financially stable.

If you want to know more about nurturing customer relationships, and how you can tie this into your financial stability, please book in some time for a chat.

Manage your Team’s Spending More Efficiently with Digital Credit Cards

Do you need to manage expenses for your business and team? Digital credit cards have been around for some years but have recently grown in popularity as their user-friendly practicality is becoming appreciated by many business owners.

How do Digital Credit Cards Work?

The provider issues a digital card number in exactly the same format as a regular credit card. Cards are assigned to individuals who can use the card for all expenses, such as automatic credit payments for subscriptions or buying business purchases in-store using their Android or Apple wallet.

The cards are linked to the business bank account, which means the owner can control the amount of money allocated to a particular card. Within each card, you can set limits according to budgets for different types of spending categories or projects, and you can always see exactly how much of the set budget a team or individual staff member has spent.

Staff can request additional funds if needed, and you can customise limits and authority levels for each user. Managing expenses becomes far more efficient and structured rather than relying on expense reports submitted long after the expense has been incurred.

Digital credit cards are easy to activate and, in some cases, are virtually immediate. You'll get a dashboard by the provider that lets you see real-time information about where your money is being spent and by whom.

Using the card on a smartphone means a photo of the invoice or receipt can be uploaded immediately, making business bookkeeping more effective and accurate as data is captured at the time of the expense.

There are many providers of digital cards, and we encourage you to research the options, but if you need to manage team expenses, getting some form of digital card will be well worth your while.

Apart from the improved control and efficiency digital cards give the business owner, one of the most significant benefits is the minimisation of fraud and unapproved automatic billing.

Talk to us if you'd like to understand more or if we can help integrate the digital cards into your accounting software file.

Making the most of digital and cloud

Transforming into a digital business sets the best possible infrastructure for your future growth. And, as your business scales, the benefits of going digital will start to become obvious.

Running your key business processes in the cloud and using the latest digital software and apps adds to both your efficiency and your productivity. And, most importantly, digital systems are designed to scale with you as your enterprise grows and the need for resources increases.

Here are some of the big reasons for taking the plunge and diving into digital.

Automate your key manual process to increase efficiency

A scalable business has to systemise its processes and procedures. If your business model is still tied to manual processes and a system that only exists in the owner’s head, you’ll eventually come up against a capacity brick wall. Systemising and automating your processes is a fundamental step when you make the jump to digital.

Look at every internal and external step in your operations and write down how these systems work. Note down each task, who actions what and how the whole system links in with the next step in your operational chain. If there are opportunities to automate a step, automate it. Many business apps now include artificial intelligence (AI) or automation features that can chase up unpaid invoices, send automated replies to customers in live chats, or take automatic payments etc.

Work in the cloud to stay more connected

Since the start of the 2020 pandemic, the world has seen a quantum shift to remote working – and that’s only been possible because of cloud technology. Instead of working from local applications on our laptops or office-based servers, most tech-savvy businesses now use cloud-based apps that are accessible anywhere you have an internet connection.

Switching to cloud-based systems is a game-changer. You and your team are no longer tied to a physical office and can be productive from any WiFi-enabled location. That could be your home, your customer’s warehouse, your regional office or your local coffee shop.

And the benefits aren’t just limited to remote working.

With your applications and databases in the cloud, you can access customer information, sales data or financial numbers wherever you happen to be. Everything is securely backed up and available at the press of a button – that’s an invaluable benefit if you want to be flexible, connected and scalable as a business.

Create your own custom app stack

Your business systems and software no longer have to remain static and based on the office server. By combining a business and accounting platform like Xero with your own choice of business apps, you can create a truly tailored ‘app stack’.

Apps use an API (application programming interface) to connect with each other, share data and form a larger business system. This can include apps to:

• Manage and automate your bookkeeping and accounting tasks
• Send out e-invoices to your customers to speed up payments
• Take automated payments and reconcile your transactions
• Automatically chase late-paying customers and carry out credit control duties
• Project manage your operations and provide detailed reporting
• Manage your job utilisation and time spend on each project
• Keep a detailed real-time inventory of your products
• Send out marketing campaigns and social media posts to your audience
• Interact more closely with your end customers and learn their habits

Talk to us about implementing the appropriate app stack into your business.

Record and track your business data

App integrations and a customer app stack don’t just improve your productivity. Because your apps are connected via APIs and are sharing your business data, you also have access to a wealth of data, information and reporting features.

Look in detail at your cashflow, expenses and spending to improve your cash position. Take a deep dive into your sales and marketing information to find out who your best (and most profitable) customers are.

Run projections and ‘What if…’ scenarios, based on your historical data to forecast the future path of the business. There are plenty of ways to make use of this bountiful data to help you review, understand and improve your performance as a company.

Make better-informed business decisions

A business in the pre-computer age would have had very little information on which to base its decision-making. Annual accounts, cashflow statements and some basic management information would have been available, but there was very little real-time data to refer to.

In the digital age, you can literally see every aspect of your company’s performance in real-time – and, in some cases, in the future as well. That’s a game-changer in so many ways, and something every business owner should be using to improve strategy, financial management, customer experience and business decision-making.

To summarise, a digital business:

• Creates systems that are integrated and connected
• Shares and records all your business data
• Reviews, analyses and finds insights in your business information
• Connects with your customers in more meaningful ways
• Makes better-informed business decisions, as a result.
  
  

Ideas on how to throw a last-minute Christmas party

Maybe it’s been an extremely busy month. Maybe you’ve just run out of time. Whatever the reason, if you need to arrange a last-minute festive party for your business, we’ve got the tips you need.

Unfortunately, you’ll probably find that venues and activities book up early. So, you’ll need to be inventive. Here are a few ideas for fun team activities that will make your party an event to remember!

Throw a breakfast at work- champagne optional!

A festive breakfast is a great way to start one of the last working days of the year. Bring in fruit, croissants (don’t forget a gluten-free option!), and organise a coffee run. It’s a simple and fun way to ring in the holidays. And the best part is... your staff may be very thankful not to have to give up an evening during the busy festive period.

Spend time with a charity

Food banks and other charities are under considerable strain during this time of year, and donating your time can make a real difference. Do some research on events for your team, whether it’s building and painting a playhouse for a kindergarten or making a lunch to feed a child. Check out local charities that make meals for families in need. Wind down afterwards with a drink or two and a feeling of goodwill.

Create a really amazing race

A good old scavenger hunt turns your whole city into your party venue! Teams compete to win a series of challenges while having fun together. It could be photos at a specific landmark, buying a festive hat or busking! Split people up into new groups so they also use this time to get to know one another better. Capture all the fun on social media throughout the day, and make sure you’ve got food and drinks on hand at the last meeting point.

Head to the park

Whether your team are into social sports, or more likely to want to relax on a picnic blanket, you’ll be able to please everyone with an afternoon at the park. Invite kids and dogs to join, and don’t forget to arrange for an ice-cream van to swing by.

Winding down for the end of the year? Take the opportunity to celebrate the years achievements with your team.

Check Your Business Performance Against the ATO Small Business Benchmarks

Are you interested in comparing your business performance against the ATO Small business benchmarks? It can be a useful exercise to see whether your business is performing well, on average, or lower than the benchmark figures.

Each year the ATO publishes industry-based data to highlight specific ratios of financial and other types of performance.

For example, you can compare your cost of sales to turnover, total expenses to turnover, or labour cost to turnover. Comparing to average data gives you an idea of how your business performs compared to others in your industry.

It's no problem if your ratios are different – but it can be a helpful starting place to look if you want to improve financial performance or reduce costs. If your ratios are very different from the ATO’s, then it could be worth diving deeper into your financial reports to see if you have problems that can be addressed. For example, a hospitality business might realise that its food cost is much higher than average and then take action to change suppliers and manage wastage.

The ATO benchmarks are based on your business industry code used in your activity statements and tax returns. If you’re not sure what industry you fall under, check the ATO Business industry code tool to find the correct code for your business.

To start comparing your business, you’ll need some information from your accounting software financial reports.

• Gross sales income
• Salary and wages expenses, including superannuation
• Vehicle expenses
• Interest on credit cards and loans
• Cost of sales
• Total other business expenses, including all running costs, administration, contractors, suppliers, rent, freight, training and website fees.

Once you have these totals, either from your software or your last tax return, you can compare your figures to the ATO benchmarks. Compare your business here.

Want to learn more? We can run the numbers for comparison information and then discuss areas you can target to increase profitability, reduce costs and streamline operations. Talk to us today.