Top 8 things to outsource in your business

Scaling your business requires a strategic shift from being deeply involved in every task to focusing on high-level planning and growth. To achieve this, you need to spend more time working on your business rather than in it.

This means dedicating your energy to strategic initiatives that drive growth, innovation, and long-term success. However, the day-to-day operational tasks can often consume a significant portion of your time, making it challenging to focus on bigger goals.

Finding ways to leverage your time effectively is critical, and one of the best strategies to achieve this is through outsourcing. Outsourcing allows you to delegate tasks that are either not within your core skill set or those that you simply do not enjoy. By doing so, you free up valuable time to concentrate on areas where you can add the most value.

Outsourcing these tasks to professionals can enhance the quality and efficiency of your operations, ensuring that critical functions are handled expertly.

Things you should consider outsourcing in your business:

1. Payroll

Managing payroll involves complex calculations, tax withholdings, and compliance with regulations. Mistakes can lead to hefty fines and unhappy employees.

Outsourcing payroll ensures accuracy, saves you time, and can even reduce costs. While utilising a payroll product is a great option, a professional payroll service will handle everything from wage calculations to tax filings, allowing you to focus on your core business activities.

First Class Accounts Ovens & Murray can help: We offer comprehensive payroll services that ensure your payroll is handled accurately and efficiently. 

2. Bookkeeping

Do bookkeeping tasks often infiltrate your evenings or weekends? Does the stress of these tasks piling up occupy your mind?

Bookkeeping is essential but can be time-consuming and stressful, especially if it spills into your personal time. By outsourcing your bookkeeping, you not only save time but also gain peace of mind knowing that your financial records are up-to-date and accurate.

At First Class Accounts Ovens & Murray, our bookkeeping services are designed to take the load off your shoulders, providing you with accurate and timely financial information. Let us handle your bookkeeping so you can focus on growing your business. Get in touch with us today to find out more.

3. Virtual CFO

Budgeting and forecasting are crucial for any business but can be challenging without the right expertise. A virtual CFO specialises in these areas, providing detailed budget analysis and accurate financial forecasts that help you plan for the future. They offer strategic insights, monitor your financial health, and identify opportunities for growth, ensuring you make informed decisions.

At First Class Accounts Ovens & Murray we offer comprehensive budgeting and forecasting services to help you plan effectively and make strategic decisions. We use cutting-edge software like Futrli to provide you with clear, actionable financial insights. Contact us today to learn how we can support your business growth.

4. Digital Marketing

From your content strategy to your social media accounts, if this is not a strength of yours, outsource it! There are many freelancers who have multiple clients at this level, who’ll likely be more knowledgeable regarding SEO and much more effective and efficient in general.

5. Graphic Design

Your brand is a key reflection of your product offering. If you don’t have the skill, software and time to do this well, you’ll potentially damage your brand.

6. Scheduling and administrative tasks

A Virtual Assistant can help you manage anything from your appointments to flights, emails and beyond (virtually anything admin). At a lower level, consider adopting software that’ll automate or minimise processes, such as self-booking appointment apps where your clients can schedule a meeting with you, e.g. Calendly.

7. Customer feedback

Many businesses miss this valuable opportunity to connect with customers and improve their experience. A Virtual Assistant can help, but there are also apps (such as Ask Nicely) that automate the process of asking for feedback; directing happy responses to leave you Google reviews and negative responses back to you to quickly resolve!

8. Inventory management

Too much stock can cause cashflow issues and affect sales price (due to resulting discounting), but not enough equals lost sales. Outsourcing inventory management can help you minimise stock-carrying costs and allow you to focus on more important things.

While outsourcing takes a little bit of setting up, it’s worth the short-lived pain for massive gain. We don’t have to be jacks of all trades. In fact, this thinking often leads to begrudgingly doing many things poorly rather than doing a few things really well – and enjoying doing them.

Tempted to start outsourcing some of your tasks to free up your time? We can help by taking the first three roles off your hands! We work with a number of our clients in this way, allowing them to focus on what they do best.

Work to your strengths, outsource the rest! Need help? Get in touch.

Getting your business records ready for the End of Financial Year.

The end of the financial year can be a hectic time for business owners. Ensuring your records are in order not only helps you comply with legal requirements but also provides a clear picture of your financial health.

Preparing your 2023/2024 business records ahead of time can make the process smoother and less stressful.

This guide will help you understand what records you need to have ready and why it's essential to be organised.

What records do you need to have ready?

Asset Acquisitions and Disposals

Have you bought or sold any assets? Ensure you have full details of all acquisitions and disposals. This includes dates, values, and any associated costs. Proper documentation helps in calculating depreciation and capital gains tax.

Loan and Finance Arrangements

If you have taken out any new loans or other finance, you must have detailed records of these arrangements. This includes the terms of the loans and statements of monies owing as of 30 June. Clear records can prevent any discrepancies and help in financial planning.

Bonds and Deposits

Check that any bonds or deposits paid or received have been allocated correctly. Misallocations can lead to errors in your financial statements.

Prepaid Expenses

Have you prepaid for insurance or other large business expenses? Make sure to apportion these expenses correctly to the financial year they belong to. This helps in accurate expense tracking and budgeting.

Stocktake

If you carry stock, ensure you perform a full stocktake at 30 June unless you qualify for the simplified trading stock rules. Accurate stock records are crucial for determining your cost of goods sold and overall profitability.

Bad Debts

List any bad debts to be written off or pursued. Keeping track of bad debts helps in managing your receivables and can also have tax implications.

Loans with Related Entities

If you have loans with related entities, reconcile the loans to and from each entity to ensure the same value is reported in the accounts of both entities. Consistency in reporting helps maintain accurate financial records.

Payments to Company Directors

Ensure that all payments to company directors have been correctly captured. Accurate recording of these payments is essential for compliance and transparency.

Review Debtors and Creditors

Review your debtors and creditors (accounts payable and receivable). Ensure the list is current and accurate. Keeping this information up-to-date helps in managing your cash flow effectively.

Contact Information

If the contact details of business owners and key personnel have changed, let us and your accountants know. Accurate contact information ensures smooth communication and avoids any delays in the accounting process.

Other Considerations

There may be other matters to discuss such as capital gains, vehicle usage, private usage apportionment, or superannuation. Ensure these are also considered and documented accurately.

Importance of Record-Keeping

Remember, you need to keep all your business records for seven years. Store everything securely and, where possible, electronically for safety and ease. Proper record-keeping not only helps in compliance but also aids in financial planning and decision-making.

Final steps for Financial Year-End Preparedness

Getting your business records ready is not just about compliance; it's about having a clear understanding of your business's financial health. Proper preparation can save you time and stress, allowing you to focus on growing your business.

Talk to us today about how we can help you get your records ready for your accountant. Our expert bookkeeping services ensure your records are accurate, up-to-date, and compliant with all regulations. 

Keep Your Bookkeeping in Check: Outsource Your Bank Reconciliation

Staying on top of your business's financial health is crucial, and one key aspect is regular bank reconciliation. Many business owners struggle to find the time or expertise to manage this effectively. That's where outsourcing your bookkeeping comes in.

Get into the habit of doing your bank reconciliation

When it comes to bank reconciliation, it’s important to get into the habit of doing it often. Putting it off can mean bad things for your business records! 

What is Bank Reconciliation?

Bank reconciliation keeps your bookkeeping accurate and can help lower your tax, alert you to fraud, and allow you to track costs. It involves a comparison of your sales and expense records against the record your bank has.

Saving time

It can take a lot of time to do it manually, so you may want to consider using software. Most banks can send transaction data directly to accounting software like Xero through a secure online connection. However if you do bank reconciliation, do it often.

The longer you go without doing it, the longer it will take to catch up. It won’t just be that you have more transactions to do, it will take longer per transaction, because you’ll have a harder time recalling the details.

Why Outsource Your Bookkeeping?

Outsourcing your bookkeeping, especially tasks like bank reconciliation, can save you time and ensure accuracy. Here's why outsourcing might be the right choice for your business. 

Expertise and Accuracy

As professional bookkeepers, we have extensive training and experience in managing financial records. We understand the nuances of bank reconciliation and can catch errors or discrepancies that might be missed by someone less experienced. This expertise ensures that your books are accurate, which is crucial for making informed business decisions.

Time Savings

Outsourcing frees up your time to focus on other important aspects of your business. Instead of spending hours each week reconciling your bank statements, you can concentrate on growth, customer service, and other core activities. This can lead to increased productivity and potentially higher revenue.

Consistency and Timeliness

A professional bookkeeping service, like First Class Accounts Ovens & Murray, will ensure that your bank reconciliations are done consistently and on time. We can set up automated systems to streamline the process, making it easier to keep everything up-to-date. Regular reconciliation helps in identifying any issues early, preventing potential financial problems down the line.

Scalability

As your business grows, so does the complexity of your financial transactions. Outsourcing your bookkeeping allows you to scale your financial management processes without the need to hire and train additional in-house staff. This flexibility is particularly beneficial for businesses looking to expand.

Cost-Effectiveness

While there is a cost associated with outsourcing, it can be more cost-effective in the long run. The time you save and the potential for avoiding costly errors or penalties can outweigh the fees for professional bookkeeping services.

Don't let bank reconciliation become a daunting task

Contact First Class Accounts Ovens & Murray and Busy01 Consulting today to see how we can help you streamline your bookkeeping and keep your business on track. Let's take the hassle out of bank reconciliation so you can concentrate on what you do best—running your business.

Talk to us, we can help.

Keeping your receipts

Source document management

When it comes to small business compliance, source documents – bills, receipts, checks, or anything substantiating a transaction – are critical.

Collecting and managing source documents can mean a lot of administrative effort and time. Plus you have to store all the documents too. Historically, source documents have been paper based, so that means a lot of office space just dedicated to paper document storage!

The good news is that bookkeepers, like First Class Accounts Ovens & Murray, can help small businesses to better manage source documents.

Here are a few frequently asked questions to better understand why and how bookkeepers can help. 

Who should manage source documents: the business, or the bookkeeper?

Allocating source document management to your bookkeeper means you can better manage your source documents for compliance-related reasons. This is because your bookkeeper is able to provide more accurate reconciliation. The added bonus is that this can lead to meaningful business insights.

Why are source documents important for bookkeeping?

Source documents are vital for business compliance and audit preparation. Bookkeepers keep up to date with compliance requirements and understand the types of documentation that small businesses are required to keep compliant.

Source documents are also important for improving bookkeeping quality. Having source documents readily available will not only make the reconciliation process faster, easier, and more accurate, it will also help to gather clean data. Again, that data can then be translated into business insights.

What’s the best way to collect and manage source documents?

One of the best ways to collect and manage source documents is to do so digitally. This means implementing a process and using technology to automate and digitise document management.

Using a single system and process for collecting source documents gives you a centralised document storage solution, and all your documents are readily available when you need them.

There are a number of apps and tools, such as Dext, that can make it easy for both bookkeepers and business owners to collect and digitise documents. Most of these will integrates with cloud storage platforms and integrate with cloud accounting packages.

Are digital documents acceptable in the event of an audit?

Yes! Many governments accept digital files as source documents in the event of an audit, including the Australia.

In the event of an audit, having all documents readily available in one place will help to make sure the audit process goes smoothly.

Talk to us about improving your source document management

If you are interested in digitising your source document management, contact us today to discuss the apps and tools available, and how we can help, 

Collect your debtors faster

Managing cash flow effectively is crucial for the sustainability of any business. A significant component of this involves managing debtors efficiently to ensure that cash inflows occur on time. However, it's important to remember that even uncollected sales impact your financial obligations.

Did you know that you still have to pay tax on your debtors, even if you haven’t collected them yet? This happens because your tax obligations are calculated based on your sales figures, not just the cash you have received.

Why It's Critical to Collect Debtors Promptly

When your cash is tied up in uncollected invoices, it restricts your ability to reinvest in your business, pay your bills on time, or even meet your payroll obligations. This can hamper your business's growth and potentially lead to financial difficulties.

Therefore, collecting debtors promptly should be a top priority.

How to collect your debtors faster

Agree on Payment Terms at the Time of Sale

Clear communication about payment terms sets the stage for all future interactions with your customers regarding payments.

Ensure Your Customer Signs Your Terms of Trade Before You Start the Job

This formal agreement protects you legally and ensures that both parties understand the financial obligations involved.

Include a Guarantee in Your Payment Terms

This adds an extra layer of assurance that you will be paid, encouraging prompt payment.

Invoice as Quickly as You Can

The sooner you send out an invoice, the sooner you can expect to be paid.

Ask for a Deposit Prior to Starting the Job

This not only secures a portion of your payment upfront but also commits the customer financially to the project.

Change Your Payment Terms to Within 7 Days of Invoice or On Delivery

Shortening the payment period accelerates your cash inflows.

Send Statements Religiously at the Start of the Month

Regular updates remind your customers of their dues and prevent overdue payments from being overlooked. Implementing automated reminders through your cloud accounting system, such as Xero, can encourage late payers to pay on time. 

Have Someone Other Than the Owner Be Responsible for Collection of Debtors

This can often lead to more systematic follow-up and less personal conflict.

Document Any Changes to Your Standard Payment Terms in Writing

Keeping a written record of all terms and agreements avoids misunderstandings and provides legal backing.

Use an Integrated Payment Gateway App

This technology simplifies the payment process for your customers, making it easier and faster for you to collect your money.

Don’t Provide Credit to Customers Who’ve Been Late Payers in the Past, and Don’t Offer More Credit to Customers with Outstanding Payments

This policy helps mitigate risk and improve your cash flow.

Proactive management is key

Don’t procrastinate on your debtors. Establishing clear, firm payment terms and ensuring you stick to them is vital. Remember, it’s often the proactive, attentive businesses that manage their cash flow most effectively.

"It’s the squeaky wheel that gets the oil." – Anon

Don’t let your business be slowed down by late payments. Be the squeaky wheel, take action today. We can help.

Keeping debt low through proactive credit control. 

Having a large amount of debt in your business is bad for cashflow, weakens your overall financial health and brings down your credit score as a business.

So when customers don’t pay on time, that ‘aged debt’ is bad news for your finances. Aged debt can begin to stack up, adding to your liabilities and reducing the health of your overall balance sheet.

The good news is that there are ways to tackle late payment head-on.

Get effective with your credit control

Being proactive with your credit control procedures and debt management helps you speed up payment, reduce your debtor days and rein in your overall debt as a business

To improve the efficiency of your credit control, these strategies help speed up payment processes, reduce debtor days, and maintain a healthier financial status for your business.

Make your payment terms clear

The foundation of effective credit control is clear communication about payment terms. Ensure that your payment conditions are explicitly stated on all invoices. Additionally, incorporate a detailed credit control policy into the terms and conditions your customers agree to. This clarity helps prevent misunderstandings and sets clear expectations from the start.

Run regular debtor reports

Regular reviews of your debtor situation are vital. Run frequent reports to identify which invoices are overdue and which customers are consistently late in payments. Understanding the pattern of late payments allows you to prioritise debt collection efforts effectively.

Be proactive in chasing late payment

Being passive about debt collection is a common pitfall, however it's important to not be shy about asking a customer to pay their bill. Adopt a proactive approach by regularly contacting customers with overdue payments. Set up reminders for yourself to chase late payments, ensuring you are persistent but respectful in your communication.

Automate your credit control tasks 

Technology can significantly streamline your credit control processes. Many cloud accounting platforms offer built-in tools or integrations specifically designed for automated credit control. These systems can automatically send reminders to customers as soon as an invoice becomes overdue, reducing the manual effort required and ensuring timely follow-ups.

Leveraging technology for better credit control

The use of technology in managing credit control cannot be overstated. Automated systems not only save time but also reduce the chance of errors and omissions that can occur with manual processes. These tools ensure that all customers receive consistent communication and that no overdue invoice slips through the cracks.

If late payment and aged debt is weighing heavily on your balance sheet, we’ll help you implement the appropriate apps that support the automated systems, debtor reports and credit control processes needed to reduce debt.

Get in touch to improve your credit control.

Make your business more profitable

Is making your business more profitable at the top of your business goals this year?

Achieving significant profit is not an overnight feat. It requires a steadfast commitment, a clear focus, and a meticulously crafted strategy aimed at enhancing profitability.

This entails a comprehensive review of your business model and an examination of every operational area to identify opportunities to reduce costs, increase margins, and ultimately maximise revenue.

Understanding Profitability

Profitability is the ability of a business to earn a profit.

A profit results when the total income generated by the business exceeds the total expenses incurred. However, simply generating revenue is not enough; effective management of costs and strategic pricing are crucial to realising a substantial profit.

Strategic Review of Your Business Model

The first step in boosting your profitability is to conduct a thorough review of your existing business model.

This analysis should cover all aspects of the business, from supply chain management to customer relationship handling.

By understanding the nuances of each component, you can pinpoint inefficiencies and areas for cost savings that directly contribute to the bottom line.

Focus on your key drivers

Having surplus cash at the end of the year allows you to invest back into the business, fund your growth plans and increase the size of your own dividends and drawings as the owner.

To achieve these profits, it’s important to focus on the key financial drivers in your business.

To drive profits:

Boost Sales

Enhancing sales volume is a direct path to increasing net revenue. This can be achieved by investing in marketing, amplifying sales activities, and expanding business development efforts. Each of these initiatives should be tailored to meet the unique needs and preferences of your target market.

Increase Prices

Setting a higher price point can significantly enhance your profit margins, especially if you manage to keep the cost of goods sold low. This strategy needs to be balanced with market demand and customer value perception to avoid any negative impacts on sales volume.

Cut Costs

Operational costs and overhead expenses can diminish your profit potential. Implementing effective spend management and cost reduction strategies are crucial for maintaining a lean operational model. Regularly reviewing supplier contracts, reducing waste, and optimizing workflows are practical steps towards cost efficiency.

Reduce Taxes

Tax liabilities often represent a significant expense for businesses. Engaging in sensible tax planning and taking advantage of available tax reliefs can substantially lower your tax burden and increase your profitability. Consulting with tax professionals can provide insights into new tax saving opportunities and compliance strategies.

Talk to us about boosting your profits

At First Class Accounts Ovens & Murray and Busy01 Consulting, we help businesses like yours optimise their profit margins.

If you'd like to make your business more profitable, we're here to help:

• review your business model
• identify your key financial drivers
• proactively drive your profit performance.

Get in touch and let’s start boosting your profits.

5 ways to increase profit and improve cashflow

The dual goals of increasing profit and improving cash flow are usually at the forefront of every entrepreneur's mind, as both are essential for sustaining and growing your business. 

However, the path to profitability and strong cashflow is not always straight forward. 

Here, we explore 5 ways to increase profit and improve cashflow, offering actionable strategies that can improve the financial health of your business.

These insights are particularly beneficial for businesses navigating the complexities of the current economic landscape.

1. Sales

Profit increases when you increase sales; cash increases when you collect the money from customers. To increase both your profit and cash from sales:

• Delight your customers
• Generate more leads and referrals
• Convert a higher number of quotes or proposals
• Increase transaction frequency
• Increase transaction value

2. Invoicing

Profit increases when you send an invoice to a customer; cash increases when you collect the invoiced amount. To increase both your profit and cash:

• Set clear Terms of Trade
• Offer a small discount for early payment
• Agree the price in advance
• Stick to your payment terms
• Don’t do work for people who have overdue payments

3. Margins

Increasing your margins will increase your profit; collecting the increased margin will increase your cash. To increase both your profit and cash:

• Increase your prices
• Invoice faster
• Negotiate better payment terms with suppliers
• Reduce errors and rework
• Train and empower your team
• Increase your efficiency

4. Financing

Reduce your finance costs to increase your profit; borrow money for assets to increase your cash. To increase your profit and cash through financing:

• Spread the costs of assets over 3-5 years instead of buying them outright (e.g. vehicles)
• Borrow from a bank instead of a finance company
• Secure the asset purchases over ‘bricks and mortar’ (if possible)

5. Overheads

Reducing your overheads will increase both your profit and cash. To reduce your overheads:

• Negotiate with suppliers
• Measure your return on your spend (e.g. advertising, accounting fees, etc.)
• Review your subscriptions
• Go paperless

This is not an exhaustive list of ways to increase your profit and cash. We can help you identify specific areas of improvement in your business to increase both profit and cash. Contact us to find out how. 

"Never take your eyes off the cashflow because it’s the lifeblood of the business."

Sir Richard Branson

Seek support

Implementing these strategies requires a meticulous approach and an understanding of your unique business context.

At First Class Accounts Ovens & Murray and Busy01 Consulting, we provide bookkeeping and business consulting services that are tailored to your specific needs. We can identify areas of potential financial improvement and help you implement strategic solutions to enhance both profit and cash flow.

Don’t let the complexities of financial management hold your business back. Contact us today to learn how we can assist you implement these 5 ways to increase profit and improve cashflow.

Review your expenses - and save yourself money

Running a business will always mean incurring certain expenses or 'spend'.

Whether you’re a large family business or a small fledgling startup, there will be costs, overheads and supplier bills that mount up – and these expenses will gradually chip away at your cash position, making it more difficult to grow and make a profit.

So, what can you do to reduce your spend levels? And what impact will this have on your overall margins, profits and ability to fund the next stage in your business journey?

Getting proactive with your spend management

Spend management is all about getting in control of your expenses – and, where possible, aiming to reduce the level of costs and overheads that you incur as a company.

Why does this matter? 

Well, excessive spending eats into your cash flow, reduces your profit margins and stops you from achieving the profits that you’re capable of as a business.

So if you can get proactive with your spend management, you can actually make your company a far more financially productive enterprise – and that’s great for your overall business health.

So, what can you do to reduce spend and slim down your company expenses?

Here are some key ways to reduce expenses:

Reduce your overheads

Your overheads are the unavoidable costs of running your business, producing your products or supplying your services.

If you have bricks and mortar premises, these overheads will include rental payments, utility bills and even the cost of paying your staff.

Drill down into the numbers and see where there are opportunities to reduce these overhead costs. That could mean moving to smaller premises, or reducing the size of your workforce, to reduce payroll expenditure.

Put limits on staff expenses

If your employees can claim expenses, or buy raw materials and equipment with the company’s money, these costs can soon start to rack up. It’s a good idea to put a spending limit in place, so each staff member can only spend up to an agreed amount.

Having a clear expenses policy helps, as will training up your staff in good spend management techniques. Expenses cards – such as Webexpenses, Soldo or Pleo – allow you to quickly set spend limits, track expenses and pull your expenses data through to your cloud accounting platform for processing.

Look for cheaper suppliers

If you can reduce your supplier costs, this will go a long way to bringing down your overall spend.

If you’ve been with certain key suppliers for years, look around for new quotes, look at current market prices and see if you can negotiate better deals. And if your old suppliers aren’t flexible enough, try swapping to newer, more eager suppliers who will be willing to meet you in the middle on price.

Make your operations leaner

The bigger your operational costs are, the less margin you’ll make on your end products and services.

One way to resolve this is to aim for a ‘lean approach’, paring back your staff, resources and operational complexity to the bare minimum.

By making the business as lean as possible, whilst still delivering the same output, you keep your revenue stable, but reduce the spend level that’s eating into your cost of goods sold (COGS). The smaller your COGS, the more profit you make on each unit or sale – and that means better cash flow, more working capital and bigger profits.

Talk to us about improving your spend management

If you’d like to get in control of your expenses, we’d love to chat.

We’ll review your current costs, run forecasting, and help highlight the key areas where expenses can be cut. Then we’ll help you formulate a proactive spend management programme, to reduce your unnecessary spending.