Small Business Tips
Below are some new articles highlighting key tips for owners of small and medium businesses. Be sure to check back periodically as we will update this page with fresh articles often.
Spring 2011 Articles
Cash-Based Businesses – The ATO is watching you
If you operate a cash-based business or a business that receives a significant proportion of your income in the form of cash, the ATO will often make an “assessment” of your tax liabilities based solely on their established Small Business Benchmarks rather than your own records. Read about this small business owner who was assessed by the ATO as having $200,000 more in income than the owner declared. Could this happen to your business? Read the complete article HERE.
As if that wasn’t enough…ATO clamp-down on GST fraud
The Tax Office has announced that a sole director of two WA companies, Joanne De Hollander, has been sentenced to three years jail, with non-parole period of 20 months for understating cash business sales by over $5.6m and underpaying GST obligations by $514,000 for the two companies. The Commissioner emphasised that in the last financial year 28 people were prosecuted for over $17m worth of GST-related fraud offences. Read the complete article HERE.
The Carbon Tax – How will it affect your business?
The Federal Government has released details of their plan for a carbon tax to take effect from 1 July 2012. This article explores the detail behind the tax and how it affects a variety of businesses. Read the complete article HERE.
Managing Your Wealth – A Global Perspective
We are all aware that share market fluctuations are ravaging markets both locally and overseas. This article steps back from the current upheaval to take a broader view of what is taking place, what it means, and why it is significant for Australian investors. Emerging, rapidly growing economies like those of China, India, Brazil, Russia and others are outpacing the traditional but slow-growing economic powerhouses of the US and Europe. In particular, we look at how Australia is positioned for this emerging future. Read more HERE.
Winter 2011 Articles
6 Easy Tips to Keep Your Staff
It’s been said that 70 per cent of employees leave their boss – not their job. It’s staggering to consider the power of the employee-employer relationship in either keeping or losing staff. Genuine engagement, building positive relationships and getting to know your employees, is essential in helping to reduce staff turnover. Getting this right is a long term investment in the future of your business which will mean an increase in productivity and profit. Read the complete article HERE.
Employee Incentives that Work
Any business owner will agree employee incentives are one of their more difficult challenges. Employee incentives are about recognising and rewarding performance, as well as encouraging improved performance. Whether it’s a non monetary reward for good attendance or a monetary incentive in the form of sales commission; it’s hard to tell whether the incentive will work or if your business will benefit. Read the complete article HERE.
Modern Awards and Employment Agreements
Are all of your employees covered under employment contracts? Are you aware of what role modern awards play in Victoria? Do you know exactly what an enterprise agreement is and what it must contain? This article contains the nuts and bolts information of common loaw employment contracts, letters of offer and engagement and the new workplace relations system including how the Fair Work system differs from WorkChoices. Did you know that the right for new employees to receive the Fair Work Statement is one of 10 minimum standards in the National Employment Standards (NES) that apply to employment of employees? Together with modern awards, the NES provides a new safety net for employees covered by the national workplace relations system. Source all the detail HERE.
Flexible Working Arrangements
As part of the new National Employment Standards (NES), employees who have worked for you longer than 12 months (including regular casuals) are entitled to request flexible working arrangements to help them care for their child (under school age) or disabled child who is under school age or who is under 18 and has a disability. Are you prepared for such a request from your employees? Read more HERE.
Autumn 2011 Articles
Draft Legislation on Taxing Trusts Open for Response
As written in The Australian, the federal government has released draft legislation to clarify taxation issues affecting more than 1.5 million Australians operating small businesses and family trusts. There are more than 660,000 trusts in Australia that are mainly used by small businesses and farmers to legally minimise their tax burden by distributing income to family members with lower marginal tax rates. Read the complete article here : READ MORE
SME Tax Forum – Have Your Say!
Small and Medium business owners have a chance to participate in a new initiative sponsored by the ATO which will give them unprecedented opportunity to provide feedback to the tax office in order to potentially help shape the direction of new legislation. According to the ATO, the SME Tax Forum is a unique opportunity for SMEs to directly provide insights and perspectives to the ATO on taxation and business issues. Started in 2009, the SME Tax Forum is a an online community that has seen over 500 members log-in and contribute to activities aimed at providing direction for the ATO, as well as providing the opportunity for members to build connections with other business people, and gain insights of their own in the process. Find out more about how to participate in the ATO's SME Tax Forum here: READ MORE
Life's Tough Enough Without More Taxes
The Australian’s Peter Switzer writes, when you try to work out why the Gillard government thinks it's time to push ahead with a carbon tax, I guess it is timely at Easter to cry out: "Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do." In the Reserve Bank minutes released this week, the RBA board noted that GDP would be held down "to a greater extent than earlier assumed". That sentence could have been more revealing had it ended ". . . when we raised interest rates in November, unnecessarily". Read the complete article here: READ MORE
Mice Plague Sparks Rare Disease Outbreak
According to the ABC News Murray Goulburn, an outbreak of a rare disease spread by mice has prompted a warning by health authorities for local farmers to cover up. Four cases of leptospirosis have been confirmed in the Murrumbidgee Local Health Network. Public Health Director Tracey Oakman said the mouse borne disease has similar symptoms to the common flu. Ms Oakman said farmers are particularly susceptible in the mouse plague, as the infection happens when open wounds come in contact with mouse urine. Read the complete article here: READ MORE
Summer 2011 Articles
Identifying Business Risk
Types of risk can vary from business to business but there are some risks most businesses have in common. As well as listing the risks, it's also useful to list what the consequences could be if the risks actually happen. There are many different ways of identifying risks to your business ranging from team
brainstorming and ‘what-if’ scenarios to detailed studies. Picking the right method for your business depends on the type of risks you’re considering. It also depends on the time and money you can spend.
Risk Management Plan
A practical and well thought-out risk-management plan defines how your business deals with risk. It will help create a culture of sensible risk awareness and management in your business. One essential activity in developing your risk management plan is to make sure you have an emergency contingency plan. This plan can help you minimise the effects of interruptions to trade. This article discusses how to build each of these very important plans for your business to follow should they be needed.
Is Your Business Prepared for Fire?
As Australia's climate gets dryer the risk of bushfires increases each year. With more Victorians living and working in bushland areas it is more important than ever to plan for fires and make sure your business can survive and recover quickly. The information in this article will help you put together a bushfire response plan for your business.
Business Risk - A Case Study
Sometimes business risk can result from a company director’s own negligent actions. The following article contains a case study that highlights the trouble found by an employer who created a large compliance risk for himself by changing the employment status of certain members of his staff without reviewing the appropriate legislation.
Spring 2010 Articles
Sales Tactics and the Law – How do they apply to you?
The basic rules of selling are always the same, whether you're dealing with customers in person, by phone, business-to-business or in a retail environment. However it's important to be aware of the legal obligations around over the phone and in person sales. How many of these sales tactics apply to your business?
Sales Tactics Article
File Size 117KB
Fair Trading Rules – Are you in compliance?
Fair trading rules apply to businesses selling to other businesses and those selling to consumers. It allows all businesses to be competitive and have a fair chance of succeeding, while also protecting consumers. There are certain rules that are non-negotiable. Is your business in compliance?
Fair Trading Article
File Size 106KB
Payments and Refunds – How flexible is your business?
There are a variety of ways for a business to accept payment other than paying by cash such as lay-by or credit. The more flexible you are with the ways a customer can pay, or by offering refunds and exchanges, the more likely it is you will make a sale and start an ongoing relationship. Businesses that willingly refund customers who return faulty goods build up goodwill and a loyal client base. There are some rules to follow to ensure your customers clearly understand your refund and exchange policy.
Payments and Refunds Article
File Size 118KB
Uncollected Goods and Warranties – What are your business policies?
As a supplier, you may sometimes find you have goods that haven't been collected within a reasonable time frame. For example, customers may have left something with you for repair and not returned to collect it. What can you do if the customer doesn't collect the goods? Also, a guarantee policy is a powerful marketing tool. Whether written or verbal, providing guarantees indicate to customers you stand by your products. Whether you're a manufacturer, retailer or repairer, you have certain obligations when setting warranty conditions.
Uncollected Goods and Warranties Article
File Size 107KB
Older Articles
Sales Tips: Closing the Deal
Some sales are easy, the customer sees your product, likes it and makes a purchase. Other sales demand a bit more effort to get the customer over the line. If your sales process includes the signing of a contract or even a formal handshake, this article will give you lots of ways to make the "closing" process a whole lot easier for you.
Sales Closing Article
File Size 95KB
Keep Your Customers Coming Back
Loyalty from customers is the most cost-effective marketing strategy available to any business. Loyal customers returning and referring new customers is much less costly and time consuming than finding new customers. What can you do every day to keep your customers happily returning to you time and time again? Here are some fresh ideas.
Keeping Customers Article
File Size 101KB
New Year Business Healthcheck
How often do you evaluate the health of your business? Do you know how to check its vital signs? As we enter a new financial year, the time is perfect to have a look at your business from the outside in. What are your customers saying about you? What aspects of your business are being copied by your competitors or worse, being improved upon by your competitors? Taking a good hard look at the state of your business will ensure that you can keep it growing and healthy, regardless of what your competitors are doing.
Business Healthcheck Article
File Size 105KB
Cashflow is King
The most important indicator of your company's financial health is its cashflow statement. How often do you prepare and review a cashflow statement for your business? This article will give you the most important things to look for in your cashflow statement, along with some warning signs to alert you to possible danger on the horizon. Finally, it also includes a free cashflow template that your business can use along with a cashflow forecast and break-even analysis tool.
Cashflow Article
File Size 110KB
Sales trends of 2010
12 big sales trends for 2010 which will help get your company some attention, develop social media sales strategy and embrace the challenge of collaboration.
File Size 16KB
Finished your website? Think again
Why web sites should not be designed like brochures. Ideas on how websites can be kept new and stimulating.
File Size 12B
Business Planning Tips
Check out this list of top business planning secrets from successful entrepreneurs and business experts.
File Size 12KB
Get inside your customer's mind
Expert advice on how to get into your customer's mind and understand what makes them tick.
File Size 22KB
Tax Tips for Small and Medium Businesses
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