Australian Business Consultants: July 2012

Tuesday 31 July 2012

Bookkeeping Resources for Small Businesses in Australia:

When starting your small business one of the first things you will realise is the amount of paperwork involved. Having a good bookkeeper and/or bookkeeping system can free up valuable time for you to be doing what you do best, running your business.

There are long lists of small business failures that had inadequate paperwork, didn’t pay bills on time, failed to lodge their BAS, didn’t manage cash flows etc. Bookkeeping is one of the most important elements of your business to be on top of and let’s face it, the only people who really like doing bookkeeping are bookkeepers!

With that in mind here are small samples of bookkeeping resources available to Australian Small Businesses.

Small Business HQ

Small Business HQ is a great resource for everything an Australian Small Business might need, not to mention bookkeeping. They contain directories on all sorts of services from accounting to web design services to uniform hire and of course bookkeeping. To find a bookkeeper near you on their home page under “What” select “Australian Bookkeeping Services”. Under “Where” select the location nearest to you.

Befree

Befree are a fast growing business, in fact so fast they were the winner of a coveted place in BRW Magazine’s 100 Fast Starters 2011!

Befree are degree qualified Chartered Accountants. Their hourly rates start at $28/hour and can provide a fixed price monthly contract for those who want an ongoing relationship.

Xero

Xero is a great piece of software for those who wish to do their own bookekeping. Xero is web-based and relatively inexpensive. It can be used for either your personal finances or business.

Xero allows you to import your bank statements, create & pay invoices, track your expenditures & much more! Their Dashboard page brings all this together showing you your current account balances and upcoming expected income and expenses.

Shoeboxed

For all of us (including yours truly!) that in the past have taken a big pile of receipts to their accountant or bookkeeper and hoped that they could sort out the mess Shoeboxed is the solution for you!

With Shoeboxed you can send in all your receipts, business cards etc and they will professionally scan all these documents, taking out the key information needed by either your bookkeeper to enter into their accounting software or in respect of business cards provides a web portal for you to search through your contacts rather than have a pile of business cards on your desk!

Shoeboxed have a free trial where you can send in 50 documents or business cards and they will scan them, upload them to a website which you and any other trusted adviser can have online access to. I strongly suggest you take up the free trial to see if Shoeboxed is for you.

IF you have more queries related Bookkeeping services, contact us at 0395979966

Monday 16 July 2012

Scams targeting In Australian small business

Scam Targeting Australian Small Business

Scams that target small businesses come in a number of forms, and can leave your business vulnerable and exposed to a variety of threats.

Scammers will often go to great lengths to convince businesses that their offer or request is legitimate. Many scams succeed because they look like the real thing or try to take advantage of a busy office environment. The best defence to protecting your business is by being aware of the most common scams targeting businesses, and knowing what to do if you're targeted by a scam.

Avoid a scam regarding grants for small business need in Australia

Consider what you need to use the funding for and how much you need before making your decision, as each grant has its own intended uses that govern how the money is to be spent. Check the eligibility requirements as well, as they are all different.

Tips to ensure your business is protected

Remember these golden rules to help protect your Australian Small business from scammers:

· If you become aware of a scam, let other people and your industry associations know about it.

· Keep your filing and accounting systems well organized - this will make it easier for you to detect bogus accounts and invoices.

· Don't give out personal information or banking details to anybody you don't know and trust.

· Make sure the business that's billing you is the one you normally deal with. Also ask for the person's name that you're speaking to and which organization they represent.

· Don't agree to offers or deals straight away - always ask for the offer in writing and consider getting independent advice if the deal involves money, time or a long term commitment.

· Ensure that you have clear procedures for verifying, paying and managing accounts and invoices.

· Limit the number of people authorized to place orders or pay invoices for your business.

· Install reputable computer protection software and a firewall, and keep them up to date.

What to do if you become aware of, or are a victim of a scam

As a Australian Business Consultant I recommend that if you are the victim of a scam, the first step to recovering your money is to report it. Even if you spot a scam, there are Australian Government agencies you can contact for advice or to make a report. By reporting the scam to the appropriate government agency, you can help them identify scammers and warn other businesses.

Saturday 14 July 2012

Australian Property development: How to build for profit

Many of Australia’s wealthiest people made their first million dollars through property, so it’s not uncommon for the team at Mortgage port to be asked about investing in this area. Here are the top questions you need to consider when deciding if property development is the right investment for you.

Why choose property development as an investment? Is there a real demand for property in Australia?

Housing Industry Association (HIA) found that housing affordability across the country is now at a record low and will continue to decline. It warned that the country’s housing shortage is set to worsen because not enough homes are being built to match demand.

There is also an increase in development demand predicted for the retail/commercial property sector. Improvements to the domestic economy are expected to drive growth in demand for retail space, with the Australian retail property sector expected to experience a steady level of demand for property space in the coming years.

This means that with a clear need for more properties to be built in Australia, property development is an option worth considering for your investment portfolio.

How do you finance a development property?

The first thing you’ll need is a Australian development loan. This is a means of gaining finance for a commercial, residential or resort development project. Development finance covers a range of property projects, including:

Commercial offices
Retail/shopping centers
Industrial complexes
Residential development
And other developments such as retirement villages or child care centers.

How do you build for profit?

There are five key things any aspiring property developer must consider before starting a project to build profit.

• Research – Get to know the area. It is important to know the current trends for the area, planned and future infrastructure, and also who is likely to buy.

• Negotiating – Almost every cost involved in property development is negotiable and people often don’t understand the fact that negotiation can be what makes or breaks a deal.

• Create a winning situation – Create good relationships with the vendor of the land or property, as well as other team members involved in the sale. Knowing what the vendor requires puts you in a position to negotiate a much better deal.

• Feasibility – Learn how to assess feasibility, including all costs, so you can get an idea what the potential profits can be.

• Team work – Know what kind of professionals you might need and allow them to do their work.

At Mortgage port we pride ourselves on getting to know you to make the whole process easier. We understand that your needs in an investment loan will be different to everyone else’s, so we aim to provide informed and well-researched loan options that match your individual needs. Working with you in a mutually beneficial two-way relationship ensures that you get exactly what you need.

Australian Business Advisors

We are Australian business Advisors if you are looking to build wealth through Australian property development, but don’t necessarily have the time or experience to handle the finance side yourself, contact us consultants today – and let them guide you on how to maximize your property development project.

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Key Habits For Small Business Success

People often wonder how highly successful Australian small business owners make a large amount of money each year. They often want to know the secrets to being successful. Here are ten habits of highly successful small business owners.

Focus: Every small business owner and employee wears multiple hats. The nature of a small business also means that you experiment as you continually refine your business model to meet changing market demands. But this small business reality does not give you permission to abandon your focus. You need to have a primary focus around which the company is aligned at any point in time. It should be as clear for each of your employees as it is for you. If it’s not, then it’s your job as a small business owner to determine and communicate it—not once, but in an ongoing way that your employees and you have a rallying point around which you are orienting at any given time.

Urgency: For your small business to be successfully urgent, you need to start telling the truth about your busy-ness. It is very easy to appear urgent as you hustle about your day with a full calendar and an overwhelming to do list. But real urgency builds on focus. You are urgent about the things that really matter and you self-impose requirements to deliver things quickly. Think about how you operate before going on vacation. You know you’ll be in less communication for the week and your mindset and motivation responds in kind. You get your desk flat and have things handled at a certain level so that you can let go. But what if the end of each week was like the day before vacation. What would get accomplished?

Execution: All the focus and urgency in the world means little if you never follow through on what your plan is. This year, do you intend to create a sales culture, achieve an aggressive revenue goal, or launch a new product? Whatever you choose for your focus, your main touch point each week should be – how am I doing on execution. Otherwise, it’s just another good idea.

Keep Paperwork Organized: You have to handle a lot of paper as a business owner, from bills to contracts. It's easy to get bogged down in all that paperwork, which depletes your energy and interferes with your ability to focus. Buy filing systems, plastic bins and boxes to keep paperwork stored and out of sight. You can find great deals at yard sales, but don't wait too long to find what you need. Make a decision as soon as you receive a piece of paper, as to where to put it. The trash bin should be one of your options.

Find the Right People: The third habit you must develop is the habit of hiring the right people to help you achieve your goals. Fully 95 percent of your success as an entrepreneur or executive will be determined by the quality of the people you recruit to work with you or to work on your team. The fact is, the best companies have the best people. The second-best companies have the second-best people. The third-best companies have the average or mediocre people, and they're on their way out of business.

These habits may well provide you with seven of the keys needed for achieving success in your small business. For details contact us at 03 9597 9966, where Australian Business Advisors will help you out.

Monday 9 July 2012

Small Business Grants for Women Starting a New Business

If you as a woman own 51% or more of your business or business start up it is considered a woman-owned business and as such qualifies you for a variety of small business grants for women. The beauty of going this route instead of the more well known bank loan or finding willing investors route is the simple fact that business grants do not need to be repaid.

This of course helps relieve the stress of paying back that loan or the group of investors that fronted you the money to get your business off the ground. Being able to concentrate solely on your business without worrying about cash flow is a sure fire way to ensure its success.

This is important when you consider that the vast majority of small business start-ups are being done by women every year. Not only that but women are also 75% more likely to succeed in their business venture then men are. Because of this there are more and more resources becoming available for the woman who starts or owns her own business. Everything from loans to free business plan help and tax strategies can be had for any woman in Australian Small Business.

When considering getting grants for women owned businesses there are four things that can make the process quicker and easier.

1. Create a workable business plan - This can be the most important part of any new business start-up. In fact most grant applications require a business plan so that the grantor can make an informed decision as to who receives a grant and who doesn't.

2. Grant research - There are literally thousands of government and private grants available to women business owners. Some are for specific areas of business while others are more general. It is also important to find out what the requirements for each grant you may be interested are.

3. Hire a professional - Finding an accountant or lawyer who is familiar with the grant request and application process can greatly increase the chances of success. They can help with everything from building the business plan to double checking all the paper work before it is submitted to the granting agency.

4. The internet - There are many websites that help the woman grant seeker find the grant or grants that she is looking for. They also provide an abundance of information on successfully applying for the different grants that they track. These sites can be a great resource for the woman trying to start a new business.

Small Business Loan By Australian Government

Finding small business in Australia grants for women can be done quickly and easily on the internet. To successfully apply for those same grants will take some time and effort but the payoff is well worth it when you consider that the government and private organizations are giving away billions of dollars every year.

For further details contact us at 03 9596 9966 or visit us at http://www.nail-it.com.au/

Friday 6 July 2012

Small Business Accounting Procedures

Small business accounting procedures includes all the accounting activities related to business. All businesses might set up procedures for paying bills, receiving money, processing credit cards, entering data in accounting systems and performing reconciliations. For all these operations small business need accounting procedure for transparent processes within the organization. Building construction industry need accounting procedures.They hire small business adviser which are responsible for running accounting procedure in company.

There are different accounting procedures that are used by companies according to requirement and specifications. Some of them are common cash procedure, common expenses procedure, and common accounting department procedure. All these are followed to facilitate the overall accounting system of an organization.

Common cash procedure usually uses receipts. Company give receipts to clients and customers, especially when they pay hard cash for goods and services. Keep copies of receipts and reconcile cash every day with the receipts. For instance, if your cash box started with $1000 and ended with $2500, then you should have $1500 in receipts. Property investment advisors often advise companies for using any of the accounting procedures.

In common expense procedure, it pay only authorized expenses. Many times, small businesses receive bills that get paid right away without consideration of who authorized the purchases or if items were received in good order. When signing checks, review all documentation and make sure you are paying for something that is busines

Last one is common accounting department procedure. This procedure reconcile cash once a month with bank statements. The reconciliation is usually signed off by a manager or a business owner. Any corrections and adjustments should be made to cash accounts on the book right away. Reconcile accounts receivable and payable monthly to make sure they agree with the general ledger.

Every business small or large requires accounting procedure for achieving success. In small business you need to be a jack of all trades. As a business owner you must know the current market trends and opportunities in building construction industry. Any business will have ups and downs. The best case scenario would be to make the most out of their up time and to keep the downs as brief as possible.

We advice to find out information on accounting procedures to help make your organization better. You must contact some business consultants for help to formulate the procedure used in your accounting system.

Thursday 5 July 2012

Australian Taxable Payments Reporting - Building and Construction Industry

The ATO has released guidance for businesses in the building and construction industry subject to the reporting regime commencing from 1 July 2012. From 1 July 2012, businesses in the building and construction industry need to report the total payments they make to each contractor for building and construction services each year. It says the businesses need to report payments to the ATO in a “Taxable payments annual report”.

The ATO says the taxable payments annual report is due on 21 July each year and can be lodged in paper form or online. For the 2012-13 year, the ATO says businesses who lodge quarterly activity statements may lodge the taxable payments annual report by 28 July 2013 as it is the first year of the regime.

The annual reporting regime for payments made to Australian business contractors in the building and construction industry was first announced in the 2011-12 Budget. According to the Government, the ATO had identified a high level of non-compliance by contractors in the industry. This includes issues with complying with GST requirements, Australian record-keeping requirements, and the personal services income rules. Other issues include businesses engaging contractors that may actually be employees, incorrect reporting of ABNs, and involvement in the “cash economy”.

The aim of the reporting regime is to improve compliance with taxation obligations of contractors in the industry by providing the ATO with sufficient information to allow data-matching for review and targeted audits.

What is required to be reported?

Currently, the requirements are only an "Exposure Draft". But that is all we have to prepare for the regime coming into effect from 1 July 2012.

Based on the exposure draft, businesses are required to report actual payments made on an annual basis to contractors that are providing building and contraction services.

Affected businesses will not be required to report on payments to contractors for goods only. However, the supply of both goods and building/construction services, provided the services are not merely incidental to the supply of goods, will be reportable.

The following details will now need to be gathered so that they can be reported:

· The contractor's name or legal entity

· The contractor's ABN

· The contractor's address

· The total amount paid or credited to the contractor over the income year

· Whether any GST has been charged

What to plan for?

You need to look for experience Australian Business Advisor.

You need to start gathering all your contractor details now.

You need to inform them that their income will be reported.

Our understanding is that the major accounting suppliers will integrate ATO reporting requirements into their products, which hopefully will alleviate some of the admin burden.

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Commercial Builders in Melbourne Australia

Commercial builders in Melbourne

Business Advisor Melbourne

Melbourne is a large commercial and industrial center attracting number of national and international companies. Having complementary lifestyle and business, Melbourne stands out as the location of choice in Australia, offering the best array of services at the most competitive price. These competitive utility prices along with advanced infrastructure including access to broadband, advanced telecommunications has added to Melbourne's status as a pre-eminent business center in Asia-Pacific.

Commercial builders in Melbourne Australia are highly regarded and credible when it comes to commercial and residential building construction. The services provided by different companies range from project management to project management and renovation services. Additionally, office fit out, retail center fit out and hospitality construction are all well managed and delivered by the commercial builders in Melbourne Australia. Apart from building commercial structures, the companies are experienced in project management for large residential projects.

The building codes have specific requirements for home renovation, extensions and conversion of residential and warehouses. Clients are impressed with the high degree of credibility offered by the commercial construction companies based in Melbourne. In a highly competitive market, each vies to satisfy clients with good buildings, excellent customer service and the use of quality materials.

Choosing the Right Construction Company in Melbourne Australia

Since Australia has strict business and construction codes, Melbourne builders are accredited by the relevant associations. Still, it is important to know the qualifications and experience of the building company along with their reputation in getting the job done in time.

It is important to hire a builder who is registered. In order to check the registration a client can contact the Building Commission prior to awarding a contract to a commercial builder in Melbourne Australia.

The Registered Building Practitioner should also be a standing member of either the Housing Industry Association in Melbourne or the Master Builders Association. Both of these organizations are made up of members who have a long standing reputation in creating durable and beautiful construction projects across Melbourne. These are not regulated by the government and are simply self-policing bodies that have professionals from the industry as members. In order to be recognized as a member of these organizations the registered practitioner must follow their code of ethics. A client should always ensure that the registered company has been involved in creating commercial buildings in Melbourne Australia and should have a portfolio of previous visible and completed projects. That means that a client can evaluate the type and size of the project and the practitioner and see if the workmanship and budget match the requirements of the project under consideration.

As a Business Advisor Melbourne I must say that it is important to meet former customers that are satisfied and are owners of projects that have been completed satisfactorily by the commercial builder. Furthermore, commercial builders in Melbourne Australia are required to have a variety of insurances in place. These relate to on-the-job injuries and property damage. A client must check the insurance policy physically to be completely satisfied of this.

Pages

Tuesday 31 July 2012

Monday 16 July 2012

Avoid a scam regarding grants for small business need in Australia

Tips to ensure your business is protected

What to do if you become aware of, or are a victim of a scam

Saturday 14 July 2012

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Monday 9 July 2012

Friday 6 July 2012

Thursday 5 July 2012

What is required to be reported?

What is required to be reported?

What to plan for?

What to plan for?

Tuesday 3 July 2012