Serving Sydney’s Inner West
Many small business owners invest not only financial resources in their business but also significant time, blood, sweat and tears not to mention emotional energy in building their business. When it comes time to sell, it’s good to know that tax concessions are available so that the capital gains you’ve worked hard to achieve aren’t all eaten up by tax. Continue reading “Small business and capital gains tax”
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve had conversations with several clients about what to do with customers who don’t pay their bills either on time or at all. No one likes doing all the work and not getting paid. In small business, keeping a good cash flow is absolutely critical. If you have significant funds tied up in your accounts receivables, you have less working capital to fund the business, more stress, sleepless nights and less time to do the good stuff. And the longer debts remain outstanding, the harder they are to collect. So, what can you do to stay on top of your debtors, maximise your cash reserves and minimise the risk of not getting paid. Continue reading “Tips for managing your debtors”
We’re in our 20th year of the Goods & Services Tax (GST) in Australia, so it’s only old timers like me who can remember the angst within the business community before it came into being! Largely, there have been very few changes to the system (helped I’m sure by any major changes needing to be approved by state governments) but I often get GST questions from people about to embark on their small business adventure. So, today is a refresher on some GST basics. Continue reading “A quick guide to navigating the GST”
This week I was asked a fairly straightforward question – I am a sole trader, operating with an ABN, can I claim travel to client premises? What’s the big deal you say, of course she can! But as is always the case with tax, the devil is in the detail. The other part of the email gave me some more facts. There is only one client, payment is made on an hourly rate and the travel involves a three hour round trip by car. Suddenly Personal Services Income (PSI) alarm bells were ringing and the answer becomes much more complex. Continue reading “Personal Services Income – Are you affected?”
I know I’m an accounting nerd, but surely I’m not the only one who loves the beginning of a new financial year? It’s time to draw a line in the sand, review what happened last year, but more importantly, focus on the endless possibilities that the future may bring.
How is your business going to grow in 2019/20? Are you going to leave it to chance or are you going to take control and focus on growing your business? Are you working harder than ever but don’t seem to have cash in the bank? Time to set your budget. And while you can start at any time of the year, it’s good to start with a whole new year in front of you! Continue reading “What are your new financial year resolutions?”
In my experience, people fall into one of two categories when it comes to cars. There’s me – I couldn’t care less what my car looks or performs like as long as it gets me to where I need to go. In a crisis, I’m able to check the oil and change a tyre, but other than that, I’m just not interested. At the other extreme are some people I know who drive very fancy (think expensive) cars, like to know exactly how it works and how it’s made and take pride in being able to change a tyre in under 3 minutes!
But, when it comes to cars and tax, we all follow the same rules. Today, we’re going through what tax deductions are available for motor vehicles as well as how you can claim eligible GST input tax credits. Continue reading “All about cars (and tax!)”
As 30 June approaches, many businesses are asking how they can save tax for the year. There’s lots of noise about the instant asset write off and many of the large retailers are offering discounts to entice you to spend before the end of the financial year. But before you leap in, this is only one of the ways to save tax. Here are 10 tax saving tips for you to think about before you head out to your nearest computer retailer. Continue reading “10 tax planning tips for small business”
We driven into motor vehicles, we’ve partied our way through entertainment, so what’s left? The true answer is lots but I won’t bore you forever. Instead, I’ll go through a few more highlights. Continue reading “FBT – what else is there?”
When many people think of fringe benefits tax, most automatically think Entertainment – boozy lunches and tickets to the corporate box. But entertainment includes a very wide variety of activities – from free movie tickets to junkets to foreign destinations. But as with all tax related matters, not all entertainment is taxed equally. Continue reading “When is entertainment a fringe benefit?”