A tool that many businesses, organisations and individuals use when setting up their website is search engine optimisation (or SEO). This tool ensures that the website’s visibility on initial searches for something that their product or service matches is much higher than others. To do this, SEO’s often use keywords that allow search engines to rank the page according to how relevant they are.

What many businesses would benefit from, is an SEO strategy. This is a process of organising a website’s content by topic to improve its chances of appearing in search results, which results in an opportunity to increase traffic flow onto the website organically.

There are three types of SEO that can be focused on to improve the effectiveness of a website.

• On-page SEO – content that is actually on site pages, and optimising it to boost the website’s ranking for certain keywords.
• Off-page SEO – focuses on links directed to the website from a different site on the web. This helps to build trust with search engine algorithms.
• Technical SEO – the website’s code, the technical set up of the website.

Here are a few easy ways to strategise the content of a website for SEO:

• Make a list of topics that the content should address
  • research 10 words and terms associated with the product or service of the website, and come up with variations that make sense for the business
• Make a list of long-tail keywords (search phrases with longer word counts) that apply to the content of your website.
• Build pages for each topic, ie. business products, offerings. This makes it easier for customers to find the site in search engines, no matter what key words they use.
• Set up a blog, and write blog posts. Linking back to the website with each post will tell Google that there’s a relationship between the content of both and specific keywords.
• Create a consistent blogging schedule (at least once a week).
• Create a link-building plan – link-building is the primary objective of off-page SEO, which is the process of attracting inbound links to your website from other sources on the internet.
• Compress media files before uploading them to your site – page speed is a crucial ranking factor for SEO, and media files can slow down pages extremely quickly.
• Stay up to date on SEO news and best practices
• Measure and track your content’s success with analytics tools, to make sure your strategy is working.

Always remember when developing an SEO strategy that the business’ needs should be the primary focus – whether it’s for increasing customers or better marketing for instance, the need should always drive the strategy.

Employees are the key ingredient to the success of any business or organisation – but what should employers do if they aren’t performing as well as they should?

Underperformance can occur when an employee is failing to do their job properly, or is being disruptive within the workplace and impacting those around them. It may be a result of:

• Goals and standards are unclear to the employee, so they are unaware of what’s expected of them
• Lack of knowledge or skills for the job
• The employee is unsure if they are meeting the requirements
• Personal motivation or confidence are low
• Personal issues (family stress, physical and/or mental health problems or drug/alcohol issues)
• Low workplace morale/a poor work environment
• Interpersonal differences or cultural misunderstandings
• Workplace bullying

Underperforming by employees or poor performance at work can include:

• Not performing duties, or not performing duties to the required standard
• Displaying negative or disruptive behaviour in the workplace
• Failing to comply with workplace policies, rules or procedures

The best way to address an issue like this and to ensure that all are performing to their best is to have regular meetings and discussions about performance and goals. Providing feedback and support can also assist people in meeting their responsibilities and performance expectations while working.

Benefits of addressing performance issues by taking a best practice approach to your business or organisation can include:

• More harmonious and higher performing workplace
• Maximising an employee’s individual performance
• Building a culture in the workplace of continuous improvement of skills and further developing them
• Higher levels of employee engagement and
• Avoidance of legal disputes, such as unfair dismissal or bullying claims

Here’s a simple 5 step approach to handling underperformance:

1. Identify the problem – note down behaviors, issues and occurrences in the workplace by the employee and why it is an issue that needs to be addressed.
2. Assess and analyse – consider how serious the issue is, how long the problem has been in the workplace, and what the gap is between what’s expected and what’s being delivered.
3. Meet with the employee – Inform the employee of what the meeting will be about beforehand so that they can prepare for it. Make sure that the meeting is held confidentially and in private.
4. Agree on a solution – Work together with the employee to come up with solutions; employees and employers should also agree to a performance plan that records these solutions for employees to work towards.
5. Monitor and Review – Once a plan is in place, make sure that the employee follows through. Ensure any training or support is provided that was promised, continue giving feedback and encouragement and plan a follow up meeting to see how they are travelling.

https://www.fairwork.gov.au/tools-and-resources/best-practice-guides/managing-underperformance

There are a lot of options when it comes to investing, but often people are daunted by the prospect. A lack of accessible information, misconceptions about investment opportunities and fear of losing money are often reasons people opt out of investing.

Investing can be as easy as a savings account separate from the account that is used for spending, in which a percentage of monthly income can go into. If there are adequate funds, consider investing in real estate for passive income. With real estate values growing over time, on top of earning rental income during ownership, there will be an opportunity to sell later on at a higher price.

Diversifying investment portfolios can seem overwhelming, but all that it takes is putting money into multiple investment avenues. This can be in shares or managed funds with a financial advisor, investments with different rates of return, or in startups or cryptocurrency.

These avenues of investment can still be a lot to take in for individuals, so financial advisors are always a good option for those looking for a little more of an expert opinion on the issue.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/341491

Business ethics are the system of moral and ethical beliefs that guides the values, behaviours and decisions of a business organisation and the individuals involved within that business. These ethics are important to business as many of them are tied directly into the law, and breaches of these can be punishable as an offence

. Though this varies by industry, a business’ ethics can have a significant impact on how a business may operate on a day to day business.

Business ethics can often be seen in the code of conduct that businesses and their employees follow.

Here are some of the benefits of a business taking ethics into consideration

• Consistent ethical behaviour leads to a positive public image
• Building a business’ foundation of ethical behavior helps create long-lasting effects for the business
• Employee ethics are influenced by business ethics, leading to better perceived employees.
• Ethical practice leads to profitability

In essence, profitability and business ethics are linked. Companies that are perceived to have better ethical responsibility and operate in such a way may have a better reputation overall. With investors leaning more towards socially responsible and ethically responsible companies to invest, companies need to align themselves with appropriate ethics moving forward.

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/040815/why-are-business-ethics-important.asp

After COVID 19’s impact on the world, an influx of employees who had lost their jobs fell into the job market. Many of these came from companies that couldn’t afford to continue their employment. As a result, many individuals had to seek alternative employment, or draw from their super. Some individuals took on multiple jobs to pay bills, and others drew from the super that they had accumulated in the government’s early release scheme specifically for coronavirus related income loss.

Super is held by superannuation funds, and accumulates as a result of how much super an employer pays to the employees’ funds. Many Australians may find that they actually possess multiple super accounts as a result of having “lost” their super accounts during changeovers. It can also happen as a result of changing names, moving addresses, living overseas or changing jobs.

Australians can use the ATO’s online tools to:

• View details of all of their super accounts, including lost or unclaimed amounts
• Consolidate eligible multiple accounts (including any super held by the ATO)
• Withdraw your super held by the ATO when certain conditions are met.

As superannuation funds often have fees associated with their upkeep, as well as insurances that may be tied into it (such as life, total and permanent disability and income protection), it’s important to consult with providers before accounts are consolidated.

https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Super/Growing-your-super/Keeping-track-of-your-super/#Lostsuper

As an employee in a business, often there are perks that can come with the job. A company car, fuel money, perhaps some technology to help make things easier. Small business owners however have to be a lot more mindful of how they use the money from their business.

Any money or assets that a business has earned or possesses, is solely the property of that business. That means that there are numerous issues that can arise from dipping into these company funds.

As a business owner, it’s important to keep records and correctly report transactions if using company money or assets (e.g, company car). These can include instances such as

• taking money out of your company for yourself or your family
• receiving money from it (for example, as a director, shareholder or an associate)
• using your company’s assets for private purposes.

For small businesses, this can be easily done through:

• Salary, wages or director’s fees
• Repayments of a loan you have previously made to the company
• A fringe benefit, such as an employee using a company car
• Dividends (formal distribution of the profits)
• A loan from the company

If a business does not report correctly or keep appropriate records for transactions, an unfranked deemed dividend could be included in their assessable income (this is a bad thing) during tax time.

Here are some easy ways to avoid being put into this situation:

• Always ensure that any company money issued is accounted for as per the previous categories.
• Have a separate bank account for the company to pay for company expenses (not private ones!)
• Keep proper records of all company transactions
• Repay any loans from the company before the tax return date to avoid unwanted income tax

https://iorder.com.au/publication/Download.aspx?ProdID=75273-07.2020

When checking through your transactions, you might come across a transaction that doesn’t look right. If this is the case, you should get into contact with your bank as soon as possible.

An unauthorised transaction: Money transferred from your account without your permission

A mistaken transaction: Paying the wrong person by using the wrong details

Here are the signs to look out for to identify unauthorised or mistaken transactions:

• Persons or companies whose names you do not know
• Cash withdrawal from a place you have never been
• Transaction date you don’t recognise
• Payment that has doubled up

But keep in mind:

• Transactions can take days to show up – they are not always immediate
• Name of a shop or restaurant might not match the bank statement (they may have a different trading name which you can verify online)

Buying an existing business can be a great entryway into being a business owner – but it does come with challenges. Following these steps might make it easier for you to make sure that the business you buy is right for you.

1. Understanding if you are ready for business: This doesn’t just involve the financial aspect of things, but also management more generally. Even though there are procedures in place, you still need to develop management skills to oversee those processes. You will need to be disciplined when it comes to day-to-day operations, especially at the start before you become more familiar with everything. Reflect on your current situation and ensure that you can handle the responsibilities that come with owning a business.
2. Decide whether you want to buy an independently owned business or a franchise: You will be able to make a lot more decisions and changes if you buy an independent business – but you will also need to come up with a lot more ideas, and conduct marketing and safety strategies by yourself. Franchises on the other hand provide a lot of support when it comes to routine business processes, but there is a lot more rigidity when it comes to handling the business.
3. Research the business: Look into all the costs involved in buying the business and potential ongoing expenses that you will incur. Make sure you get an insight into the business’ strengths and weaknesses and how it is likely to perform against competitors.
4. Carry out due diligence: Examine a business in detail before you sign a legally binding document. This includes various financial aspects such as income statements, tax returns, etc. You should also review the legal aspect of the business such as intellectual property, registered patents, etc.
5. Value the business: Calculate the net worth of your business by taking the assets and liabilities into consideration. Also calculate the value of the business based on future earnings – what you can gain from the business.

Now that businesses must have a better idea of the working conditions they will be adopting in 2021, it’s ideal to consider how employer liability changes.

The health and safety of employees in the workplace is the responsibility of the employer. Employers must protect their employees’ well-being, by taking into consideration the risks involved on the premises where employees work.

If there are employees who will be consistently working from home, or who usually work remotely, then there are some things that employers can do:

• Ensure that the work expected of employees from home can be done so with safety
• Consider making changes to the task so that it can be done safely from home
• Employees are equipped with the tools and equipment necessary to complete the work safely (this could also include ergonomic computer equipment)
• Arrangements are made to instal heavy company equipment into the employee’s workspace safely rather than be left to the responsibility of the employee.
• Employees have been given the relevant information or been trained to operate all equipment provided to the employees with safety.
• Reasonable accommodations have been made for employees who might have disabilities in relation to the work employees are expected to perform.
• More steps are taken to ensure employees’ mental welfare

Employee welfare is particularly important when remote working is involved. This is because employees might have no contact with their co-workers and have limited scope. Try to find ways through which employees can interact with one another whilst working remotely. Further, ensure that employees can access mental health support easily if they need it.

Keeping these things in mind will not only protect employers from liability but ensure that employees are being productive.

Super (AU): Pros and cons of home reversion

Home reversion is when you sell a share of the future value of your home whilst still living there. You receive a lump sum payment and continue to own the remaining share of your home equity.

Pros

• You are able to continue living in your home after you sell the share
• You can conduct renovations or maintenance that your home may need with the lump sum payment you receive
• You can use the lump sum for any urgent needs such as medical treatments
• The lump sum could help you secure accommodation till your home sells

Cons

• You will own the lower share of the equity in your home
• Transactions and costs can get complicated and it may be hard to navigate that
• Your eligibility for Age Pension might also be influenced
• Your ability to afford aged care could be affected
• You might end up eating into money that you need for the future – such as for medicare
• You might be locked into fewer options if your circumstances change
• If you are the sole owner and someone else lives with you, they may no longer be able to live in the house if you move out or pass away

Luxury car tax or LCT is a 33% tax on cars that have a value (including GST) above the set threshold. However, the tax is only on the value which is above the threshold.

Businesses and individuals that sell or import luxury cars are required to pay LCT.

You can make LCT payments in instalments or annually. If you choose to report your payments in instalments, they will be included in your GST instalments. If you choose to pay GST annually, then you don’t need to worry about reporting monthly or your quarterly BAS.

You may be able to defer paying LCT by quoting your ABN. You are able to do this if you are only going to be using your car to:

• Hold it for trading stock (doesn’t include holding it for hire or lease)
• Carry out research and development for the car’s manufacturer
• Export it GST-free

If and once you stop using your car for the above purposes, then you will need to start paying LCT.

These are features you should make sure you have on your website:

• Your contact information should be easily accessible. Potential customers should know how to get in touch with you if they want your products or services.
• Try to have a blog on your website that you update with articles about your business area. This is great for SEO, producing shareable content that gets your name out there, and a way to demonstrate your knowledge to potential customers.
• Having testimonials and case studies on your website will make it easier to increase your credibility and demonstrate customer satisfaction. Case studies will also make it easier for customers to understand how you may be useful for them.
• SEO content throughout the website will bring more customers to you. Make sure you integrate SEO strategising for titles, descriptions and any other content.
• The live chat function makes asking questions much easier for potential customers. Live chat functions are easy to install and people regularly use them when making online purchases.
• An effective search function on the website can save the customer’s time. Research has found that use of the search function correlates with a website visitor’s conversion rate.

There are various causes of stress that make it difficult to have just one method of stress management. There are 4 methods you can use in response to stress:

• Avoid: Sometimes the causes of our stress are avoidable. For example, if being around certain people makes you feel stressed because of the way they behave, then you should avoid being in the same vicinity as them where possible
• Alter: You may not be able to avoid a situation, but try to find ways of altering it. For example, you might stress during the exam period and having other people around might make it harder for you to focus. Communicate with your roommates or family members to let them know how you feel so that you can schedule your study times better.
• Adapt: Certain scenarios are unavoidable so the best response might be to adapt to them. You can reframe the stressor by looking at the big picture perspective. For example, you might be stressed out by the idea of going to an interview, but thinking of it as a small step in the direction towards working in a job you like might make it easier.
• Accept: Although this is the last resort, you might have to accept certain things you cannot change. Save yourself the frustration of not being able to change the situation. You can try to talk to the people involved to express to them how you feel so that you have a support system.

Your credit score can affect loans and credit you apply for. You are able to have errors on your credit report fixed for free.

The following are typical errors in credit reports, that you are able to get fixed for free.

Errors by the credit reporting agency – there may be instances where the agency that reports your information has done so incorrectly. This can lead to errors about:

• Your name, date of birth or address
• Debt listed twice
• Amount of debt

This type of error can be fixed by contacting the agency directly.

Errors by the credit providers – there may be instances where the credit provider incorrectly reports information. This can lead to errors about:

• How long your credit is overdue
• Whether you were notified about an unpaid debt
• If your debt was defaulted as overdue when it is in dispute
• Changes in your payment plan that were not appropriately represented
• Accounts that were created as a result of credit fraud

These types of errors can be corrected by contacting the credit providers. If they agree that there has been a mistake, then the agency will adjust the details. If there is disagreement, then contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) to file a complaint and receive a resolution.

The business management style you adopt will depend on the needs of your business, what motivates your employees, and your style of work. Therefore, you do have some flexibility when it comes to the choices you make and how you manage your business. However, there are some which you should always avoid due to the relationship they foster between employers and employees.

Autocratic

This style of top-down management leaves all decision-making to managers and expects full cooperation from employees. Any sort of criticism from employees will be received with public disapproval. This management style relies on fear and guilt and seeks to micromanage employees rather than allowing flexibility.

This sort of strategy limits innovation and inhibits employees’ loyalty and personal motivation to progress as employees do not share the company vision.

Servant

This type of management values people first and tasks second. Overvaluing emotions and wanting to avoid conflict at all costs is detrimental to effectively completing work.

This sort of strategy places no focus on success and goal completion. It can damage the business if performance is not to par and employees are not encouraged to do their best at the tasks assigned to them.

These two management strategies sit on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to valuing employees. You should regularly make an effort to interact with employees and ask them for suggestions to improve company performance as collaboration can be extremely valuable. However, don’t get carried away in developing personal relationships with employees that can be detrimental to business success.

The transfer cap refers to the amount of money that can be transferred from your superannuation account to your tax-free ‘retirement phase’ account.

At the moment, the transfer balance cap is $1.6 million and all individuals have a personal transfer balance cap of $1.6 million.

Exceeding the personal transfer balance cap means that you have to:

• Commute the excess from one or more retirement phase income streams.
• Pay tax on the notional earnings related to that excess

The amount in your retirement phase account may grow over time, due to investment earnings. Although this may grow beyond the personal transfer cap, you will not exceed the cap. However, if you have already used all your personal cap, and then your retirement phase account goes down, you cannot ‘top it up’.

The rules applied to capped defined benefit income streams are different from other income streams – this is because you can’t usually transfer or commute excess amounts from other streams.

When you own a rental property, keeping records is important. These will help you meet tax obligations. Generally, only individuals with their name on the title deed declare income and claim expenses.

Remember that the records must be kept in English or should be easily translatable into English, and kept for a minimum period of 5 years.

The records you need to keep include:

• Dates and costs of buying the property: These will help work out any capital gain or loss when the property is disposed of – the date entered into the contact is the purchase date, not the settlement date.
• Any rent and rent-related income: This will be required to report tax return.
• Expenses associated with the property: These are important to claim deductions you may be entitled to. These records should include the name of the supplier, the amount of the expense, nature of the goods or services, the date the expense was incurred, date of the document
• Significant changes: These include repairs or improvements or partial or all sale of the property – the cost of repairs and improvements should be kept separate from depreciation costs so that deductions and capital gains and losses can be calculated correctly.
• Costs of selling or disposing of property: To be able to work out any capital gain or loss

Webinars are online conferences that have become much easier to host with technological advances. They are also cheaper and, if used correctly, can be beneficial for your business.

Build brand authority and trust

Giving potential and current customers the opportunity to speak directly to you allows for transparency which can improve trust. During the seminar you can demonstrate your products and discuss your services and explain why they are better than competitors. Your customer interactions during these seminars will allow customers to ask questions to which you can provide insightful information and show your commitment to the business.

Improve search engine rankings

Hosting webinars boosts your search engine rankings. Improving your rankings on a search engine can benefit your business as the higher you are ranked the more trusted you are perceived. Not to mention, you are seen by more people and this increases the likelihood of gaining customers.

Generate more leads

Webinars can help you get into direct contact with potential customers. Asking those who join your webinar to leave behind their email addresses if they want to work with you is a chance to form a community.

Launch new products

Thanks to the development in technology, webinars can be highly interactive. You can host Q&A sessions and conduct demonstrations of new products to familiarise people with them before they launch.

People often perceive asking for help as a weakness, but sometimes, asking for help demonstrates strength. It shows self-awareness and a willingness to learn and grow.

If you find yourself in the following situations, you should consider asking for assistance:

You don’t know what you’re doing

This sounds straightforward, but if you’ve been given a task that you haven’t done before and you’re struggling, it is worthwhile to approach someone for assistance. You could ask your manager for clarification about the task, or some support in completing the task. There is no point in trying to repeatedly re-attempt the task if you have no idea what you are trying to achieve. This is not an effective way to spend your time, and you will end up stressing yourself out more than anything else.

When there is too much work

Although well-intentioned, being overly enthusiastic about your work practices can cause trouble. Having too much work on your hands will prevent you from completing it to the best standard and leave you overwhelmed. In this scenario, asking coworkers to help you can seem as though you are shirking responsibilities that you chose to take, but it is more likely that people have been in similar situations to you. However, make sure that the next time you take on more responsibilities, you don’t take on more than you can handle.

When you make a mistake

It is inevitable that you make a mistake at some point – it is part of being human. But managing your response is where it counts. Rather than trying to sweep it under the rug, you talking to someone about how you could fix it is a much better response. You will not be the first person to make a mistake and there will be others after you that will make mistakes after you.

n Australia-wide survey asked employees what benefits they would most want from their employers.

The following are the top 10 benefits:

• Flexible working
• Discounts on electricity, gas and water
• Continued education options
• Petrol discounts
• Free meals
• Supermarket discounts
• Mental wellness initiatives
• Subsidised massages, yoga, and gym memberships
• Special company deals on loans, mortgages, health insurance
• Discounts on mobile phones and data services

Many of these benefits are difficult to arrange and may be costly. However, the top benefit desired by employees is flexible working, which small businesses can also adopt easily.

Further, due to COVID-19, there are many more resources available to facilitate flexible working and it has become more normalised than ever.

Offering flexible working will make your workplace more attractive to potential employees and increase the loyalty of current employees as they can work according to times that suit them.

Employers should also consider providing other benefits that are accessible to them – this will improve employee satisfaction and inevitably contribute to productivity in the workplace.

Many Australians ignore the decision of choosing investments for their super and often end up in the ‘default’ option as they make no effort to choose otherwise.

Default options that aim for ‘balanced’ or ‘growth’ investments tend to have 60-80% of funds invested in shares and property. This approach for investment is based on the best-suited strategy for a large number of members across the years they will be investing.

However, the default options may not be the best for your financial circumstances and risk profile. Understanding different investment options and how risk assessments work will help you choose better investment options.

Further, aim to change investment options over time rather than sticking to the same one. For example, you could consider changing options once you begin receiving a pension.

Amounts which are not classified as income are split into 3 categories.

Exempt income

This is income that you do not pay tax on, although, some exempt income may be taken into account when determining:

• Tax losses of earlier income years that you can deduct
• Adjusted taxable income of dependants

Some examples include certain Government pensions, certain Government allowances, certain overseas pay, some scholarships, etc.

Non-assessable, non-exempt income

This is also income that you don’t pay tax on – it does not affect your tax losses.

Some examples include the tax-free component of an employment termination payment (ETP), genuine redundancy payments, super co-contributions, etc.

Other amounts

There are also other amounts that are not taxable.

Some examples include: Rewards or gifts received on special occasions, prizes won in ordinary lotteries, child support and spouse maintenance payments, etc.

There are four types of partnerships. The partnership type you choose will depend on what best suits the partners involved.

General Partnership (GP)

All partners involved will be equally responsible for the management of the business. Each member has unlimited liability (personally liable) for the debts and obligations that the business incurs.

Limited Partnership (LP)

Liability of partners is limited to the amount of money they contributed to the partnership. Limited partners tend to be ‘passive’ investors who don’t play a role in the day to day management of the business.

Incorporated Limited Partnership (ILP)

ILP partners have limited liability for the debts of the business. However, there must be at least one partner with unlimited liability. If the business is failing to meet its obligations, then the general partner (or partners) will become personally liable.

Choose a business by discussing what and how each partner can contribute. Based on this, choose a structure which accommodates these differences.

Implementing these customer service strategies will help your business avoid liability lawsuits

Conduct follow-ups during the project

During a project, both you and the client can get busy with running the business and making sure everything goes to plan. This means that your client may not have the time to contact you when an issue arises. Setting time aside that is allocated to checking in with them and verify that things are running smoothly will be beneficial in the long run. It will let you address any problems earlier rather than later so that you can take the right steps to avoid a lawsuit down the line.

Keep clients updated about their project

Keeping your client in the loop helps build trust and means that you might have some leeway if something goes wrong. For example, consider a scenario where you have done all the work but one of your suppliers is late and prevents you from meeting a deadline. If your client has been kept up to date and knows that you have taken all the necessary steps, then not being able to meet a deadline is likely to be received better than abruptly telling them you’ll be late due to a third party (a lot less believable).

Collect and respond to feedback

At the end of a project, conduct formal or informal surveys to give your customers the opportunity to give you feedback. If you end up implementing feedback, let your customers know that you have done so!

Know when to invest time in hyper-personal contact

Not every customer that experiences an issue is going to bring a lawsuit against you. Some customers will need to be given more attention – follow them up, talk to them, carefully listen to their comments, etc.

SMSF funds can provide pension or lump sum benefits during retirement. Retirement is a condition of super release if you have reached your preservation age. Depending on your date of birth, your preservation age will be between 55 and 60. The benefits from your super are tax-free once you are over the age of 60.

If you plan to start a super pension income stream, then the funds from your accumulation account need to be transferred to your retirement account to fund your pension. Your retirement account has a cap of $1.6 million, so you can transfer that amount as a lump sum but no more. The earnings on these funds are tax-free.

Each year, you need to withdraw a minimum percentage of your account balance from the retirement fund. This minimum percentage will depend on your age.

Alternatively, you can start your Transition-to-retirement pension if you have reached your preservation age but you are still working. However, unlike the funds that support your super pension once you begin retirement, these are taxed at 15%.

The Australian weather can be unpredictable, resulting in intense weather conditions. Bushfires, severe storms or floods can cause personal properties and assets a lot of damage. In the case that this does occur, individuals need to determine the tax treatment of any insurance payouts or relief payments that they may receive.

Usually, individuals are unlikely to experience tax consequences for payments for personal property or assets. Personal property or assets include your home and household assets.

On the other hand, if an individual’s income-producing assets incur damage, then they will need to determine the proper tax treatment of the payouts or relief payments that they receive and the costs involved in repairing or replacing the assets.

If you have been working from home and using personal assets to produce income (such as a personal laptop you are repurposing) then determining which tax treatment applies could get complicated. You may have to talk to the ATO or an advisor to clarify the specificities of your situation.

The following are some tips which will make it easier for you to stay on top of your credit card payments so that you can worry less and save more.

Pay on time

Check when your credit card due date is and plan your spending so that you can always pay before the date. By paying before the due date, you will avoid paying interest or late payment fees but also keep your credit card score healthy.

When you have so much going on in life, it can be difficult to remember a date. To ensure that you’re always paying on the due date set a monthly reminder on your phone.

Pay as much as you can each month

Pay the most amount of money you can for each repayment so that you pay the debt faster and save money on interest and late fees – this means paying more than the minimum amount. If you are struggling to pay the minimum amount, contact your bank or credit provider to see if you can renegotiate. You should also consider talking to a financial counsellor.

Taking action earlier rather than later will save you money and prevent your debt from growing.

Cut back on your credit cards

Multiple credit cards can get overwhelming and result in you paying a lot more than you actually need to. Aim to reduce the number of cards you have one at a time. You might choose to prioritise by:

• Smallest debt: Pay off the card with the least debt first and then move onto the next smallest debt.
• Highest interest rate: Pay off the card that charges the highest interest and then the one after.

Regardless of which option you choose, continue to pay minimum amounts for all cards and only continue using one card. Once you pay off each card, remember to cancel it!

Reduce your credit card limit

The easiest way to avoid the temptation of overspending is by placing a limit on your credit card. You can do this by contacting the branch remotely or visiting in person and it takes at most, 2 business days.

Remember that you don’t have to settle on a bad credit card deal. If you realise that your bank is being unfair, or charging too much compared to other banks, make sure you get in touch with them to try and get the best deal for you.

Customers trust businesses with a lot of personal information and it is the business’ responsibility to maintain confidentiality. Businesses should take relevant precautions to ensure that the privacy and personal information of their customers is not compromised.

• Encrypting the information you receive from customers: There are programs available which encrypt information that customers send to you over the internet. These scramble the data so that it is indecipherable to anyone trying to read the information.
• Create employee log-ins: Create log-ins for each employee for company computers. Screening each employee before they are given access to a log-in for any of the databases is necessary. Creating passwords for protected files that only the relevant employees have access to will add another layer of security.
• Keep your sensitive files in a different location: Avoid keeping particularly sensitive files on the same network as all other files. These files should instead be kept on a separate computer and limited employees should have access to it, if not any.
• Separate groups of customers: Separating databases will prevent loss of all customer data if there is a breach of security.
• Confidentiality agreements for employees: If the information you store is particularly sensitive or high profile, ask employees to sign confidentiality agreements. This increases their accountability as they run the risk of a lawsuit if they give out confidential information.

Intellectual property (IP) is a valuable asset to any business. It can be anything from a manufacturing process to a trade secret – it is essentially intangible proprietary property. Protecting IP has become increasingly important and the following steps are the minimum precautions you should take to keep your IP safe.

• Know what intellectual property your business has: Understanding what needs to be protected will help you understand how you can protect it.
• Know where your intellectual property is: Various devices in the office and outside of the office could contain IP. This includes input/output devices such as printers, cloud-based applications, employees personal devices, third party systems shared with other businesses.
• Prioritise your IP: Some of your IP is more valuable than others. Assess the risks associated with losing different types of IP and take steps to protect the high-risk IP first.
• Label valuable IP: If for whatever reason your business ends up in court, you should be able to demonstrate that a particular piece of IP was protected. This is much easier to do so if it is labelled appropriately.
• Physical and digital protection: Use passwords and only distribute them to relevant employees for digital protection. Lock rooms where sensitive data is stored for physical protection.
• Educate employees about IP: Inform your employees about IP and what sort of practices they should adopt to prevent leaking IP.

Calculating how much super you will need will help you decide whether you should be contributing more to your super. You can utilise salary sacrifice schemes to increase contributions, especially if you are not using your entire salary.

There are two main factors that impact the amount of super you will need when you retire:

Costs in retirement

Consider the major costs that you will need to continue paying during retirement. Examples include:

• Paying off your mortgage
• Rent
• Renovating your income
• Travel
• Medical costs

Estimate how much money you will be needing for each of the aspects that apply to you. Make sure that your estimations are as realistic as possible. Some things, such as medical costs, may be difficult to accurately estimate, so try to keep a higher margin.

The lifestyle you want

Think about what sort of lifestyle you want once you retire and consider how much money that will require. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia provides an estimation of how much money you will need depending on what sort of lifestyle you want:

• Single and modest lifestyle: $27,987 a year
• Single and comfortable lifestyle: $43,901 a year
• Couple and modest lifestyle: $40,440 a year
• Couple and comfortable lifestyle: $ 62,083 a year

These are estimations and the numbers may be different depending on your circumstances and lifestyle.

Trusts have their own tax file number (TFN) that should be used to complete tax returns. Trusts are also able to apply for an Australian business number (ABN) on the condition that the trust is carrying on an enterprise. If a trustee applies for a TFN or ABN, then this is in the capacity of a trustee and is separate from any other registration the trustee may require for other capacities.

Trustees

The trustee is responsible for managing the tax affairs associated with the trust. This includes registration of the trust in the tax system, lodgement of trust tax returns, as well as paying certain tax liabilities.

Beneficiaries

For beneficiaries, their share of the trust’s net income is included in their tax returns. Further, payments on the expected tax liability may need to be made, for which the pay as you go (PAYG) instalment system can be used.

Although other social media platforms can be more casual, having a strong LinkedIn presence can be helpful to form partnerships and onboard skilled team members. The steps to building an engaging and professional LinkedIn page for your business is straightforward but will require you to put time aside for it.

• Profile image and banner: Your logo should always be the profile image. You can play around with the image of your banner depending on your brand identity – it can be sleek and stylish or actionable and engaging. Make sure that both of these fit the sizing requirements listed in LinkedIn
• About us: The About us section should not be too long or difficult to read. Keep it engaging, snappy and accessible. It should tell the reader who you are as a brand, where you are based, what you offer, what your values are, what your brand voice is, how people should contact you. Don’t forget to maintain professionalism as LinkedIn is a professional space.
• Fill out the key fields: Connect links to your social media/website, add your address, details of your industry, company size. Filling out all of these will help LinkedIn show your page in response to relevant searches and make you more discoverable.
• Create showcase pages: Your main page will give people an overview of the business, but if you have multiple services, then creating showcase pages will help zoom in on day-to-day activities of each service. This will help people engage with the aspect of your business that is most relevant to them.

There will come a time, where no matter how much you despise it, you will need to speak in front of an audience. Being afraid of public speaking is fairly common and there are resources and programs which may help you overcome this.

The following are tips which will help you through your public speaking fears. They may be more effective for one-off scenarios, as a more extensive program should be chosen by those who need to regularly participate in public-speaking but experience fear.

• Write out notes: Write out what you are planning to say clearly. Even though you don’t want to be reading your notes exactly, having them there can alleviate anxiety because if you lose track, you can check your notes and start where you left off.
• Get there early: It helps to be comfortable with the setting you will be presenting in. Get there when no one else is around so you can familiarise yourself with your surroundings.
• Imagine the worst: What is the worst thing that could happen to you? Identify your worst-case scenario and come up with a plan for what you would do if it happened. It isn’t going to happen – but what if it does? Most likely you’ll realise that public speaking won’t have career-ending consequences.
• Focus on the content: What’s most important is that you know what you’re talking about, and talk about it. Why are you giving the presentation? Most likely because you are talking about something you know, or feel passionate about. Focusing on your material and using your knowledge to your advantage might also put you at ease because it transfers the attention from public speaking to your domain.
• Learn relaxation techniques: The usefulness of relaxation techniques to reduce public speaking should not be underestimated. Deep breathing immediately before you present can help calm your nerves and get your breathing in control.
• Remember that it isn’t all about you: When you are presenting you are hyper-focussed on yourself and how your body might look or how you might sound. But remember that the audience isn’t going to be nearly as focussed on you as you are on yourself, and they will not notice when your hands shake or you slip up while talking

Dealing with anxiety the right way is much more effective than ignoring it. Remember that if you have to speak in public regularly then a more comprehensive approach is more appropriate.

It can be tempting to treat yourself on payday, but in the long run, planning your spending will be more rewarding. Creating a payday routine will help you pay your bills on time and save more money to put aside.

The very first step needs to be completed the night before payday. Transfer any funds you have leftover from the previous payday to your savings account. This will allow you to spend less money you consider ‘extra’ and save it for your long-term goals.

The second thing you need to do is pay as many bills as possible, rather than wait till the ‘due date’. As it is, once money comes into the account, a lot of it is earmarked for bills and payments that need to be made, so rather than holding off on them, you should pay them immediately. This will also give you a clear indication of how much money you have.

Finally, creating a to-do list on the day of your payday is an effective method of viewing or planning your expenses. This will give a clear indication of small and large expenses that need to be paid before your next payday. They will also help identify unnecessary expenses or when extra money is being spent when it shouldn’t be.

These are simple techniques that anyone can apply to get ahead of over-spending on payday.

Effective shipping is essential in a world where online shopping is so popular. Businesses can suffer if their orders are not being shipped on time or if they are not regularly updating their customers. The following are some ways you can improve shipping.

• Improve your communication with your shipping facility: Communicating with your warehouse and shipping team or company regularly will mean that they are updated with orders and avoid delays.
• Offer order tracking and estimated delivery times: Letting customers track the progress of their orders and track shipping reassures customers that their package is on the way. Estimate delivery times are particularly useful so that customers can plan ahead for delivery if possible.
• Shipping costs should be built into the budget: Shipping rates will change regularly, but this should not change what your customers have to pay. When creating your budget, allocate more money to shipping than you have calculated to account for potential rate changes.
• Streamline your packaging process and do standard quality checks: Invest time into creating a process which works efficiently for your business. For example, you could find software which communicates with the warehouse and creates documents which make collecting and shipping the packages easier for staff. Quality checks should also be conducted regularly to guarantee that the product the customer will receive is what they were looking at online.
• Declare items for customs ahead of time: This is especially important if you offer and regularly conduct international shipping. Declaring your package online when the order is placed will help it get through customs faster, and to your customers earlier.

Setting up an SMSF fund is the simplest step. Establishing a fund which delivers you consistent returns from your investments is much more difficult.

Investing successfully involves determining precise goals and picking investments which will effectively achieve those goals. The advantage of SMSFs is that you can build a portfolio which reflects your short-term and long-term goals in response to changing market conditions.

In an SMSF fund, your investment options are:

• Australian and international shares (listed and unlisted)
• Residential or commercial property
• Cash and term deposits
• Fixed income products
• Physical commodities
• Property
• Collectibles

Before you begin investing, consider what might be the best way to diversify your portfolio. How you portion your investments will depend on your funds, the market, and your goals. Regardless of what your plan is, diversification should be a priority.

Choosing an SMSF as opposed to an industry or retail super fund provides you with more flexibility, but also with more responsibility. Researching before investing is key if you want the best out of your SMSF.

When your job ends, whether there has been a termination of employment or redundancy you will receive a payment for unused leave. This payment will be taxed differently from your normal income.

The taxation will vary depending on the reason why you left the job and any unused entitlements that have been accrued over your employment (long service leave or sick leave).

Lump sum payments that you receive for unused annual leave or unused long service leave are taxed at a lower rate than other income. These lump sum payments will appear on your income statement or payment summary as either ‘lump sum A’ or ‘lump sum B’.

These payments may also be taxed differently if you lost your job as a result of Covid-19.

Each person uses the internet in a different way. Whether they regularly access the internet for their job or only go on it to watch movies and shows, users have found a way to utilise the internet for their convenience.

One particular convenience that has come from the internet is being able to research a product or services and purchase them online. A snapshot of July 2020 of internet users between the age of 16-64 showed that:

• 81% of users searched online for a product or service that they wanted to purchase
• 90% visited an online store
• 74% purchased a product online

This data shows that the internet has become an important part of purchasing products and services. This also extends to users reading information about what the product/service is, what’s involved and reviews other people have provided.

Taking this into consideration, businesses should be putting in the time and effort to make their internet platforms (website or otherwise) user friendly. Customers should be able to access the information they require easily, otherwise, they will be driven towards a product/service whose information is more readily available.

Set up a website for your business if one does not already exist, and regularly update it with relevant information so that your customers have all the information they need. The more customers have to look for information, the more likely they are to opt for another product/service.

Taking a pay cut is never easy but there are some situations where it makes sense. Focusing exclusively on the salary could prevent you from looking at other factors which are also important.

You may need to take a pay cut when you are making a career change. This is because you won’t have the relevant experience or the skills for the same pay grade in a new industry. You will need to acquire the same level of skills and experience in your new career to be able to demand or be offered the same pay. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as getting your foot in the door to a completely new industry is extremely important.

A work-life balance is desirable, although can mean that you need to make certain sacrifices. A higher pay comes with greater responsibilities and expectations, which can often be time occupying. Prioritising a balance could mean that you have to reduce responsibilities and take a pay cut.

You may come across the perfect opportunity but it may not come with the same paycheck. At times like this, it might be worth taking the reduction in pay to pursue the opportunity which involves work that you are more excited and passionate about.

Focusing exclusively on salary is tempting because there are always costs to cover and bills to pay. However, disregarding these other relevant factors could mean that you pass on a valuable opportunity for the sake of your paycheck.

The internet and social media have made it all too easy for customers to relay their feedback to businesses. This can be a great thing because it shows other customers or potential customers why they should choose your business.

However, this also means that if a customer has a negative experience, then their public feedback has the scope of preventing future customers. Hearing what these reviews have to say to implement change can benefit your business and responding sensitively to the reviews will help with damage control.

Follow these steps to construct an appropriate response:

• Address the customer by name: Rather than using Sir/Madam, refer to the client by name so that they know their feedback is valued and not simply a scripted and automatic response.
• Sympathise with the customer’s problem: Try to understand what happened from the perspective of the customer to find out why they might have had a bad experience. Apologising will also let the customer know that regardless of whether you agree with their review, you sympathise with their negative experience.
• Let them know you are solving the problem: Acknowledge their problem and let them know that you will be addressing it. This will let future customers know that the negative review may no longer apply so that they are not immediately driven away.

Make sure you do not ignore negative reviews and feedback. Either the review is specific to the customer or they are making a valuable contribution towards how the business can be improved. In order to identify which it is, you should listen to what the customer has to say.

Superannuation is an attractive target for scammers as a significant volume of funds are placed into super funds by Australians.

There are some straightforward steps you can take to protect yourself from super scams.

Know the rules

• Becoming familiar with the rules surrounding superannuation will alert you against scams which make false claims e.g. offering early access to your super
• Keep up to date with the relevant authorities and so that you don’t put in your personal information into the wrong websites – always check that relevant institutions have verified their authenticity!

Check your balance and contact details

• Check what your super balance is on a regular basis – if you notice something that doesn’t quite look right then immediately get into contact with your super fund and ask them about what could have happened.
• Every once in a while, check that your super fund has the right postal address, email address and mobile number – this will help them get in touch with you if they spot any suspicious activity.

Stop identity theft

• Taking the steps to stop identity theft will also help protect your super
• This does not have to be all too complicated e.g. shred important documents, change passwords every few months, etc.

The government provides fuel tax credits for businesses with a credit for the fuel tax (excise or customs) that is included in the price of fuel used in machinery, plant, equipment, heavy vehicles, and light vehicles travelling off public roads or on private roads.

Fuel tax credits a business receives depend on when the fuel was acquired, which fuel you used, and what it was used for. Since fuel credits change regularly, it is necessary to check rates each time the business activity statement (BAS) is filled out.

Eligibility

• Certain fuels and activities are not eligible
• Must be registered for GST when fuel was acquired
• Must be registered for fuel tax credits when you lodge the claim

Businesses can gain a lot from collaboration, regardless of the industry they are in. The following are some reasons why businesses should care about collaboration.

Get inspired

As a business, it is important to build a routine and figure out day-to-day operations. However, this might mean that you stop trying different techniques which could be more efficient. Collaboration could give you a fresh perspective and encourage new ideas and methods you could apply at the workplace.

Grow your network

Initiating collaboration will help you meet people who share common interests and goals. Building connections will benefit your business and could result in partnerships down the line.

Educate yourself

Collaboration opens up opportunities to learn from those outside your immediate circle. This can provide you with valuable information that may be helpful for your business which is not otherwise accessible to you.

Solve problems

Two heads are better than one. Therefore, with collaboration, you may be able to solve problems that were otherwise difficult to solve. This is because collaboration allows people with different expertise and backgrounds to contribute ideas.

Protecting your business from legal fallout isn’t at the forefront when you are focussing your efforts on growing your small business. However, it is necessary. You can take the following simple steps so that you are protected from potential legal issues:

• Use written agreements: Don’t rely on the aural agreements on their own, confirm what is said in writing. This applies to any new relationship you establish as a business. This also ensures that all terms are clearly understood as there is less scope for misunderstanding.
• Keep up-to-date paperwork: Having updated documentation and record-keeping whenever changes are made is integral. Maintaining paperwork is important for taxation and auditing purposes.
• Do your research: Having a basic grasp of legalities associated with your business will be beneficial. Although there may be other industry-specific ones, general areas to build some legal knowledge include intellectual property, finances, employment and labour, marketing and advertising.
• Register intellectual property: Protecting your intellectual property is vital. You need to protect your creative ideas and designs by registering trademarks and copyrights where possible.
• Obtain legal advice: Legalities can be complicated and it is important to seek advice to clear any doubts you may have. You could opt for a one-time consultation or continued representation – depending on what your business needs.

Changing of name, address or job can mean that you lose track of some of your super. This means that there is money that belongs to you that is not currently in your super fund. Finding your super will collate your previous lost funds with your current account.

It is likely that your lost super is held by the ATO. Create an account on myGov and link it to the ATO and select ‘Super’.

Once you have done this, you will be able to see the details of all of your past and current super accounts including any lost or forgotten ones. You will also be able to find funds which have been held by the ATO on your behalf. Further, you will be able to consolidate your super funds into a single fund.

Once you have found your lost super, remember to conduct research about which fund is providing you with the best returns before you choose which fund to consolidate with.

Businesses that are registered for GST are required to lodge a business activity statement (BAS). These assist in the reporting and payment of:

• Goods and services tax (GST)
• Pay as you go (PAYG) instalments
• PAYG withholding tax
• Other tax obligations

ATO will automatically send businesses who are registered for an ABN and GST a BAS when it is due for lodgement.

Businesses are given various options to lodge their BAS:

• Online services for individuals and sole traders – which may be accessed through myGov
• Business Portal – which is a secure website created by the ATO to assist businesses in managing their tax online
• SBR-enabled software – which allows access to lodgement from different financial, accounting and payroll software and can be integrated to industry-specific business software.

Handling conflict in the workplace is a sensitive issue which needs to be dealt with carefully.

The following are practical strategies to respond to conflict that may arise:

• Focus on behaviour and events as opposed to personalities. Rather than generalising a behaviour, discuss what went wrong in a specific situation.
• Listen to what both parties are saying. Both people might have different perspectives on what went wrong and there may be validity to both sides. Clarify the situation in detail with both parties separately before you discuss it with them together.
• Identify the points of agreement and disagreement. The points that individuals agree on will help establish some understanding, and disagreements could help create potential solutions.
• Prioritise which aspects of the argument need to be dealt with the most and address those first. Minor disagreements can be settled over time but major ones should not be set aside.
• Develop a plan for each individual to work on to resolve that conflict. Setting a time frame and goal for what you expect to achieve out of the plan for both parties will help follow-up assessments of the situation.
• Follow through your plan by ensuring that the conflict has been resolved over time. This could involve talking to both parties about their perspective on the matter and checking whether the source of conflict has been addressed.

Not all conflicts can be responded to in the same manner. Make sure you understand the situation and listen to the individuals involved carefully before deciding how you will respond.

As a business owner, you need to continually update various different skills. Improving these skills will enable you to improve all aspects of business operations.

Financial skills

Being an owner means being able to manage finances. You should be able to effectively forecast your cash flow, monitor profit and loss, create budgets and make financial decisions which reflect all of these factors.

Marketing and Sales

You should understand how the promotion of your products and services will take place. Marketing strategies are always changing and updating with technology, so make sure you keep up with these changes to ensure you are increasing your chances of sales.

Communication and negotiation

Building relationships with your suppliers, potential investors, customers and employees is essential. Effective communication and negotiation skills are the cornerstones of success in this area – so make sure you cultivate these skills.

Leadership, project management and planning

Having an understanding of each aspect of your business will allow you to plan your projects and lead your team members. Keep yourself updated with different management styles, develop policies and procedures that will help your team members and manage resources to achieve your business goals.

While you may be able to hire advisors, marketing directors, and managers, this does not absolve you from the responsibility of overseeing your business. This is why it is integral to continually update your skills and knowledge so you can understand the decisions being made about your business.

Over 70% of Australians have life insurance through their super fund. This acts as a financial safety net through your super if something unexpected happens.

There are 3 main types of life insurance that super funds usually provide:

• Life cover: Also known as death cover, this type of insurance pays a lump sum or income stream to beneficiaries when you die or have a terminal illness.
• TDP (total and permanent disability) insurance: If you become disabled or it is unlikely that you will be able to work again then this insurance will pay you a benefit.
• Income protection insurance: Also known as salary continuance cover, pays a regular income for a specified period (length of time or up to a certain age) if you are unable to work due to temporary disability or illness.

Pros of life insurance through super

• Cheaper premiums: Super fund buys insurance policies in bulk so it is cheaper for their customers
• Easy to pay: Automatically deducted from super’s balance
• Fewer health checks: Super funds accept default level of cover without health checks – particularly useful if you have a high-risk job or health conditions. But, remember that you should check the product disclosure statement (PDS) to see exclusions and treatment of pre-existing conditions.
• Increased cover: You have the flexibility to increase your cover above the default level but you may need to answer some questions about your medical history.
• Tax-effective payments: Employer’s super contributions and salary sacrifice contributions are taxed at 15% which is lower than the marginal tax rate for most people.

Cons of life insurance through super

• Ends at age 65 or 70: While outside of super, your cover will continue as long as you are paying premiums, but TDP and life insurance tend to end at 65 and 70 respectively.
• Limited cover: Since default insurance isn’t specific to your requirements, your cover might be lower than what you would receive outside of your super.
• Cover can end: In some cases, changing your super fund can cause your contributions to stop or your super account to become inactive – this will end your cover and you will end up with no insurance.
• Reduces your super balance: Since premiums are deducted from your super balance, you will have fewer savings for retirement.

Tax audits are conducted when the ATO deems that a more extensive examination of an issue is necessary. These audits can be conducted on a fairly basic level or they can be much more in-depth and analytical.

In most cases, there will be a review which then leads to an audit, but this isn’t always necessary. A review may not be deemed necessary in cases where fraud or evasion is suspected or there is a high risk associated with the transaction.

The ATO states that they will be transparent about the following aspects of an Audit:

• Scope, periods under audit and expected completion date
• ATO’s risk hypothesis and information required to assess the hypothesis
• Choice of channel to provide information to ATO
• How audit will be conducted (key milestones and relevant guidelines)
• Advantages of, and procedures for, making voluntary disclosures
• Expectations from individuals/businesses when information has been requested for records
• Circumstances in which ATO can be expected to use their formal powers

Cooperating with the ATO’s requests is the ideal response. If there is a lack of cooperation, then the ATO can use their formal powers to access the information they are seeking:

• Notice powers: Require you to give information, attend and give evidence or produce documents
• Access powers: Give free access to the ATO to all places, books and documents and require that assistance be given to ATO’s officers to exercise their powers.

Cooperation makes this process much easier for both parties as a lack of cooperation can not only create a bad image but can be easily overcome by the ATO’s powers.

The term SEO gets thrown around a lot, but what does it mean? Search Engine Optimisation is the process of increasing the quality and quantity of your traffic through organic search engine results. Quality pertains to the types of people that visit your website and how relevant they are to your service and product. Quantity pertains to the amount of traffic your website receives.

But what does that mean for your business?

Save money on ads:

A significant advantage of SEOs is that you don’t have to pay for your website to come first on a search engine. If a website is well-crafted, then it will appear in the highest spots when a relevant search is made on google – without paying a price for it. Being one of the earlier results on a search engine also increases the perceived reliability of your business.

Find your target audience

SEO can help you target the audience that is most relevant to your services. If your page responds to the needs a customer expresses on a search engine, the likelihood that they will visit your website and use your services is a lot higher if your website is shown early. For this, having SEO is extremely important.

Stay ahead of competitors

Using SEO helps you improve your rankings on a search engine, and also helps you move above your competitors. Data shows that the first result on a page gets 20.5% of clicks, and by the fourth one, this drops to less than 9%! Moving up in search results make a big difference, and it also pushes your competitors lower.

Easy to measure

When you make changes to your SEO, you will be able to see how it impacts your website visits straight away! You can use tools such as Google Analytics which help monitor your traffic,

Reverse mortgages allow you to use the equity in your home as security to borrow money. The following are pros and cons of acquiring a reverse mortgage.

Pros

• You will be the owner of your home and can continue to live in it
• Some of the money you gain from it could be used to supplement retirement (especially relevant if your super isn’t covering all expenses
• You could use the lump sum payment for renovations if your home is in a bad condition
• You could put the money aside for emergencies that can arise
• You won’t feel stressed about your living situation

Cons

• Over time, your debt will grow while your equity decreases
• Interest and fees will accumulate and contribute significantly to your loan balance
• The interest rate that is charged on a reverse mortgage will be higher than on a standard home loan
• Reverse mortgages could impact whether you receive Age Pension
• Reverse mortgages could inhibit your ability to afford aged care
• If you are the sole owner of your home, then if you move or pass away, the person staying with you may not be able to stay
• If you plan to invest the money from your reverse mortgage, then your home is at risk (not just the portion being invested)

Planning for unforeseeable circumstances is especially important during retirement. Therefore before you choose to opt for a reverse mortgage, make sure you consider your options.

Adopting sustainable practices for your business is a great way to contribute positively to the environment. These changes won’t significantly impact business operations, but will effectively reduce the carbon footprint of your business.

• Office location: This is relevant if you are moving to a new location or are newly starting your business. Choose a location which is convenient via public transport or accessible to bike lanes. This will help employees avoid driving to work which contributes significantly more to the carbon footprint than public transport.
• Reduce the use of single-use products: There are lots of disposable products such as cups, spoons, and coffee pods regularly used in the office which cause excess waste that can be easily avoided. Instead, opt for reusable items and also put in recycling bins around the office so that if single-use products are used, they can be disposed of appropriately.
• Reduce water usage: Conserving water usage can be very simple. Install a dishwasher to efficiently wash the reusable utensils you have bought for the office. Ensuring that there are no leaking taps and the office uses low-flow toilets and faucets will also contribute to reducing waste.
• Recycle electronics: Whenever you are replacing your electronics (such as monitors, smartphones, printers, etc.) to update your technology and find that they are still working well, consider donating them to charities or schools who will be more than willing to put them to good use. If the electronics are not working, then there are technology recycling programs that you can use.
• Sustainable partnerships: Building sustainable partnerships with like-minded businesses benefits the environment and makes it easier for businesses to make more environmentally conscious decisions.

Making these changes isn’t particularly difficult for businesses but will significantly impact the carbon footprint businesses leave.

You may find that accessing your super is the best way to meet your financial needs in a given situation, for example in the early stages of the pandemic. Individuals are able to legally access the funds in their super earlier but there are conditions of release.

Common conditions of lease:

• Reaching your preservation age and retiring (preservation age is between 55 and 60, depending on the individual’s date of birth)
• Reaching preservation age and starting a transition to retirement income stream (TRIS)
• Ceasing employment once you are 60 or over (even if you don’t retire)
• Being 65 or over (even if you don’t retire)
• Death

There are more conditions of release that allow individuals to access their super early:

• Suffering from financial hardship (more resources due to Covid-19)
• Compassionate grounds
• Diagnosed with a terminal medical condition
• Temporarily/Permanently incapacitated
• First Home Super Saver Scheme
• Temporary resident departing Australia
• If you terminate gainful employment with less than $200 in your super account

There are various potential ways you can reduce the tax you pay. You may be entitled to tax deductions, offsets or you may choose to opt for salary packaging.

Tax deductions will reduce your taxable income amount. For example, potential tax deductions are work-related expenses, self-education expenses, charitable donations, the cost of managing your taxes. These deductions will reduce the amount of income on which tax is calculated.

Tax offsets apply after tax has been calculated, alternatively known as rebates. These will reduce the amount of tax payable. For example, some offsets you could claim are low/middle-income earners, taxpayers with an invalid relative, pensioners and senior Australians, the taxable portion of a superannuation income stream.

Salary packaging allows you to ‘package’ your income into salary and benefits. There are many potential ways you can package your salary. For example, you could arrange to earn less salary in exchange for higher superannuation payments. By reducing your salary this way, you are reducing your taxable income.

Each employee is motivated and incentivised by different things. While some employees are more motivated by money, others might feel motivated when their work is recognised. It is important to try to understand what will best work for an employee and reward them accordingly to ensure productivity.

Providing an incentive will motivate certain employees to be more productive and produce quality work. There are various types of incentives that can be applied, such as bonuses or travel perks. These incentives give employees more to work for than their paycheck and act as motivation to put in extra effort in the work they complete.

Recognition can also be a powerful motivator. Identifying that an employee has completed their work to a good standard and acknowledging their efforts will motivate them to continue producing good work. Employees will also appreciate their employers noticing their efforts and feel that their work is relevant and integral to the business. If you notice that an employee is doing particularly good work, public recognition can also be extremely effective.

Employees who are self-motivated feel the same sense of accomplishment when they meet their own goals as other employees might feel when they meet company standards. For these people, company perks and incentives might not be as effective. Instead, discussing with these employees about their personal expectations and how they align with the business might be more effective. Therefore, these individuals would be working towards their own goals whilst achieving the business’ goals as well.

Before implementing any of these strategies it is useful to talk to your employees and get to know them. Alternatively, it might help to establish a business culture and hire employees who will respond to similar incentives so that you can utilise these for each employee rather than have a different one for each individual.

You’ve found the perfect business for you to buy. It fits all your requirements and you’re in a position where you can comfortably buy the business. What’s next?

Before you sign the contract to finalise the buy, it is important to conduct due diligence. For this, you should review the financial records, business operations and legal documents. These will prepare you to manage the business and identify any risks or problems in process that you might need to tackle head on. You will also be able to better understand what will be expected of you as owner of the business and which responsibilities have been allocated to that position.

You should review items such as:

• Licenses and permits: Have all the necessary permits and licences been acquired, and if not, look into why this might be the case – were they denied a permit due to any issues with the business?
• Contracts and leases: Have you spoken to the landlord and whether they’ll be transferring the lease agreement/negotiating a new lease? Is the business in contract with another that is problematic?
• Agreements: Are there any agreements the business is in that you don’t feel comfortable with?
• Status of plant, equipment, and fixtures: What is the current status of the equipment and machinery? When will you need to replace it? Has it been approved by the relevant authorities?
• Assets: Identify any assets that are under the business. Does it have any intellectual property?
• Inventory: How much inventory is there? Is it included in the sale? How is the inventory managed and will you still be able to source it from the same place? What is the status of the current inventory i.e. can it be used?
• Liabilities: What liabilities do you need to be aware of? Are there any outstanding debts? Any fines, warranties, refunds that need to be paid for?

Additionally, you need to conduct financial due diligence. Examine the past 3 to 5 years of the following financial documents:

• Tax returns
• Business activity statements (BAS)
• Records of accounts receivable and payable
• Balance sheets
• Profit and loss records
• Cash flow statements
• Sales records

You should examine these to make sure that record-keeping has been conducted and maintained appropriately. This will also inform you of any changes that need to be made once you start running the business yourself.

A partnership agreement formalises the business relationship between two partners. It can cover everything from low-level processes, up to how dispute resolution will take place in the business.

Business partners are personally liable for the business in a partnership, therefore, determining the finer details is extremely important and can prevent complications down the line. The agreement will help allocate the responsibilities and obligations of each partner. It will also help establish the rights of each partner and how profits and losses will be distributed amongst partners.

An agreement should take the following into consideration for it to be an effective piece of documentation:

• Percentage of ownership: How much will each partner contribute to the business? This contribution could be in the form of capital or equipment and service – regardless, this will determine how much ownership of the business the partner has.
• Division of profit and loss: Allocation of profits and losses might simply follow the ownership percentages or simply be equal between partners. Regardless of how the division will be allocated, it is important to clearly identify this in the agreement.
• Length of partnership: The agreement could be for an unspecified amount of time, or the design of the business could lend itself to be dissolved after a given period of time. This should be in the agreement – including if the time frame is unspecified.
• Decision making and dispute resolution: Outlining a decision-making process and instructions on how disputes between partners should be resolved is extremely important. A meditation clause will help with resolution without the interference of the court.
• Authority: A ‘binding power’ should be included in the agreement which allocates partner authority. If a business is bound to a debt or other contractual agreement, this can expose the company to unmanageable risks. Including terms that state which partners hold the authority to bind the company and what would need to be done in those situations will assist with reducing or avoiding these risks.
• Withdrawal or death: The procedures for handling the departure or death of a partner should be stated in the agreement. This could involve how the valuation process will take place and might need each partner to maintain a life insurance policy as well as a designated beneficiary.

Individuals may be looking to opt for an SMSF because these provide entire control over where the money is invested. While this sounds enticing, the downside is that they involve a lot more time and effort as all investment is managed by the members/trustees.

Firstly, SMSFs require a lot of on-going investment of time:

• Aside from the initial set-up, members need to continually research potential investments.
• It is important to create and follow an investment strategy that will help manage the SMSF – but this will need to be updated regularly depending on the performance of the SMSF.
• The accounting, record keeping and arranging of audits throughout the year and every year also need to be conducted up to par.

Data shows that SMSF trustees spend an average of 8 hours per month managing their SMSFs. This adds up to more than 100 hours per year and demonstrates that compared to other superannuation methods, is a lot more time occupying.

Secondly, there are set-up and maintenance costs of SMSFs such as tax advice, financial advice, legal advice and hiring an accredited auditor. These costs are difficult to avoid if you want the best out of your SMSF. A statistical review has shown that on average, the operating cost of an SMSF is $6,152. This data is inclusive of deductible and non-deductible expenses such as auditor fee, management and administration expenses etc., but not inclusive of costs such as investment and insurance expenses.

Thirdly, investing in SMSF requires financial and legal knowledge and skill. Trustees should understand the investment market so that they can build and manage a diversified portfolio. Further, when creating an investment strategy, it is important to assess the risk and plan ahead for retirement, which can be difficult if one is not equipped with the necessary knowledge. In terms of legal knowledge, complying with tax, super and other relevant regulations requires a basic level of understanding at the very least. Finally, insurance for fund members also needs to be organised which can be difficult without additional knowledge.
Although SMSFs have the advantage of autonomy when it comes to investing, this comes at a price. Members/trustees need to invest time and money into managing the fund and on top of this, are required to have some financial and legal knowledge to successfully manage the fund.

Record-keeping, if done well, can help running a business much easier. It gives you an overview of the business’ financial progress so that owners can assess their strengths and weaknesses and make decisions accordingly. Record keeping also enables owners to meet their tax and superannuation obligations easily – all the data and information required is readily available. Finally, record-keeping provides owners with a profile, of sorts, which demonstrates the financial position of the business to banks or other lenders.

Record-keeping requirements related to tax and superannuation need to be met. The specifics will depend on the unique tax and superannuation and obligations your business may have and the structure of your business (sole trader, partnership, company or trust).

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO), requires the following from all businesses:

• The records cannot be changed and further, the information should be kept so that it cannot be changed or damaged.
• The records must be kept for 5 years from the date they were prepared, obtained or a transaction was completed – or the latest act they relate to. The records might need to be kept for longer periods in certain circumstances.
• The business must be able to show the ATO their records if requested.
• The records must be in English or easily translated into English.

The ATO will accept paper and electronic records.

• There has been an inclination towards electronic record-keeping for both tax and super requirements as this makes certain tasks easier and reduces workload after initial set up. There may be some laws which require paper records in addition to electronic ones.
• Businesses may also keep paper records electronically i.e. scan paper documents and store them on an electronic medium (and dispose of papers).
• If records are stored electronically, then they should be on a device which owners have all access to, has been backed up, and allows the owner to have control over the information that is processed, entered or sent from the device.

Digital transformation of a business allows you to reach a wider audience and makes interaction with your business a lot more appealing as it is convenient for customers. This will help your business grow and flourish in today’s atmosphere.

To start off your transformation, you need to know the rules. You should protect your business from cyber threats, and cover any legal essentials that are expected from businesses. Finally, even a digital transformation has real-world work health and safety concerns, so make sure you take these into consideration.

Next, you need to identify the right tools. Moving your business online requires the right software and tools that are most compatible with your business. This might take some research, but the more you plan ahead, the easier the processes from here onwards will be.

Your team members might be skilled in their own professions, but they might require some help to readily use the digital framework. Ensure that you are helping your employees with this change and keeping communication channels open to ease this process.

Your marketing plan will need to be updated according to this change. You will need to integrate your website, social media and other updates into the strategies you choose. This will also be a good opportunity to establish a brand and company identity. You may want to look into marketing tools which specialise in online marketing.

Place your products and services online in a way that is convenient, simple and easy to interact with. The simpler this process is, the more customers will be willing to come back.

Finally, keep updated with technology. It is easy to put these things together and forget about them. But to make the best of your digital transformation, you need to keep updated with technological developments, trends and keep your employees trained to utilise the facilities appropriately.

Debt consolidation is a form of refinancing which involves taking one larger loan out to pay off multiple small ones. Although this might make managing repayments easier, you may end up paying more money interest rate or fees.

There will be companies that make offers which are too good to be true. If you feel that an offer is unrealistic and the company is promising that they can get you out of debt no matter what your situation is, you should reevaluate using their services. Don’t trust companies that:

• Are not licensed
• Ask you to sign blank documents
• Refuse to discuss repayments
• Rush the translation process
• Won’t put all loan costs and interest rates in writing before you sign
• Arrange a business loan when you only need a consumer loan

The goal behind the consolidation is to manage your payments, not create more fees and interest for you. Therefore, before signing onto an agreement, check how consolidation compares with your current fees and interest rates altogether. Also, take into account expenses and penalties associated with your existing loans and whether you will have to pay more money for paying off your loan early. If the expenses work out to be more, it might not be worth going through this entire process.

Debt consolidation isn’t the only option if you’re struggling with repayments. Other options may be available which are more suited to you. You should discuss with your mortgage provider, credit provider or financial advisors to determine if there is anything that can be done.

Company culture has become an important part of how businesses are perceived. Businesses with a positive culture are more likely to attract clients and customers. Statistics also show that over 50% of executives believe that having a good culture can influence productivity, creativity, profitability, firm value and growth rates.

However, while it can be easier to describe and quantify a company’s products and services, defining culture is a lot more difficult. It requires capturing the company environment, values and relationships.

Identifying what your company culture is, or what you want it to be, will determine your work processes, hire new people into your team, and how you and your employees interact with clients.

The first thing to do is to identify key traits that describe your culture. Bring together a diverse group of people from across your company and brainstorm words and qualities which describe the culture. Collate the words which you hear the most so that you end up with a list which is representative of the culture that employees most relate to.

The next thing you need to do is distil this list down to the core values you can see in it. You can conduct surveys (if you have a large company) or talk to your employees (if the company is small) and ask them whether the values you have chosen resonate with them, and if not, which ones do. At this point, you should aim to have around 5 values, but this is a flexible number.

Last of all, once the core values have been established, share them throughout the company. Employees should relate to these values and they should also feel motivated to embody them. Communicate with your employees about why these values may or may not be working/suitable.

Remember that this is a process. You may not get it right the first time, which is why it is important to be receptive to feedback from all members of the company.

The transition to retirement (TTR) strategy allows you to access some of your super while you continue to work.

You are able to use the TTR strategy if you are aged 55 to 60. You can use it to supplement your income if you reduce your work hours or boost your super and save on tax while you keep working full time.

• Starting a TTR pension: To start your TTR pension, transfer some of your super to an account-based pension. You have to keep some money in your super account so that you can continue to receive your employer’s compulsory contributions as well as any voluntary contributions you may be making.
• Government benefits and TTR: The benefits you or your partner receive might be impacted if you choose to opt for this strategy. How and what exactly will change might become clearer upon discussing this with a Financial Information Service (FIS) officer.
• Life insurance and TTR: In some cases, the life insurance cover you have with your super may stop or reduce if you start a TTR pension – check this before making any decisions or changes.

TTR can help ease your mind as you transition into retirement but it can be a bit complex. Before you choose whether you want to use TTR to reduce work hours or save on tax, or even if you want to use TTR altogether, you should figure out how this will impact all aspects of your finances.

How much tax you pay on your super contributions and withdrawals depends on a variety of factors. The process takes into account your total super amount, your age, and the type of contribution or withdrawal you make.

How are super contributions taxed?

The money that you contribute to your super account through your employer is taxed at 15%, and this is the same with salary sacrificed contributions. But there are exceptions to this:

• If you earn $37,000 or less, then the tax will be paid back to the super account due to the low-income super tax offset (LISTO)
• If your income and super contributions add up to more than $250,000, then you are also required to pay an additional 15% Division 293 tax.

Any after-tax super contributions (non-concessional contributions) are not taxed further.

How are super withdrawals taxed?

How much tax you pay on withdrawals depends on whether you withdraw as a super income stream or a lump sum. Since this can be a convoluted process, it may be beneficial to approach an advisor and clarify any questions you may have before you withdraw money.

What about beneficiaries?

If someone dies, then their super money will go to their beneficiary. This is known as a super death benefit. As a beneficiary, the tax you pay on the death benefit is dependent upon:

• The tax-free and taxable components of the super
• Whether you’re a dependant for tax purposes
• Whether you take the benefit as an income stream or a lump sum.

Given how confusing and stressful these times have been for individuals, you might find that employees are not performing at the standard you expect them to. This can prevent the company from meeting its goals and slow down growth.

It is important that you critique yourself before you start questioning the employee. The employee should be aware of what is expected from them, both in terms of role and the standard at which it should be completed. They should also be aware of the consequences of underperforming. You should also ensure that you are not expecting them to complete tasks which they have no training for, and be prepared to provide training if you find this to be the case. In some cases, the employee may not be aware that they are not performing to expectations, in which case, having a conversation with them might be more useful than confronting them about their failures.

Rather than confronting them emotionally, where the conversation is accusatory or potentially threatening, you should prepare what you have to say beforehand and keep it specific to their work and what needs to be done. This will help you address the exact issue of underperformance rather than getting sidetracked with any other factors.

As mentioned above, the current times have led to a lot of anxiety and stress throughout the public. This sheds light on the fact that an employee may be experiencing personal issues which are causing a decline in their performance. It might be worthwhile to discuss this with them. You may not necessarily be able to help, but it will help you understand the cause.

Creating performance goals that outline what tasks the employee needs to complete and what expectations they need to meet might be a helpful process. Through this method, you might be able to arrange follow-ups which can indicate to both the employee and you whether those goals are being met and what further steps can be taken if they are not. Additionally, if the goals are being met, then you should consider rewarding their improvement to let them know their efforts are valued.

While the above considerations and strategies are valid, you should also prepare yourself to let the employee go. You should learn from the experience and think about what you could have done differently as well as what individual circumstances caused underperformance in the employee.

A business loan can give you the support you need to fund growth or temporarily relieve cash flow pressures. These are some things to know before applying for the loan:

• Understand the purpose of your loan: You should be sure about why you want a loan and what you will be doing with the loan.
• What loan amount do you need: Realistically calculate how much money you need and how you’ll be allocating it to your needs
• What can you afford to pay: Consider the length of the loan, payment options and other details before you apply. Think about what you can afford to pay so that you can discuss which of these features can and cannot be adjusted to suit your needs.
• Secured or unsecured loans: A secured loan means that you provide an asset for the loan, your interest will be lower than for an unsecured loan and the lender may be able to sell your asset if you are unable to pay the loan. An unsecured loan means that you don’t provide an asset so that the interest rate is higher. It may be difficult to get approved for an unsecured loan.
• Fixed or variable interest: If you are confident that you can meet the repayment requirements even if the rate increases but a fixed rate makes it easier to manage your cash flow as all your repayments are the same.
• Fees and charges: The true cost of any loan is only apparent when you take into account all the additional payments that are incurred. These could include early repayment fees, exit fees, valuation fees (to secure your loan), etc.
• Paperwork: Planning your paperwork ahead of time will make it easier for the lender to approve your loan, this will also make the entire process faster.
• Consider speaking to an expert: You may want to discuss with an advisor about whether a loan might be the best option for you and what alternatives are available if any.

There are four different categories of super funds. These have different primary features and are more applicable to certain people than they are to others.

Retail super funds

Anyone can join retail funds. They are mostly run by banks and investment companies:

• Allow for a wide range of investment options.
• Financial advisors may recommend this type of fund as they receive commissions or might get paid fees for them.
• Although they usually range from medium to high cost, there may be low-cost alternatives.
• The companies that own these funds will aim to keep some of the profit they yield

Industry super funds

Anyone can join bigger industry funds, but smaller ones may only be open to people in certain industries i.e. health.

• Most are accumulation funds but some older ones may have defined benefit members
• Range from low to medium cost
• Not-for-profit, so all profits are put back into the fund

Public sector super funds

Only available for government employees

• Employers contribute more than the 9.5% minimum
• Modest range of investment choices
• Newer members are usually in an accumulation fund, but many of the long-term members have defined benefits
• Low fees
• Profits are put back into the fund

Corporate super funds

Arranged by employers for employees. Large companies may operate corporate funds under the board of trustees. Some corporate funds are operated by retail or industry funds, but availability is restricted to employees

• If managed by bigger fund, wide range of investment options
• Older funds have defined benefits, but most are accumulation funds
• Low to medium costs for large employers, could be high cost for small employers

Self-managed super funds

Private super fund you manage yourself. Many more nuances to this type of fund. Most prominent feature is the autonomy over investment.

Businesses receive four different types of concessions on top of CGT exemptions and rollovers which are available to everyone. These allow businesses to disregard or defer some or all of the capital gains from an active asset which is used in the business.

The four additional concessions include:

• 15-year exemption: If the business has owned an asset for 15 consecutive years and you are 55 years or over and are retiring or permanently incapacitated, then the capital gain won’t be assessable when you sell the asset.
• 50% active asset reduction: Being a small business, ATO permits reduction of the capital gain on an active asset by 50%. This is in addition to the 50% CGT discount if ownership of the asset extends over a year.
• Retirement exemption: Capital gains incurred from the sale of active assets are exempt up to a lifetime limit of $500,000. However, you must pay the exempt amount into an appropriate super fund or retirement savings account if you are under 55 years of age.
• Rollover: You may defer all or part of a capital gain for two years upon selling an active asset. Your deferral period can be longer than two years if you acquire a replacement asset or incur expenditure on making capital improvements to an existing asset.

Note that these concessions are only available upon disposal of an active asset and either of the following:

• Small business with an aggregated annual turnover of less than $2 million
• Asset used in closely connected small business
• Net assets have a value of no more than $6 million (this excludes personal assets e.g home, as long as these have not been used to produce income)

There are also other criteria and conditions that the business will need to meet but you can apply to as many concessions that are applicable to you. Importantly, you can only apply to these in a certain order so be wary of this.

Businesses may be questioning whether they need to create a website if they have a social media presence. However, each plays a distinct role in the formation of a brand identity and therefore, both are important.

Social Media

Social media is straightforward and simple to set up, with no maintenance costs. It allows businesses to build brand awareness and interact with their customers in a more casual and relaxed way. Social media is essentially an in-depth marketing strategy which allows for paid advertising and has the capacity to reach many prospective customers from across the globe.

On the other hand, businesses could spend many hours working on content that does not end up reaching the expected audience. A lot of time is required to continually create and post content which receives engagement and loyalty from customers. Although there are no costs with having an account, if you want your content to be targeted to your audience, this requires payments which can be expensive.

Although social media gives access to customers you might not have otherwise had access to, it is difficult to convert these interactions into sales or use of your business services.

Website

Your website means you have full control of the platform. You can create a platform that reflects your business and your values. This also means that there are no external terms and conditions you are required to follow, instead, you determine those conditions. A website is also perfect for referrals, as it demonstrates professionalism and builds confidence in your business.

Owning your own website means that you are able to track all incoming traffic and monitor the characteristics of your audience. This will provide you with a clear indication of what facilities you need to have on your website.

However, maintaining a website that is heavy in content can be time and money consuming. There are also a lot more details to be weary about when it comes to marketing – but considering the amount of customisation you can have on a website, this is no surprise. Finally the design and set up of a website can be quite complex, and isn’t necessarily something you can or should tackle on your own.

In summary, you should have both a social media presence and a website. Social media is an excellent marketing tool but a website is the heart of your brand’s online presence.

It’s hard to know where to start when you decide to take control of your money. It can be helpful to know exactly how much money is coming in and going out to start this process.

Understand where your money is going

Although it can seem daunting to track every dollar you spend, it will give you a clear view of where you are spending your money. Small things often go missed when you estimate your spending, so taking note of these will help you understand the gap between your estimations and your actual spending.

Track your spending and expenses

You should start tracking your spending every day for a set period of time. This could be a few weeks or a few months. You will begin to notice patterns of spending the longer you track your expenses.

A simple way to track your spending is through a phone app. Certain apps will even allow you to limit your spending and give you an easy-to-understand overview of your expenses.

If you regularly use your card, then your bank statement will contain every translation detail. Views these regularly or at the end of the week.

Alternatively, you can also write down where you spend your money and how much you spent. This is especially useful if you regularly use cash.

Reflect on your tracking

At the end of this tracking period, you should be able to see where you most spend your money. Being aware of this might help reduce your spending but there are also other things you can do.

Take note of where you can save your money. There may be certain items that you regularly buy over time, which you might be able to cut down spending for by buying for the long term.

You should also distinguish between what you ‘need’ and what you ‘want’. This will give you a good estimate of what ‘wants’ you are spending most on and how to best cut down on them.

Test out a budget

Using this information, test out a budget and see if it works. This time, you should aim to set a realistic limit for the next week or month. You should account for some of your wants as well as your needs.

Your budget may require revising, but you should create one which balances your previous spending habits, and your future financial goals.

Having a strong relationship with your partners is extremely important, but sometimes it isn’t enough. Having a document which covers all aspects of running the business, both those which are liable to disputes and those which are not is essential.

If you haven’t done so already, the following are some reasons why you should create a written agreement now:

• You and your business partners have a clear understanding of the rules and regulations which will apply to the business and to your business relationship.
• If there is no agreement in place, then all the partners share equal profits and cover losses equally. This will be regardless of how much time and effort each partner contributes to the business. Creating an agreement will allow partners to tweak these aspects and create a unique division which represents the partner contributions more accurately.
• If there is no agreement in place, then the terms of the partnership will be covered by the legislation of your state or territory. These have a one-size-fits-all approach which might not suit your business. Creating an agreement specific to your partnerships will mean it is tailored to the specific circumstances and relationships within your business.
• Minor disagreements can lead to bigger problems if there is no set method to resolve them. A written agreement will allow you to create clear and unambiguous procedures to deal with those sorts of matters and allocate roles to each partner so that there are no confusions about decisions-making.
• Creating an agreement will allow you to focus on the business end of things as opposed to spending time on dealing with specifics of the partnerships.

A written partnership will help streamline the nitpicky processes so that you can focus on the growth of the business.

An annuity provides guaranteed income for a number of years, or for the rest of your life. It is also known as a lifetime or fixed-term pension.

You can buy an annuity from a super fund or life insurance company. You are able to choose whether you want the payments to last for a fixed number of years, your life expectancy, or the rest of your life.

In order to buy an annuity through your super fund, you must be in the ‘preservation age’ which is between 55 and 60. Additionally. You are required to meet a condition of release e.g. permanently retiring.

You are also able to buy an annuity in joint names using savings. Through this method, you can split income for tax purposes. If either you or your partner dies, then the survivor has ownership and access to the funds. On the other hand, buying an annuity using a super lump sum can only be in the name of the owner.

When you buy the annuity, you decide the payment amount you will receive. This can increase each year by a fixed percentage or indexed with inflation. Further, you can also choose if you are paid monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly. There are some conditions the ATO has about minimum annual payments if your annuity is bought with super money e.g. must pay a certain percentage of the balance based on your age.

You decide what happens with your annuity if you pass away. You can either nominate a reversionary beneficiary or choose a guaranteed period option. A reversionary beneficiary will receive your income payments for the rest of their life, usually at a reduced level. The guaranteed period option will allow your beneficiary to receive their payments as a lump sum or an income stream.

An annuity will impact your eligibility for the Age Pension as it is accounted for in the income and assets tests which are conducted. You should discuss exactly how the annuity will impact Age Pension entitlement with a Financial Information Service (FIS) officer.

There are different types of deductions which individuals can claim to reduce their taxable income.

Work-related expenses

In order to claim work-related tax deductions, the expenses must have to meet three criteria. Firstly, all the expenses have to be paid by the individual, without being reimbursed by the employer. Secondly, they must be directly related to earning your income. Finally, there must be a record of the expenses (i.e. a receipt).

There are various different expenses which can fall under this category.

• Vehicle and travel expenses: Commuting between different locations but not usual travel between home and work
• Clothing, laundry and dry-cleaning expenses: Cost of work uniform which is distinct and unique (i.e. has a specific logo)
• Self-education expenses: Any courses or study associated with employees current role, such as textbooks
• Tools and other equipment: If you purchase tools or equipment, then a deduction for some or all the cost could be claimed

Investment expenses

The cost of earning interest, dividends or other investment income can also be claimed. This can include:

• Interest charged on money borrowed to invest
• Investment property ex[enses
• Investing magazines and subscriptions
• Money you paid for investment advice

Home office expenses

A portion of the costs associated with installing your home office can be deducted. The process is now much easier due to COVID-19. It allows people to claim 80 cents per hour for all running expenses. Additionally, people living in the same house can claim this individually, there is no need for a dedicated office.

Other deductions

There are also other deductions available. These include:

• Union fees
• The cost of managing your tax affairs
• Income protection insurance (If not through super)
• Personal super contributions
• Gifts and donations to organisations that are endorsed by the ATO as deductible gift recipients

Retaining customers is just as important as acquiring new ones, if not more important. This is because unless customers had a negative experience with your company, they will use your services or buy your products again.

Here are some strategies you can use to retain your customers:

• Observing customer behaviours: Analysing customer behaviour patterns will help predict customer needs and create services or products that respond to those needs. This could involve having a sale during periods when your customers show a tendency to engage with your company.
• Targeted approach to customers: Collecting data can also help you personalise your approach to individual customers. For example, a certain demographic of customers may value free delivery, while others prefer discounted products. Ensure that you are making the best of the data you collect.
• Create VIP programs: Rewarding customers that regularly buy from or use your services is important in making them feel valued. Create a VIP program that gives regular customers incentives and benefits so that they are encouraged to continue coming back.
• Individualised communications: Interactions which are personalised have been found to be effective. This can start with something as basic as sending email campaigns that have the customers’ names.

Innovation doesn’t have to be a revolutionary and world-changing breakthrough. It can also be small changes you make to continually improve your business. Innovation can help in multiple aspects of business.

• Improve sales and customer relationships: Putting the time and effort into improving your products and services is essential if you want to retain customers. Customers will recognise the changes you make and your commitment to doing the best you can for them. This will inevitably translate into improved sales.
• Reduce waste and costs: Implementing changes which utilise new ways to eliminate waste and increase efficiency are extremely important. This will help you either increase your profits, or invest the money you save back into other necessary improvements for the business.
• Improve employee performance: Creating a work environment that promotes innovation is more likely to keep employees stimulated and interested in their work. When employees are given the opportunity to suggest and implement changes, they are more likely to take pride in their work. This will also result in greater productivity.
• Boost your market position: Innovation is also important in keeping up with changes in the market. Creating a company culture which is flexible and facilitates regular changes will mean that you can transform according to the needs of the market. This will differentiate you from competitors and boost your position in the industry.

Employment contracts contain terms and conditions which both the employee and employer agree upon. Ideally, this contract should be written rather than confirmed verbally to avoid miscommunications or misunderstandings. Contracts may also contain implied terms i.e. not misusing confidential information.

Employment contracts are also governed by legislation which provide further information about the minimum terms required, remedies that can be utilised, and basic regulatory frameworks. The industry you are in may also have additional industry-specific requirements which are legally reinforced.

Breach of employment occurs when employers or employees fail to comply with terms of the contract. The innocent party may be entitled to sue for the damages that have occurred as a result of the breach – so that they can be restored. A substantial breach may also allow an immediate termination of the contract and additionally allow individuals to sue for any loss incurred.

In the case that an employer or employee has breached a contract, it may be easier to navigate the difficult processes that need to be completed with the help of a legal advisor. This is because breach of contract can be fairly nuanced and information provided on websites may not be sufficient enough to lead the process without help from a legal professional.

The government may be able to provide free or concessional legal advice which should be utilised as legal proceedings can often be costly.

The market for super funds is extremely competitive.Scammers take advantage of this by promising unrealistic benefits to acquire personal or account details. They are able to use this information to steal your identity or transfer your super to an account they can access.

Scammers can approach you in various ways. You could receive a phone call, email or be contacted online.

This is what you should be weary of:

• Advertisements promoting early access to super
• Offers to ‘take control’ of your super
• Offers to invest your super in property
• Offers of quick and easy ways to access or ‘unlock’ super

The best way to spot a scam is to know what the rules about your super fund are. Knowing when you can legally access your super will protect you from false promises. Additionally, the ASIC website lets you check if someone is licensed, if they are not licensed, more likely than not, they should not be trusted.

If you believe that you’re being targeted by a scam, then rather than simply ignoring approaches and not engaging, you should report the scam. You can do this by calling the ATO or completing the online complaint form on the ASIC website.

Investment income needs to be included when conducting tax returns. This includes any income acquired through interest, dividends, rent, managed funds distributions and capital gains. The income yielded from investments is taxed at a marginal tax rate.

Individuals are able to claim deductions for the cost of buying, managing and selling an investment. However, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) provides rules about what an or cannot be claimed as a tax deduction.

The MoneySmart website has a simple and easy-to-use tax calculator that may give an indication as to what the annual tax will be. However, it is recommended that if an individual has a diverse portfolio that yields income from multiple sources, then should consult an accountant or advisor that can lead them through the process as it can become quite complex.

In order to minimise taxation on investment income, individuals should consider tax-effective investments which provide concessional taxation. These include superannuation and insurance bonds.

Email campaigns are important because research shows a large percentage of both adults and teenagers regularly use email. Running a successful email campaign can significantly contribute to customer interactions and generate sales in the long term.

How to run a successful campaign?

• Know your goals: Email campaigns can serve various purposes including nurturing existing customers or welcoming new ones. The email itself should have content that is relevant to the purpose it is serving and encourages the recipient to take the intended actions.

• Build a targeted email list: Your email list should contain customers who are interested in your products. A simple way to do this is to ask visiting customers, both online and in person, if they would like to receive emails about new products and sales.
• Understand the types of emails: Promotional, relational and transactional emails each play a different role. Knowing what the purpose of these emails is will help build the email campaign to serve that purpose.
• Know your audience: Use your data to understand who your customers are and what they are likely to be interested in. This will help curate email campaigns that will engage the customer.
• Create engaging emails: The campaigns should be structured and designed in a way that they keep the customer connected. For example, if the campaign is promotional, the header should be eye-catching, followed by some of the best products, and finally, directed to the website where they can find other products in the promotion.
• Plan emails and follow-ups: The content, purpose and goal of your email will determine the frequency of that campaign and whether follow-ups are required. Often, this requires finding a balance between reminding the customer of promotions or actions they need to complete, and not overwhelming them with emails.

Pay as you go (PAYG) instalments are payments you can make throughout the year to avoid accumulating a large tax bill to pay at the end of the year. Making these payments is a great way to budget for income tax and keep a healthy cash flow.

To qualify for PAYG instalments, you must earn over a threshold amount from your business or investment income (also known as instalment income).

The amount that you pay in PAYG instalments throughout the year will be offset against any owed tax for the entire year. But it is important to lodge your activity statements and pay all PAYG instalments before lodgment of tax returns if you want these to be included in your tax assessment.

There are two options for calculating and paying PAYG instalments:

• Instalment Amount: Simplest option which involves paying instalment amounts the ATO calculates based on relevant information.
• Instalment Rate: You calculate the instalment amount using instalment rate provided by the ATO and your instalment income. Therefore, dependent on income as you earn it and not predetermined.

Banking is often more complicated than you expect it to be with different types of accounts, fees and fine print to take into consideration. You are able to get more out of your bank account if you pay closer attention to certain details.

Re-evaluate your bank

Due to the competitive market space, new offers that might be much better suited to your needs than the 10-year-old bank account you are using may be available. Keep a lookout for these offers so that your bank account is helping you put more money into your pocket.

You should also consider changing accounts if your bank is asking you to pay high fees or requires a high minimum balance. You may find that other banks are offering better options or attempt to renegotiate terms of your account with your current bank.

Don’t assume your bank is giving you the best rate

Your bank may not be giving you competitive rates and assuming that they will do right by you lets them get away with this. Make sure that you keep up to date with different types of rates and what they should be. Discuss these with your bank and how they might be able to give you more competitive rates to the ones you are currently receiving.

Plan interactions with your bank strategically

Other than when it’s regarding an urgent matter, plan interactions with your bank ahead of time. For example, if you need to visit the bank about your mortgage, aim to have a mortgage specialist with you, this will ensure that you get the best out of your visit.

You may be able to resolve your request by calling the bank. In this case, aim to call in off-peak hours to reduce waiting time. Before you call, make sure you’ve checked whether the bank has provided an online method to complete the process.

Don’t forget cards and bank accounts you don’t use

Carrying a spare credit or debit card is okay as long as you aren’t being charged annual fees on it. If you find that you rarely use the card but it has a high annual fee, it might not be worth continuing to pay for it.

The same applies to bank accounts that you may not be using or using rarely. Banks may charge a dormant account fee if there is no activity in the account over a period of time (check details that apply to your bank). However, using your bank account every few months should be enough to prevent dormant account fees from being charged.

This holiday season is not going to be like any other. Preparing for how your business will tackle the change ahead of time will help maximise sales.

• Maintain a human and compassionate approach in all customer communications: This will make your customers feel more comfortable and be pleasantly different to the technology-based interactions they are likely to have had due to the pandemic.
• Use real-time data to understand buying trends and change the products that you focus on selling depending on this data: Using the data your business has access to in an effective way can be extremely helpful to plan advertising campaigns that are catered to your consumers and what they desire.
• Promote sales as early as possible: This gives customers an opportunity to spread out their buying and minimises in-store traffic closer to the holidays. This is especially important due to restrictions placed on the number of people that can enter stores.

Considering the financial difficulties every business has experienced this year, it is important to take advantage of the holiday season where possible. These tips will assist your business in making use of the surge of buyers that is likely to occur.

The first home super saver (FHSS) allows individuals to save up for their first home in their super fund. The money saved in the super fund is taxed concessionally and therefore, individuals are able to save faster.

Individuals can make voluntary concessional (before-tax) or voluntary non-concessional (after-tax) contributions into their super fund. They can then apply for those contributions to be released. This also releases any earnings associated with those contributions.

This scheme can only be used by a first home buyer if both of the following apply:

• They are living in the premises they are buying/intend to buy (when practicable)
• Intend to live in the property for at least 6 months within the first 12 months (when practicable to move in)

The eligibility criteria to participate in FHSS is as follows:

• Make super contributions from any age BUT only request a determination or release of amounts after 18 years of age
• Never have owned a property in Australia (includes investment property, vacant land, commercial property, lease of land in Australia, company title interest in land in Australia) other than if there has been financial hardship as deemed by the Commissioner of Taxation.
• No previous request to the Commissioner to issue an FHSS release authority in relation to the scheme.

Eligibility is assessed on an individual basis; couples, siblings, or friends can access their FHSS contributions to purchase the same property.

There are many other considerations for FHSS which individuals should take into account if they plan to use the scheme.

Individuals often need to come together to form a team in order to successfully accomplish tasks in the workplace. Employers should aim to build team cohesion so that team members are co-operating and working efficiently.

Employers should:

• Encourage regular communication within team members. Simplifying the communication process for individuals so that they can keep team members updated with relevant information is important.
• Establishing a set goal and allocating specific tasks to each team member will ensure that the team is working towards the same endpoint without clashing in the responsibilities they take on.
• Identify and utilise individual strengths and weaknesses and assign responsibilities accordingly. This will provide individuals opportunities to work on certain skills with other team members who might excel in them.
• Conduct team-building activities to assess how certain members work with one another. This will be useful when forming teams and allocating tasks.
• Create teams that have a diverse range of individuals and skills. Teams benefit from different experiences which may assist in responding to problems with creative and out-of-the-box solutions.
• Celebrate team successes when the team accomplished their task. When a team works together to successfully complete a task, their individual and team efforts should be recognised.

Building a team and ensuring that each team member is satisfied with their roles and duties within the team is an ongoing process. It requires employers to observe the team and how they are cooperating with one another, as well as engaging in regular communication with team members to assist with any issues that may arise.

Owning and running a small business often means that you are responsible for most or all of the tasks that need to be completed. Often, owners will find their time being entirely occupied with their business. This can take a toll on their mental health and cause work related stress. Which not only inhibits one’s ability to complete the duties of their role, but also puts them at greater risk of developing mental health conditions.

Keeping work hours in check

Although it is tempting to focus on your business at all times, this can prevent individuals from participating in other activities which are important for physical and mental health. Business owners may feel motivated and enthusiastic to put extra time into their work, however, long work hours have been associated with poorer mental health, fatigue, burnout, worry, and irritability.

Creating a work life balance by setting time limits on work hours might be a necessary precaution at the start. Taking breaks during the work day and setting time aside during the week will be extremely beneficial.

Accessing support

Running a small business can often be isolating as there is rarely someone to share concerns of the business with. This will mean that owners are dealing with all of the issues on their own.

Discussing issues that arise with family or close friends can help reduce the feeling of being isolated. Alternatively, there are groups of small business owners who, and business mentors who may be able to understand and relate to what owners are experiencing, and potentially provide relevant advice.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle

A healthy lifestyle can help individuals manage stress and work towards improved mental health. This will also improve the ability to focus and concentrate when working.

Developing good sleeping habits is a great way to kickstart this process. It can also be helpful to try different relaxation techniques such as meditation and exercise is an important start. Remember that this is a trial process, so trying different techniques to find the most effective one is essential.

Consolidating your super can save you time and money. Consolidating your super means that rather than having multiple different accounts, all your super is in one account.

Why you should consolidate your super:

• Choosing to consolidate your super means that you will no longer be paying fees to multiple super funds.
• There is also less paperwork to complete each time
• You will be able to track your super more easily

Before you consolidate your super:

• Consider how changing super funds affects employer contributions: Certain employers may contribute more to one fund than another. In which case, you should consider switching to the fund that your employer is most compatible with.
• Consider how changing super funds impacts insurance you have through the fund: Changing funds might mean you no longer receive benefits of the insurance. Double checking the details of this is particularly important if you have a pre-existing medical condition or you are aged 60 or over.
• Inform your employer of any change in details they may need, to pay to your chosen super account.

Don’t simply choose the account with the highest balance. Rather, take into consideration the performance of that super fund, the fees you are required to pay, whether it is linked to any insurance and any other factors. Upon reviewing this, you may find that rather than choosing between your current super funds, starting with a completely new fund might be the best way to go.

How to consolidate to one of your current super funds:

• Create an account on the myGov website
• Link your myGov account to the ATO
• Go to ‘Super’ and then ‘Manage’
• Select ‘Transfer Super’

Transferring to a new fund

In the case you decide that transferring to a new fund is the best option, you can consolidate either by contacting the new fund directly, or using an ATO rollover form.

The Federal Budget for 2020 announced personal and business tax relief through various tax cuts. The legislation was approved by parliament meaning that individuals and businesses will be paying less tax, and have more money to invest and spend into the economy.

For individuals, the government has brought forward tax cuts which were initially planned for 2022, now they will be backdated to July 2020. These cuts are set to amount to $17.8 billion and will assist low to middle income earners.

What are the specifications?

• Tax bracket thresholds were increased. The top threshold of the 19% bracket increased from $37,000 to $45,000 and the top threshold of the 32.5% bracket increased from $90,000 to $120,000.
• The low income tax offset increased from $445 to $700

Therefore, depending on which bracket an individual falls under, they will receive tax cuts as well as a one-off payment. These payments can vary from $510 to $2745 depending on which bracket the individual falls into. However, if their income is higher than $126,000, then they will not receive the one-off benefit.

All investments have an aspect of risk and property investment is no different. How comfortable you are with the risk is generally an indication of your financial situation, age and expertise. There are a few common areas that pose risks to properties that investors should be aware of before entering into the market.

Market risk

Like other forms of investing, there is the danger of the market crashing or seeing a significant turn. By investing solely in property, you run the risk of lack of diversification, meaning if the market were to shift, so would your investments. You can slightly combat this by purchasing properties in different states all over Australia, but if the wider property market crashes this is unlikely to relieve risk.

Lack of liquidity

Liquidity is how accessible your money within the investment is. Real estate investment lacks liquidity, meaning an investor needs to be thinking for the long term. From this is the possibility that an investor may be unable to buy or sell an investment quickly when they wish due to limited opportunities. Liquidity risk in Australian property can be lessened through investing in capital city suburbs with high demand and limited supply.

Tenants and damage

Tenants are apart of the deal when investing property. Particularly bad tenants can affect your cash flow if they don’t pay their rent on time and may leave your property damaged. A tangible asset, such as property, can face risks like natural disasters, fire, damage by tenants, robbery or vandalism. Finding a good insurance policy is a means of managing the physical risks associated with real estate investment.

Maintenance

Property investment isn’t one that you can set and forget, it requires attention and upkeep. Landlords and property owners have a responsibility to keep their buildings safe and livable for tenants. Good time management and a solid knowledge of the property will better equip you to handle these hidden problems.

Having a digital presence nowadays is crucial to getting the most out of marketing your business. However, being online puts you at risk of being a target for cybercrime, which means that you and your customers are at risk of being scammed, hacked, harassed or stalked. Business owners have legal responsibilities to ensure that their business and customer information is safe. For this reason, it is vital that you take precautions when putting anything online.

While social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have policies in place to prevent people being victim to cybercrime, it is still possible for hackers to dodge these measures and attack your business. It is therefore important that you implement your own safety measures to reduce the risk of being targeted.

Many cybercriminals target business’ social media accounts to get access to a large following of people they can trick or manipulate. It is crucial that your business account has a strong password consisting of at least 8 characters, with a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols. Ensure that only authorised users have access to the business’ social media accounts.

Create a social media use policy for your staff to ensure that they are aware of the consequences and risks of sharing account information and being careless with social media handling to reduce the risk of misuse and security breaches. It is also useful to provide a cybersecurity incident response management plan to help your business prepare for security breaches and know how to respond to them quickly and effectively to prevent them from escalating.

When planning a social media campaign, think about ways you can prevent your campaign from being hijacked by hackers to keep you and your followers safe. For example, if your campaign is a competition that involves participation from your followers such as them uploading a photo, think about ways to keep them safe from hackers. Perhaps you can provide guidelines for entering the social media competition, such as discouraging them from geotagging their location and ensuring they don’t have their house or any other personal details evident in the picture.

Taking care of invoice and billing payments can often be an onerous task for many small businesses. However, very few things are more important in the business industry than getting paid on time, since delays in payments can disrupt a business’s cash flow quite seriously.

Business owners looking for best practice tips to get paid on time should keep in mind that often the most effective solutions are usually the most simple. Owners should make sure that their invoices are accurate, easy to read and include information such as:

• How to pay the invoice
• A clear description of goods or services provided
• The details of any discounts and how they were determined
• Information about any outstanding payments
• Delivery charges if applicable

If any queries should arise about the invoice or payment, owners should handle them fairly and quickly.

Making only a few simple adjustments to invoices can speed payment from customers so owners can focus more of their time on their business than on their bills. Some techniques to speed up payments include:

• Confirming the correct location and contact details so the invoices reach the right person.
• Clearly stating on your invoice that you reserve the right to charge a set late fee for overdue invoices.
• Contacting customers to tell them what corrections or adjustments are being made to their invoice before sending the amended invoice
• Quoting any relevant customer reference number customers have provided.
• Including a credit card or online payment option.

Engage employees in the company vision

It is important to share the business vision with employees so that they feel more motivated and enthusiastic. This will not only develop an interest in the work being completed, but also increase productivity. Further, engaged workers are more likely to bring in ideas and contribute to the growth of the company.

Reward Effort

Continually recognising and rewarding effort will encourage employees to continue putting in the effort. It lets employees know that they are appreciated and builds company loyalty.

Being Vulnerable

Upholding a stoic demeanour rather than being vulnerable prevents teams from developing strong professional relationships that are effective. Instead, vulnerability assists in team building and allows employees to feel comfortable with making suggestions that could be extremely promising.

Encourage differing opinions

Businesses should steer clear from creating an atmosphere where people avoid making suggestions because they are in conflict with other ideas. An environment where conflict is welcomed can lead to productive discussions and the generation of good ideas.

Company culture

Determining the core values that your business holds and sharing them with employees can help with creating a strong team. The dynamic between team members is important in ensuring productivity and efficiency. Identifying a company culture will assist the hiring process as well as team dynamics later on.

Choosing a super fund requires taking multiple things into consideration. Such as its performance, the fees you will be required to pay, details of the insurance, and different investment options that are available.

Performance

Performance is one of the most important things to consider when choosing a super fund. Take a look at how the super has been performing over the years. Compare how one super compared to others, but remember to compare within categories.

Low fees

All funds will charge a fee – this could be amount or percentage or even both. Checking to make sure that you aren’t paying excessively high fees when there are lower cost options is integral. Fees will usually be charged at the end of every month, or actions such as switching investments.

Insurance

Super funds will have three different types of insurance for members: Life (or death cover), total and permanent disability (TPD), income protection. When selecting a super, you should check the premium rates, the amount of cover and any exclusions or definitions that might affect you in the future.

Investment options

Funds will provide you with a range of options as to how you would like to conduct investment. Such as: growth, balanced, conservative, ethical, etc. Some funds may also allow you to choose the weighting of different asset types or direct investments.

Taking all of these factors into account is difficult. Comparison websites for superfunds make this process a bit easier. These websites may have vested interests, so you should take this account before making a decision based purely on one website.

The 2020 Budget also announced provision of ‘YourSuper’ which will be a tool the government creates to compare super products. This might further help in comparing and deciding which super fund you choose or change to.

What are fringe benefits?

Employees may opt to make an agreement with their employers that provides them with fringe benefit ‘payments’ in a form other than salary or wages.

There are various types of fringe benefits:

• Employees being able to use work car for private use
• Discounted loans
• Paying an employee’s gym membership
• Providing entertainment (e.g. tickets to concerts)
• Reimbursing expenses (e.g. school fees)
• Giving benefits under a salary sacrifice scheme

What is fringe benefits tax?

Employers pay FBT on certain benefits they provide to their employees or employees’ families. FBT will apply even if the benefits are provided by a third party through an arrangement with the employer.

Employers are required to self-assess their FBT liability for the FBT year – which spans from 1 April to 31 March. It is calculated separately to income tax based on the taxable value of the benefit provided.

Usually, employers are able to claim tax deduction for the cost of providing fringe benefits and for the FBT paid. Employers will generally also be able to claim GST credits for the items they provided as fringe benefits.

Employers are able to reduce their FBT liability by providing benefits that are income tax deductible. They may also consider an agreement in which the employee contributes to the cost of the fringe benefit. Finally, providing a cash bonus can also help reduce FBT liability.

The Budget seeks to address various shortcomings in the superannuation system

Unintended multiple accounts

One of the consequences of changing employers is the creation of multiple accounts. These result in unnecessary fees, and reduce retirement savings. Under the Budget, the proposal is that individual’s super is ‘stapled’ to them. Stapling means that the individual keeps their super fund when they change jobs. The employer will pay super to the attached fund, and only change if the individual selects to.

Paying too much

Super fees are being paid on unused accounts, causing an erosion of retirement savings. ‘YourSuper’ allows comparison between fees and payments across different super funds so that individuals are able to make informed decisions about their super.

Underperforming products

Not all super funds perform equally. This can lead to an inequitable retirement result for individuals.MySuper products will now undergo an annual performance test to level the playing field. Funds will be required to notify their members if they are deemed to be underperforming and if they fail the test twice consecutively, they will not be able to accept new members until their performance improves. This will give members more information and the opportunity to choose what they can do if their fund is underperforming.

Lack of accountability and transparency

Currently, members are not informed about how their money is being invested, and whether it is being invested appropriately. Through this initiative, super trustees will be required to provide members with key information regarding how they manage and spend their money ahead of Annual Members’ Meetings. They are also required to comply with a new duty to act and must demonstrate that there was a reasonable basis to support their actions being consistent with members’ best financial interests. This increase in transparency and accountability will allow members to make decisions regarding their super before it’s too late.

The government recognises that despite support to get through the COVID-19 outbreak, not all businesses are going to remain viable.

Many small businesses will have significantly increased levels of debt in order to remain in business during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government is introducing a number of permanent and temporary measures to expand the availability of insolvency practitioners to deal with this expected increase in the number of businesses seeking to restructure or liquidate.

The package of reforms features three key elements:

Debt Restructuring

Currently, requirements around voluntary administration in Australia are more suited to large, complex company insolvencies. The new debt restructuring process will adopt a ‘debtor possession model’ where the business can continue to trade under the control of its owners, while a debt restructuring plan is developed and voted on by creditors.

Liquidation Pathway

The costs of liquidation can consume all or almost all of the remaining value of a small business, leaving little for creditors. Under the government’s new process, regulatory obligations will be simplified, so that they are commensurate to the asset base, complexity and risk profile of an eligible small business.

Temporary Relief Measures Extended

The government announced a further extension of relief measures to 31 December 2020. The

temporary increase in the threshold at which creditors can issue a statutory demand on a company from $2,000 to $20,000; and a temporary increase in the time companies have to respond to statutory demands they receive from 21 days to 6 months. In addition there is a temporary relief for directors from any personal liability for trading while insolvent, with respect to any debts incurred in the ordinary course of the companies business.

The temporary gives businesses needed breathing space to and highlights the importance of working with financial professionals as soon as required, ensuring that your small business has the best chance of success.

The Budget highlights the government’s commitment to getting people back in jobs and upskilling Australians.

The JobTrainer Fund which falls under the JobMaker Plan will support up to 340,700 free or low-fee training places in areas needed to help upskill and retrain job seekers and young people.

The government will provide exemptions for employer-provided retraining activities from business’ fringe benefits tax and is also consulting on updating the current rules to allow individuals to deduct training costs from their income which relates to their future employment.

The Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements Wage Subsidy will boost the number of new apprenticeships and traineeships. This will support up to 100,000 new apprentices and trainees by paying a 50 per cent wage subsidy. Businesses will receive the subsidy up to a cap of $7,000 per quarter, for commencing apprentices and trainees until 30 September 2021.

Economic security for women is also being prioritised under the Budget. Several initiatives will work to support the increase of women’s workforce participation and improvement of earning potential. They include initiatives to support women’s leadership and development and increasing opportunities for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), business and male-dominated industries.

The Budget seeks to promote tax reform and simplification in an effort to support business investment and help reduce the personal income tax burden.

Business

Businesses are encouraged to invest with the introduction of temporary full expensing. Businesses with turnover up to $5 billion will be able to deduct the full cost of eligible depreciable assets of any value in the first year they are used or installed ready for use, from now till end of June 2022. Costs of improvements to these eligible depreciable assets can also be deducted. Through the reduction of after-tax costs of eligible expenses, full expensing supports businesses that are investing and helping stimulate the economy. Eligible new or second-hand assets acquired under the enhanced $150,000 instant asset write-off by the end of this year will receive an additional 6 months (30th June 2021) to use or install those assets.

Temporary loss carry-back will provide businesses the opportunity to offset tax losses. Companies with a turnover of up to $5 billion will be able to offset tax losses against previous profits on which tax has been paid to generate a refund. Any losses incurred from 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 may be carried back against profits made during, or after 2018-19. To receive this support, applications to receive a tax refund may be lodged during the 2020-21 or 2021-22 tax returns.

Measures have been taken to expand and modernise the tax treaty network. This involves eliminating double taxation in an effort to attract foreign workers, simplify taxing rights between Australia and other countries and boost foreign investment in Australia. The initiative reduces tax barriers to prioritise reinstating Australia’s treaties with important partners to relieve economic burden. The Research and Development Tax Incentive (R&DTI) will ensure businesses of every size are receiving the support they require in these areas.

Changes have been made to recordkeeping provision as the government maintains its efforts to cut down red tape. Businesses will no longer need complete prescribed records, instead they will be able to use existing corporate records to reduce the time and manpower spent on recordkeeping.

Individuals

Both low and middle income earners will also be receiving tax relief in the coming years. The government has brought forward their plans for tax cuts to make sure that families are keeping more of what they earn. Taxpayers will be receiving relief of up to $2.745 for singles and $5,490 for dual income families. The provision of a simpler tax system and lower taxes, which will be implemented in 3 stages, has increased the threshold of the 32.5% tax bracket from $90,000 to $120,000. Tax relief to individuals is expected to encourage spending and stimulate the economy.

Job losses have been extensive during the COVID-19 pandemic and the JobMaker Hiring Credit will give businesses incentives to take on additional employees aged between 16 and 35 years old.

Eligible employers will receive $200 a week for each new employee aged between 16 and 29. For new eligible employees aged 30 to 35, they’ll receive $100 a week. Businesses and employees will need to satisfy specific eligibility requirements.

For an employer to be eligible they must have an Australian Business Number and be up to date with their tax lodgement obligations, registered for Pay As You Go (PAYG), and be reporting through Single Touch Payroll. Employers will not be eligible if they are also claiming JobKeeper Payment.

To receive the JobMaker Hiring Credit, employers must also meet additionality criteria, requiring an increase in the:

• business’ total employee headcount from 30 September 2020; and
• payroll of the business for the reporting period, as compared to the three months to 30 September 2020.

The JobMaker Hiring Credit will be available to employers for each new job they create over the next 12 months for which they hire an eligible young person. The employee must work at least 20 paid hours per week on average and may be employed on a permanent, casual or fixed term basis. The employee must also have received the JobSeeker Payment, Youth Allowance or Parenting Payment for at least one of the three months preceding the time of hiring.

The JobMaker Hiring Credit will start on 7 October 2020. The Hiring Credit will be claimed quarterly in arrears by the employer from the Australian Tax Office (ATO) from 1 February 2021. Employers will need to report to the ATO quarterly that they meet the eligibility criteria.

Registrations will be open for eligible employers through ATO online services from 7 December 2020.

Statistics have shown that employees who feel valued are more motivated to perform their best. But how can a business make employees feel valued so that they can encourage this behaviour?

Recognition

It can be as simple as letting employees know that they are valued. This can occur one-on-one or in group settings. Vocalising appreciation of an employee’s work, as well as giving raises and bonuses are effective methods.

Feedback

Giving employees positive feedback (more than negative feedback) is a great way not just to show appreciation, but also to foster an environment that allows constructive feedback as opposed to criticism.

Communication

Keep open lines of communication with your employees, and let them know what the plans for the organisation are, when and if, possible. This improves the transparency, and lets employees know that they are trusted members of the business.

Right level of challenge

Designate tasks which show trust in an employee’s capabilities. These tasks can build on employee’s skills and encourage growth and development in areas where needed.

Attending to employee’s and their needs is important in letting them know that they are valuable members. This will not only improve their morale, but in the end generate productivity.

Understanding what organisational structure is can help with making decisions about your business in all areas. Organisational culture is multifaceted, it consists of the shared values, beliefs and norms in the workplace, and determines employee interactions as well as customer interactions.

There are four types of organisational cultures.

• Clan Culture: Focussed on collaboration between teams to form a family-like relationship.
• Adhocracy Culture: Focussed on creativity and innovation and open to continual change.
• Market Culture: Focussed on achieving goals through competitive drive amongst employees.
• Hierarchy Culture: Focussed on formal procedures and guidelines and maintaining power structures.

The organisational culture reflects in all aspects of the business. It can help with determining which potential employees may be more suitable than others and the way that those in leadership positions communicate with employees.

The way a business communicates and interacts with their customers is also influenced by organisational culture. Businesses may desire friendly and informal relationships, or formal and reserved relationships. Communication methods may also change, such as preferring email interaction as opposed to utilising chat functions.

Of course, the culture of an organisation can have overlap of the different types. More important than focussing on one type of culture, is recognising what works best for your business and trying to foster values and norms that embody that.

Reading any contract before you sign it is essential, but there are some things you should keep a special eye out for when signing an employment contract.

Award Coverage

You should always check that the salary you have agreed upon with your employer is on par with the award rates and no less. Double check what rates are associated with your position and clarify any concerns with your employer.

Restraint of trade

An employer may add a ‘restraint of trade’ clause to your contract. This may impact whether you can work in the same industry later on, so make sure that the employer hasn’t done this without first discussing the details with them first.

Changing terms of contract

Your employer may have added a clause which gives them the sole right to make any changes to the contract (such as duties, pay, seniority or location of work). Although employers should not be changing any terms and conditions in the contract without first notifying you, having this clause in the contract will make it more difficult for you to argue any changes. Check to make sure the employer doesn’t have sole ability.

Carefully read all aspects of the contract to make sure that they reflect national standards and any specific agreements you had made with your employer.

Most super funds offer insurance as part of their super plan. It is important to be aware of what types of insurance you are covered by through your super fund to help you determine if you need extra cover outside your super and if you have adequate support in the event that you cannot work. There are three types of insurance that can be available through super funds:

Life insurance (also known as death cover):

This is the most common of all personal super insurances and is part of the benefits your beneficiaries will receive when you die. Life insurance is typically applied to your super account by default. It is not compulsory with your super, however, if you have a self-managed super fund (SMSF), then you are required to consider insurance as part of your investment strategy.

Total and permanent disability (TPD) cover:

This insurance pays a lump sum if you become permanently disabled and are unable to work again, protecting you against the risk that your retirement income is cut unexpectedly short. TPD cover is often automatically joined with life insurance as a default cover.

Income protection (IP) cover:

This pays you an income stream for a period of time that you are not able to work due to temporary disability or illness. It is only available as a default cover in about one-third of super funds. It may be particularly useful if you are self-employed or have debts.

You can check what insurance you have with your super fund on your annual super statement, your online super account or by contacting them. Through these you can see the type and amount of cover you have, and how much you are paying for it.

How you spend your money determines how well you can save you money. Spending more than you have or buying unnecessarily can severely impact how efficiently you can save. Sometimes you aren’t even aware of the small habits that are actually limiting your savings capabilities. Here are a few bad money habits that are getting in your way.

Not having a budget:

Spending a substantial amount of money each month on purchases and experiences adds up. Not preparing and sticking to a budget is a common mistake, as many people believe that a budget isn’t necessary for their lifestyle and income. Regardless of how much you earn, individuals need budgets to know where their money goes and what needs to be set aside to achieve their goals.

Eating Out:

Dining in restaurants or grabbing take away most nights in the week is a good way to deplete your finances. Save money by eating out one or two nights and cooking the rest of your meals in bulk at home. Preparation of food will help on those nights when you don’t want to cook and stops you from ordering food.

Impulse Buying:

Purchasing items without a second thought is an easy way to lose money. A good way to avoid this can be to ask yourself if you are buying something because you ‘want’ it, rather than if you ‘need’ it? Learn how to recognise when you do the action and force yourself to wait. You can then consider if you have the extra money to spend on that item, giving you time to properly think about your decision.

Credit Cards:

A credit card is an easy way to spend money you may not have. Living beyond your means is a fast way to fall into debt and is one of the worst things you can do for your finances. Remember, if you don’t pay the card in full each month, every dollar you put on a card will cost you many times more in interest charges. Avoid this problem by thinking of your credit card as an emergency-only option.

The right social media strategy can boost customer interaction and improve customer relationships. A social media strategy will help plan out the type of content that needs to be made, when it needs to be posted, and which platforms are best suitable for your business.

1. What are your social media goals: What do you wish to achieve from your social media presence? Goals should be specific and measurable i.e. if your goal is to grow brand awareness, you can measure this by the amount of followers gained per week.
2. Who is your target audience: Identify the age group that you are marketing your brand towards. This will be helpful to select the social media channel you focus on and you can create content which that group will interact with the most i.e. if your target audience is young adults, you might choose Instagram as your main channel, and create content that references different trends in social media.
3. Which metric is most important to you: The number of likes for a post might not be relevant to your business, because this does not reflect the number of people who are utilising your business. Your metric might be the number of people that visit your website through social media, so you customise your social media promotions to show your website first.
4. What is your social media timeline: Establishing a firm timeline for social media posts beforehand is extremely important. It allows you to create awareness and excitement about a new product or service before release. Ensure that your content is ready to go in advance so that you can stick to timelines.

All of these factors will determine your brand’s online presence, the visual content and how you interact with customers online. Make sure you think about these factors beforehand.

Set realistic and actionable goals

Businesses should set realistic and actionable small goals which they can work towards, rather broad goals which provide no direction. Setting broad and unrealistic goals is demotivating and makes any progress made seem insignificant. Every person in the business should be given a target to meet over a reasonable timeline which contributes towards achieving a larger goal.

Establishing standardised and automated processes

Small businesses can make the mistake of ‘doing things as they come’ but this means that as business grows, adjusting to high scale tasks is difficult. To avoid this, business should standardise all processes of work. Any individual placed into a role should be able to follow standardised procedure and yield a product which is of similar quality to the previous one. Investing money into automation tools is worthwhile for this procedure. This can include automating management of social media, email, and customer relationships. Both of these will contribute to creating structures which support growth.

Identify competitive strengths and weaknesses

Recognising the strengths and weaknesses of one’s business is essential. Strengths will allow businesses to hone in on unique qualities they possess which give them a competitive advantage. Weaknesses will reveal which areas require growth so that changes can be made before upscaling takes place.

Network

Businesses should continue to develop relationships with service providers, sales channel partners, suppliers and customers. Keeping an open mind about partnerships or potential collaborations could open up different avenues of business growth.

One of the most effective ways to add to your super balance is through salary sacrifice. Salary sacrifice involves the employee agreeing to exchange a portion of their salary (before tax) for an increase in superannuation contribution by their employer.

Contributions made through salary sacrifice are classified as employer contributions, not employee contributions. These are taxed at a maximum of 15% (if you earn under $250,000 per year) which is lower than the marginal tax rate most employees are charged. The amount that you ‘sacrifice’ cannot be assessed for taxation purposes i.e. it is not subject to PAYG. Employees should ensure that their contributions per year are not above $25,000 as this is the cap on concessional contributions and if surpassed, will require additional tax to be paid.

Salary sacrifice is an effective way to minimise tax liability and increase super contributions if individuals are earning a greater amount than they require for annual expenses.

After beginning the salary sacrificing process, employees should keep a look out for two important matters. First, the calculation of ordinary time earnings by your employer that super applies to, does not change. Second, the amount which is paid to your super through the salary sacrifice agreement does not contribute towards any super guarantee contributions that are required of your employer. Employees should verify that neither of these occur, and verify any confusion with their employer.

Salary sacrifice is a trade off between income earned in the present, and contributions made for the future. Employees may experience difficulty in finding a balance which suits them or taking different aspects of their finances into consideration for the agreement with their employer. Asking for professional assistance to determine specifications for the agreement could help simplify this procedure.

Determining where to invest requires multiple factors to be taken into consideration. One such factor may be tax efficiency. The tax charged on income from a tax-effective investment is less than the individual’s marginal tax rate.

Superannuation

The government provides incentives to save through Super, which make it one of the most tax-effective investments. Contributing to your super and salary sacrifice is only taxed at 15% if yearly income is under $250,000 (30% if over $250,000 which is still tax-effective). The maximum tax that can be charged on investment income in super is 15%, and 10% on capital gains. This is lower than marginal rates at which taxation occurs for most individuals.

Employees should ensure that contributions are not above $25,000, as this is the cap on concessional contributions. Additional tax needs to be paid on any amount claimed higher than the cap.

Insurance Bonds

Insurance companies offer insurance bonds as long term investment options. Earnings in an investment bond are taxed at 30% (Corporate tax rate), which makes them tax-effective for those whose marginal tax rate is above 30%. They are further tax-effective if one is looking to invest for over 10 years. This is because although withdrawals can be made during the 10 years, if no withdrawals are made, no further tax is payable.

The ATO warns against tax-driven schemes, which offer tax concessions for investing in certain assets that provide income in the future as these may be high risk or part of a scam. Investing in superannuation or insurance bonds are safe and reliable methods which don’t pose these concerns.

An interview can be intimidating even if you are the perfect person for the job. Improving your performance during an interview can be a matter of learning to alleviate your anxiety.

Preparing for your interview can be extremely helpful.

• Read about the company and what they do
• Prepare your responses to common interview questions (strengths, weaknesses, plans for the future, etc.)
• Remind yourself of the achievements that make you worthy of the job

Change your mind-set about the interview

• Remember that the interview is the best time to understand whether the company culture aligns with your values
• Think about it as an opportunity to learn more about the organisation, and not just an opportunity for them to interview you

Small details

• Get a good night’s sleep
• Avoid caffeine
• Set aside the clothes you’ll be wearing (Dress for success!)
• Plan to get to the interview 15 minutes ahead of time

During the interview

• Focus on your breathing to calm yourself
• If you need, ask for a second to gather yourself
• Take water with you and take small sips between questions

An important decision to make before you start a business is what structure your business will run under. This will reflect into all facets of your business, so you should spend time understanding the implications of each structure.

Sole Proprietorship

• You have complete control of your business.
• Your business assets and liabilities are not separate from your personal assets and liabilities.
• Personally liable for debts and obligations of the business
• Low-cost structure

Partnership

• Share control and management of business
• Each partner pays tax on the share of net partnership income each receives
• Minimal reporting requirements + Inexpensive to set up
• Requires more documentation

Company

• Separate legal entity from its owners – all profit, tax, and legal liability is directly to the corporation
• Members not liable for company’s debt (only liable if you breach legal obligations)
• Complex business structure + Extensive documentation and record keeping
• Wider access to capital

Trust

• Expensive set-up and operation
• Formal trust deed outlining operation required
• Trustee responsible for yearly administrative tasks

An amnesty scheme which ended earlier this month has caused around 24,000 businesses to admit to underpayment of their worker’s super. A total of 588 million dollars will be distributed to almost 400,00 individuals.

The scheme, which covered payments from the introduction of super in 1992, gave employers the opportunity to come clean without any consequences as long as they paid the unpaid super as well as 10% interest for every year the money was overdue.

The ATO will be directing its attention at any businesses that did not admit fault and these businesses will face severe penalties.

Many individuals are looking to access their superannuation early in order to have support during these times. Although there is criticism of early access to super, this facility has been helpful to many families to keep afloat.

In its efforts to boost the economy, the Federal Government is considering bringing the planned income tax cuts forward. The intention behind these cuts is to boost the economy by boosting consumption.

Initially, income tax cuts were to take place in three stages, the first of which has already been rolled out. The following stages aim to facilitate a reduction in tax for individuals earning from $90,000 to $200,000 over the next 4 years at the cost of billions of dollars to the Parliamentary Budget.

There has been criticism of the government’s suggestion that these stages be moved forward because they are unlikely to have the desired effect. Rather than boosting consumption, beneficiaries of this plan are likely to keep the additional money in the bank. This is because these plans are directed at high-income earners who will not need to spend the money on necessities, that low-income earners would.

Additionally, the uncertainty of the current climate which the government is relying on to justify this change may be the very reason that people save their money rather than spend it.

Critics of this change are suggesting that focus should be placed on ‘Social Spending’. An example of this could be an increase in pension – which pensioners are a lot more likely to reinvest into the economy.

Every business owner is looking to get their business noticed on the search engine results page (SERP). There are various SEO tactics that can be used to get a higher ranking for your brand on Google. However, some strategies – called ‘Black Hat’ strategies – manipulate SEO rules which can be considered unethical, and even cause your brand to lose its traffic.

It is important to stay aware of the types of black hat strategies that are used, to ensure that your business can actively avoid being punished by Google.

Keyword stuffing
Some websites have repeated keywords within their content to hack the search engine into thinking that its content is relevant. The actual content itself has little meaning and loads the website with relevant keywords. This can create a poor user experience from the poor quality of content, and cause Google to drop your website’s ranking.

Hidden text and links
Alternative ways to stuff keywords into website content also include changing the colour of the font to be the same as the background, adding text behind images, intentionally positioning text off-screen, setting the font size to be zero or hiding links by adding them to a small character – such as a hyphen or a full stop – so that website viewers cannot see the text and links, but search engine bots can still read it.

Link schemes
Buying or selling websites that rank high on Google’s algorithm already, using excessive link exchanges or using automated programs that create links to your website are all black hat methods intended to manipulate site rankings and make your website look more popular. Good link building strategies should focus on deliberate, selective growth that is planned and carried out with care, as opposed to churning out a large volume of links solely for quantity purposes. Ensure that the links have meaning, and are placed there to add value to your content.

Cloaking
Intentionally providing different content to search engines and website users is called cloaking. While the cloaked website may appear in a search about one topic, the actual content of the website may be about something else entirely. The purpose of the deception is usually to drive traffic and generate advertising revenue from this increased traffic.

Black hat SEO methods should be avoided to prevent your website from being banned from Google and other search engine websites. These measures can be extremely damaging to your rankings and website traffic. Instead, consider focusing on improving content quality, accessibility and relevance which can bring up your website’s rankings organically without risk of permanent bans by Google.

As individuals struggle with cash flow through the coronavirus, the Australian Bankers Association records that repayments on almost 500,000 mortgages have been deferred for six months. While repayments can be delayed, they cannot be avoided altogether.

Lenders can send you a default notice the day your repayment is overdue. However, they could also wait until your repayment is overdue by 90 or more days. When you receive a default notice, you are given 30 days to repay the amounts you have missed in addition to the regular repayment on your loan. Individuals who are struggling with their home loan repayments can avoid mortgage default by considering the following.

Contact your lender
Lenders are generally willing to work with you through financial hardship. Don’t be afraid to contact your lender to discuss your situation and find out what options are available for you. Lenders are often willing to negotiate short-term variations to repayment schedules that both parties can agree to. However, make sure that you do not agree to unrealistic repayment conditions that cannot be met.

Many Australian banks are offering a six-month deferral on mortgage repayments (including interest) for customers who are experiencing financial hardship as a result of COVID-19. If this is you, contact your bank to see if this is an option.

Apply for a hardship variation
Mortgage holders may be able to change the terms of their loan or temporarily pause or reduce their repayments under a hardship variation. A hardship variation can still be requested after you receive a mortgage default. To apply for one, contact your lender’s “hardship officer” and tell them that you wish to change your loan repayments due to financial hardship. This will usually require you to explain why you are struggling to make payments and to estimate how long your financial problems will continue to determine how much you can afford to repay.

After submitting a hardship variation request, your lender must contact you within 21 days with the outcome of your request. They may ask you for more details regarding your request; in this case, they must contact you again within 21 days from when you provide the additional information.

Consider selling your home
Selling your home is a tough decision, but in some cases this may be the better option if your circumstances are unlikely to improve. If you get to the point where your lender takes possession of your home and sells it, it’s likely that you won’t make as much as if you sold it yourself. When you sell your house on your own terms, chances are you will get a better price and avoid having to pay the legal fees passed on by your lender. Inform your lender if you decide to sell your home; they may ask for proof, such as a copy of the contract with your real estate agent or property advertisements.

Renting out your home until you can afford to make repayments again may also be an option if you are able to live somewhere else during this period.

Maximising returns on investments is the primary goal for every business owner who invests in a marketing campaign for their brand. Learning how to properly test and troubleshoot your budget according to your business needs can help you save a failing campaign from costing you money.

Objectives
The first step to budget optimisation is being clear with the goals you are trying to achieve through this campaign. These can include generating qualified leads, driving content downloads or building awareness of your brand. Understanding your objectives can help you decide what aspect of your campaign needs more finances.

Testing
Deciding how to set a maximum and minimum spend per day on your campaign can be challenging. A two to four week testing period can help in narrowing down the range that works best to deliver the results set in your objective phase. A common strategy is to start with a mix of ad formats including sponsored content, text and message advertisements. This testing method can help in identifying the types of ads and content that provides optimal results for your brand.

Adapting your budget
Budgeting for marketing campaigns may present a range of issues even after the testing phase. It should be noted that constantly changing and adapting parts of your campaign to run smoothly is a part of digital marketing. It may help to start with a daily budget that is higher at the start of the campaign, and use these insights to then optimise your campaign and lower daily limits if required.

If your campaign is exhausting its budget too quickly, consider lowering your daily limit. If your campaign is not spending its budget, then you may need to automate your bidding option or set more competitive bids. Automated bidding aims to deliver the most results while spending your daily budget in full. This can also help to provide fast results, which can be useful if your marketing content is time-sensitive. However, this will also lead to faster spending of your budget.

The ATO reported that 45% of working Australians were not aware that they had multiple super accounts in 2016. Having multiple super accounts is particularly common for individuals who have had more than one job. If this is you, it is important to identify and manage your super accounts because having more than one can be costly as a result of account fees from multiple funds.To combat this, you may want to consolidate your super, which moves all your super into one account. Not only does this save on fees, but it also makes your super easier to manage and keep track of.

Before consolidating your super, it is important to do the following:

Research your funds’ policy
Compare your active super accounts so you can make the right choice about which one you should close. Things to assess include:

• Exit fees
• Insurance policies
• Investment options
• Ongoing service fees
• Performance of the funds

Check employer contributions
Changing funds may affect how much your employer contributes, as some employers contribute more to certain funds. Check your current accounts to see if changing funds will affect this. Once you have selected a super fund, regardless of whether you choose a new super fund or one of your existing ones, provide your employer with the details they need to pay super into your selected account.

Gather the relevant information
When consolidating your super, you will need to have the following details ready:

• Your tax file number.
• Proof of identity. This could include your driver’s license, birth certificate or passport.
• Your fund’s superannuation product identification number (SPIN).
• Your fund’s unique superannuation identifier (USI).
• Details of your previous fund.

The Government has introduced additional changes to JobKeeper to help more businesses qualify for the relief payments.

One of the key changes was moving the relevant date of employment for an eligible employee from 1 March to 1 July 2020, to extend employee eligibility. This allows those who were full time employees on or before 1 July 2020 and employees who became long-term casual workers between 1 March to 1 July 2020 to be eligible for JobKeeper. This will increase the amount of employees that are eligible under the current JobKeeper Scheme, and will also expand the eligibility criteria under JobKeeper 2.1.

Businesses originally needed to show that they have met the decline in turnover test in the June, September and December 2020 quarters to receive JobKeeper payments. To qualify for the first phase of the JobKeeper Extension (28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021) businesses need to show that they have had a decline in turnover only for the September 2020 quarter, in comparison to the previous year.

To qualify for the second phase of JobKeeper Extension (4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021) businesses need to show that they had a decline in turnover for the December 2020 quarter only to be eligible for payments.

This change can be particularly useful to businesses that may not have met the decline in turnover test in the June or September quarter, but suffer significantly in the December quarter.

The improved accessibility to JobKeeper payments comes from the impacts of economic downfalls in Victoria. It is predicted that more than 80 percent of these payments will flow towards assisting Victorian businesses and employees.

As employees return to office spaces, there is a growing concern as to how employees can protect themselves at work. It is crucial that employers carefully plan their work spaces to minimise the risk of COVID transmissions. Consider the following essential ways you can adapt your workspace to protect your employees and customers during these risky times.

Physical distancing
One of the most essential recommendations employers should follow is making sure that there is at least 4 square metres of space per person. Consider making adjustments to the layout of your office space to allow workers to maintain a 1.5 metre distance from each other. These may include wall / floor markings and signage to keep workers aware of the distancing measures. It can be helpful to review tasks and events that require closer interaction, and map alternative ways to complete these tasks while still allowing social distancing to take place.

Close contact work
If the nature of the work your employees have to engage in requires close contact, then extra care needs to be taken to make sure that you minimise putting your employees at risk. Consider minimising the number of people within an area at any given time, and marking off certain areas of the workspace for essential employees only. Steps like staggering start and end times for shifts, encouraging employees to form teams with workers that need to work together, and moving each group to a different area of the office where they still have separate access to facilities can help minimise risk of COVID.

Sanitation facilities
It is important to train all employees on the hygiene practices that will be in place at your office space. Consider signage in washrooms on handwashing protocols, providing well-stocked bathroom facilities and providing hand sanitiser in appropriate locations such as entries and exits. Regularly empty waste bins and encourage ventilation by opening windows and adjusting air-conditioning units to stop them from recirculating the same air.

Cleaning the office space
It is recommended that workspaces be cleaned at least once a day, and commonly used spaces are disinfected as regularly as possible. If your business is more customer-oriented, it may be useful to clean and disinfect more frequently. Surfaces that are constantly touched, like door handles, phones, EFTPOS machines, toilets and buttons should be disinfected as frequently as possible. Consider encouraging workers to disinfect their regularly used items like glasses and phones.

Personal protective equipment
Consider providing employees with PPE like masks, gloves and eye protection equipment to foster safer work conditions. It can be useful to consult with employees about the types of PPE they prefer, to ensure that their areas of concern are being addressed. If employees work in close proximity to each other or with customers where interaction time is longer, it can be useful to install screens or sneeze guards to shield workers from droplets. However, employers must remember that these screens also need to be cleaned and disinfected regularly.

When business is going well, it can be easy to procrastinate planning for the bad times. However, preparing for disaster before it strikes by having a contingency plan can be the key to business survival.

A contingency plan can help businesses prepare for possible circumstances such as natural disasters, employee theft, negative publicity or staff injuries. Having a plan for these contingencies can help your business react faster to unexpected events to prevent ongoing damages, recover from disruptive events, and resume regular business operations as quickly and easily as possible. When writing a contingency plan, consider incorporating the following tactics:

Identify the risks
Think about the key risks that your business could face. This could involve researching your business market, competitors, economy trends, security threats or employment issues. It is a good idea to work with members of different departments in your business in order to foresee potential risks in all sectors.

Prioritise
Once you have identified potential risks, prioritise the ones that are most likely to affect your business. This will ensure that the most relevant issues are addressed first to provide you with a plan if they occur. One way to do this is by creating a risk assessment to identify the most pressing risks.

Create a plan
After identifying the key risks to your business, you can start drafting a contingency plan to mitigate their effects. This should include a clear guideline that outlines what to do when a contingency occurs and how to continue operating the business. The plan should also clarify employee responsibilities, key contact details, timelines of when tasks should be done, restoration processes, and existing resources that can be drawn upon to prevent damage, such as insurance coverage.

Resource assessment
Consider the resources you may need in order to resolve a contingency. This could include extra staff, insurance, PPE, or technical support. In order for the resolution process of a contingency to go smoothly, it is important that you have enough equipment and support so that you don’t have added stress and time going towards finding extra resources.

Share the plan
Once you have written a contingency plan, ensure that they are accessible to your employees and stakeholders. Be receptive to any feedback your employees or stakeholders may have about your plan as there may be room for improvement. It is also important to review your plan over time to ensure that it stays up to date.

Self-managed super fund (SMSF) trustees are required to appoint an ATO-approved SMSF auditor no later than 45 days before lodging their SMSF annual return. An SMSF auditor is a professional who assesses your fund’s compliance with superannuation law and examines your fund’s financial statements.

SMSF auditor eligible requirements
Your SMSF auditor must be:

• Independent. SMSF auditors cannot audit a fund that they hold financial interest in, or have a close personal or business relationship with the SMSF members or trustees.
• Registered with ASIC (Australian Securities & Investments Commission) and holds an SMSF auditor number for you to provide on your annual return.

What will your SMSF auditor do?
An SMSF auditor provides you with an independent opinion on the existing assets in your SMSF and whether or not your fund complies with the rules outlined in the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993.

When preparing for an audit, an SMSF auditor will issue a Terms of Engagement Letter to the trustee(s) of the fund, which includes the roles and responsibilities for parties involved in the audit as well as the range of the audit. In the case that your SMSF auditor’s primary contact is your accountant, your accountant will be issued a separate Terms of Engagement Letter.

By clearly outlining each parties’ capabilities, a Terms of Engagement Letter helps you, your accountant and your auditor to avoid any misunderstandings and also protects audit evidence provided by your auditor from unintended alterations. In turn, SMSF auditors who fail to follow standards or take shortcuts can be sued or imposed penalties by the Court.

The Terms of Engagement Letter also acts as a contract to keep parties accountable during compliance breaches and prevents cases of ‘opinion shopping’ where trustees look to other auditors for unqualified opinions. Trustees may end up being audited by the ATO in the event that they breach the Terms of Engagement Letter and ‘opinion shop’, as it comprises auditor independence.

Transferring the ownership of assets from one party to another may attract CGT. However, in the event that a change in ownership occurs due to the breakdown of a relationship, you may be eligible for a rollover of the asset.

A rollover allows taxpayers to defer or disregard a capital gain or loss that would normally arise on a CGT event. Specifically, a same asset rollover can occur when an individual transfers assets to their ex-spouse, as the transferee already has an involvement with the asset. The spouse who receives the asset will make the capital gain or loss when they dispose of the asset in future. They will also receive the cost base of the asset (the cost of the asset at the time of its initial purchase), as well as expenses incurred when acquiring, holding and disposing of the asset.

The rollover applies to CGT events that occur as a result of:

• An order of a court or a court order made by consent under the Family Law Act 1975 (foreign laws with similar logistics may also apply).
• A court order under a state, territory, or foreign law relating to the breakdown of a relationship.
• A binding financial agreement, or a corresponding written agreement.

Separating couples transferring assets in accordance with a binding financial agreement will not require court intervention, however, for rollover to apply, the following must be true at the time of transfer:

• the involved spouses are separated,
• there is no reasonable expectation of cohabitation resuming,
• the transfer of assets occurred for reasons directly related to the breakdown of the relationship. For example, the transfer may not be directly connected to the separation if the spouses already agreed to the transfer before the breakdown of their relationship.

Couples with informal or private agreements related to the transfer of assets will not be eligible for a rollover, and CGT will apply to these ownership transfers. The parties cannot choose whether or not the rollover applies to their situation.

The key goal for all business websites is to attract as many visitors as possible. However, not many business owners remember to cater their website to those with special needs and disabilities. To make sure your website is accessible for everyone on the internet, here are a few tips to consider.

Be mindful of your colour choices

Colour is often viewed as a major contributor to making a website visually appealing. However, not all people have the privilege to distinguish between colours, or may find it difficult to read texts over certain colours. It is therefore important to be mindful of the colours you choose to use on your website as well as the contrast levels between your text and background colours. For example, red-green colour deficiency is most common among individuals experiencing colour blindness so it is best to avoid using such colours on your website altogether. Using visual cues such as asterisks and question marks can also be helpful in separating content otherwise divided by colour.

Ensure your website is keyboard and mobile-friendly

Not all of your website’s visitors are going to be on a computer, so it is important to make sure your website is both keyboard and mobile friendly. Keyboard-only navigation means that all of the content, links and pages on your website can be accessed without a mouse, often using the ‘tab’ key. It is also important to accommodate mobile users and make sure your website can shrink down to the vertical, zooming and pinching format while also retaining its functionality.

Include alternative text for images

Visitors may prefer to read text over viewing images on your website due to a number of reasons, such as slow internet connection, image-blocking browsers or users who are sight-impaired. To satisfy such audiences, consider providing descriptive alternative texts in place of images to convey the same message to those who cannot see them. Alternative text is especially important in cases where your image acts as a page link or is integral to the content on your website.

Make sure your content is structured

A clean and uniform structure is integral to making your website accessible and this can be achieved by using headings to correctly organise your content. Headings can be used to help visitors easily navigate between your content, but it is also important to make sure your headings are visually uniform to prevent confusion between different content pages on your website.

A successful sales strategy plan will provide your business with clear priorities, goals, and outcomes that can help you increase sales.

Outline your mission and goals

What’s your business’ mission statement? What are the goals and objectives that will help you achieve this? Your mission statement should define what your business stands for and what it aims to achieve, while your goals and objectives should be aimed at executing your mission. Consider using the S.M.A.R.T. framework when developing your goals to ensure that they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time based.

Identify your ideal customer

Knowing your ideal customer persona is crucial as it will be the basis of your marketing strategy. Assess your ideal audience by researching their demographics, needs and wants while thinking about how your products or services have to offer them. Don’t limit your demographic research to age, location, and gender, but also consider their attitudes, aspirations, and lifestyle.

Conduct a SWOT analysis

Assessing your business by using a SWOT analysis can help you identify areas to consider when developing a sales strategy plan, by addressing:

Strengths:

• What are your strongest assets?
• How skilled is your sales and marketing team?
• What advantages does your business have over competitors?
• What resources are available to you?

Weaknesses:

• What are your areas of improvement?
• What types of complaints do your customers have?
• Where do you fall behind from your competitors?
• Are you working with limitations on resources or skills?

Opportunities:

• Are there changes in the business environment you can benefit from?
• Have there been changes in the market that could present an opportunity?
• Do your competitors have weaknesses or gaps you can fill?

Threats:

• Are your competitors expanding or getting stronger?
• How satisfied are your customers?
• Are there changes in the economy, consumer behaviours, or government regulations that could affect your sales?

Using SMSFs to buy property has become increasingly popular among Australians in recent years, particularly since it became possible for SMSFs to borrow money to fund a direct property purchase.

Residential property

A residential property owned by an SMSF has some limitations as to who it can be leased to.

To buy property through your SMSF, the property must meet the following requirements:

• It meets the ‘sole purpose test’ of solely providing retirement benefits to members of the fund.
• It is not acquired from a related party of a fund member.
• It is not to be lived in or rented by a fund member or a party related to a fund member.

Commercial property

A commercial property owned by an SMSF can be leased to a wider range of tenants than residential properties. Commercial property purchased for business purposes can be purchased from a member of the SMSF or a related entity. This allows small business owners to use their SMSF to purchase the premises from which their own business is run, enabling them to pay rent directly to their fund. This can be preferable to paying rent to an alternate landlord. However, keep in mind that rent must be at market rate and be paid promptly and in full at each due date.

SMSF borrowing

SMSFs can borrow money to purchase a property, however, the borrowing criteria for an SMSF is generally much stricter than regular property loans taken out by individuals. All loans must be undertaken through a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA). An LRBA involves an SMSF trustee taking out a loan to purchase a single asset, such as a residential or commercial property. Under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993, super fund trustees can use borrowed money to pay for regular repairs and maintenance. However, borrowed money under the LRBA cannot be used for property improvements or renovations that result in the acquirable asset becoming a different asset. This may include adding additional rooms to the property or completely renovating a room.

Tax consequences

Buying and renting property through an SMSF also comes with tax consequences. SMSF funds are required to pay 15% tax on rental income from properties purchased through the fund. However, properties held for over 12 months receive a one third discount on any capital gains made upon the sale, bringing any CGT liability down to 10%.

Expenses such as interest from loans, council rates, maintenance and insurance can be claimed as tax deductions by the SMSF.

As well as this, once SMSF members reach pension phase, any rental income or capital gains arising in the fund will be tax-free.

SMSF property costs

SMSF property sales often attract higher fees that can end up reducing your super balance. Fees and charges can include:

• legal fees,
• property management fees,
• bank fees,
• advice fees, and
• stamp duty.

The Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR) is an industry-specific report through which businesses inform the ATO of the total payments made to contractors for services in that financial year. This information is then used by the ATO to match the contractors’ income declarations to improve their compliance efforts.

A TPAR is generally required by businesses that have an Australian Business Number (ABN), have supplied a relevant service and have made payments to contractors for services completed on your behalf. Contractors can be operating as sole traders, partnerships, companies or trusts. The following services are considered relevant:

• Building and construction services
• Courier or Road freight services
• Cleaning services
• Information Technology services
• Investigation or surveillance services

If your business provides these services, regardless of whether it is only a part of the services you offer, or if it is a federal, state, territory or local government entity, you are obligated to report the payments made to third parties through a TPAR.

It is important to remember that not all payments need to be reported. Your taxable payments annual report does not require details of:

• Payments for exclusively materials
• PAYG withholding payments
• Contractors who do not provide an ABN
• Incidental labour costs
• Invoices that are unpaid as of 30 June
• Payments within consolidated groups
• Payments for private and domestic projects.

Only payments made to contractors for work that is relevant to carrying on your business needs to be reported. Your TPAR is due by 28 August each year, and fines may apply for not lodging the report by the specified deadline.

If your business does not need to lodge a TPAR for a particular financial year, consider submitting an optional non-lodgement advice through the ATO business portal to avoid unnecessary follow-up about TPAR lodgements.

There is a growing demand for new employees as businesses open their doors again. However, a bad hire can damage the reputation of your business, impact the work environment and may force you to restart the recruitment process. Small businesses can be especially impacted by the significant expenses involved in hiring new employees. Business owners may want to consider using the following tips to avoid employing a bad hire.

Developing a culture fit
You may find that your business has a unique corporate culture that your employees thrive in. The best way to assess this is to have your team members meet the potential hire to allow both parties to understand the kind of culture that exists in your workspace.

Using this information to screen potential employees during interview stages improves your chances of finding a candidate who is likely to fit well into your team.

Role definition
While a culture fit is more likely to screen candidates who fit within your business’ values, it is key that your new hire is able to succeed in their actual responsibilities. Consider reviewing your job posting to make it more specific, relevant and gives the candidate a clear idea of what they can expect from this role. The job description should ideally include more specific key technical competencies, necessary soft skills, expected deliverables and revenue targets that the hire is expected to meet in that role. Detailed job expectations can also help in evaluating the employee’s performance in the future.

Effective on-boarding
If a new hire seemed like a good fit, but is not performing well, employers may want to examine the on-boarding process within the company. Failures in the on-boarding stages can include a lack of communication or expectations from the employee to work independently and without guidance within the first few weeks of employment. Consider communicating clear deliverables and establishing a point of contact for the employee for any support. Your new hires can also be a valuable source of feedback on your on-boarding process and help you identify gaps in your hiring stages.

Handling mis-hires
Finally, some businesses may still find that they ended up with the wrong person for the job. Hiring managers often have a large responsibility in hiring the wrong person, so treat termination as your last resort. Before immediately removing a poor fit from your business, consider having a conversation with the employee about their issues with meeting their deliverables. Some issues can be solved with appropriate skill training and workshop sessions, or simply moving them to a more suited role within your company.

‘Word-of-mouth’ referrals may seem like an outdated concept in today’s digital age of online reviews, but a few credible and positive opinions can still go a long way when it comes to attracting new clients. Customer referrals are never guaranteed, but here are a few methods you can use to increase the number of people who will remember and improve the chances of a client recommending your business to another.

Remind customers you exist
Maintain high levels of brand awareness and make sure your customers can easily remember your business and products. Use a mailing list database and keep in touch with your clients regularly through email or social media. Make sure to update your clients (personally whenever possible) when you have special offers and new products to keep them engaged with your business.

Join communities
From professional organisations to online community groups, getting involved in different activities will give you new contacts, boost your business profile and increase your brand awareness. For example, using community hashtags on your social media posts when promoting a product will direct interested audiences to your business. Simply remaining active in such community spaces can go a long way in indirectly advertising your products and services.

Exhibit at industry events
Industry-relevant exhibits and events are a good way to increase your business’ brand awareness and meet a lot of new potential customers at once. Being active at these kinds of events (through sponsorships or networking) will keep your name in front of your current customers as well.

Use testimonials
Similar to reviews, testimonials from your existing customers can help improve your brand’s reliability and encourage loyalty and trust with your new customers. The fact that a client allows you to use their name adds credibility and serves as another kind of referral.

Ask customers for feedback regularly
Constant improvement and clear communication is key to impressing clients and increasing the chances of referrals. By soliciting suggestions from your existing clients, responding to them personally, and providing high-quality service, you can let customers know that you care about them and want to meet their needs. Establishing such a caring relationship with your customers will improve your business’ reputation as well.

Business owners might be required to select a default fund for employees when they do not want to nominate their own superannuation funds. Funds should meet specific requirements that are stated as per super law, so it is important to select a complying fund. However, there are other factors that you may have to think about before selecting a default fund to make sure that you and your employees get the most out of it.

Pricing
Naturally, one of the main considerations while selecting a super fund should be pricing. Funds that have a lower fee may not cover extras, and this requires careful analysis to see what extras have been left out. Coverage for extras like being able to track down missing super is a key feature that employees will prefer your default fund has.

Employee preferences
Employees are likely to prefer funds that allow flexibility with their investment options and have essential features like insurance policies covering death, total and permanent disability (TPD), and income protection. You may want to consider options that give your employees a comprehensive cover while keeping an eye out for any exclusions that might affect you.

Industry fund
Checking industry funds may help reveal awards that are particularly applicable to employees from your industry. It is a requirement that your default fund is a MySuper product. All listings under Industry SuperFunds are MySuper products, so this can simplify the process of finding an affordable super fund for your employees.

Fund management
Finally, consider taking a closer look at the fund’s insurance offerings. Past performance of the fund doesn’t guarantee high returns in the future. But it is important to be aware of the returns on the fund’s investments to compare how their options have performed against their return objectives. This can increase the chances that the selected super fund will be beneficial to you and your employees.

Businesses looking to save on tax for the financial year may consider applying for income tax concessions.

Businesses classified as a small business entity are eligible for income tax concessions. Since 1 July 2016, businesses are considered small business entities in the case that they:

• are a sole trader, partnership or trust,
• operate as a business for all or part of the income year, and
• have an aggregated turnover of less than $10 million.

In the event that you meet the above requirements as a small business entity, here are the income tax concessions available to you.

Small business structure rollover
Small business entities can change the legal structure of their business and transfer active assets from one entity to another without incurring any income tax liability. Assets such as capital gains tax assets, trading stock, revenue assets and depreciating assets are eligible in this rollover. The rollover is also only available in the case that it is part of a genuine restructure and there is no change to ultimate economic ownership.

Simplified trading stock rules
Under the simplified trading stock rules concession, you can estimate the value of your trading stock at the end of the financial year when reporting in your tax return. However, small businesses will also need to show how they calculated their estimated trading stock value. Businesses which choose not to use an estimate will need to account for value changes in their stock and conduct a stocktake. Stocktakes do not need to be conducted if there is a difference of $5,000 or less between the value of your stock at the start of the income year.

Immediate deductions for prepaid expenses
Payments which cover a period of 12 months or less that are ending in the next income year are eligible for immediate deductions. Prepaid expenditure is also immediately deductible when the period ends no later than the last day of the income year following the year in which the expenditure was incurred.

Two-year amendment period
Small businesses receiving a notice of assessment from the ATO have a two-year time limit for reviewing an assessment.

Every business owner’s dream is a marketing strategy that is highly efficient while still being cost effective. Email marketing is one such strategy that has seen a huge return on investment for businesses. Consider implementing the following strategies to get the most value from your email marketing campaigns.

What is an email list?
An email list is a set of names and email addresses of those who have given you permission to keep them informed about any promotions your business has to offer. This is a customer registering their interest in your brand, and are therefore more likely to be converted into loyal customers.

How can you build an email list?
Offering your customers incentives to join your mailing list is considered one of the most effective ways to grow your email marketing audience. Consider giving your customers discounts off their first orders if they subscribe to your mailing list. This can actually boost your email list while also giving you additional sales. Free shipping, exclusive and early-access deals are all incentives to motivate your customers to subscribe to your mailing list.

Categorisation
Segmenting your emailing list based on some set of demographics can make optimisation easier when you send out content.

Categorisation relies on the type of content you want to deliver through your email marketing strategy.

If you are promoting store-specific information or targeting audiences within a particular area, segmenting customers based on geographic locations might be more useful. Consider demographic-based segmentation if your content is based on age, gender and other similar factors.

Using emails to convert customers
Most emails are opened through mobile devices, so consider optimising your website and your email content for mobile phones. Provide easy, direct ways to access your website through the emails. An important aspect of email marketing is frequency. While overly frequent emails can be annoying to customers, too few can make your email marketing less effective. Consider allowing your customers to select their preferred frequency.

Content
Email marketing performs best when it comes with engaging, personalised content. Frequent emails dominated by promotions and sales can prompt customers to unsubscribe. Consider adding in people-focused content showing new hires and behind the scenes content, or product information like video guides on using your services. It may be more helpful to prioritise valuable content over promotional content, to keep customers engaged and interacting with your brand.

Businesses can be heavily impacted by customers who cannot, or simply will not pay when payment is due. A single unpaid invoice can cause issues, and the longer this debt is left uncollected, your chances of getting your money back become slim. Consider these tips to avoid and manage debt recovery to save your business from major losses.

Reduce credit terms
If late payments and managing bad debt is a regular occurrence, consider reducing your credit terms. You may want to remove your credit terms entirely, but it is important to look at your customer base, the services you offer, and whether there is an average credit term that is expected by your clients. If you offer credit terms shorter than your competitors, you may end up losing valuable customers. However, if your credit terms are too spacious, your cash flow will be slow, putting you at financial risk.

Encourage timely payments
Your business might require a set credit term to meet the industry average. In these situations, consider offering discounts on payments made early or within a set date from invoicing. An alternative is to charge a late fee to encourage your clients to pay on time. In these situations, it is necessary to first make your customers aware of the introduction of this policy clearly through your terms and conditions. To maintain good customer relationships, try to limit overdue fees to repeat offenders. You may want to monitor incoming payments to see if these policy changes are reducing your late payments.

Hire a debt collection agency
Efforts to pursue your late-paying customers may not always be successful. If the debt amount is less than $1000, it may not be financially viable to pursue legal action for violation of your credit terms. In such situations, consider outsourcing your debt collection to professional collectors. However, timely involvement is key to getting your money back. Give your clients sufficient time to make a payment, and if over two times the trading terms have passed, hire a collection agency to prompt your clients into making defaulted payments.

The Australian Government has announced that JobKeeper payments will be extended for a further six months after the initial 28 September 2020 deadline. However, the extended JobKeeper program will have substantial payment reductions compared to the original JobKeeper amounts, as well as revised eligibility requirements.

The new JobKeeper flat-rate payment after September will be reduced from $1500 per fortnight to $1200 a fortnight for eligible employees who were working an average of 20 hours per week in the four weeks before 1 March 2020. The rate for employees who were working less than 20 hours per week for the same period will be reduced to $750 a fortnight. These rates are set to apply until the end of 2020.

A further reduction in JobKeeper payments will be administered from 4 January 2021. After this date, eligible employees who were working more than 20 hours per week in the four weeks before 1 March 2021 will receive a flat rate of $1000 per fortnight, while employees who were working less than 20 hours per week for the same period will receive $650 per fortnight.

The JobKeeper extension shares a similar eligibility criteria as the initial JobKeeper program, however, it will be targeting support to businesses and not-for-profit organisations that are facing continual impacts from COVID-19. Those seeking to claim the JobKeeper extension payments must reassess their eligibility by demonstrating that they have met the decline in turnover test for the new required periods. Businesses who have experienced either one of the following will meet the decline in turnover test:

• A 30% fall in turnover for an aggregated turnover of $1 billion or less.
• A 50% fall in turnover for an aggregated turnover of more than $1 billion.

To be eligible for JobKeeper from 28 September to 3 January 2021, the decline in turnover test must be met for the June and September quarters 2020. Businesses must reassess their eligibility again in January 2021 to be eligible for JobKeeper from 4 January to 28 March 2021. To remain eligible for the March 2021 quarter, businesses will need to demonstrate that they have met the decline in turnover test in each of the previous three quarters.

The extended JobKeeper program is set to end on 28 March 2021.

Self-managed super funds (SMSF) can be vulnerable to disputes, especially when family members are involved.

SMSF disputes may be caused by a number of reasons such as relationship breakdowns, (common in funds where parents and siblings are in a member and trustee relationship) and fundamental differences in opinions. Other common triggers for SMSF disputes include:

• investment strategy disagreements,
• differences in opinions over the payment of benefits, especially in SMSFs involving both parents and their children,
• payment of death benefit disputes, and
• disagreements on the distribution of SMSF death benefit payments between surviving members.

Consider the following methods to avoid SMSF disputes.

Clear decision-making procedures
Disagreements are bound to occur when it comes to money, so it is important to include concise decision-making provisions to keep things fair for all parties involved. For example, trustee decisions can be made by a simple majority rather than unanimously, and a particular trustee may be provided a casting vote in the case that a deadlock occurs. Provisions could also include voting rights that are based on the value of a member’s account balance within the SMSF to avoid situations where a member with minority interest out-votes a member with a large fund account balance.

Updating your SMSF regularly
An SMSF trust deed will provide provisions which determine the trustees’ rights, obligations and options. It is important to keep your SMSF and trustee information up to date to prevent any unwanted beneficiaries and claims. For example, in the case of an unfinalized divorce or legally unchanged relationship status, a former spouse can claim the others’ superannuation death benefits. To prevent such situations and avoid their inevitable disputes, be sure to update your super fund regularly.

Due to changing economic circumstances, businesses may be receiving income from sources they have never received from, and may be unaware of their tax implications. In the event that they are listed below, you will need to include them in your business’ tax return.

Government payments
Due to COVID-19, many government grants and payments have been made to businesses this year. Businesses receiving the following grants will need to report them as part of their assessable income in this year’s tax return:

• JobKeeper payments,
• Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy,
• Grants under the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Program,
• Subsidies for carrying on a business.

Keep in mind that COVID-19 cash-flow boost payments are non-assessable and non-exempt income, meaning they do not have to be included as part of your assessable income.

Crowdfunding income
Crowdfunding refers to the usage of the internet or social media platforms, mail-order subscriptions, benefit events or other methods to find supporters and raise funds for your business’ projects and ventures. Profits made through crowdfunding are considered part of your business’ assessable income in the case that you have:

• used crowdfunding in the course of your employment,
• entered into a transaction with the intention of making a profit
• received money or property in the ordinary course of your business.

Income from online activities
The current pandemic may have also forced you to move your business operations online for the first time. The ATO provides a clear distinction between online selling as a business or hobby. In the event that you meet the following circumstances while selling online, you will need to report your earnings as part of business’ assessable income:

• Your main intention is to make a profit,
• You sell items online on a regular basis,
• The items or services you are selling are commonly available in a physical store, and
• You pay for your online-selling presence.

Other basic income streams such as cash income, investment earnings and capital gains and losses also need to be reported in tax returns as usual.

As the pandemic pushes businesses to run their usual operations online, it can be hard to make sure that your virtual teams are working efficiently and productively. Here are some tips to ensure your employees are communicating and working effectively despite being physically distanced.

Use multiple communication tools

The best way to make sure your team members are staying vocal and communicating with each other while physically apart is to use online communication tools. With the surge of digital communication technologies, remote team-building has become much easier as there are a multitude of social platforms to choose from.

Using business messaging platforms as well as programs for conference calls and screen records is helpful in establishing methods for how employees can share their ideas. Setting up different communication channels for separate teams and projects can also help in keeping your digital workplace organised yet communicative.

Include overlapping work hours

Although it may be tempting for employees working from home to work around their own personal schedule with flexible hours, it is important to schedule your employees with overlapping hours so that they can communicate effectively, similar to regular in-office operations. Having your employees work in-real-time together will help prevent miscommunication problems, quick task completion and bring them closer together.

Work with a schedule

Similar to overlapping working hours, the flexibility that comes with working from home may mean employees become unorganised and unaware of their team member’s roles and tasks. As a result, it is important to create a working schedule which all employees have access to and must follow. Constructing a routine for employees to work with, especially in the case of regularly scheduled meetings, reviews and catch-ups, will help employees remain productive and conscious of usual business operations despite being online.

The Government has introduced a $2 billion JobTrainer scheme, which aims to help businesses train or re-skill workers in Australian industries of high demand.

What is JobTrainer?

The new scheme will create 340,700 job opportunities nation-wide and will be open to recent school graduates and workers looking to re-skill in a new industry. Industries that will be covered by the JobTrainer scheme include:

• healthcare and social assistance
• Transport
• Postal
• Warehousing and manufacturing
• Retail trade and wholesale trade

The JobTrainer job positions will be distributed in proportion to unemployment levels per state, with New South Wales receiving the most training places (108,600) and the Northern Territory receiving the least (3,200).

Further subsidies for apprentices and trainees

Out of the $2 billion, $1.5 billion will be distributed to subsidising existing apprenticeships to keep workers employed and trained. Subsidies will be available to cover 50 per cent of an apprentices’ or trainee’s wages (up to $7,000 per quarter) who were employed from 1 July 2020. The Government encourages businesses to continue applying for the apprenticeship and traineeship subsidies to keep their employees working in light of Australia’s 7.4% unemployment rate.

Private companies may be incentivised to make loans to a shareholder or their associate during the income year in an effort to save on income tax. In order to remedy any inequities as a result of making shareholder loan agreements, the Government enforces compliance through a set number of rules. Loans which follow such rules under the Income Assessment Act 1936 will also be exempted from being a dividend.

Minimum interest rate

Loans must have an interest rate greater than or equal to the benchmark interest rate outlined in Division 7A of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936, published by the ATO annually. The benchmark interest rate for 2020 is 5.35% (under bank variable housing loans interest rates) and is 4.52% for 2021. This interest rate needs to be applied for each year after the year in which the loan was made.

Maximum term

The maximum term for a complying loan agreement is seven years. In the case that the loan is secured by a registered mortgage over real property, the maximum term is 25 years. For a maximum term of 25 years, the market value of the property (not including any other liabilities for securing the property prior to the loan) must also be at least 110% of the amount of the loan.

Written agreement

In addition to meeting the minimum interest rate and maximum term criteria, complying loan agreements need to be made under a written agreement before the private company’s lodgement date. Loan agreements that meet such requirements will not be treated as a dividend in the income year the loan is made.

There is no prescribed form for the written agreement. However, as a minimum, the agreement should:

• identify the parties,
• set out the essential terms of the loans (for example, the amount and term of the loan, the requirement to repay and the interest rate payable under the loan), and
• be signed and dated by all parties involved.

Early access to your superannuation is permitted under a few limited circumstances outlined by the ATO. In the case that you are experiencing financial struggle and would like to withdraw from your super, be aware of the particular circumstances that will allow you to do so.

Compassionate grounds:

Withdrawing super on compassionate grounds is permitted in the event that you need money to pay for:

• medical treatment and medical transport for you or your dependant,
• palliative care for your or your dependant,
• making a payment on a home loan or council rates so that you don’t lose your home,
• accommodating a disability for you or your dependant, or
• expenses associated with the death, funeral or burial of your dependant.

Severe financial hardship:

You can also be permitted access to your superannuation due to severe financial hardship. However, when requesting withdrawals under severe financial hardship, individuals need to contact their super provider for access rather than the ATO.

Both of the following conditions must be met for you to be eligible to withdraw some of your super:

• you have received eligible government income support payments continuously for 26 weeks, and
• you are unable to meet reasonable and immediate family living expenses.

Superannuation that is withdrawn due to severe financial hardship is taxed as a super lump sum. You can withdraw up to $10,000 from your superannuation (minimum of $1,000) and in the case that you have less than $1,000 in your super funds, you can withdraw up to your remaining balance after tax.

Terminal medical condition:

You may be eligible to request access to your super (approval by your super fund) in the event that you have a terminal medical condition and all the below conditions are met:

• two registered medical practitioners have certified that you suffer from an illness or injury that is likely to result in death within 24 months of the date of signing the certificate,
• at least one of the two registered medical practitioners is a specialist in the area related to your illness or injury, and
• the 24-month certification period has not ended.

Temporary incapacity:

Those who are temporarily unable to work as a result of physical or mental medical conditions may be eligible for early access to superannuation. Access is dependent on the insurance benefits linked to your super account. Any withdrawals you receive are taxed (with regular rates) as a super income stream.

Permanent incapacity:

Permanent incapacity, also known as disability super benefit, allows for early access to super in the case that a permanent physical or mental condition is likely to stop you from ever working again, in a job you were previously qualified for.

Individuals can choose to receive permanent incapacity super withdrawals as regular payments (income stream) or as a lump sum. Unlike temporary incapacity, permanent incapacity super withdrawals are subject to different tax components, based on:

• the tax-free component of your super funds,
• the taxable component your super provider has paid tax on (tax element), and
• the taxable component your super provider has not paid tax on (untaxed element).

To receive concessional tax treatment, your permanent incapacity must be certified by least two medical practitioners.

Keep in mind that the ATO has also announced a new set of rules for the early release of superannuation due to COVID-19. Individuals who have been adversely affected by the pandemic may be eligible to access some of their superannuation early.

Meeting tax obligations as a business owner can be stressful and potentially expensive if done wrong. Certain mistakes warrant severe action, so you can expect the ATO to take a closer look at them if you’ve failed to identify these errors before lodging tax returns for your business. Most mistakes made with regards to tax filing often revolve around poor administrative knowledge of tax laws. Ensure that you are aware of potential mistakes you could be making that might cost you your business.

Inconsistent declarations

The ATO gathers data from numerous businesses across a particular industry to create a benchmark showing a band of percentages within which businesses in that industry should typically fall under. Businesses that fall outside this band can expect delays and a closer look from the ATO inspecting reasons for inconsistencies within your business’ declarations. However, these can also be sources of mistakes from the ATO’s part as some inconsistencies can be very real – such as demographics or personal situations – that can cause variations in data. Ensure that you are declaring all your sales, and that any inconsistency can be justified to the ATO.

Poor bookkeeping

A majority of tax mistakes committed by small businesses revolve around poor bookkeeping. Businesses are required to maintain all financial transactions made – but forgetting to put the purchase through the register or taking money out of the register for personal use without replacement of the difference can show varying cash register tapes that can be problematic when filing your tax returns. You may be missing out on valuable tax credit claims by not keeping proper records of your financial transactions.

Employee payments

Businesses may assume that superannuation payments need not be made if they are employing subcontractors. This can be an expensive mistake, as if the worker has standard hours and is expected to work consistently for your business under your direction, they need to be treated as employees. Businesses may leave superannuation guarantee payments until the end when cash flow becomes restricted – but avoid late lodgements to prevent penalties from the ATO.

Meeting tax obligations as a business owner can be stressful and potentially expensive if done wrong. Certain mistakes warrant severe action, so you can expect the ATO to take a closer look at them if you’ve failed to identify these errors before lodging tax returns for your business. Most mistakes made with regards to tax filing often revolve around poor administrative knowledge of tax laws. Ensure that you are aware of potential mistakes you could be making that might cost you your business.

Inconsistent declarations

The ATO gathers data from numerous businesses across a particular industry to create a benchmark showing a band of percentages within which businesses in that industry should typically fall under. Businesses that fall outside this band can expect delays and a closer look from the ATO inspecting reasons for inconsistencies within your business’ declarations. However, these can also be sources of mistakes from the ATO’s part as some inconsistencies can be very real – such as demographics or personal situations – that can cause variations in data. Ensure that you are declaring all your sales, and that any inconsistency can be justified to the ATO.

Poor bookkeeping

A majority of tax mistakes committed by small businesses revolve around poor bookkeeping. Businesses are required to maintain all financial transactions made – but forgetting to put the purchase through the register or taking money out of the register for personal use without replacement of the difference can show varying cash register tapes that can be problematic when filing your tax returns. You may be missing out on valuable tax credit claims by not keeping proper records of your financial transactions.

Employee payments

Businesses may assume that superannuation payments need not be made if they are employing subcontractors. This can be an expensive mistake, as if the worker has standard hours and is expected to work consistently for your business under your direction, they need to be treated as employees. Businesses may leave superannuation guarantee payments until the end when cash flow becomes restricted – but avoid late lodgements to prevent penalties from the ATO.

Due to COVID-19, organisations are coming to the realisation that web technology is essential to today’s business-running. Out of the more common types of web technologies, cloud computing has emerged as the most important addition due to its ability to keep businesses running solely online. Cloud computing is a safe and efficient way to store all business resources on the internet and comes with several benefits.

Improved security
Your company data can be better protected using cloud computing cyber security, as such platforms make use of artificial intelligence technologies to keep your information safe. Using cloud computing services such as strong password protection, service network policies and firewalls will protect your business’ private information and resources more effectively than harddrive-installed protection software. Cloud computing cyber security services are also cost-effective, as rather than paying for spyware protection software for all of your business’ laptops, computers and other devices, one blanketing protection service for your online data is more than enough.

Employee flexibility
Keeping your business’ information and resources on the cloud will provide employees with the ability to work remotely and away from the traditional in-office style. Especially in the context of the current pandemic, improving your employees’ options to work flexibly and from home will keep employees productive and working despite social distancing restrictions. Providing employees with more work options can also improve employee morale and employee longevity, as working for your business will be convenient and safe for them.

Convenient scaling
Using digital online platforms such as cloud computing will allow businesses to grow easily and at their own pace. Improving your digital presence to reach a wider audience is easier than physically opening new business locations and expanding physically. Firms which use such technologies can take advantage of the flexibility of online servers and grow or downsize whenever they see fit. In addition, industries such as e-Commerce are becoming more popular so online marketing and operations are sure to be the future of business-running.

Turning an idea into a business requires money, and securing this stable funding is not easy. Businesses have a variety of innovative funding options today, but before you pick one, you may want to consider how well some of these methods fit your business model and if you can really benefit from them.

Peer-to-peer lending
This is a form of financing that pairs you up with people online that are willing to lend money to your business, without going through a financial institution like a bank. It involves filling in an application on a peer-to-peer lending website, where your risk rating is determined based on your security, creditworthiness and revenue projections. Once approved, other members on this platform can see your request and may decide to lend you money.

If you are looking for a smaller loan, P2P might be ideal for you. Despite the cap on the maximum loan amount, its easy online application and competitive interest rates make P2P a great way to finance your transactions.

Crowdfunding
More business owners are turning to the internet to grow their business. Crowdfunding is a way to gain finances without going into debt. These platforms involve business owners pitching their business and asking for funds in exchange for some type of reward, like early access to your products or exclusive discounts for investors.

However, crowdfunding is not a long-term financing solution. Your business might benefit more from this if it is an innovative idea, and if you are looking for a one-off financing option that is cost effective. Crowdfunding offers the added bonus of gauging how people feel about your business – which is essentially free product-testing and customer feedback.

Purchase order financing
POF works by converting your incoming orders into collateral. When you engage with a POF company, they directly pay your supplier so the order can be met. The customer then pays the POF company directly, which then deducts its fee before returning the payment to you.

This can be a great option for small businesses that may not be able to financially take on larger orders. However, it is important to note that POF companies limit their services to product-based businesses, and their fees can be quite high.

COVID-19 has forced businesses to adapt their practices to cater for social distancing measures and sanitary precautions. As a result, many businesses have taken on contractors to assist with these changes.

Businesses who have made payments to contractors in the last year may need to lodge a Taxable payments annual report (TPAR) by 28 August. This applies to the following contractor services:

• building and construction,
• courier, delivery or road freight,
• cleaning,
• information technology,
• security, surveillance or investigation.

In response to COVID-19 restrictions, providing additional cleaning and courier services to customers have become particularly popular for businesses. For example, businesses with limited access to physical stores due to social distancing restrictions may have paid contractors providing courier services to deliver goods to customers on behalf of the business. If the payments received by the business for courier or cleaning services provided by contractors amounts to 10% or more of their total GST turnover, they will be required to complete a TPAR. Businesses can still lodge a TPAR even if they don’t think they need to or if they are unsure if they meet the 10% GST turnover threshold.

Businesses providing courier or cleaning services using their existing employees and not contractors will not need to lodge a TPAR.

TPAR lodgements can be made using SBR-enabled business software, the ATO Business Portal, through a tax or BAS agent, or by ordering a Taxable payments annual report (NAT74109) paper form.

Individuals may be able to claim tax deductions for personal superannuation contributions they make. Personal super contributions are made after-tax, not to be confused with the pre-tax contributions made by employers. This includes contributions made using inheritance money, savings, proceeds from the sale of assets, or from a bank account directly into a super fund. To be eligible, individuals must receive their income from:

• salary and wages,
• super,
• personal businesses,
• investments,
• government pensions or allowances,
• partnership or trust distributions,
• a foreign source.

A valid notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction must be provided to and acknowledged by your super fund before being able to claim a deduction for personal super contributions.

A valid notice may be:

• A Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal contributions form (NAT71121).
• A form that your super fund provides.
• A written statement to your fund explaining your wish to claim a deduction for your personal super contributions.

Deductions claimed for a super contribution will result in the contribution being subject to 15% tax in the fund. As well as this, after-tax contributions that have been successfully claimed will not be eligible for a super co-contribution from the government.

Individuals who are eligible to contribute to super will be able to claim a deduction, however, some age restrictions may apply. Those aged 65 or over must meet a work test before voluntary super contributions can be made, while those under 18 years of age may only be able to claim a deduction if they have earned income as an employee or business operator during the year.

Individuals claiming deductions for their personal contributions should also keep in mind that their contributions will count towards their concessional contributions cap of $25,000 a year. Penalties may apply if this amount is exceeded.

The Government has updated fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemptions to include travel in ride-sourcing vehicles under the existing taxi travel exemption. In the case that your business has been providing employees with such travel options and would like to amend your FBT returns to include the new exemption, the ATO has also updated 2020 FBT return amendment instructions.

New FBT exemption
Ride-sourcing vehicles are now included in the FBT taxi travel exemption. Business owners will be eligible for the exemption for travel provided to their employees in a single trip to or from the workplace:

• On or after 1 April 2020, and
• In a licenced taxi or other vehicle involving the transport of passengers for a fare, such as a ride-sourcing vehicle (excluding limousines).

Ride-sourcing FBT exemptions also apply to travel in relation to the sickness or injury of an employee.

Amending your FBT return
In the event that you have already lodged your FBT return but are eligible to be exempt from FBT due to the addition of ride-sourcing vehicles, there are a number of ways you can amend your FBT return.

An amendment to your FBT return can only be made if it is requested within three years from the date the FBT return was lodged. In the case that tax has been avoided, the amendment can be made within six years of lodgement. You can amend your FBT return by:

• lodging electronically using Standard Business Reporting enabled software,
• requesting an amendment assessment in writing through the ATO’s Business Portal or by post, or
• working with a tax accountant to submit your request.

Increasing life expectancy and late retirements mean that businesses need to be ready to welcome more mature-aged workers into their organisation. Workers aged 50 and over are often overlooked by hiring managers, but diversifying your workforce to include this age group could be greatly beneficial to your business.

Saving costs

Businesses are likely to see lower rates of sick leaves and higher loyalty rates amongst mature-aged workers. These low turnover rates can save your business costs relating to recruitment and training, and increase productivity within your workforce.

Customer representation

If your target audience includes an older age demographic, it may be more beneficial to have older employees working for you. By including mature-aged employees, you gain their perspectives of your product, and key insights into how to make your business more attractive to an older customer base.

Upskilling the team

Teams with diverse age groups perform better in the workplace. Older workers are equipped with a wealth of knowledge and skills that younger workers may not have. Less experienced members on your team are likely to learn new skills faster with older mentors on board. This can also help prevent the loss of key skills when older employees transition out of the workforce.
As a result of their experience, older employees are also more adaptable to change and high stress situations, and fill skill gaps in the workplace which leads to more well-rounded teams.

Work ethic

Older employees have a more stable work-life balance. Years of working has provided them with a strong work ethic, and an awareness of their strengths and weaknesses. Their work experience helps them perform better in diverse environments, and they have high conflict resolution skills. If your business involves meeting clients, older employees might be more successful by being confident and reassuring from a customer perspective.

Gathering funding is a challenge that almost all business owners face at some point. Financing can come in two forms – debt financing and equity financing.

Debt financing is money that you borrow and plan to pay back within an agreed time frame and interest rate. Common forms of debt financing include bank loans, mortgages and credit cards. This may appeal to business owners that wish to maintain complete control and ownership over their business, without having to manage the expectations of investors. Debt financing also means that business owners do not have to share any profits made by the business, as their only obligation to their lender is making payments on time. As well as this, debt financing methods are usually tax-deductible, unlike private loans.

However, debt financing also has its downsides as the cost of capital is higher. Loans from official lenders such as banks typically come with interest rates that also need to be paid in addition to regular repayments. This means that your business must generate enough income to meet the requirements of the debt, which can affect cash flow and could even result in bankruptcy if the business fails and is not able to repay the debt. As well as this, new businesses may struggle to secure a bank loan, as banks often have a strict protocol regarding who can receive a loan.

Equity financing, on the other hand, is when you invest your own money or someone else’s money (usually family and friends, venture capitalists, business angels, or public floats) in your business. As a result of this, the investor of your business partially owns your business and shares the profits you make. This method of financing may be more suitable for business owners who can accept sharing their profits and not having complete ownership and control over their business.

One advantage of equity financing is having freedom of debt as repayments do not have to be made on investments. As well as this, equity financing methods can potentially expose business owners to additional funding opportunities if investors decide to provide more support for the business as it develops. However, business owners considering equity funding should also keep in mind that these methods can often put a strain on personal relationships if the financing was sourced from family and friends, depending on if the business succeeds or fails.

A super death benefit is the super paid after a person’s death, usually to a nominated beneficiary. These benefits are subject to different tax treatments, depending on whether the beneficiaries are dependant or non-dependant.

Superannuation death benefits will generally be received tax-free by tax dependants, who are considered to be:

• A child of the deceased who is under 18 years of age,
• A spouse or former spouse of the deceased,
• A person who has an interdependency relationship with the deceased (e.g. if they live together or have a close personal relationship),
• A financial dependant of the deceased.

Dependants will not have to pay tax on the tax-free component of their super in the event that they:

• Withdraw it as a lump sum, or
• Receive an account based income stream.

However, they will be taxed at their marginal rate if they receive a capped benefit income stream and:

• The deceased was at least 60 years of age at the time of death
• The dependent is over 60 years of age and the total of their tax-free component and taxed element exceeds their defined benefit income cap.

Not all super death benefits are subject to tax; for non-dependants, there is a taxable portion. This component is largely made up of after-tax super contributions that the deceased member has made.

Super death benefit payments are subject to tax when:

• The payment is made as a result of the SMSF member passing away,
• The payment is provided to a non-dependent for tax purposes,
• The payment has a taxable component.

Non-dependants must calculate how much money in the super account is a:

• Tax-free component,
• Taxable component the super provider has paid tax on (taxed element),
• Taxable component the super provider has not paid tax on (untaxed element).

The amount of tax non-dependants pay will be based on their marginal tax rate, however, this amount may be reduced by tax offsets. For the taxed element of the taxable component, the effective tax rate is your marginal tax rate of 17% (whichever is lower). For the untaxed element of the taxable component, the effective tax rate is 32% or your marginal tax rate (whichever is lower).

The small business income tax offset can be used to reduce the tax you pay by up to $1,000 a year. Also known as the unincorporated small business tax discount, the offset is worked out on the proportion of tax payable on your business income.

The rate of offset is 13% for the 2020-21 financial year and 16% for the 2021-22 financial year and onwards. The offset is only available to entities with an aggregated turnover of less than $5 million (from 2016-17 financial year onwards) and is capped at $1,000.

The ATO will work out your offset based on your income tax return and uses your:

• Net small business income you earned as a sole trader, or
• Share of net small business income from a partnership or trust.

Conditions for sole traders

The offset is calculated based on net small business income for sole traders (which is the sum of your assessable income from carrying on your business, minus any deductions). Sole traders are not entitled to the offset in the event that their net small business income is a loss.

Income and deductions that you need to include in your net small business income include:

• farm management deposits claimed as a deduction,
• repayments of farm management deposits included as income,
• net foreign business income related to your sole trading business, and
• other income or deductions such as interest or dividends derived in the course of conducting your business.

Conditions for partnership and trust distributions

You may be eligible for the tax offset if:

• you have a share of net small business income distributed from a partnership or trust that is a small business entity,
• you were a partner or beneficiary of that small business partnership or trust,
• the business income was derived by the small business partnership or trust from carrying on its own business activities, or
• your assessable income includes a distribution or share of net income from that partnership or trust.

Keep in mind that there are income and deductions that you cannot include when working out your net small business income for the small business income tax offset. Such income amounts include wages, government allowances and net capital gains you made from carrying on your business. Discuss with a financial advisor or accountant for more information on the offset conditions for your business.

Email marketing is becoming an increasingly popular way for businesses to reach their customers. However, this means it’s likely that customers are also getting marketing emails from a range of other companies – it’s therefore crucial that your emails are designed to stand out.

Promise value in the subject line

The subject line of your email is often what determines whether a customer will click on the email or ignore it. Don’t just summarise the content of the email, but focus on an aspect that will be valuable or attention-grabbing for the customer. This could mean that the subject line offers a benefit to the reader, offers to solve a problem, or provides relevant information. Promising the reader that the email content contains something of value will increase the chances of them opening it, and delivering the promise of value in the email contents will motivate them to also open your next emails.

Focus on design

Aside from looking pretty, having a well-designed email can also make your content easier to read, get your message across, and encourage actionability. Modern email designs are generally simple with easy to read fonts. Having a consistent colour scheme that reflects the branding of your business can create a cohesive and neat design while promoting brand recognition. It’s also important to make it easy for the reader to contact you or visit your website.

Using images as links to your website allows the reader to easily access your products or services without compromising the design of your email with visible link addresses.

Ensure mobile accessibility

Most emails are designed on a desktop, but this doesn’t mean that they should only be designed for a desktop. Studies have shown that the majority of emails are now viewed on a mobile device, so it is essential that your emails are able to adapt to a mobile user interface. Having overflowing text on a mobile device can discourage the customer from reading all your content, and can make your email look unprofessional.

Personalise content

Many email marketing platforms allow you to use the recipients’ first name in the subject line. This personalisation can increase the chances of drawing the customer’s attention to your email as they naturally gravitate towards the familiarity of their name.

In an effort to minimise physical contact during the global pandemic, most businesses are making the switch to cashless payments. While contactless credit cards and mobile wallet applications remain the most common type of cashless payments, many other methods have emerged in recent times. In the event that your business is also looking to make the switch, here are a few cashless payment types to be aware of.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID):

RFID uses radio technology to track tags containing electronic payment and banking information. RFID tags are most commonly attached to wristbands, watches or badges and can be scanned using mobile phones and RFID system technologies.

RFID tags can also be used at business events or service-providing organisations to keep track of clients while also acting as their digital wallet.

Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD):

USSD services are another real-time cashless payment method which require a mobile network. With the USSD method, clients must dial a USSD code on an interactive menu provided by the business (could be a mobile phone), which will then allow clients to make payments to chosen recipients. The USSD code is dependent on a client’s mobile network and in order to make successful payments, clients must have their bank accounts correctly linked to their mobile phone number.

Quick Response (QR) Codes:

A QR code is a two-dimensional gridded pattern of black squares and is a viable cashless payment method as long as both clients and businesses have modern image-reading and camera technologies. Payments made through QR codes require a user to scan the QR code of a merchant to complete the transaction and can be done through banking apps or third-party payment applications on mobile phones.

While it may be tempting to make an immediate switch into cashless payment methods, the technology required to support cashless transactions is a costly investment. Before jumping the gun and spending money you do not need to, take note of which cashless payment methods would best accommodate your clients’ needs and fit into your existing business operations.

Enforcing health precautions is an essential step to creating a safe workplace and giving your employees peace of mind, especially during the current pandemic. Businesses looking to invite their employees back into the office after the easing of lockdown restrictions should implement safeguards to ensure their workplace is a safe one.

Conduct a COVID-19 risk assessment

Before opening your office to employees, conduct a COVID-19 risk assessment with Safe Work Australia. A risk assessment will include an evaluation from Safe Work Australia regarding your business’:

• responsibilities and leadership,
• worker engagement, alternative means of communication and participation levels,
• COVID-19 hygiene principles (such as the 4 metre square requirement),
• hierarchy of controls, and
• employee health and safety plan.

The progression of additional business activities will also be assessed. For example, the safety of business trips when travel restrictions are lifted.

Implement cleaning processes

Invest in frequent cleaning services and processes to lower transmission risk and give your employees peace of mind. In addition to hiring a cleaning service, you can also keep your workplace safe by providing employees with disinfectant solutions for door handles, light switches and keyboards.

Other cleaning and hygiene processes to implement include:

• Distributing hand-sanitizer
• Reminding employees to wash their hands
• Providing PPE wherever necessary
• Minimising physical interaction between your employees (e.g. using disposable condiments, laminating documents for easy cleaning)

Support your employees’ mental health

Supporting your employees’ mental health is just as important as their physical health. To create an environment that your employees feel comfortable and safe to work in, provide aid in the form of workplace flexibility, therapy and counselling services, home-to-business transportation options and financial advice. Additional services such as child-care can also be helpful to supporting your employees’ mental health.

Self-managed super funds (SMSF) may be required to lodge a transfer balance account (TBA) report by 28 July 2020 in the case of a TBA event.

A TBA report will need to be lodged with the ATO in the event that both of the following apply:

• A TBA event occurred in a member’s SMSF between 1 April and 30 June 2020,
• Any member of the SMSF has a total super balance greater than $1 million.

SMSFs will also need to complete this report when a member needs to correct information about a TBA event that they have previously reported to the ATO or are responding to a commutation authority.

According to the ATO, an event is classified as a TBA event if they result in credit or debit in a member’s transfer balance account. Such events include:

• Super income streams in existence just before 1 July 2017 that both continue to be paid on or after 1 July 2017, or were in retirement phase on or after 1 July 2017,
• Super income streams that stop being in retirement phase,
• Limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBA) payments entered into on or after 1 July 2017,
• LRBA payments resulting in an increase in the value of the member’s superannuation interest supporting their retirement phase income stream,
• Personal injury (structured settlement) contributions that occurred post 1 July 2017,
• Voluntary member commutations.

There are a number of ways you can lodge your TBA report with the ATO:

• Lodge online by completing an interactive online form in the Business Portal
• Lodge online by completing an interactive online form with a tax agent and filing through online services
• Lodge a paper report (you can report up to four events for the same member on a paper report)
• Use bulk data exchange (BDE) to submit through file transfer facilities. You will generally need support from a software provider to meet BDE specifications.

The end of the financial year has rolled around again, but this time, COVID-19 may affect the way you fill out your tax return. The ATO has released a range of methods to make tax time easier for businesses and individuals experiencing unprecedented circumstances.

How JobKeeper will affect tax returns

Sole traders receiving JobKeeper payments on behalf of their business are required to include these payments as assessable income for the business. Employees receiving JobKeeper will see that those payments have been automatically filled out in their tax return.

Individuals who have had their wages increase due to JobKeeper should identify whether they have been bumped into a higher tax bracket as a result. If an individual is working multiple jobs and receiving JobKeeper at one of these positions pushes them into a new tax bracket, they may be faced with a higher tax bill on their return if their other employers had continued deducting tax at their original lower rate.

How JobSeeker will affect tax returns

JobSeeker payments are considered taxable income. The ATO will automatically upload JobSeeker details in the ‘Government Payments and Allowances’ section of recipients’ tax returns. However, recipients are advised that there may be a delay in these JobSeeker details being updated, potentially until the end of July. The ATO recommends delaying tax return lodgements until these details are finalised. Recipients that wish to complete their returns prior to this must ensure they include these details themselves, as leaving out assessable income can slow down the return process or result in a bill later.

COVID-19 protective equipment

Occupations that require public interactions may be able to claim personal protective equipment (PPE), including:

• Face masks

• Sanitiser
• Anti-bacterial spray
• Gloves.

This would typically apply to industries such as healthcare, retail and hospitality. Many workplaces now have this PPE available for employees, however, employees who must pay for their own COVID-19 PPE and are not reimbursed for it will be able to make a claim.

Working from home

The ATO has introduced a new ‘shortcut method,’ which applies from 1 March 2020 to 30 June 2020. Under this new method, employees working from home as a result of COVID-19 can claim expenses incurred at a rate of 80 cents for each hour worked from home. Employees must keep a record of the hours they worked from home as evidence to support their claim.

Deductible running expenses include:

• Utilities such as heating, cooling and lighting.
• Cleaning costs for your work area.
• Mobile or landline phone expenses for work calls.
• Internet connection.
• Computer consumables and stationery.
• Repair costs for home office equipment and furniture.
• Depreciation of home office equipment, computers, furniture and fittings.
• Small capital items such as a computer (purchased for the purpose of working from home) can be claimed if they cost under $300. If the cost exceeds $300, the decline in value can be deducted.

As unemployment rates rise and more individuals compete for the same job, businesses with open positions may find themselves flooded with job applications and potential candidates. With so many individuals applying for every open position, how can you find the right employee for you? Here are a few tips to help you with your recruitment selection process.

Keep your job advertisement detailed and concise

With so many job seekers in the market, it is important to filter out who you want to invest time into. To make sure you are only interviewing the best candidates and relevantly skilled individuals are applying for your job, ensure your advertisement lists all the essential requirements for the position.

For example, include your preferred education and qualification levels, required experience, knowledge and skills. It is also a good idea to prescreen potential candidates before inviting them for an interview to make sure you don’t waste time (both for you and the candidate) your selection process is uniform.

Prioritise compatibility

Not only will your new employee have to be compatible (in terms of work ethics and career goals) with you as an employer, they also need to be compatible with other employees in your business. It is always a good idea to check whether the candidate has the social skills to get along with others in their team as well as any potential clients they may be interacting with.

Involving current employees in the interviewing process may also help in testing for compatibility. While you can always offer to train employees in effective communication, with so many fish in the sea, consider whether or not social skills training is worth your time when there could be more socially adept candidates.

Test the waters

In addition to having a probation period for any new employees, don’t be afraid to offer a position through an internship first. Not only does an internship allow employers to assess whether or not a new employee is capable for the job, it also allows the employee to assess whether or not the position or the business is right for them. Under the correct legal terms, internships may also be unpaid. However, in the event that your open position is a mid-senior level position, internships will not be effective as candidates will feel their skills and experience are undermined.

Expanding your business to open in multiple locations can offer more opportunities and profitability. However, managing one location can be challenging enough, so it is crucial to examine and prepare for the implications of opening up a second store. Here are some considerations that business owners need to keep in mind before deciding to open up a new branch.

How successful is your current business?

Your current business should be stable and successful before you open up multiple stores. If your business is struggling in key areas such as cash flow, sales, employee skill sets, and customer retention, then it’s a good idea to address these needs first, otherwise, your new locations are likely to face the same issues. Assess your current store’s shortcomings and consider whether they will also put your new locations at risk.

What are the characteristics of the new locations?

Choosing the right business location plays a key role in the success of your business. Before branching out, research potential locations and consider how areas could affect your business due to factors such as popularity, business competition, demographics, transport accessibility, rent prices, and attractiveness to employees. Assess whether the differences between your current and potential new locations will require you to make any changes to your business – perhaps you will have to adjust your marketing strategy, prices, or products/services depending on your new demographic.

Do you have the resources to expand?

Expanding your business will require extra financial commitments for rent, utility bills, more inventory and equipment, employees, insurance, and extra advertising. While your income may increase with your new location, remember that it may take months to make the returns required for expansion. It is therefore important that you are already financially secure before opening up a new store to avoid overextending your funds and putting your business at risk. If you don’t have the assets required, a business loan is an option provided that you can prove your financial ability to repay the loan.

Opening up a new location also means that you will have to manage your time between the two branches. This may require delegating business responsibilities, hiring managers, or promoting current employees to management positions. To keep your new business on track and identify early risks, you may also have to initially spend more time at your new location.

Businesses moving towards online operations (temporarily or permanently) need to be aware of the Government’s modified provisions concerning virtual meetings and the electronic signing of company documents. These modified provisions in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) became active on 5 May 2020 and will automatically be repealed on 5 September 2020.

Company meetings

The new temporary provisions outline how a virtual company meeting should be held and procedures they must follow. Under the Determination, meetings may be held using one or more technologies so that members do not have to be at the same physical location to satisfy business requirements such as a quorum.

Additionally, members must be able to speak at the virtual meeting and voting must be done through an online poll rather than a usual show of hands. Proxies may participate in a meeting in the event that businesses are unsure of the necessary virtual procedures.

Notice of meetings

Notices for meetings, along with any material related to the meeting, must be issued to participating members before a virtual meeting is held. Such notices can be sent digitally through email, or posted on an online location where the notice and other material may be viewed by participating members. Under the new provisions, the notice must also include how involved members can speak and vote on polls during the meeting.

Electronic signing of company documents

It is understandably difficult to sign and execute documents online. However, the new provisions allow for electronic signing in place of signing a physical copy if necessary, as long as the electronic signature reliably identifies the person and indicates the person’s intention about the contents of the document. Physical signings with electronic communication (such as fax) are also permitted.

Although there are many virtual meeting and electronic signing technologies available to businesses, not all are easy to operate and free. Consider investing into a paid service if you are considering moving more of your business operations online and test a number of platforms first before committing to one in particular.

Self-managed super funds can carry on a business providing the business is allowed under the trust deed and operated for the sole purpose of providing retirement benefits for fund members.

Carrying on a business through an SMSF does have restrictions that other businesses do not have, such as entering into credit arrangements or having overdrafts.

SMSF trustees that carry on a business through their fund must adhere to the sole purpose test. The ATO looks for cases where:

• The trustee employs a family member.
• The ‘business’ is an activity commonly carried out as a hobby or pastime.
• The business carried on by the fund has links to associated trading entities.
• There are indications the fund’s business assets are available for the private use and benefit of the trustee or related parties.

The same regulatory provisions still apply to funds that carry on a business, i.e, SMSF investments must be made on a commercial ‘arm’s length’ basis, business activities must be conducted in accordance with the SMSF’s investment strategy, collectables and personal use assets cannot be displayed at the business premises and so on.

The SMSF cannot be involved in the following business activities:

• Selling an SMSF asset for less than its market value to a member or relative of a member.
• Purchasing an asset for greater than its market value from a member or relative of a member.
• Acquiring services in excess of what the SMSF requires from a member or relative of a member.
• Paying an inflated price for services acquired from a member or relative of a member.

New car threshold amounts will be implemented from 1 July 2020. Understanding the new thresholds and how they may affect your small business operations and vehicle usage will be important in preparing you for the financial year ahead.

Income tax:

There is an upper limit on the cost you use to work out the depreciation for the business use of your car or station wagon (including four-wheel drives). The maximum value you can use for calculating your depreciation claim is the car limit (irrespective of any amount you were paid for a trade-in) in the year in which you first used or leased the car.

For the 2020-21 financial year, the upper cost limit is $59,136 including GST.

Goods and services tax (GST):

Businesses registered for GST with motor vehicles used solely for business purposes are entitled to claim a credit for the GST included in the price of the vehicle, provided they have a tax invoice.

In the event that you purchase a car and the price is more than the car threshold, the maximum amount of GST credit you can claim is one-eleventh of your car limit amount. Keep in mind that you cannot claim a GST credit for any luxury car tax you pay when you purchase a luxury car, regardless of how much you use the car in carrying on your business.

Luxury car tax (LCT):

You are required to pay LCT if you’re registered or required to be registered for GST and you sell or import a luxury car.

LCT applies to motor vehicles designed to carry a load of less than two tonnes and fewer than nine passengers. LCT also applies to a car purchased by a person with a disability even if the car is GST-free. However, disability-related modifications are not subject to LCT. The LCT value of a car includes the value of any parts, accessories or attachments supplied or imported at the same time as the car.

Cars with LCT over the LCT threshold attract an LCT rate of 33%. From 1 July 2020, the LCT threshold will increase to $68,740. Additionally, the LCT threshold for fuel efficient cars will increase to $77,565 for the 2020-21 financial year.

Running a business is challenging enough, and having to deal with bad debts can add an unneeded layer of stress for you and your team. The easiest way to handle bad debts is to avoid them in the first place – here’s how.

Do a background check:
Before you enter into an agreement with a client or other businesses, make sure that you know who you’re dealing with and do some research. Make sure they are legitimate, still in operation and look for any bad reviews and feedback concerning other people’s experiences with them. Take into consideration whether they ask you for discounts or complain that your fees are too high. If you get the idea that the client may not pay, it might be safer to avoid the job instead.

Have clear payment terms:
In your client agreement or contract, include payment terms that clearly state payment dates penalties for late payments. Both parties should agree on these payment terms prior to entering into a contract. Conditions for late payments could include interest fees, fines, or the cessation of supplying your goods and services to them within a specified time period.

Ask for a deposit:
When you ask for a deposit and the client does not want to pay, it shows that they are probably not trustworthy and may not be willing to make a full payment. If the client does pay you a deposit or but does not make a final payment, then at the very least you will not have lost as much money as you would have without an initial payment.

Automate payments:
Setting up an automatic payment system for your clients eliminates the chances of them forgetting to pay or refusing to pay unless they actively cancel their payments. Automatic payments can work well if you have instalment fees or a subscription-based service that requires periodic payments.

Follow up quickly:
Making contact with clients soon after a missed payment will demonstrate your expectations to be paid in a timely manner. Often, this means that clients managing cash flow problems are more likely to prioritise payments to your business rather than their other creditors who have more relaxed payment systems.

A simple yet often overlooked method of improving your business is to build an engaging website. Many business websites act as a product information dump rather than an avenue to attract clients and reinforce business goals. To ensure you fully utilise your website, here are a few website-building tips you can implement.

Get the basics down
First note that a business website needs to:

• Provide basic information about your business, products and services,
• Answer typical questions and concerns,
• Motivate people to buy or use your products.

To make sure your website is able to fulfil its fundamental duties, there are several must-haves to include:

• Name of company, personalised website domain, tagline hours of operation. Display your business name and website address prominently and on every page you have to ensure potential clients can find through search engines
• What you sell or do. Make it very clear what your business does and provide an accurate description on your products or services.
• Photos and graphics. Graphics are a must-have to make sure your website is visually appealing. Examples of graphics include your logo, photos of your products or place of business, a photo of yourself or key employees. In the case that you’re struggling to obtain original images, consider adding stock images that are for free and public use.
• About Us. Your website needs at least one page with background information on your business and the key people who run your company. This is important to include so that your clients are able to gain a better understanding of your business purposes and goals before supporting you.
• Contact Us. Provide your potential customers with an email address and phone number and link your social media accounts to your website. Also, provide a physical address so customers can visit if necessary.

Recommended features to add
Three features that are also helpful to add to your website include:

• FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). Save yourself some time by answering common inquiries. Also, many people are reluctant to call or email with questions so an FAQ may help clear up some concerns and motivate them to do business with you.
• Testimonials. Do your current customers love you and tell you so? Testimonials and reviews are powerful selling tools and improve your credibility.
• Press and awards. Positive reviews from the media and awards similarly add credibility to your brand and reinforce consumer confidence.

Additional industry tips
eCommerce websites making sales directly from their website can include information about:

• Product details. You’ll need in-depth information about the products you sell online, including photos wherever possible.
• Security practices. Let your customers know that you are keeping their information secure
• Shipping. Indicate how quickly you’ll fill orders, shipping prices and options. Keep your clients updated with delivery information.
• Return policies/guarantees. Make these very clear.
• Customer service hours.

For businesses with a physical location where customers come to you, include:

• Hours you are open.
• Location and directions. You can add a map from an online map service and provide helpful directions for your customers.
• Photo of your place of business or interior.

Businesses working from home due to social distancing restrictions can take the opportunity to learn from the experience and consider new work structures coming out of COVID-19. This could mean increased flexibility for employees when it comes to working remotely and adaptable hours. Here’s why flexible work arrangements with your employees may be beneficial for your business in the long term.

Increased productivity
Flexible work arrangements can increase the productivity of employees by allowing them to work when they feel most motivated. Some people may naturally be more productive at night time and do their work then, which would not be possible with regular office hour restrictions. Remote work also saves time on excessive staff chatter and workplace distractions, such as ringing telephones and colleague drop-ins. Offering flexible work arrangements can show your employees that their lives are valued, which can lead to higher levels of performance and hard work to justify the flexible arrangements.

Reduced expenses
When employees are working from home more frequently, it means that your office doesn’t have to sustain as many people and you can reduce rent and utility expenses. This doesn’t mean that your employees have to pay too much more; the ATO has introduced an easier way of deducting work from home costs during the COVID-19 period called the ‘shortcut method.’ This allows employees to deduct 80c per hour they work from home to compensate for running expenses.

Attract talent
Businesses that exclusively depend on employees being physically present may be missing out on ideal workers who live too far or require more flexible arrangements. Modern job seekers are often on the lookout for positions that offer greater flexibility, rather than the regular 9 to 5 in the office. Highlighting workplace flexibility in your job advertisements can attract more prospective talent as physical barriers are eliminated.

Improved wellbeing
Remote work can improve the overall physical and mental wellbeing of your employees. One perk is that they may be able to be better rested and eat a proper breakfast in replacement of the morning commute. Work flexibility will also enable them to work around family commitments, which can boost their quality of life and happiness. This can raise morale and improve their quality of work by reducing the risks of fatigue and burnout.

Employee retention
Workplaces that allow employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance are more likely to retain their employees for long terms. This can benefit businesses by reducing the frequency of hiring and training periods, which can save a lot of money and productivity while continuing to grow corporate knowledge in existing employees.

Employers with a self-managed super fund (SMSF) looking to protect their business assets can consider transferring their business real property into their SMSF.

Transferring business property into your SMSF is useful to protect your assets in the event of your business failing or facing litigation. It is possible for SMSF members to transfer business real property (land and buildings used exclusively for the business) to their SMSF by using a combination of methods.

In-species transfer
An in-species transfer in the context of a business property refers to the ownership transfer of a property from one entity to another without the need to convert it into cash. During an in-species transfer, the value of the property is considered a contribution to your SMSF and is restricted by CGT regulations and contribution caps.

Cashing in your SMSF
You can use the cash available in your SMSF to buy your business property at market value as a normal cash purchase. The property must first be valued by an independent and qualified party before this is allowable. SMSFs that do not have enough sufficient capital to do this may consider using their non-concessional contributions cap to cover the outstanding balance.

Limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA)
In the event that you do not have enough cash in your SMSF to outright buy your business property, you can apply for a loan using an LRBA. An LRBA can be obtained through a third-party lender, including your own business. You can borrow funds for your SMSF under an LRBA from your own business. However, before applying for an LRBA, consider its legal complexities and whether your SMSF will be able to maintain loan repayment fees on top of existing fees you may have, such as member pensions and accounting and auditor fees.

CGT retirement concession
The CGT retirement concession allows business owners exemption from CGT on business assets up to $500, 000 over a lifetime. If you are over 55, there are no associated conditions, however, if you are under 55, then you must place the money into a superannuation fund to receive the exemption.

This means that if you are under 55 and wishing to transfer a business real property into your SMSF, you can potentially do so without incurring any CGT liability (up to $500, 000).

Property investors may have a number of tenants that have temporarily paused their rent payments or are not paying the full amount of rent owed due to being impacted by COVID-19. Regardless of rental income changes, landlords are still entitled to claim deductions on rental property expenses if they are still incurring regular rental property expenses.

Landlords who receive a back-payment of rent, or an amount of insurance as a result of a decrease in rental income, will still need to include these amounts in their assessable income for the tax year that they receive the payment.

Additionally, landlords may be faced with deferred loan repayments as a result of COVID-19. In this case, if your loan accumulates interest it will be considered as an incurred expense, meaning that you will still be able to continue claiming a deduction on your loan interest.

It is likely that landlords of short-term rental properties have had their situation compromised by COVID-19 due to cancelled bookings and low demand. If your property is used both privately and for renting out short-term accommodation, you will be able to continue deducting property expenses in the same proportion as you were entitled to prior to COVID-19. If you had begun using the property differently in the period after your latest tax return and before COVID-19, the proportion of expenses you can claim may vary. This can include situations where:

• You have increased the amount of private use of the property by you, your family, or your friends.
• You have made the decision to permanently stop renting out your property once COVID-19 restrictions end.

Approaching strangers at networking events can seem intimidating, but shying away from interaction means you could be missing out on some great business opportunities. Here are some ways you can comfortably approach people and make a good first impression.

Prepare

It’s essential that you know the nature of the networking event you plan on attending. Make sure that you know the meeting agenda, workshops available, dress code, revent schedule, and the host, companies and people that will be attending. If particular participants stand out to you, do some background research on them to get an idea of what they do and who they are so that you can narrow down who to talk to and what to talk about when you see them.

Be approachable

People are more likely to want to talk to you if you look approachable. Try to avoid standing in the corner avoiding eye contact with people, and instead placing yourself somewhere others can see you. Studies have shown that people are 86 percent more likely to talk to strangers on the street if they’re smiling, so don’t be afraid to keep a smile on your face, especially when someone looks your way.

Ask open-ended questions

Open ended questions are more likely to sustain a longer conversation and help you build rapport with someone more quickly. Close-ended questions that require one or two word answers may be useful for establishing basic facts about the other person (e.g. what do you do? Where did you study?), but mixing in open-ended questions that allow you to talk descriptively and passionately can prevent the conversation from getting stagnant or dull.

Be an active listener

With so many conversations, events, and people, networking events are often full of distractions. However, when you engage with someone, it’s important that you don’t let what’s going on around you distract you from listening. Try to remember their basic details, such as their name and company, so that you can recall them later if you see each other again and demonstrate your interest and polite character. Make appropriate eye contact with the person you’re talking to and ask them relevant questions about what they’re saying to show your engagement.

Exit gracefully

Ending a conversation can be awkward for both parties, and you may fear that you’re being rude if you initiate the goodbye. Remember that parting ways is a normal part of a conversation, and the other person may be just as keen to go and explore the rest of the event as you are. The easiest time to end an interaction is when there is a lull in the conversation. When this happens, politely let the other party know that it was a pleasure to meet them and thank them for their time. If you would like to connect later on, you could suggest a future meeting, exchange details, give them your business card, or send them a message on LinkedIn.

Businesses struggling with debt may feel like declaring bankruptcy is their only option. Premature bankruptcy is an unfortunately common scenario but there are ways businesses can deal with unmanageable debt before declaring bankruptcy.

Temporary Debt Protection (TDP)

Businesses with debt they can’t pay or are being taken action against by unsecured creditors can apply for TDP. TDP provides a six-month protection period where unsecured creditors can’t take enforcement action to recover the money businesses owe them. Businesses are encouraged to use this time to seek advice from the Government’s free financial counsellors, negotiate payment plans with creditors and consider other formal insolvency options which may work better for them.

Declaration of intention (DOI)

A DOI is a short-term option similar to TDP and protects businesses for 21 days from unsecured creditors. During this time, creditors can’t take further action to recover their debts.

Debt agreement

A debt agreement details how businesses will settle their debt and is a flexible way to help businesses come into an arrangement without becoming bankrupt. A debt agreement means either paying a lump sum that may be less than the original amount owed, or repaying debt in instalments. Businesses can apply for a debt agreement if they:

• Are unable to pay debts when they are due.
• Have not been bankrupt, had a debt agreement or personal insolvency agreement in the last 10 years.
• Have unsecured debts and assets less than the set amount.
• Estimate their after-tax income for the next 12 months to be less than the set amount.

Debt agreements can go for up to three years.

Personal insolvency agreement (PIA)

A PIA lets businesses pay off their debt in a way that suits their financial situation. It is similar to a debt agreement but a business’ debt, income and assets do not have to be under a certain limit.

Keep in mind that while these methods are effective in helping businesses avoid bankruptcy, there are still consequences. While usually producing positive results, be sure to weigh up these options and consider whether the long-term effects of implementing them are worth avoiding bankruptcy.

Running an SMSF under regular circumstances comes with enough compliance obligations as it is. Adding divorce or separation into the equation can raise even more legal and tax issues that need to be addressed.

The breakdown of your relationship does not absolve you from your responsibilities as an SMSF trustee; you are still expected to continue acting in accordance with super laws and in the interests of all members. As a trustee, you must:

• include another trustee in the decision-making process, and
• acknowledge requests to redeem assets and rollover benefits to another super fund.

When it comes to dividing SMSF assets, separating couples can transfer assets, such as property, from one SMSF fund into another. During this process it is important to consider:

• How they will decide to split their superannuation fund. They can choose to enter into a formal written agreement, seek consent orders, or if the separating couple cannot reach an agreement, they can seek a court order.
• Whether they have the necessary documentation readily available, as it is essential in the event of an ATO audit. Due to there being beneficial tax consequences in splitting a superannuation fund, it is essential that the documentation, such as the notice for splitting the super, shows a genuine separation.
• Where the new fund is to be a single member fund, it is advisable to incorporate a special purpose company to be the trustee. This avoids having a second person as a trustee.

Individuals upskilling and educating themselves during these down times may be eligible to claim a deduction for their self-education expenses. The deductions apply to self-education activities that are directly related to an individual’s work as an employee.

In the case that individuals are looking to claim self-education expenses based on a course’s relation to their work, the relation must mean:

• maintaining or improving the specific skills or knowledge the individual requires in their current work activities;
• resulting in, or likely to result in, an increase in the individual’s income from their current work activities.

There are many types of expenses you can claim as part of your self-education deduction, including:

• General course expenses (e.g. tuition fees, stationary, textbook, student union fees)
• Depreciating assets (e.g. computer, desk)
• Repair costs to assets used for self-education purposes
• Car assets (claimed using the cents per kilometre method)

Work-related self-education expenses cannot be claimed as part of a deduction. These expenses include travel expenses, child care costs related to attendance of courses and capital costs of items (e.g. computers, desk) acquired for self-education purposes.

Keep in mind that self-education courses which enable individuals to get new employment are not eligible for deduction claims. Some expenses also need to be apportioned between private purposes and use for self-education such as travel costs and depreciating assets. You will need to estimate your apportions and provide information on such expenses to be eligible to claim.

For more information on what you claim as self-education expenses, visit the ATO website or consult with a financial advisor.

Improving your SEO ranking is an important step to developing your business’ digital presence and increasing web traffic onto your website and social media pages.

SEO refers to search engine optimisation and improving it allows your business to top search results as the first link to come up, thereby ensuring credibility and attracting more relevant clients. To reliably improve your SEO ranking, here are a few key steps.

Optimise for mobile
Nowadays, clients are browsing the web from their phones so it is important to make sure all your web content is mobile friendly. Mobile optimisation also encourages search engines to link your websites first. To make mobile-friendly web content, consider:

• Minimising loading time for mobile users (usually with slower connection than desktop) – search engines as big as Google are planning on using page speed as a mobile search ranking.
• Organising your website objectives and planning the ideal mobile experience for page visitors.

Prioritise speed
Increasing your page speed (the rate at which your web pages open from search engines and within your website) improves user experience for potential clients. By making sure your website is up to speed with both mobile and desktop modes, clients will gladly sift through your website and information as it can be done conveniently. To optimise your page speed, you should:

• Be wary of your image file sizes – use a compression tool to reduce file sizes.
• Enable browser caching – so that clients do not have to load web resources again.
• Minify your scripts – get rid of any extra augmentations that are slowing down your website.

Make sure your content is up to par
There is no use in a good SEO ranking if the content on your websites is not high-quality nor attractive enough to retain clients. Not only should your content be conversation-worthy, you should also be regularly releasing new content (such as blogs) and perform regular technical SEO audits to keep up to date with your position in the search rankings. Testing what kind of content bumps you up on search engines will also help you in improving your SEO ranking in the long term.

Small business owners are often faced with stressful financial decisions and periods of uncertainty. Having a cash flow forecast can help your business avoid cash shortages by allowing you to track whether your spending is on target, prepare for business expansion, plan for upcoming cash gaps and plan budgets. Here are some tips on cash flow forecasting to help your business be in control of its finances.

Prepare a sales forecast
Existing businesses can look at past years’ sales figures, taking note of busy and quiet periods, and prepare an income prediction based on historical trends. If you’re a new business, you can start by making cash outflow estimates. This can help you plan for what sales you should aim for to cover this and make estimates of predicted sales.

Knowing how much money you’ll have in a week or a month is central to being able to budget and know when to pay your expenses. Whether you receive customer payments at the time of sale, or you receive payments based on a subscription or service, you can schedule expenses and budget based on payment periods.

Account for other income forms
Your business may generate income from sources other than customers. Having an estimate of what income you’ll receive and when allows you to refine your budget and plan around payments. These income sources could include:

• Grants (such as government grants).
• Tax refunds.
• Investments in the business.
• Deposits.
• Loans.

Estimate your expenses
Your cash flow forecast should include all your predicted expenses, giving you a detailed outline of the amount you’ll spend and when to help you determine a budgeting schedule and avoid cash shortages. Expenses to consider in your forecast include:

• Bills such as electricity, water, rent, telephone and internet.
• Staff wages, including taxes, superannuation or bonuses.
• The cost of supplies and equipment.
• Packaging and delivery services.
• Software subscriptions, such as an office messaging system, accounting system, anti-virus protection, website developing etc.
• Maintenance and repairs.
• Business loan or credit card repayments.
• Staff events.
• Buying new assets.

Update and refine your forecasts
As your business grows and evolves, your financial situation may change. To keep your projections on track and as accurate as possible, update your cash flow forecast regularly to account for any miscalculations, unpredicted expenses or income and business changes. Taking a few moments every month or so will keep you prepared and prevent you from being caught off guard by a sudden cash flow crisis.

Small businesses coming out of COVID-19 may be looking to expand and grow as quickly as possible to prepare for a changing economy. One of the ways you can effectively grow your business is by improving your hiring strategy and making sure it is efficient.

Analyse and catalogue your needs
To make sure your hiring process is fit for your business, spend some time analysing your needs. For example, consider how quickly you are looking to expand, how many employees you are looking to and capable of hiring, the space you have available for additional employees, and other similar conditions. By being specific with your requirements, you are making this easier for yourself in the long run and trimming away unnecessary expenses before you even know it.

Consider hiring part-timers and contractors
Expanding your conditions for potential employees will widen the pool of talent available to you. Instead of being set on particular working conditions such as full-time working hours or in-office working, consider being more flexible with your working arrangements. Hiring part-timers and contractors will be more advantageous to businesses looking to grow quickly and substantially, as part-timers and contractors come with lower costs and you do not have to worry about employee retention for the long-term.

Invest in training your new recruits
Make sure to spend time training your new hires by providing them with the education and resources they need to be successful in your business. While it may not seem worthwhile to invest in part-timers and contractors, building a training procedure will be beneficial in the long run for future employees as you will establish a strong workplace culture while also developing a process that is most suited to your preferences.

Focus on hiring one at a time
It is understandable for you to have many positions open at one time, but to make sure you make accurate judgements on the best potential employees, try to focus on one position at a time. This way, you will avoid being overwhelmed with business decisions involving both ordinary business proceedings and new recruits. Use the same approach when you are hiring a team for a particular project or a new location as well.

Property is a common investment option for SMSFs, however, the ATO has a number of regulations SMSF owners need to be wary of. The ATO is particularly concerned with those using SMSF assets to invest in property in a way that is detrimental to retirement purposes.

To ensure you do not breach provisions of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SISA), here is a breakdown of the ATO’s common regulatory concerns:

• Whether arrangement amounts to your SMSF are being made to purposes outside of the sole purpose test (referred to as a collateral purpose).
• Whether your SMSF meets operating standards such as record-keeping, ensuring assets are appropriately valued and recorded at market price, and keeping SMSF assets separate from members’ assets.
• Whether the arrangement includes the SMSF acquiring assets from a related party.
• If the arrangement features the SMSF borrowing money and meets borrowing provisions.
• Whether the SMSF has contravened the in-house assets by exceeding the level of in-house assets allowed.
• Cases of illegal early release of superannuation when SMSF arrangements do not meet relevant payment standards.

Also keep in mind that you cannot improve a property or change the nature of a property while there is a loan in place. While you can look to make additional contributions to your SMSF to speed up the loan repayment process, you will be precluded from making further contributions to your SMSF if any outstanding loans in your super balance exceed $1.6 million.

In the case that any of the ATO’s regulatory concerns apply to you and your SMSF’s involvement with property investment, confirm your situation and report your circumstances to the ATO. Additional regulatory matters regarding income tax such as non-arm’s length income (NALI) provisions as well as GST need to be reported as well.

Employers with 19 or fewer employees are temporarily exempt from reporting ‘closely held (related) payees’ through Single Touch Payroll enabled software. The exemption deadline has been extended from 1 July 2020 to 1 July 2021 as part of the ATO’s response to the COVID-19 situation.

A closely held payee is an individual directly related to the business, company or trust that pays them. Commonly, these are:

• Family relatives of a family business.
• Directors or shareholders if a company.
• Beneficiaries of a trust.

The closely held payees exemption is automatically applied, and employers do not need to report them to the ATO.

Employers still have the option to report their closely held payees’ payroll information through Single Touch Payroll if they wish to. This can be done each time a payment is made, following the same process that applies for regular employees.

Employers will need to provide payment summaries to their closely held employees and a payment summary annual report to the ATO at the end of the financial year unless they:

• report through Single Touch Payroll for their closely held employees, and
• lodge their finalisation declaration by the due date.

Demonstrating strong interpersonal skills in the workplace can boost your performance and improve your experience at work by promoting positive workplace relationships. Interpersonal skills that will help employees thrive amongst each other can include communication skills, negotiation, problem solving, teamwork, decision making, empathy and assertiveness. Here are some ways you can develop your interpersonal skills for the workplace.

Refine your workplace etiquette

Demonstrating appropriate workplace behaviour can show your colleagues that you are a team player and that you care about them and the job. This can include being punctual to work and meetings, being courteous, showing respect, being cooperative, taking initiative, and dressing appropriately.

Strive for conflict resolution

Always talk to your fellow employees with respect, even when a disagreement is at hand. If your words or tone of voice are condescending, rude, or inconsiderate, it can damage workplace relationships and reflect badly upon you. When conflict arises, opt to talk things through by identifying the problem and working with others to come to an agreeable solution instead of acting irrationally or avoiding communication.

Be an active listener

Actively listening to someone doesn’t just mean sitting there and not interrupting them. To be an active listener, avoid only engaging with someone on a passive level. Instead, enter the conversation like you also have something to gain from it and you may find yourself not only learning more, but making others feel understood and heard. Be open minded and empathetic when listening to someone’s perspectives, and demonstrate your engagement with responsive body language.

Be receptive to feedback

Feedback can come in the form of someone telling you that you hurt their feelings, they didn’t like the way you behaved, or asking you to do something differently next time. Don’t brush these comments off, but take the time to think about where they might be coming from or ask them to elaborate. If their feedback makes sense, it gives you a great opportunity to work on a particular area after seeing where you went wrong. You can also ask for feedback on your interpersonal skills from coworkers and managers.

With the current economic slowdown, now is the perfect time to review your business strategy and conduct a business “health check” to come out the other side improved and ready to go. Analyse whether or not your business is in the state that you want it to be in and any improvements you can make to prepare for when the economy starts to recover.

Clients and customers

Client and customer loyalty is a trait all businesses should appreciate, but if your clients’ values are misaligned with yours, conflict is inevitable. Hence, now is the time to re-evaluate which clients you want to keep loyal and which ones you can see a cooperative future with. Re-assessing your target audience and deepening your understanding of the wants and needs of your clients would also be beneficial, as you can perfect your marketing strategies now while you have the time. If you have clients who frequently struggle to pay you on time, rude to your service and employees and generally disrespectful to your business, take the time to assess whether your attention is worthwhile and if you would like to continue to work with them when the economic situation improves.

Employees

Your employees are another stakeholder to check up on during this downtime opportunity. Your employees will always be your business’ representatives so make sure they are up to standard and help them improve on their skills now when they have the time to. Take the time to teach your employees more about your business goals and strategies and improve the team atmosphere by introducing team recreational activities. Your relationship with your employees now during a global crisis will dictate how they feel about you as a leader and if they can rely on you in the future. Foster respectful, strong and healthy bonds between you and your employees and only good things will be coming your way.

Suppliers

The key question to ask when reviewing your suppliers is whether or not you are getting what you need from them at a reasonable cost. Of course, not all sales deals are made equally and while you may get the bad end of the stick now, that is sometimes for the benefit of the long term. However, if this is not the case and you feel that your suppliers are asking too much from you, letting you down with their product quality or causing other complications, take the time now to look for other options. As most businesses struggle through current economic conditions, more and more suppliers are becoming competitive and hence, there are more options to consider. Do your research and decide on the suppliers you want to work with for the long-term future.

Financing

Managing your finances is always a difficult task but it is now more important than ever. Your budget and profit predictions for this year are likely going rogue so reevaluate your finances and research other funding options such as commercial rent, interest rates and banking services. Consider how you can minimise cost while maximising efficiency and productivity, save as much money as you can during these downtimes, and review your investments in detail to determine whether or not they are worthwhile.

When entering a supply contract, it is extremely important to work out all the nuisances before signing to prevent complications down the road and make sure conditions are favourable for you. Here are a few key pointers to look out for in your supply contract.

Warranties

Warranties are promises within contracts to both parties that certain matters are correct and that certain criteria must be met for the supply of goods and services. Warranties can be expressly stated in a contract, whereby the virtues of particular products from a supplier are restated as warranties in a contract, and warranties are ensured by suppliers to be limited to those specifically stated in the contract.

Guarantee

A guarantee involves a third party, where they must honour the obligations of one of the involved parties in the event that they breach the contract. This offers protection for both contracted parties, almost like insurance in the case that something goes wrong. In some instances, personal guarantees involving personal assets may also be involved.

Risk and title

“Risk” refers to the responsibility for security and safety of goods that is passed onto the customer on delivery, while “title” refers to the legal ownership of goods which is not passed onto customers until a full payment is confirmed. You need to be aware of the differences between these two types of clauses so that the type and frequency of transactions between customers and suppliers can be determined.

Indemnity

Indemnity is a promise made from one party to protect the other from specified loss or damage. For customers, this means protection from damage arising from a breach of contract or the negligence of a supplier and vice versa for suppliers. Suppliers should also an insurance broker review their contract to ensure that there is adequate coverage for suppliers against claims under the indemnity clause from customers.

Defects liability period

The defects liability period is the period of time in which a customer can oblige suppliers to rectify any defects from goods or services performed. Customers need to ensure this period is long enough for any defects to be discovered or consider including a retention amount or some form of guarantee until the end of the period to act as a safeguard. On the other hand, suppliers need to agree on the period, reinstate the definition of “defect” and iron out any exceptions that may come as a result of customer misusage or negligence.

Limitation of liability

It is standard practice for both parties involved in a supply contract to limit their exposure liability and risk wherever possible. Suppliers in particular need to ensure that their contract excludes all implied warranties (where legally possible), reduces liabilities if a customer contributes to a failure to meet warranty and if a warranty is breached, removes liability for indirect loss of profits and limits aggregate liability to a numerical figure (e.g. a percentage).

Boiler plate causes

These are standard administrative clauses at the end of a contract which outline legal terms such as:

• Forced Majeure ability to delay without penalty,
• Jurisdiction and laws that govern the contract,
• Transferrence of rights.

Contributions made on behalf of your spouse to a complying superannuation fund or a retirement savings account (RSA) may be eligible for a tax offset.

The 2019/2020 tax rules allow you to claim an 18% tax offset on super contributions up to $3,000 on behalf of your spouse. While you are able to contribute more than $3,000, there will be no spouse contribution tax offset over this amount. The amount you can claim depends on your spouse’s annual income:

• $540 for spouse income of $37,000.
• $360 for spouse income of $38,000.
• $180 for spouse income of $39,000.

The tax offset may be available for individuals who meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Your spouse’s assessable income, fringe benefits amounts and employer superannuation contributions equate to under $40,000.
• Contributions made on behalf of your spouse were not deductible to you.
• You and your spouse were Australian residents at the time of contributions.
• Your spouse did not have non-concessional contributions that equated to a higher amount than their non-concessional contributions cap, or they did not have a total superannuation balance of $1.6 million or more at 30 June 2018.
• Your spouse is younger than their preservation age, or are not retired while being between 65 and their preservation age.

Under Australian superannuation law, your spouse can be either:

• Your partner who you are married to and live with, or;
• Your de facto partner, who you live with on a genuine domestic basis.

The spouse contributions tax offset can be claimed on your tax return.

A fringe benefits tax (FBT) is a tax paid on benefits provided to employees (usually non-cash). FBT is calculated based on the gross taxable value of benefits employers provide to their employees. Employees must lodge their return and pay the total FBT amount they owe for the previous FBT year. Due to COVID-19, the FBT lodgement deadline has been extended from 31 March 2020 to 25 June 2020.

The following are the types of fringe benefits you must lodge before the extended due date:

• Car fringe benefits: when a car your business owns or leases is available for employee private usage.
• Debt waiver fringe benefits: when you waive or forgive an employee’s debt (including those you write-off as a genuine bad debt).
• Loan fringe benefits: when you provide a loan to an employee and charge a low rate of interest or no interest during the GBT year.
• Expense payment fringe benefits: when you reimburse an employee for expenses they incur or pay a third party for expenses incurred by an employee.
• Housing fringe benefits: when you provide an employee with accommodation as a usual place of residence for the employee.
• Living-away-from-home allowance fringe benefits: any payments you make to compensate an employee for any disadvantages suffered because they have to live away from home to be employed at your business.
• Airline transport fringe benefits: any payments made in relation to airline transport.
• Board fringe benefits: meals provided to employees.
• Entertainment fringe benefits: payments for entertainment by the way of food, drink or recreation.
• Tax-exempt body entertainment fringe benefits: when you incur entertainment expenses and you are wholly or partially exempt from income tax or don’t derive assessable income from the activities related to the entertainment.
• Car parking fringe benefits: when you provide car parking for your employee.
• Property fringe benefits: when you provide free or discounted property (including goods such as electricity and gas, real property and rights to property) to an employee.
• Residual fringe benefits: broadly speaking, any rights, privileges, services or facilities provided in respect of employment.

Businesses who have paid less than $3000 in FBT in the previous year only need to make one payment when lodging their FBT this financial year. For businesses with more than $3000 in FBT, they must lodge their FBT quarterly. Clarify with your tax agent or accountant for your FBT details before lodging.

eCommerce is becoming an effective alternative to traditional face-to-face business operations and may be the change you need to make for your business’ long term growth.

eCommerce refers to the buying and selling of products and services online, either with business to business transactions or business to consumer transactions, and is a tool for small businesses to stay competitive amidst online shopping trends. If you have the ability to catalogue your products and services online and ship them to businesses and consumers, making the switch to eCommerce may be a good investment for the business’ direction in the long term.

To successfully incorporate eCommerce into your business, you must first research the different types of eCommerce to determine which one suits your business best. There are three major classifications to consider:

• Business to Business (B2B): providing products from one business to another (e.g. software, furniture and supply).
• Business to Consumer (B2c): exclusively online retailers.
• Consumer to Consumer (C2C): consumers trade, buy and sell from each other in exchange for a small commission paid to your business.

After choosing which eCommerce model you’d like your business to adopt, you need to validate your products by performing market research. Establishing your niche and identifying who you are targeting will assist you in building your online marketing presence.

The next important step to incorporating eCommerce into your business is to finalise your eCommerce financial plan. As with any business venture, figure out your break-even point in unit sales and duration in both short term and long term. Decide how you want to invest your money into your transition into eCommerce (e.g. website design, software development, marketing) and project these expenses as well as your revenue. Having a budget to stick to will also help you maintain perspective and keep you grounded if things go wrong.

The last step is to execute your plans with a website. Build a website which is not only functional in selling your products, but also visually representative of your business. In the world of eCommerce, digital presentation is everything as you can no longer approach clients to face to face. Thus, make sure your brand is effectively reflected in your website design and interacts with your clients to reinforce online engagement.

Supporting your employees during chaotic times as an empathetic leader will improve your relationships within your business and boost personal confidence. Here are some ways you can support your employees mentally and financially during these uncertain times.

Be open with your employees
As businesses implode due to current economic circumstances, employees want transparency and closure over the state of the business and their employment. Thus, being open about your business’ finances and both your short-term and long-term growth initiatives when communicating with your employees will earn their trust and appreciation.

Being transparent over your employees’ job security is also a good idea, as unemployment is becoming a major concern for all Australians. Reassuring your employees and guaranteeing their safety will also boost productivity levels and business morale as a major source of anxiety is lifted off of their shoulders.

Take mental health seriously
You can support your employees’ mental health by encouraging a healthy work-life balance (especially if they are working from home) as well as offering tutorials, professional mentoring sessions and online webinars on mindfulness and effective stress management strategies. Be more lenient with your employees who are struggling with productivity due to mental fatigue and enforce healthy lifestyle habits.

Another way to protect your staff’s mental health is to give all your employees financial advice and education, even if they are not struggling financially at the moment. Let them know that you care for their livelihood and can support them with constructive guidance.

Take care of your staff’s physical health
Taking care of your employee’s physical health as well as their mental health will also relieve your employees’ stress levels and give them peace of mind when working with you. Allow your employees to work from home whenever possible and provide disinfectants like hand sanitiser and alcoholic wipes in your workspace to reinforce health precautions. Enforce social distancing procedures such as the 1.5m distance rule and strive to eliminate physical health risks related to your employees. It is vital that no employee comes to work if they are feeling sick.

Paying your employees superannuation is an integral part of being an employer. Superannuation provides income for your workers in retirement and it is your legal obligation to make sure you are paying your eligible employees the right amount, on time, to the right place and also in the right way. The ATO has also introduced a few schemes to help employers meet their super obligations due to financial strain caused by COVID-19.

Your super obligations are summarized in the following:

• Check the eligibility of all your employees (some contractors or freelancers may be entitled to superannuation payments).
• Pay your eligible employees 9.5% of their ordinary time earnings.
• Super payments must be made at a quarterly minimum (employers who do not pay their superannuation on time may need to pay a superannuation guarantee charge).
• Pay super into your worker’s fund of choice.
• Pay the SuperStream way (both payments and data are sent electronically in a standard format).
• Streamline your payment process with Single Touch Payroll.
• Keep evidence to show that you have met your super obligations as an employer.

While the usual obligations apply, the ATO has also introduced assistance schemes in response to COVID-19 for employers. The superannuation guarantee amnesty, in particular, will provide you with arrangements which can adjust your payment terms and amounts relative to your financial circumstances as well as extend your payment plan to beyond 7 September 2020, provided you apply to participate in the amnesty by that date.

Applying for superannuation guarantee amnesty also means having any refunds returned to you as quickly as possible and being notified of any eligible income tax deductions you can claim on your contributions to employee super funds. However, if you are unable to maintain super payments despite being granted SG amnesty, you will be disqualified from the program. This disqualification will only apply to any unpaid quarters and you will need to pay a $20 per employee component for re-application of any unpaid quarters.

For updates in the event of more changes to super obligations and requirements, visit the ATO Super website or APRA-regulated funds page for more information.

Employees who are not living or working in their regular location due to COVID-19 mobility restrictions need to be aware of the tax implications that apply to their situation.

Individuals who ordinarily work and live in Australia but are temporarily overseas due to COVID-19 restrictions will not experience any changes to their Australian tax obligations. If the employee is paying foreign income tax overseas, they will receive a foreign income tax offset to reduce their Australian tax payable.

Foreign residents working from Australia who are not able to leave as a result of COVID-19 restrictions will not experience Australian tax impacts if their stay in the country is under three months. However, non-residents working in Australia for longer than three months may need to lodge an Australian tax return if they earn any assessable income from an Australian source. Other than this, their Australian tax obligations will remain unchanged.

Employment income will not be taxable in Australia if the employee:

• Is not an Australian resident;
• Are intending to leave as soon as they are able to;
• Has no employment connections to Australia other than the fact that they are performing remote work in the country.

Employees who typically reside in a country that Australia has a double tax agreement with may already qualify for an exemption in Australia.

As the majority of the workforce transitions to working from home and we rely on the digital world to connect with our colleagues – employers and employees alike – we should consider the future possibilities for recruitment and a digital workplace. A few terms like “remote team” and “virtual team” are constantly being thrown around but what exactly do they mean and how can you incorporate them into your own workplace?

What is a remote team?

A remote team is composed of workers who work together on one project while geographically distanced either one another or the rest of the business. This does not have to mean that remote teams and workers are working from home, rather includes people working from different cities and even countries.

A remote team of workers is beneficial for businesses which are looking to improve employee retention – as employees are more likely to stay at a business where they can conveniently get to work. Opening up your recruitment process to form a remote team also means you have a wider range of talent to choose from as you are no longer limited to your local area as you would with commuting employees.

However, remote teams may pose a problem if your business does not have the adequate technology, coordination system and monitoring facilities to reproduce or surpass the productivity levels that you otherwise would have with in-house employees. When looking to incorporate a remote team into your business, be mindful of how they will communicate with each other as well as your in-house employees, and fit into your established business process.

What is a virtual team?

A virtual team consists of team members who report to different team managers or team leaders, whether working remotely or not. The term “virtual” refers to a defined system rather than anything digitalised.

Instead of a hierarchy system, virtual teams are more collaborative and are led through influence rather than a traditional up-down system. Virtual teams foster an interdependent workplace culture, where a business decision does not depend on any one person but becomes more of a unified process. Businesses which have a number of different virtual teams with a group of co-located team leaders are more cooperative and united in nature, although some may struggle with the lack of authoritative work culture in “horizontal” cross-functioning teams.

Key difference

The key difference between remote teams and virtual teams is where their members work from. Remote workers are always working away from the main company body, whereas this is not necessarily the case for virtual workers. Despite working geographically apart, remote teams operate as employees would in a traditional workplace system, in that there is some form of hierarchy. Virtual teams however refer to the concept of being an effective team with a horizontal approach, where workers can work both in-house or remotely.

Businesses now working from home can take the opportunity for employers to learn from the experience and consider new work structures coming out of COVID-19. This could mean increased flexibility for employees when it comes to working remotely. Here’s why you should consider flexible work arrangements with your employees.

Increase productivity

Flexible work arrangements can increase the productivity of employees by allowing them to work when they feel most motivated. Some people may naturally be more productive at night time and do their work then, which would not be possible with regular office hour restrictions. Remote work also saves time on excessive staff chatter and workplace distractions, such as ringing telephones and colleague drop-ins. Offering flexible work arrangements can show your employees that their lives are valued, which can lead to higher levels of performance and hard work to justify the flexible arrangements.

Reduced expenses

When employees are working from home more frequently, it means that your office doesn’t have to sustain as many people and you can reduce rent and utility expenses. This doesn’t mean that your employees have to pay too much more; the ATO has introduced an easier way of deducting work from home costs during the COVID-19 period called the ‘shortcut method.’ This allows employees to deduct 80c per hour they work from home to compensate for running expenses.

Attract talent

When your business exclusively depends on employees being physically present, it’s possible that you’re missing out on great workers who live too far or require more flexible arrangements. Modern job seekers are often on the lookout for positions that offer greater flexibility, rather than the regular 9 to 5 in the office. Highlighting workplace flexibility in your job advertisements can attract more prospective talent as physical barriers are eliminated.

Improved wellbeing

Remote work can improve the overall physical and mental wellbeing of your employees. One perk is that they may be able to be better rested and eat a proper breakfast in replacement of the morning commute. Work flexibility will also enable them to work around family commitments, which can boost their quality of life and happiness. This can raise morale and improve their quality of work by reducing the risks of fatigue and burnout.

Employee retention

Workplaces that allow employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance are more likely to retain their employees for long terms. This can benefit businesses by reducing the frequency of hiring and training periods, which can save a lot of money and productivity while continuing to grow corporate knowledge in existing employees.

While there are benefits to running an SMSF, they do not come without their compliance responsibilities. This includes lodging your fund’s annual return on time, attending to reporting obligations, and having an investment strategy. SMSFs who do not meet their obligations are subject to penalties by the ATO through the following measures.

Education direction

An SMSF trustee who does not meet compliance requirements can be given a written direction to undertake a course of education that is designed to improve their ability to meet their obligations, reducing the risk of future non-compliance. The course may be completed online within a nominated timeframe. Failure to comply with an education direction can result in an administrative penalty of 10 units.

Administrative penalties

SMSF trustees are liable to pay administrative penalties if they contravene provisions of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SISA). This includes contraventions of borrowings, in-house assets, education direction, duty to notify of significant adverse events, and accounts and statements. The minimum penalty is $1,050 and the maximum penalty is $12,600.

Enforceable undertaking

SMSF trustees may be able to rectify non-compliance by providing a written commitment to an enforceable undertaking. The ATO may or may not accept the undertaking, which should include:

• A commitment to ending the non-compliance behaviour.
• What action will be taken as rectification.
• The designated time period to rectify the contravention.
• How and when the trustee will report the completion of rectification.
• Strategies employed to prevent future contraventions.

Rectification direction

The ATO may decide to provide a trustee with written direction to rectify their contravention. The trustee will then be required to undertake specified action to rectify the non-compliance within a given timeframe. Rectification commonly involves employing managerial or administrative arrangements that will prevent similar contraventions in the future. Proof of compliance with the direction to rectify will be required. Failure to comply with the direction is an offence of strict liability, which can lead to disqualification or the removal of the fund’s complying status which may result in a significant tax penalty on the fund.

Disqualification

The ATO has the ability to disqualify individuals from acting as a trustee due to their non-compliance. This will take into account the severity of the contraventions and the likelihood of them reoccurring. Continuing to act as a trustee after disqualification is an offence that may result in further penalties.

Civil and criminal penalties

Civil and criminal penalties through court can apply when SMSF trustees contravene with provisions such as:

• The sole purpose test
• Prohibition of avoidance schemes
• Promotion of illegal early release schemes
• Duty to notify the regulator of significant adverse events.

Non-compliance notice

SMSFs may be issued a notice of non-compliance when serious contravention of super laws have occurred. This causes the fund to remain non-compliant until a notice of compliance is received. For every year the fund remains non-complying, its assessable income is taxed at the highest marginal tax rate.

Winding up the fund

After a contravention has occurred, the trustee may wind up the SMSF and roll over the remaining benefits to an Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) regulated fund. However, in some cases, the ATO may continue to issue the SMSF with a notice of non-compliance and/or apply other compliance measures.

Freezing the SMSF’s assets

A trustee may be given a notice to freeze an SMSF’s assets when it appears that conduct by the trustees or investment manager may adversely affect the interests of the beneficiaries. The notice may restrict the trustee or investment manager from acquiring assets and disposing of assets.

The ATO has published a ruling on the decline in turnover test for businesses applying for the JobKeeper scheme as part of the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Rules 2020.

This turnover test requires businesses to calculate their ‘current GST turnover’ and ‘projected GST turnover’, subject to modifications to the definitions outlined in the Payments and Benefits Rules. The new ruling outlines the aspects of the decline in turnover in the following steps:

• Step A: what supplies are relevant when calculating projected GST turnover and current GST turnover,
• Step B: how you allocate supplies to relevant periods,
• Step C: how you determine the value of each supply that has been allocated to a relevant period, and
• Step D: The ATO compliance approach, which effectively allows you to work out Step B and Step C at the same time.

The turnover test period must be either a calendar month that ends after 30 March 2020 and before 1 October 2020, or a quarter that starts on 1 April 2020 or 1 July 2020.

During the turnover test period, businesses will satisfy the decline in turnover test if:

• Their projected GST turnover falls short of their current GST turnover for a relevant comparison period (the comparison turnover, and
• The shortfall expressed as a percentage of the comparison turnover equals or exceeds the specified percentage for the business

Keep in mind that the decline in turnover test applies to both entities that are registered and not registered for GST in determining if they are eligible for the JobKeeper payment.

The ruling also covers another approach to calculating business’ turnover – the cash or accruals approach – and outlines alternative methods that will allow for the allocation of supplies to a relevant period and determination of the value of those supplies.

Businesses with employees working remotely must consider digital security measures to protect their business assets and the safety of their employees. Phishing scams are a particularly prominent security issue, especially for employees working with their personal devices and networks that may be insecure. Phishing scams are designed to steal information through mediums such as emails or social media posts, using hackers posing as a legitimate and trustworthy source that asks for your personal details. To protect your staff from these attacks, consider the following measures:

Identification of phishing attacks:
Awareness is a key factor in identifying and avoiding phishing attacks. Some key characteristics of phishing scams to look out for are:

• They are asking you to verify your bank account details and password via a link and website.
• They are asking you to confirm your details for a maintenance upgrade or as part of a security check.
• Their email or text message includes spelling or grammatical errors.
• A bank or financial institution is asking you to verify your bank account details even though you are not a customer.
• They do not include your full name in their email or text message, or have no specific addressee.

Teach staff what to do:
After your employees have identified the phishing attacks, make sure that they:

• Don’t click on any suspicious links sent to them.
• Never give away their personal or business information to sources that aren’t verified.
• Block the sender of phishing emails or text messages to prevent future attacks.

Use antivirus software:
Signing up for antivirus software for your employees’ devices may prove to be a worthwhile investment. Antivirus software can prevent phishing attacks from escalating and becoming damaging. When using antivirus software, it is important to keep up with regular updates to ensure security measures are up to scratch.

Encourage communication:
To decrease the risks of an employee giving confidential information to phishing scammers, encourage open dialogue between staff about third party emails. If employees double-check email addresses and links amongst each other, it can help them identify what is legitimate or not. Employees can also alert other staff members when they receive a suspicious email asking for business information to spread caution.

Increasing living expenses and commitments can make it challenging to manage and save money, especially for low income earners. Here are some tips that may help you reduce financial pressures on a low income…

Prioritise high-interest debts:
If you have a lot of different debts to pay off, prioritise them by their interest rates. Paying off high-interest debts first can prevent you from unnecessarily losing money from interest fees.

Track your income:
Keeping track of all your income, whether it’s wages, government support or investments, can help you get a good sense of how much you’re able to spend and at what time. This can prevent you from spending too much too soon before your next income payment, and plan out the best time to pay major expenses without running out of money.

Budget:
Creating a spreadsheet with your expenses and income can help you maintain an appropriate amount of spending and tell you if you’re overspending. It may take a few tries to develop a budget that suits your lifestyle, but trial and error will provide you with an accurate estimate of how much you need to set aside for different expenses. Sticking to your budget will help you grow your savings every week.

Automate savings:
Setting up automatic transfers into your savings accounts can put you into the habit of spending less. This can be especially useful if you struggle with budgeting and want to grow your savings.

Cut back on expenses:
Unnecessary spending, such as entertainment and eating out expenses can be cut down to maximise your savings. Simple things such as packing a home-made lunch and opting for a home movie night instead of the cinema can make a huge difference if you keep it up.

Smooth your bills:
If you struggle to pay large bills all at once, contact your utility providers and ask them if they will let you smooth your bills. This means that you can make small payments more frequently instead of paying one big bill once a year. This may make it easier to budget your expenses and maintain a steady income/expenditure balance.

Increase your income:
You can increase your income by starting a side hustle or making an effort to generate more money by simple tasks such as blogging, pet sitting and selling possessions you don’t need. This can reduce the amount of financial strain you may be under.

Contracts, sales or purchases are bound to be cancelled with financial uncertainty plaguing the economy as a result of COVID-19. To help you get through this, the ATO recommends making a goods and services tax (GST) adjustment when cancellations do occur.

In the event of contracts, sales or purchase cancellation, you can make a GST decreasing adjustment. A GST decreasing adjustment refers to when you originally paid for a product or service more than the amount payable after taking in an adjustment event into account. This also means you pay less GST for the reporting period.

For further clarification, the adjustment amount is a decreasing adjustment if you claimed less for the purchase in the earlier tax period than the amount you could have claimed if the adjustment event had been taken into account.

According to the ATO, GST adjustments can be made when:

• The price of a taxable sale or purchase changes;
• Taxable sales or a purchase you’re entitled to a GST credit for is cancelled;
• You write off or recover a previously written-off bad debt, or
• The actual usage purpose of a sales or purchase differs from your personal intended usage.

To make a GST adjustment, first look over your previous BAS and paid invoices and check if you paid GST, how much you paid in GST and when you paid. After that, you can make your adjustments for the amount paid in each previously lodged activity statement, provided that you are accounting for GST on a cash basis. In the case that you account for your GST on an accruals basis, make your adjustment during the activity statement period when you become aware of it.

When you become aware of a GST adjustment opportunity, you should report it in your activity statement for your current reporting period. The ATO provides you with adjustment reporting assistance in the form of worksheets designed for purchase recording purposes (for sales, purchases, bad debts and creditable purpose) and also brief guides on their website.

Keep in mind that you only need to adjust GST if the contract, sale or purchase was reported in a previous business activity statement. There’s no need to report an adjustment if your contract, sale or purchase occurred within your current business reporting period.

Individuals looking to buy their first home may claim up to $30,000 of their super contributions through the First Home Super Saver (FHSS) Scheme, which aims to reduce pressure on housing affordability.

The scheme allows first home buyers to save money within their superannuation fund and accumulate faster savings with the concessional tax treatment of super. Eligible individuals who are able to use up to $15,000 of voluntary contributions per year, and a total of $30,000 contributions across all years. The FHHS amounts received will affect your tax for the year it is released to you; both the assessable and tax-withheld amounts from your FHSS payment will need to be included in your tax return.

The types of contributions eligible to go towards the FHHS scheme are voluntary concessional contributions and voluntary non-concessional contributions. Contributions can be made up to your existing contributions cap.

To be eligible for the scheme, individuals must:

• Be at least 18 years of age.
• Have not previously owned property in Australia, or have previously released First Home Super Saver funds.
• Have the intent to live in the property you use the funds to purchase as soon as practicable, for at least the first 6 of the 12 months of owning the property.

Individuals experiencing financial hardship may also apply for the scheme even if they have already purchased property in the past if their financial hardship has resulted in a loss of property interest. This may be applicable to individuals who have experienced events such as:

• Bankruptcy
• Unemployment
• Divorce
• Natural disasters
• Illness.

Due to COVID-19 and unforeseen financial circumstances, the ATO has announced a series of lodgement deferral dates available for tax returns, fringe benefits tax returns, monthly and quarterly BAS, annual GST returns, PAYG summary annual reports and taxable payment annual reports.

Lodgement deferrals extend the due date for lodgement of a document without incurring a failure to lodge on time (FTL) penalty. To request for a lodgement deferral, simply complete an online application and lodge through online services provided by the ATO. The ATO will then assess and approve your requests within a 28-day period.

The extended lodgement dates for particular lodgements are listed below:

• Income tax 2018-2019 returns: 5 June 2020
• Fringe benefits tax 2019-2020 returns: 25 June 2020
• SMSF 2018-2019 annual returns: 30 June 2020

To request for a lodgement deferral for business activity statements, annual GST returns, PAYG summary annual reports and taxable payment reports, the ATO encourages businesses and employers to contact their tax or BAS agent to confirm their lodgement due dates and to submit requests as due dates are determined on a case-by-case basis.

While deferring a lodgement may be beneficial in the long term, it is still important to keep in mind your tax liability and how deferring lodgements may affect your cash flow options in the long term. Always discuss your options with a financial advisor or accountant before deferring your taxes as you may accrue more debt than expected otherwise.

Despite unprecedented circumstances, employers still need to consider the requirements of dismissal under the Fair Work Act when ending employment to avoid legal action against them.

When dismissing or standing down employees due to COVID-19 limitations, employers must continue to comply with the applicable award, enterprise agreement, workplace policy or employment contract, as well as providing employees with their legal entitlements, such as notice, accrued leave and redundancy payments.

The Fair Work Act prohibits employers from dismissing employees due to illness or injury, meaning that if they have contracted COVID-19, or have symptoms that prevent them coming into work, they cannot be dismissed.

Employers who are affected by COVID-19, such as those who are facing business slow down or are shutting down may dismiss employees under redundancy. Employees may be entitled to redundancy pay if their continuous service to the employer is less than 12 months. Regular redundancy eligibility requirements still apply and not all employees will be eligible, such as casual workers, apprentices and trainees.

The Australian Government has enabled employers to make temporary and partial stand downs during COVID-19. Stand downs can be enforced without pay if the business has been closed due to enforceable government direction (non-essential services), if a significant portion of employees are under self-quarantine, or if work is forced to stop due to lack of supply.

Communication is a huge part of business productivity, however, businesses who have made a recent shift from face-to-face work to working remotely can find it difficult to adapt and maintain effective communication. But just because you no longer see your staff face-to-face doesn’t mean that your communication has to suffer.

Have a communication plan

Whether it’s having a set schedule for work calls and virtual meetings, or requiring employees to provide reports or updates at certain times, having a clear communication plan can help keep your staff on track with their work and with each other. It’s a good idea to keep a record of this in writing by using tools such as shared calendars or reminders.

Utilise messaging tools

Messages are a great way to communicate with your staff and keep a written account of tasks and ideas. If your business relies on teamwork, then having group messaging chats are essential to keeping everyone on the same page, otherwise, miscommunication and confusion are huge risks. This will also give employees the opportunity to chat amongst each other in a group setting as they would normally do in the workplace, and can help them retain a positive work attitude through providing a sense of collegiality and normalcy.

Provide performance feedback

With everyone working remotely, it can be hard to monitor the performance and quality of your employees. Providing performance feedback fortnightly or monthly can help your employees continue to learn and improve, as well as keeping them productive knowing that their work will be reviewed.

Recognition

Providing a positive and encouraging comment in the office seems very natural and easy to do, but when it comes to remote workers, it is easy for employers and managers to forget about taking the time to show recognition for the work employees are doing. Just like anyone else, remote employees should receive adequate praise and recognition for the high-quality work they do; without it they are likely to become disengaged.

The Government has introduced a mandatory code of conduct to help commercial tenants with rent relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the code of conduct for commercial tenancies:

• Landlords must not terminate leases for non-payment of rent during the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery period.
• Tenants must stay committed to their lease terms.
• Landlords must offer reductions in rent as waivers and deferrals proportionate to the tenant’s reduction in trade during COVID-19. Waivers must constitute no less than 50% of the total rent reduction during that period.
• Benefits that owners get for their properties as outgoing reliefs (e.g. deferred loan payments, land tax, reduced charges) should be passed onto the tenant in the appropriate proportion.

The code will be implemented nationwide and aims to encourage parties to reach agreeable outcomes on a case by case basis. For commercial tenants, this means negotiating rent reductions corresponding to their annual turnover reductions and being provided extended lease terms for the rent waiver and deferral period.

From 3 April 2020, the code will apply to SMEs with an annual turnover of less than $50 million and are participating in the JobKeeper program. Take note of how these measures may affect your business and how they may help you plan ahead for the upcoming financial year.

The Government’s economic response to coronavirus will provide SMSFs and their members with additional support, including reducing minimum drawdown rates and early release of superannuation.

The minimum annual payment required for account-based pensions and annuities has been reduced in an initiative to assist retirees. For the 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years, the minimum annual payment required for members has been reduced by 50%.

If the minimum drawdown amount has been paid, no further payments will be required for the rest of the year. Those who have already paid more than the minimum drawdown amount are able to have their member recontribute this amount if the member is eligible to make contributions. Re-contributions will continue to be subjected to rules or limits, such as contributions caps.

Members of SMSFs who have been adversely affected by COVID-19 may be able to access up to $10,000 of their super before 1 July 2020, as well as a further $10,000 between 1 July 2020 and 24 September 2020, on compassionate grounds. To be eligible, members must satisfy at least one of the following criteria:

• They are unemployed.
• They are eligible for certain government support payments, including a job seeker payment, youth allowance for jobseekers or parenting payment.
• They were made redundant on or after 1 January 2020.
• They had their work hours reduced by at least 20% on or after 1 January 2020.
• They are a sole trader and either had a turnover reduction of at least 20% or had their businesses suspended, both on or after 1 January 2020.

Applications for early access can be made through myGov.

In addition to these initiatives, the Government will also be automatically deferring the lodgement of 2019 SMSF annual returns until 30 Junes 2020.

In emergency situations like the COVID-19 pandemic, there are certain benefits you can provide your employees or their associates which may be exempt from fringe benefits tax (FBT).

The fringe benefits tax is a tax which employers must pay on certain benefits they provide for their employees, their employees’ families and associates. However, with emergency circumstances such as the pandemic-level coronavirus, the ATO is providing FBT emergency assistance exemptions which apply to many common scenarios that your business may be experiencing.

In the case of COVID-19, the FBT emergency assistance exemption applies to:

• Help businesses which have had to relocate their employees who needed to self-isolate and are from a high-risk area.
• Paying for emergency meals and accommodation for employees who are stranded overseas due to travel restrictions.
• Paying for flights for overseas employees returning to Australia.
• Exempting transport fees for an employee to seek medical assistance from their workplace.
• Exempting equipment purchased to provide to work-from-home employees such as laptops, portable printers or other portable electronic devices.
• The minor benefits exemptions may apply for minor, infrequent and irregular benefits of under $300.

With all these exemptions to keep in mind, remember that your FBT return is due 21 May 2020 unless the ATO accepts your request for an extension on lodgement time, you have been granted a deferral or you lodged electronically through a registered tax agent.

Your FBT returns can only be lodged through the practitioner lodgement service (PLS) which requires a Standard Business Reporting (SBR) enabled software from a digital provider. Your digital service provider should be partnered with the ATO in integrating tax and superannuation services into your practice management software.

Retaining your employees is often a harder task than you think, especially during fluctuating economic conditions and with a growingly skilled and talented workforce. Here are some tips you can implement into your workplace culture to help you retain employees and make sure they are happy working with you!

Provide quality leadership, management and supervision

Employees more often than not leave jobs because of their managers, bosses and supervisors rather than the job itself. To make sure your employees have a good experience working for you, provide them with educational and warm leadership. Here are a few things to keep in mind when leading and teaching your employees:

• Be clear about your expectations
• Be clear about each employee’s earning potential and update them whenever possible
• Provide concise and constructive feedback on their performance

Allow employees to grow their talents and skills

Learn about your employees and allow them to utilise their skill sets and talents within the work delegated to them in your business. As an employee, what’s even worse than a bad manager is the inability to grow their skills and be challenged at work. Never box your employees into rigid work procedures and allow a degree of freedom and room for growth for your employees.

Reward your employees

Keep employees happy to work for you and give you their all by constantly incentivising them with rewards. Whether your rewards are monetary or speak to their emotional needs, employees need to be motivated to keep working for you while also remaining productive and doing their best for you. Consider making your rewards personalised to each employee to make them more effective.

Respect and appreciate your employees

Tied in with the previous point of employees leaving their positions as a result of their bosses, showing your appreciation and respecting your employees goes a long way in influencing your best employees to stay with your business. A positive and amicable work culture often makes or breaks a business and not only should you respect your employees, all of your employees should be respectful and appreciative of each other. Building a respectful community in your workplace is certainly a plus when considering how to retain employees.

Longevity risk is a common and important factor to consider when planning for your retirement funds. Longevity risk refers to the risk of outliving your savings and arises as people enter retirement, and in most cases, with a fixed amount of money to use during their retirement years. Managing your longevity risk is important because retirees often have no idea of how long they will need their retirement funds for. Here are a few strategies to help you manage your longevity risk:

Purchase an account-based pension:

An account-based pension is a regular income stream you can buy with the money from your super after you retire and reach your preservation age. When buying an account-based pension, you can choose how much of your super funds you’d like to transfer to the pension phase, the size and frequency of your payments (within a set limit) and how you want your money to be invested through your pension.

If you were thinking of purchasing an account-based pension to begin with, now may be the time as the Government is temporarily reducing superannuation minimum drawdown rates for account-based pensions by 50%. The annual payment as a percentage of account balance currently has reduced rates between 2% and 7% (from age brackets from 55 to 95+ respectively).

Set up a lifetime annuity:

Lifetime income annuities and insurance products designed to provide income throughout your retirement. Annuities are bought from insurance companies with a lump sum of cash and in return, you can get regular income payments until you pass away or for the amount of time you’ve agreed upon.

To make sure you purchase the right annuity for your desires and circumstances, it is often wise to consult a financial adviser before making your decision or go through a reliable insurance broker. In the case that you’d like to avoid paying commission fees from an insurance broker, you can also purchase lifetime annuities from investment companies rather than a traditional insurance company.

Age pension as a safety net:

While there are a number of retirement safety net options available to retirees, age pension is the most obvious and most reliable. An age pension is a means-tested Government-backed safety net for retirees who are unable to fully provide for themselves in retirement. While a stable income stream to take note of, age pensions usually only provide their recipients with the bare minimum and hence considering some of the strategies listed above will give you more leeway with your funds and lifestyle after retirement.

COVID-19 is forcing many businesses to work from home, meaning that you now have to pay for expenses such as heating and lighting that were previously covered by employers.

The ATO has introduced a new ‘shortcut method,’ where you can claim additional running expenses at a rate of 80 cents for each hour you work from home as a result of COVID-19.

Deductible running expenses include:

• Utilities such as heating, cooling and lighting.
• Cleaning costs for your work area.
• Mobile or landline phone expenses for work calls.
• Internet connection.
• Computer consumables and stationery.
• Repair costs for home office equipment and furniture.
• Depreciation of home office equipment, computers, furniture and fittings.
• Small capital items such as a computer (purchased for the purpose of working from home) can be claimed if they cost under $300. If the cost exceeds $300, the decline in value can be deducted.

The shortcut will apply from 1 March 2020 to 30 June 2020. A record of hours worked such as timesheets or rosters must be kept as proof. If you only undertake minimal work tasks from home such as occasionally checking emails or taking calls, then you are not eligible for the deduction. To claim the deduction, you must specify your claim with the note “COVID-hourly rate” when lodging your upcoming 2019-20 tax return.

There are two pre-existing alternative methods to claim working from home deductions that individuals may choose to use, however, they are generally more tedious:

• One way you can file a claim on your expenses is the actual cost method, where you keep a diary that details the work portion of your household running expenses. This can include receipts and documents supporting your claim. If you don’t provide supporting documents displaying the portion of expenses that were incurred for work, the ATO may reject your claim.
• The fixed-rate method allows you to claim a fixed rate of 52 cents per hour worked. This applies for electricity and decline in furniture expenses, but a separate claim can be made for phone and internet expenses, the depreciation of office equipment and computer consumables and stationery.

These deductions are only eligible for the proportions of the expenses that are actually used for work purposes. For example, if you’re using your own phone to make work calls, then only the portion of the bill that was incurred due to work calls can be claimed. If the room you are working in is shared with others, you can only claim electricity expenses for the hours you were exclusively using that room for work purposes.

Expenses such as rent, mortgage and insurance cannot be claimed unless you have a permanent home office.

Traditionally, it has always been much easier to manage employees and ensure collaborative productivity through onsite and in-office procedures. However, with the COVID-19 outbreak forcing many businesses to continue their operations online business owners and employees are understandably struggling to keep productive and synergised while working individually from home. To help with keeping businesses running ensuring employees are able to work together through the web, here are a few helpful web features to utilise.

Video conferencing/online messaging:
Live video conferencing and messaging through a number of efficient programs and apps available through the internet is a good way to keep your employees accountable to their tasks, keep up to date with any business developments and help employees communicate with each other.

Organising daily video conferences in which all employees are required to participate and contribute will keep workers motivated and aware of any upcoming projects, developments or business activities relevant to them. Scheduled live meetings will also mean employees are required to stay on top of their work even when working from home. Instant messaging apps specific to businesses will also work as a separate space for employees to communicate and collaborate and act as a virtual working space functioning similarly to an office.

File sharing:
Instead of having important files, software and documents saved onto one physical hard drive or computer in an office, having a virtual platform that all employees can access from their accounts on any computer will prove to be a useful web tool when implementing working from home strategies.

Not only is having one virtual space where all important materials are congregated convenient for employees, but it also means employees can easily share documents and even work on the same files at the same time. File sharing platforms provide a more open and collaborative space for employees and assist them in accessing their work when working from home.

Team management platform:
Team management platforms are those which outline and record the progress of any given task and project in a company. Starting from employers adding certain projects, to delegating tasks to employees and having employees upload their work while marking their progress, it is much easier to keep track of company progress remotely through the usage of team management platforms.

While there are many third-party platforms to consider, make sure you take advantage of any free trials first to learn how to best use the platforms and if they are the right fit for your company operations. Otherwise, conduct background research on any team management platforms you find interesting and make sure they include the functions you desire.

As part of the second $66 billion support package in response to COVID-19 and its negative effects on the Australian economy, the Federal Government has expanded tax-free cash payments to small and medium businesses with a minimum payment of $20,000 and maximum of $100,000, up from the previous $2000 to $25,000 range.

However, it is important to note that payments are only given to eligible businesses after they lodge their BAS (business activity statements) by the 28 July and 28 October 2020 due dates.

The new enhanced scheme will be delivered in two phases:

1. Employers are set to receive a first payment equal to 100% of their salary and wages withheld (a maximum of $50,000) when lodging their activity statements at quarterly due dates.
2. An additional payment equal to the first payment made after businesses lodge their BAS by 28 July and 28 October 2020.

Businesses will receive payments based on their BAS lodgement schedules. For example, a business that receives a payment for the period up until June 2020 will receive the same amount for the period up until September 2020 upon the lodgement of their BAS in two separate occasions.

For monthly BAS lodgers, businesses will receive their first payment for the March 2020, April 2020, May 2020 and June 2020 lodgements, with a 300% calculation in the March activity statement to provide the same treatment as quarterly lodgers. Similarly, the second payment businesses which lodge their BAS monthly will be released once they lodge their June 2020, July 2020, August 2020 and September 2020 lodgements.

To remain eligible to receive the new government funding for small to medium-sized businesses, remember to lodge your BAS on time as per your usual schedule. There are several options you can consider to lodge your BAS:

1. Lodge online through your myGov Business Portal
2. Lodge through your tax or BAS agent (who can access your myGov)
3. Lodge as “Nil BAS” if you have nothing report for the period online or through phone
4. Lodge by mail

The Federal Government introduced a third COVID-19 support package of $130 billion on 30 March 2020. The package includes additional support for businesses, including a new JobKeeper payment to help businesses retain employees.

Businesses who have been affected by COVID-19 may be able to receive a Government subsidy to help them continue to pay their employees. To be eligible, employers must:

• Have more than a 30% reduction in their turnover for at least a month compared to last year if the business has an overall turnover of less than $1 billion.
• Have more than a 50% reduction in their turnover for at least a month compared to last year if the business has an overall turnover of $1 billion or higher.
• Not be subject to the Major Bank Levy.
• Have been in an employment relationship with eligible employees as at 1 March 2020.

JobKeeper payments must only be made to eligible employees, which are employees who:

• Are under current employment with the employer.
• Were already employed by the employer on 1 March 2020.
• Are employed on a full-time or part-time basis, or are a long-term casual who has been employed on a regular basis for over 12 months as at 1 March 2020.
• Are at least 16 years old.
• Have an Australian citizenship or are an eligible visa holder.
• Are not also receiving a JobKeeper payment from another employer.

To receive the JobKeeper payment, employers need to:

• Go onto the ATO website and register an intention to apply with an assessment stating they have or will experience the 30% turnover reduction.
• Provide the ATO with eligible employee information, including how many employees had been engaged as at 1 March 2020. This can be done using Single Touch Payroll data.
• Confirm that eligible employees each receive at least $1,500 per fortnight before tax.
• Notify eligible employees about receiving the Jobkeeper payment.

Under the coronavirus stimulus package released and revised by the Australian Federal Government on 22 March 2020, individuals in financial trouble due to the negative economic impacts of COVID-19 will be able to access their superannuation funds early. However, while the option is available, it is recommended that individuals only consider withdrawing from their super in the case of absolute emergencies and treat it as a last resort.

With the new rules on superannuation, workers whose incomes are reduced by at least 20% due to the COVID-19 outbreak are allowed to take $10,000 out of their super for the 2019-20 financial year and another $10,000 for 2020-21. Individuals will also not need to pay tax on any withdrawn amounts and existing welfare payments will not be affected either.

While the introduced early access to superannuation funds may be inviting for newly unemployed workers, it is important to consider whether the temporary relief is necessary and worth foregoing super funds available for long term investment. For example, even when accounting for Australia’s slowing economy in the coming years, $10,000 is predicted to be worth over $65,000 in another 30 years.

Especially for younger workers who are less likely to have access to other savings, the choice to give up future savings for current comfort is a difficult one. Experts instead are recommending Australians to apply for the other payments and benefits made available to vulnerable Australians through the coronavirus stimulus package, such as added $550 fortnightly supplements to Australians on JobSeeker payments and other welfare recipients and pensioners.

Experts also predict that the Australian Government will introduce more stimuli for increased cash flow in the Australian economy and more payments for unemployed, struggling and vulnerable Australians in the case of COVID-19 becoming more of a serious economic issue. Hence, withdrawing funds from your superannuation account should be considered a last resort and not for the sake of unnecessary temporary relief.

In addition to being allowed early access into individual super funds, superannuation minimum drawdown rates will also be temporarily reduced by 50% for account-based pensions and others similar until 2021.

The Government has also reduced the upper and lower social security deeming rates by a further 0.25 percentage points, with upper at 2.25% and lower at 0.25% which will come into effect on 1 May 2020.

If you haven’t set up your myGovID yet, you need to do it before you can lodge your next business activity statement (BAS).

AUSkey, including Manage ABN Connections, will be replaced by the ATO’s myGovID and Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM) from 27 March 2020. After this change, you will no longer be able to access government online services through an AUSkey. Device AUSkeys will be replaced by new machine credentials.

Business owners will need to set up a myGovID soon if they haven’t already done so and link it to RAM. Your myGovID is separate from your myGov account and will allow you to prove your identity online. RAM is an authorisation service that uses your myGovID to provide you with access. When linked with your myGovID, RAM will allow you to act on behalf of your business online.

Desktop and browser-based versions of myGovID will not be supported as these devices are easily accessible. To set up your myGovID, you will need an email address (that you do not share with anyone else) and a smart device that uses iOS 10 or later on Apple devices, or Android 7.0 or later (not including devices that use Android Go operating systems). You can download the myGovID app for free through the AppStore or Google Play.

Depending on what government online services you wish to access through myGovID, you will have to provide certain identity documents to authenticate your account. You can generally have a Basic or Standard identity strength. A Basic identity strength is where you provide only one or no identity documents, aside from your personal details (such as your date of birth and email address). Only some government online services will accept a Basic identity strength, such as Bankruptcy Register Search, ACMA Lodgement Portal and Debt Agreements Online.

A Standard identity strength requires two Australian identity documents, such as:
– A passport, no more than three years past its expiry date
– A driver’s license, including a learner permit
– A birth certificate
– A Medicare card.
This will allow you to access all participating government online services, including the Business Portal where you can lodge your BAS.

With COVID-19 threatening the health and safety of all communities around the world, it is now more important than ever to practise social distancing in the workplace. Social distancing includes ways to stop or slow the spread of infectious diseases and as the name implies, lessens the amount of contact between you and other people.

It is important to apply social distancing wherever possible within your workplace to minimise the risks of person-to-person infection and fulfil the responsibility you have to the safety and health of your colleagues and clients.

In the context of a workplace, social distancing means avoiding direct contact with your colleagues through a number of effective methods, including:

• Staying at home if you feel unwell or are sick
• Implementing work-from-home measures wherever possible
• Dividing in-office work hours between employees to reduce the number of people in an indoor space at any given time
• Stopping handshaking as a greeting – emerging alternatives include the “elbow bump” or a pat on the back
• Moving office meetings to online video or phone calls
• Limiting food handling and sharing of food in the workplace
• Having employees take lunch at their desk rather than in a communal lunchroom
• Cancelling non-essential business travels
• Promoting good hygiene practice such as coughing/sneezing into elbows
• Providing disinfectants and hand sanitisers for all staff to use during working hours
• Opening windows and adjusting air conditioning for better ventilation

As COVID-19 grows in severity, consider how you can enforce any of the above social distancing measures in your workplace and how you can encourage others to do the same.

The Australian Government has increased support for businesses to manage cash flow challenges under the ongoing COVID-19 circumstances.

The Boosting Cash Flow for Employers measure announced on 12 March 2020 will be increased to provide up to $100,000 for eligible small and medium-sized businesses. To be eligible employers must have been established prior to 12 March 2020 and have an aggregated annual turnover of less than $50 million and employ workers.

The measure will provide employers with a payment equal to 100% of the tax withheld from wages and salaries. This is a rise from the original 50%, with maximum payments being increased from $25,000 to $50,000 and minimum payments being increased from $2,000 to $10,000.

Employers will receive payments from 28 April 2020 from the ATO as automatic credit in the activity statement system upon lodging eligible upcoming activity statements.

Eligible businesses will be provided with an additional payment during July – October 2020. The payment will be equal to the total amount received under the Boosting Cash Flow for Businesses scheme. For monthly and quarterly activity statement lodgers, these payments will be provided as automatic credit in the activity statement system for each lodgement up until October 2020.

The Government has also introduced the Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme to support the flow of credit for small and medium enterprises (SME) by providing a guarantee of 50% to participating SME lenders for new unsecured loans that will be used for working capital. To be eligible, SMEs will have a turnover of up to $50 million and the loans must comply with the following terms:

• The loan is a maximum of $250,000 per borrower.
• The loans will be up to three years, with an initial six month repayment holiday.
• The loans will be in the form of unsecured finance.

The SME Guarantee Scheme will still require businesses to repay these loans and approval is subject to regular lending requirements. The Scheme will commence by early April 2020 and be available until 30 September 2020.

With COVID-19 motivating many businesses to have employees work from home, the change may be difficult for some teams, especially if they haven’t worked remotely before. The focus is often on your team’s productivity, communication, equipment and ability, however, cybersecurity is a crucial element that should not be overlooked.

Most home networks are not secure. Employees working from home may unintentionally put business assets at risk when they access work-related files on their personal devices and through personal wifi connections. Employers should inform workers that their personal devices probably don’t have the security systems that workplace devices have in place, such as anti-virus software, secure network connections and automatic online backup systems. They should, therefore, avoid downloading business materials onto their personal devices, hard drives, desktops or their own cloud system.

Here are some measures you can consider to strengthen your cybersecurity:

• Use a virtual private network (VPN).
• Make sure home routers are secured by changing passwords, installing firmware updates, restricting inbound and outbound traffic, using a high level of encryption and switching off WPS.
• Don’t use public wifi, such as libraries or shopping centres.
• Equip employees with up to date security software and manufacturer software updates.
• Setting up multi-factor authentication.
• Prohibit employees from working in public spaces where others can see their screen.
• Use encrypted communications.
• Backup data regularly.

Many businesses, whether they are only just starting up or have been in the market for a number of years, will need a bank loan at one time or another. However, before you apply for a bank loan, it is important to think things through to ensure that you know if you should get one, if you are getting it at the right time and how you can make the most out of a loan.

Here are some questions business owners should ask themselves before beginning their bank loan application:

How likely is it that I qualify for the loan?
If you believe that your business won’t qualify for a bank loan, then you will only hurt your credit rating if you apply for a loan you won’t get. Being rejected for a loan can also make it more difficult for a business to borrow in the future.

Will the loan help the business grow?
Instead of using the loan for aspects like routine operating expenses that don’t generate much revenue, owners should consider putting the borrowed money into parts of the business that will generate more revenue and help reduce future borrowing needs.

How much do I need?
Before making requests of the bank, try to make an accurate estimate of how much cash you’ll really need. You can do this by creating a cash flow forecast with projections of your monthly income and expenses.

Are my personal finances in order?
Until a business reaches a substantial size, many banks will rely heavily on the owner’s personal financial statements and credit scores to determine the business’s creditworthiness. This may involve bankers looking at your personal information like student loans, personal credit card debt and mortgage payments.

Do I have adequate documentation for the loan?
When applying for a business loan, you will need a lot of documentation. Requesting a loan when an owner is not fully prepared makes the business look unprofessional.

Do I have adequate cash flow to repay the loan?
When a business owner applies for a loan, their banker will require the owner’s estimated financial projections for the business. It is important for owners to include their debt repayment plan in those projections.

Business loans and business credit cards are the most popular financing options, but there are key differences between the two that you should consider to help you make the right choice for your business.

Business loan
A business loan is a lump sum of money that you borrow. They can be a good option for your business if you require funding for a larger one-off purchase, such as buying new equipment or machinery, real estate, business acquisition, capital investment or refinancing existing debts.

Business loans typically range from $5,000 to $50,000 and can be paid as a lump sum or through multiple set payments. Depending on your bank, you can generally make repayments in monthly or quarterly instalments that are tailored to you and your cash flow.

To get your business loan approved, there is usually a strict approval process you must pass, which can include details such as your business’s financial position and a financial spending plan.

In terms of extra costs, a business loan generally comes with signup fees and late repayment fees. The interest rate for a loan is often lower than a credit card and can be a monthly or annual rate, which typically ranges between 3-10% p.a for secured loans.

Business credit card:
A business credit card is a suitable option if you want funds for short-term needs. Business credit cards are also generally more flexible than a business loan. They usually allow for a limit of up to $50,000 and are often used for working capital, emergency money and smaller ongoing expenses.

In terms of fees, business credit cards typically have a higher interest rate than personal credit cards, however, you only need to pay interest on each month’s expenses. The interest rates are higher than a business loan and can vary between 10-20% p.a. Fees such as annual fees and late repayment fees will apply to business credit cards.

A business credit card also comes with bonus features, such as bonus points for spending, free deliveries, frequent flyer points, complimentary insurance and a reputable company credit score with good use.

Business credit cards can be beneficial in the sense that it offers flexible funding and continuously available money, however business owners should be confident that they will be able to manage the minimum monthly repayments to avoid overdue fees.

Shares and property are two popular investment options for those with a self-managed super fund (SMSF). However, they both have very different attributes and choosing the one that will achieve the best outcome for an SMSF depends on your personal goals and situation.

While the price of shares can vary drastically, property is a relatively stable asset, making it appealing to those who want more security and predictability. Property prices are also negotiable unlike shares, and you can generally borrow money at a lower rate for property purchases.

It may seem hard to find the perfect investment property, but older and undercapitalised properties can be renovated for profit. However, returns from property rentals can be dented due to factors such as land tax, utilities and rates, maintenance and tenancy vacancies.

Shares are more dynamic and volatile than property. One advantage is the accessibility of investing in shares, as you can enter the share market with a few thousand dollars – much less than what you need to invest in a property.

Maintaining a portfolio of quality shares that pay tax-effective dividends may be a good way to fund retirement. With the right portfolio allocation, shares also have the potential to provide a better, stronger income than property rentals, as long as that income is sustainable and increasing.

Property can generally be used as a wealth-creation tool, while shares can create a reliable retirement income. For those who can afford to put more money into investments, it may be a good idea to consider investing and diversifying in both. If you’re unsure about which investment option is right for you, seeking financial advice may be the best option.

Are you an Australian living or working overseas with a family home in Australia? Or you know someone who is? If so, be sure to consider the impacts of the capital gains tax (CGT) on you from 30 June 2020.

Since 1985, the exemption of Australian expatriates from the CGT tax has been available for homes which have never been rented out for more than six years at a time. However, following the scrapping of the CGT exemption under the A$581m federal government plan, Australians working overseas will have to sell their property before the 30th of June 2020 to avoid CGT and still be eligible for CGT main residence exemption.

With the removal of CGT exemption past June 2020, Australian ex-pats who own property in Australia will be required to pay CGT dating all the way back to when they first bought the property. That is, if an ex-pat was to have bought their property in 1985, they would have to pay an accumulation of their tax owing in CGT from 1985 to 2020. The only way to avoid such hefty tax payments would be to sell your property on or before the 30th of June or to re-establish Australian residency before selling the property.

Understandably, the new change will impose a sizable cost on Australian ex-pats and has come as a result of the influx of speculative foreign investors as well.

As every situation is unique, taxation planning customised to every taxpayer’s specific circumstances are advised. In order to avoid the accumulated CGT payments, Australian expats need to be aware of their financial standings and be ready to make a quick decision regarding the selling or keeping of their Australian property.

Seeking out tax advice from knowledgeable tax specialists, employing organised bookkeeping services and detailed financial statements written up by accountants in preparation for making such an important decision regarding your Australian property is heavily recommended to ensure the new CGT laws don’t cause you financial problems.

Diversity and Inclusion is a growing concept that many businesses – from SMEs to MNCs – all around the world are grappling to understand and implement into their workplace. But what exactly does D&I entail and why is it becoming so important for businesses and employees?

Social inequality has long been a complex global problem and to this day, stakeholders from individuals to governments and businesses are working towards resolving the unfair distribution of opportunities due to individual differences. In the business world, this means accepting, hiring and including employees of all ethnicities, cultures, sexualities and with physical or mental disabilities.

Harmonious workplace culture has always been an integral aspect to business success and D&I is evolving into a necessary addition to all internal workplace procedures. In Australia, D&I mostly consists of diverse cultural recognition and free expression of sexuality, through employee programs and services. While difficult to implement and even harder to enforce, D&I has become vital to businesses and employees because of a couple of reasons:

• Employee Engagement:
  A company which stands for cultural, ethnical, sexual and more types of diversity and protects the freedoms and social rights of its employees is bound to earn the favour of its workers. Not only do employees feel safe to express themselves at work, but they also learn to accept the different circumstances of their peers.
• Company Confidence:
  With happy employees comes a happy and successful business. With workers feeling safe and appreciated at their workplace, productivity naturally increases and workflow also becomes smoother. Business operations automatically become more efficient and profitable, adding positively to the company’s image and confidence.
• Attracting Potential Talent:
  Similar to employee engagement, a harmonious and safe workplace will attract potential employees and talents. For example, if a company was to have a disability-inclusive program for its employees, disabled and capable talents are more likely to reach out and work with the business.

Currently, D&I is still a relatively new concept to businesses and it has been difficult for businesses to implement D&I strategies effectively considering there are not many earlier examples to follow. However, it is never too late to learn more about D&I and consider implementing the idea into your workplace culture.

A career mentorship program involves partnerships between employees to develop professional skills and gain industry knowledge. Due to their requirement for a collaborative effort, career mentoring programs are often seen as powerful development tools for cultivating both leaders and employees within a business.

Whether you are a small business owner or a multinational corporate leader, the implementation of a mentorship program will always be profitable for businesses as not only does it create a harmonious workplace culture, it also helps to attract and retain employees.

As straight-forward as career mentoring sounds, there are a few key tips to keep in mind when building a mentorship program for your business:

Make sure your mentoring program is clearly defined:
To create a successful mentoring program, both mentors and mentees should have a concise understanding of their roles and what they would like to gain from the mentorship. By succinctly outlining the purpose of the mentoring program, mentors and mentees are more likely to keep organised and communicate respectfully with the guarantee of mutual rewards.

There should also be short-term and long-term goals established for all parties involved, including the business. These goals could be the narrowing of particular skill gaps or creating a more open workplace culture. By having these goals set in stone, both mentors and mentees and have a clear direction to work towards.

Personalise the match-making process:
Often times, businesses will match a mentor and mentee together depending on their skill-set and position within the company. While on paper, this may appear to be an efficient process, but the lack of chemistry between a mentor and mentee may prove to be devastating for the workplace environment.

As a result, be sure to involve both mentors and mentees in the match-making process and take into account personality traits. You could do this by asking employees to take a personality test to ensure compatibility in career goals, personal interests and preferred communication methods.

Be involved as a third-party:
Lastly, it is the responsibility of the business to check-in on the progress of mentorship programs in order to understand how mentors and mentees can grow together and what improvements can be made to the program. Remember to always refer back to the long-term goals established and consider the feedback provided by mentors and mentees from the program.

When an employee gets summoned for jury duty, it can put added stress on the workplace with other staff having to take on extra work. As an employer, you’ll likely want to avoid the inconvenience of releasing an employee for jury duty, however, this may prove to be difficult.

Employers must comply with the legal responsibilities outlined when dealing with an employee who has been summoned for jury duty. Employers who don’t adhere to these responsibilities can face penalties of up to $50,000.

Can you refuse to release an employee for jury duty?
As an employer, you are required to release any employee for jury duty if they have been summoned. It is an offence to act prejudicial to an employee if they have been summoned for jury duty, including threatening their employment or wages.

If your business will face significant hardship with an employee at jury service, then you may be able to request for the employee to be excused. This will require an explanation of the impact jury service will have on your business. A request must be communicated before empanelment (when the jurors have been selected), and making a request does not guarantee that your employee will be excused.

What are the employee’s rights?
When your employee is away on jury duty, this cannot be counted as any other leave other than jury duty leave. An employee’s annual leave and sick leave will be unaffected.

Employers also cannot dismiss their employees for attending jury duty. Most Australian states restrict employers from terminating an employee or detrimentally changing or threatening employment terms because an employee is on jury duty. NSW, for example, considers this a criminal offence where a company can be penalised up to $22,000 and an individual employer can be penalised $5,500 or face 12 months of imprisonment.

Employers also cannot ask an employee to work on a day they are serving as a juror in court or ask them to work additional hours to make up for the time they missed whilst on jury duty.

When an employee is serving jury duty, employers generally must pay permanent employees their usual wages for the first 10 days of service, or pay what is often referred to as ‘make-up pay’. This is the difference between the jury service payment and the employee’s base rate for the ordinary hours they would have worked.

Looking for a competitive advantage that will help continue to grow your business? Look no further than chatbots.

When used effectively, chatbots provide a number of advantages that can help boost your business. Chatbots are invaluable when it comes to customer service. They allow you to publish content directly to your audience. For customers, communicating (with a well designed) bot is practical; it is fast and it removes the process of calling up and sitting on hold. Chatbots are ideal for sharing links to new content and new products as well.

Using chatbots provides businesses with data. Analytics such as purchase tracking, page clicks and navigational trends are all available through chatbots. Once this data is analysed, improvements and adjustments can be introduced to make the audience experience more enjoyable and more meaningful; optimising the opportunity for success in your business.

Instant messaging is taking over. Recent trends show that messenger apps are becoming more and more popular, with retention rates higher than that of other mobile apps. To improve customer experience and conversion rates, your company should not avoid this opportunity.

Integrating chatbots into your business is extremely resourceful. It helps improve sales, draw in new customers, strengthen existing customer relationships, deal with complaints, orders and so forth without needing human intervention. In-house communication between employees such as sharing resources they need to access, new training information, solving IT problems etc. can all be improved through the use of chatbots as well.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has released a new app called “Record My Hours,” to help reduce the amount of disputes regarding underpayments between employees and employers.

The app assists employees in recording the hours they work and other information about their employment for circumstances where issues about their pay arises.

Employees can export the data via email and share it with their employer or the Fair Work Commission if they have a question about their entitlements.

“Record My Hours” enables the location services function on the user’s device to allow users to set their workplace location and automatically record when they commence and finish work, determined by their location.

The app also adds rosters to a calendar, allows the user to receive notifications about upcoming shifts, and take photos of information that belong to them, i.e. pay slips. It also has the ability to record information about piecework arrangements and backs up information collected to iCloud or Dropbox.

While most small business employers do the right thing, the app is designed to address underpayments of young and migrant workers and to act as a backup in the event of a discrepancy or dispute.

Chances are, if you have had more than one job, you will most likely have multiple super accounts.

Having multiple super accounts means more fees and less savings. Consolidating all your super accounts into one account can help you to keep track of your super, reduce unnecessary paperwork, and most importantly, save on costs.

The first step in consolidating your super is selecting a fund to move all of your super savings into. When comparing funds, consider funds with lower fees; suitable investment options; extra benefits; funds which have performed well over the last 5 years; and provide appropriate insurance cover for your needs.

Once you have selected a new super fund, you may need to open an account with the fund and provide your employer with the new details. You will then need to rollover super to your chosen fund either online through myGov or you can transfer your super by using a form and sending it to your chosen fund. Some funds have an online process too.

Before consolidating your super, be sure to check the impact on your retirement benefit if you are in a defined benefit fund. It is also good practice to check that you are not losing benefits, such as insurance, and look up the cost of exit fees of your old fund. If you are unsure if consolidating your super is right for you, seek professional advice.

The Government has announced a new measure in the 2016-17 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook to prevent the distribution of franking credits where a distribution to shareholders is funded by particular capital raising activities.

This new measure is intended to address issues raised by the Tax Office’s Taxpayer Alert 2015/2 regarding arrangements used by companies for the purpose of, or for purposes which include, releasing franking credits or streaming dividends to shareholders.

The ATO have been reviewing arrangements with all or most of the following features:

• A company with a significant franking credit balance raises new capital from existing or new shareholders, i.e., issuing renounceable rights to shareholders. Shareholders may include large institutional superannuation funds.

• The company makes franked distributions to its shareholders, at a similar time to the capital raising and a similar amount of capital is raised. This may occur as a special dividend or through an off-market buy-back of shares, where the dividend forms part of the purchase price of the shares.

• Overall, there is minimal net cash inflow to or outflow from the company; the net asset position of the company remains essentially unchanged but their franking account is significantly reduced, and there is minimal impact on the shareholders (except in some cases they may receive refunds of franking credits, and in the case of buy-backs they may also get improved capital gains tax outcomes.)

The new measure is set to apply to distributions made after 12.00pm (AEDT) on 19 December 2016. The measure has not been enacted and is subject to the normal parliamentary process.

Protecting your staff from workplace bullying is necessary in this day and age; just as is protecting your business from potential lawsuits as a result of workplace bullying.

According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, workplace bullying is defined as any repeated behaviour towards an individual or individuals by another individual or individuals that is unreasonable and causes any risk to health or safety.

Understanding the difference between reasonable and unreasonable behaviour is important; not all workplace discrepancies are classified as bullying.

Examples of reasonable behaviour according to Safe Work Australia include:
– Transferring a team member to another department
– Reviewing employee performance
– Discussing unreasonable behaviour conducted by an employee with said employee in a private setting
– Setting clear and reasonable employment goals

Unreasonable behaviour includes:
– Any abusive, derogatory, insulting comments or remarks
– Deliberate and obvious exclusion of an employee/s
– Creating unrealistic and unachievable performance goals and deadlines
– Discrimination and sexual harassment
– Physical violence

Your business should consist of appropriate reporting channels should any incidents of workplace bullying arise to protect those involved and your business. An established procedure should be developed to follow in all instances of bullying. The procedure ought to include easy and confidential reporting methods, mediation and ongoing monitoring of how effective management of the incident has been.

We have all encountered an individual who – despite everything positive around them – insists on focusing on the negative. These people can make day to day life more stressful than it needs to be, particularly if it is in the workplace.

Luckily, there are many strategies you can employ to avoid getting bogged down by these people:

Active listening
Most people who are exhibiting negative or irrational behaviour feel they have been done wrong by. Once they feel their emotions have been acknowledged, they can move past complaining and onto problem-solving. Listen to what they are saying, repeat back to them what they have told you and ask them questions about how to move forward.

Deal in facts, not emotions
Negative people are often very emotive. They focus on how a situation makes them feel and consider how a situation affects them personally. Avoid engaging in emotion-based interactions in the workplace; always come back to the facts.

Do not take it personally
Everyone has a personal life, and everyone responds to situations differently. If you have not done anything to warrant an unkind interaction with a co-worker or client, chances are their negativity does not have anything to do with you.

Sleep
Never underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep; it helps with productivity and dealing with stress. It can mean the difference between falling into a negative interaction in the workplace or brushing it off.

Distance and disengage
If you are continually dealing with a difficult coworker or client, it can begin to wear you down. If this is the case, creating distance and limiting interactions with them is necessary to maintain your productivity. Allocate time in your week to deal with them where needed and avoid interactions outside of this designated time.

Ultimately, every investor is different. However, when looking to invest in any startup company, there are a number of boxes you will need to check regardless of who decides to invest in you.

You need to know the market. How big is the market? How populated is the market? Is your product or idea doing the same as every other product on the market? How does your product stand out in the existing market? What sets it apart?

Having a strong business plan is essential. No one will want to back you if you do not have a solid plan for the future. Investors will want to hear numbers and forecasts. They do not want to hear you say that there are no risks involved, or hear you answer every question with certainty that no problems will arise because that is unrealistic. They will want to hear how you plan to tackle problems as they arise.

Investors will need to believe in you. You need to be sincere. Are you positive? Are you flexible? Are you realistic yet ambitious? Can you talk to people? Are you a good leader? A good listener? Do people respect you?

The team that you have on board will also be considered. Your team needs to live and breathe the product or idea just as much as you do. Do they listen to and respect you as their leader? As a collective, do they have sufficient skills and expertise?

Investors meet with numbers of founders and will get a gut feeling about you and your idea, but being able to address the above-mentioned areas should truly set you apart.

Crowdfunding can provide a platform for struggling start-ups to raise capital or businesses trying to get ahead with an injection of cash into a new project.

Although crowdfunding is still in its relatively early stages; it is rapidly gaining momentum. There has been a boost in crowdfunding due to the increase in the level of professionalism, ease of use and ability to access.

Crowdfunding describes the collective effort of individuals who network and pool their resources, usually via the internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organisations. It allows an interested party to invest in an idea that they find inspiring.

Businesses also can offer perks in exchange for contributions, such as a discounted price of a product once it is developed. Crowdfunding has been used in support of a variety of efforts, including disaster relief, startup company funding and inventions and software development.

There are, however, terms and conditions of the projects listed on some crowdfunding websites. Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing platform, in that it only delivers the business the money if the project’s target is met. Sites such as Indiegogo will pay the business their money if targets are not met, though do charge higher fees.

To receive crowdfunding for a project businesses should consider:
– researching and learning from other successfully funded projects
– planning the project with a set of goals in mind
– having an active online presence, particularly on social networking sites, to spread the word of their project
– thanking all the supporters who contribute to the project

With changes to Australia’s superannuation rules coming into play on 1 July 2017, self-managed super fund (SMSF) trustees would do well to review their fund’s trust deed.

Despite the fact that maintaining an up-to-date trust deed is a vital aspect of managing a SMSF, many trustees fail to do so, usually due to the time and cost restraints associated. However, a SMSF trust deed can only ensure compliance and protect the trustee’s interests if it is regularly updated and reflects current superannuation rules.

As part of the super reforms announced in last year’s Federal Budget, tighter superannuation rules will apply from 1 July 2017, including a $1.6 million super balance cap for after-tax contributions; a maximum of up to $25,000 for concessional contributions; and the removal of the current “bring-forward” rule allowing $540,000 of contributions in one year.

According to some industry analysts, these changes are likely to result in many out-of- date trust deeds. But often changes to superannuation legislation provide the perfect opportunity for trustees to review and upgrade their deed.

One of the major changes to super which will affect traditional SMSF trust deeds is the $1.6 million limit on retirement balances, which the Government also wants to make retrospective. This means those who already have more than $1.6 million saved in their superannuation will need to adjust their strategy and trust deed accordingly to meet the new limit.

Updating a SMSF deed will particularly benefit those SMSF members with money locked in the old term-allocated pension and with a pension balance greater than $1.6 million in a mix of term-allocated pension and account-based pension balances. This is because the term-allocated pension can be converted back (in full or in part) to the accumulation phase to remove any excess over the $1.6 million cap.

Another major change to consider is the deed’s death benefit control mechanisms. The new super rules will allow certain death benefits to be rolled over, so it may be worthwhile reviewing whether the SMSF trust deed has sufficient options in the death benefit payment provisions.

SMSF trustees will also have to consider whether their current trust deed will allow for the terms of the trustee’s pension to change without needing to stop and restart the pension. Many of the upcoming super changes will dramatically affect the strategic landscape of SMSFs in Australia, and some of these changes will challenge old deeds, so, as with any other financial decision, seek professional advice if you are considering updating your trust deed.

The ATO has provided further guidance for healthcare practitioners dealing with lump sum payments from healthcare centre operators.

The Tax Office is concerned with some practitioners who have received lump sum payments and have incorrectly treated the payments as a capital gain. These practitioners have then applied the small business CGT concessions to reduce the capital gain, in many instances reducing it to nil.

The ATO has clarified that a lump sum payment from a healthcare centre operator is more likely to be ordinary income of the practitioner for providing services to their patients from the healthcare centre rather than a capital gain. Practitioners are required to include the full amount of the lump sum payment in their assessable income.

Healthcare practitioners who are considering any arrangements that relate to a lump sum payment for commencing or providing ongoing healthcare services should note that the ATO is looking closely at these arrangements to determine if they are compliant with income tax laws and whether the anti-avoidance provisions may apply.

The Tax Office is aware that some practitioners are using a private ruling that was issued to another taxpayer, however, you can only rely on a private ruling if you applied for it.

Healthcare practitioners entering or planning to enter into an arrangement of this type are encouraged to seek independent professional advice, ask the ATO for a private ruling or make a voluntary disclosure to reduce any penalties. Please contact our office if you have any questions about these arrangements.

One major key to success is the ability to problem solve. Knowing how to respond to and resolve issues that arise creates stronger, more effective businesses. Whilst employees ought be highly skilled in their given fields, one trait that is truly invaluable is that of problem solving. As an employer, there are tips you can follow to encourage and develop the problem-solving abilities of your staff:

Trust your employees
There is nothing more damaging than micromanaging when it comes to building efficient problem solvers. When employees feel trusted and valued, they are more likely to challenge themselves when seeking out new and effective ways to resolve an issue that has arisen. Set goals for your staff rather than giving them rigid instructions to follow; you will lesson your own workload and you will be amazed at what solutions they can come up with.

Always look for hidden opportunities
We often follow the mantra, ‘if it’s not broke don’t fix it’. A problem arising in one area is actually a great opportunity to refine and improve existing surrounding processes and strategies. By viewing a problem arising as an opportunity to develop and strengthen the business, solving the problem often become less about what was failing to work and more about how much more efficient the process can be made.

Facilitate creativity
When employees are inspired to be creative, they are more likely to think abstractly and laterally, which is ideal for problem solving. This can be achieved through simple changes to the workplace, such as incorporating plant life, art, colourful furnishings; and providing opportunities to break up the monotony of a long day in the office through fun and quick activities such as tic, tac, toe or connect four.

Encourage effective communication
Fostering a workplace where employees are encouraged to speak their mind openly and honestly rather than one where employees only say what they think you want to hear is critical for effective problem solving. An environment where peer brainstorming and peer reviewing is encouraged is one where employees learn to think critically and build resilience.

Self-managed super funds (SMSFs) have a number of investment restrictions which apply to transactions conducted within the fund.

One such restriction applies to transactions involving ‘related parties’ of the fund and ‘relatives of members.’

No one associated with the SMSF should obtain a present-day benefit from the fund’s investments. The fund needs to meet the ‘sole purpose test’ of providing death or retirement benefits to the SMSF members or their dependents.

A breach to the investment restrictions may result in significant penalties, such as the disqualification of a trustee and even prosecution.

The Tax Office considers a ‘related party’ as:

• all members of the fund

• associates of fund members, including:

– relatives of each member

– the business partners of each member

– any spouse or child of those business partners

– any company the member or their associates control or influence

– any trust the member or their associates control

• standard employer-sponsors, which are employers who contribute to your super fund for the benefit of a member, under an arrangement between the employer and a trustee of the fund

• associates of standard employer-sponsors, which include business partners and companies or trusts the employer controls (either alone or with their other associates) and companies and trusts that control the employer.

The ATO considers a ‘relative of a member’ as a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, lineal descendant or adopted child of the member or their spouse; or a spouse of any individual specified previously.

Generally, SMSFs cannot borrow money and cannot buy assets from, or lend money to, fund members or other related parties (although there are exceptions to this rule).

The Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2016-17 (MYEFO) announced that from 1 July 2017, the ATO will disclose tax debt information of businesses who have not effectively engaged with the ATO to credit reporting bureaus.

The new measure is aimed at enhancing the integrity of the tax system and ensuring businesses who are not compliant do not gain an unfair competitive advantage over those businesses who are.

The ATO will initially pass on unpaid debts from businesses with an Australian Business Number and with a tax debt of more than $10,000 which is at least 90 days overdue.

In addition, the Government will provide $1.6 million to establish a Black Economy Taskforce to develop an innovative, whole-of-government policy response to this problem. Black economy activities disadvantage honest taxpayers, undermine the integrity of Australia’s tax and welfare systems and reduce the amount of revenue collected by governments.

Most small business owners would love to be able to offer their more valuable employees a pay rise.

Increasing an employee’s pay is likely to reduce staff turnover, increase job satisfaction and boost productivity by raising motivation and commitment.

Unfortunately, most small business owners are simply not in a position to offer their staff a larger pay packet. However, there are a number of non-cash benefits that you may care to consider as an alternative course of action for recognising and rewarding good work.

These non-cash benefits may not have a dollar value. For example, allowing employees to work from home once a week or rearranging their working hours to better suit other commitments. Non-cash benefits may also have an identifiable dollar value, and in this case employers need to be aware of fringe benefits tax (FBT) before they decide to offer a non-cash benefit.

Non-cash benefits that attract FBT include, but are not limited to, personal use of a company car, cheap or interest-free loans, and entertainment in the form of food and drinks. Typically, where an employee is provided with a fringe benefit, the cost of the benefit is deducted from their gross (before tax) pay and the employer must pay FBT on this amount.

Most employers will pass this tax cost onto the employee. In most cases, FBT will not apply to benefits that are provided to independent contractors.

There are also some types of benefits that are not subject to FBT or receive an FBT concession, including some types of work-related items, living away from home allowances, and benefits that are classified as ‘minor benefits’ (less than $300).

Running a self-managed super fund requires trustees to adhere to complex laws and follow a number of onerous rules.

One of the most fundamental investment rules for SMSFs is that the trustees must transact on an arm’s length basis to ensure no conflict of interest arises. An arm’s length transaction requires trustees to conduct on a commercial basis as if there was no relationship between the parties.

This means the purchase and sale price of fund assets should always reflect the true market value of the asset, and the income from the assets held by the fund should always reflect the true market rate of return.

SMSF trustees must obtain independent valuations for assets which are not listed on a public market. Furthermore, if a SMSF sells an asset to a related party or member of the fund, the sale price must be at market value.

Any non-arm’s length income is taxed at the highest marginal tax rate. The ATO considers non-arm’s length income as income which is derived from a scheme in which the parties were not dealing with each other at arm’s length and if it is more than the SMSF might have been expected to derive (if the parties had been dealing on a arm’s length basis).

With the fringe benefits tax (FBT) year ending 31 March 2017, now is the time for business owners to get their FBT affairs sorted.

When calculating FBT liability, employers must gross-up the taxable value of benefits provided to reflect the gross salary employees would need to earn at the highest marginal tax rate (including Medicare levy) to buy the benefits after paying tax.

To calculate fringe benefits taxable amounts, employers must use two separate gross-up rates:

• Type 1: Higher gross-up rate is used where employers (or other benefit providers) are entitled to a GST credit for GST paid on benefits provided to an employee. The type 1 gross-up rate for year ending 31 March 2017 is 2.1463.

• Type 2: Lower gross-up rate is used where there is no entitlement to a GST credit. The type 2 gross-up rate for year ending 31 March 2017 is 1.9608.

The FBT rate for the year ending 31 March 2017 is 49 per cent.

Whether the benefits provided to the employee are type 1 or type 2, only the lower gross-up rate is used for reporting on employees’ payment summaries.

There is no denying that social media is fast becoming the most powerful way for businesses to communicate with their existing and potential customers.

Although it has become a new approach to communication, businesses should always remember to treat their customers as if they were dealing with them face-to-face.

Here are some important rules to remember when using social media for business:
Fill out details
Fill out the profile information completely, providing the name of the business, a way to make contact and some information on what services and products the business offers. This will assure the customer that the businesses profile is legitimate.

It is important to have an appropriate profile picture such as the company logo so that clients are able to easily identify with the brand. It is not a good idea to have the same profile for both business and personal use. Creating separate accounts will keep clients separated from friends and ensure that the business maintains a professional image.

Use manners
It may seem simple, however treating clients with respect online can go a long way. Things as simple as saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ can give a positive image of the business. It doesn’t matter that the interactions are occurring behind a screen, clients should be treated exactly how they would in person.

Offer something of value
Use the social media platforms to engage with customers and offer them something of value. Clients will become quickly bored with images and posts only about the business. Don’t just restrict content to only focus on the business, interact with clients about current events or topics that are relevant to the business, or find interesting quotes and images to share. Facebook and Instagram are also key platforms for offering competitions or giveaways. Clients will be eager to be active on the profile if they are getting something out of it as well.

Don’t over-share
Although businesses are keen to be active on social media to ensure that they are reaching their target market, this can be just as bad as not posting at all. No-one likes the friend who barrages their page with multiple posts a day and the same goes for businesses. Keeping posts to one or two a day will keep the business active on their clients feed; however will not annoy them enough so that they click ‘unfollow.’

It is a good idea for businesses to implement a content plan and map out when, and what, they will post to each social media platform. Also, think about the best time to post for the target audience. For example, if the business targets professionals it would be ideal to post in the morning and afternoon when they are commuting to work as they are likely on their own personal social media pages.

Reread what is written
Consider composing tweets or posts in a word document before posting them. This allows time to edit the text for grammar and spelling mistakes. Also, remember that the Internet never forgets and one post in the heat of the moment can go viral, damaging the reputation of a business and losing a lot of clients.

Whether you are looking to make new contacts in your industry or searching for your dream job; networking is essential to forming new relationships and expanding your connections.

Here are three ways to improve your networking skills:

• Listen

Networking is all about building relationships. One of the best ways to establish a connection faster is to simply listen to the other person with no interruptions. Listening helps to understand the other person’s concerns and identify opportunities where you can offer them value.

• Ask for an introduction

Ask friends and acquaintances for introductions to people they know or people who you would like to meet. Being introduced through someone else can help ease nerves and take the pressure off approaching a stranger.

• Prepare questions

Preparing a few ice-breaker questions can help to get the conversation going and avoid small talk. If you are attending a networking event, do some research ahead of the event about the people who will be there and formulate your questions around their interests, knowledge etc. Having a list of well-prepared questions also helps to increase your confidence and demonstrate your enthusiasm.

Self-managed super funds can access Capital Gains Tax (CGT) relief to provide temporary relief from certain capital gains that might arise as a result of individuals complying with the transfer balance cap, and Transition to Retirement Income Stream (TRIS) reforms, commencing on 1 July 2017.

Many small food retailers buy and sell products that are both taxable and GST-free. Depending on the point-of-sale equipment used, identifying and recording these sales can be difficult for business owners.

The ATO has introduced a series of simplified accounting methods (SAMs) to make it easier to account for GST and work out the amount of GST that is liable at the end of each tax period.

There are five SAMs to choose from. The SAM you choose will depend on your business’ turnover, the nature of your business and the nature of your point-of-sale equipment (except for the purchases snapshot method).

These methods help you work out the information you need to correctly complete the GST section of your activity statement. However, they can only be applied to sales and purchases of trading stock.

Here is a summary of the five SAMs you can choose from:

1. Business norms

Turnover threshold: SAM turnover of $2 million or less.
How you estimate your GST-free sales and/or purchases: You apply the standard percentages to your sales and purchases.

2. Stock purchases

Turnover threshold: SAM turnover of $2 million or less.
How you estimate your GST-free sales and/or purchases: You take a sample of purchases and use this sample.

3. Snapshot

Turnover threshold: SAM turnover of $2 million or less.
How you estimate your GST-free sales and/or purchases: You take a snapshot of your sales and purchases and use this.

4. Sales percentage

Turnover threshold: GST turnover of $2 million or less.
How you estimate your GST-free sales and/or purchases: You work out what percentage of GST-free sales you made in a tax period and apply this to your purchases.

5. Purchases snapshot

Turnover threshold: GST turnover of $2 million or less.
How you estimate your GST-free sales and/or purchases: You take a snapshot of your purchases and use this to calculate your GST credits.

After electing to use a SAM, you cannot change your method of GST accounting in the first 12 months.

Without an up-to-date and valid Will, you are missing out on a critical opportunity to make proper arrangements for your family’s future.

For a Will to be considered valid:
– it must be in writing
– the will-maker must have the mental capacity
– it must be voluntarily signed by the will-maker or by some other person in the presence of and at the direction of the will-maker
– the will-maker’s signature must be made or acknowledged in front of two or more witnesses, present at the same time
– must be signed, dated and witnessed by two other parties
– the signature of the will-maker or person signing at the direction of, and in presence of the will-maker must be made with the intention of executing the Will.

Here are five reasons why you should make a valid Will:

Provide for the people you care about
If you don’t have a Will it is unlikely that what you want to happen will happen. Instead, your estate will be governed by the laws of intestacy under the Succession Act 2006 and the people that you would like to see benefit from your estate may not.

Leave particular gifts or items for friends or relatives
If you have particular gifts or items that you would like to see passed to particular friends or relatives this isn’t possible unless you have a Will which states your wishes.

Appoint someone you trust to be your executor
When you make a Will you have the choice of appointing your executor; this is the person who will administer your estate and distribute your assets in accordance with your wishes.

Leave particular instructions
If you have pets that you would like a friend or relative to look after or you have particular burial wishes, these can be included in your Will.

Appoint a guardian for your children
You cannot appoint a guardian for your minor children without a Will. If both parents of the children died, guardianship of your minor children would likely pass to the grandparents, and it may be necessary for the Court to decide which grandparents.

Successful negotiation with your customers is key to maintaining strong and mutually beneficial relationships.

Even if you have mastered your sales approach, it is likely you will come across customers hunting for a better deal. Here are three ways to negotiate with your customers for a win-win solution:

Ask questions
Asking the customer questions shows your interest in understanding, and most importantly, addressing their needs and concerns. It also demonstrates that you are willing to come to a compromise. When trying to uncover the customer’s problems, spend time asking questions but let them do most of the talking.

Build rapport
Showing a level of respect and care for the customer is a critical factor in effective negotiation. Try to establish a good relationship before entering the negotiation and remain calm during the negotiation process. Be sure to emphasise how much you value your relationship with the customer and follow-up after the negotiation.

Make reasonable concessions
Before entering the negotiation, think about concessions which wouldn’t cost you much but would bring a lot of value to your customer. Going into the negotiation with a clear idea of how much you are willing to negotiate helps to avoid making unnecessary concessions at the last-minute.

Financial ratios are useful tools for business owners to monitor, analyse and improve their business performance.

A financial ratio contains one or more financial figures and is expressed as a ratio, rate or percentage. Financial ratios are used to measure profitability, cash flow and liquidity, risk and return, and stock turnover and sales.

Here are some common financial ratios used in business to:

– Measure profitability
Gross profit margin is a percentage of gross profit on sales.
To work out: (Gross profit x 100) divided by sales.

Net profit margin is a percentage of net profit on sales.
Method: (Net profit before tax x 100) divided by sales.

– Monitor cash and liquidity
Working capital ratio measures the liquidity of a business (i.e. how much money is available to meet creditors’ demands).
To determine this ratio: Working capital = current assets divided by current liabilities.

Quick assets ratio measures the solvency of your business, or its ability to meet its immediate commitments.
Method: Current assets (minus stock) divided by current liabilities.

– Measure turnover and sales
Stock turnover ratio measures the number of times stock turns over.
Method: Cost of goods sold divided by (0.5 x opening + closing stock)

Material to sales ratio measures the percentage of sales dollars spent on materials.
To determine this ratio: (Direct materials x 100) divided by sales.

Customer feedback is a great learning source for any business looking to improve their competitive edge. But actually acting upon this feedback is the most important, an often neglected next step.

Feedback from customers is a valuable asset for many businesses. It provides them with customer insights which can assist in improving services, products and overall customer experience. Feedback has also been shown to improve a business’s customer retention rates.

But while feedback does create a competitive advantage for businesses, that advantage doesn’t just come from collecting the feedback. It is how a business chooses to act based on this feedback that makes all the difference.

Businesses may like to treat the challenges that come to light through customer feedback as projects with defined deadlines and expected outcomes. Details such as how long it will take to address a challenge, what strategies should be used or what actions need to be taken, should be taken into consideration when
developing the projects.

An action log can help to maintain the momentum and focus of these projects, and after a reasonable period of time, may serve to give businesses a good understanding of whether goals and targets were achieved in an adequate space of time.

Communicating results with customers is the next important stage. When businesses make any changes that are customer-based, it is important to keep customers who were part of the feedback process updated. This encourages customers to continue giving their input if they know they are being heard and are responsible for any positive changes.

A business may want to conduct follow-up feedback once customers have experienced the improvements. Customer feedback, after all, can be the reason for short-term programs as well as entire company transformations.

When collecting feedback, the overall task isn’t in the listening, but the actual implementation and follow-up. The more businesses can get their customers to participate in these kinds of projects, the more likely a business is to grow.

The introduction of a $1.6 million transfer balance cap for superannuation will take effect from 1 July 2017 which is likely to impact fund members who collectively with their spouse exceed $1.6 million in super.

When an individual with a super account dies, the trustee of the super fund will generally pay the deceased’s remaining super interests (accumulation and retirement phase) as a death benefit lump sum to a beneficiary.

Superannuation death benefits can be cashed:
– to a beneficiary or beneficiaries as superannuation lump sums that are paid out of the super system, or
– to a dependant beneficiary or beneficiaries as superannuation income streams that are retained in the super system, or
– to a dependant beneficiary or beneficiaries using a combination of the two.

A dependant is a person who is either a spouse of the deceased, a child of the deceased (less than 18 years old, financially dependent under 25 years old or has a disability) or a person who was in an interdependency relationship with the deceased.

When a death benefit income stream is paid to a dependant beneficiary, a credit arises in the beneficiaries transfer balance account. This may result in the dependant exceeding their transfer balance cap.

In this case, the beneficiary can choose to reduce their transfer balance account by commuting the death benefit income stream fully or partially. When this occurs, the commuted amount will need to be cashed out as a lump sum and paid to the individual – rather than being kept in an accumulation account, as this contravenes the regulatory requirement to cash the benefit out of the super system as soon as practicable.

Reversionary super income streams
A death benefit can be either reversionary or non-reversionary.

Reversionary death benefit income streams are super income streams that revert to a reversionary beneficiary automatically upon the member’s death. A non-reversionary death benefit income stream is a super income stream created and paid to the dependant beneficiary or beneficiaries.

If an individual receives a reversionary super income stream, the value of the entire supporting super interest at the time it becomes payable to the beneficiary counts towards their transfer balance cap.

If you are the recipient of a reversionary pension, the income stream will not count as a credit in your transfer balance account until 12 months after the death of the member, giving you time to adjust your affairs and reduce any amount that may cause you to exceed your transfer balance cap.

From 1 July 2017, many of the 2016 Federal Budget super reforms will take place, including the reduction of both the annual concessional and non-concessional contribution caps.

Concessional contributions
Concessional contributions include employer contributions and salary sacrifice amounts. Personal contributions claimed as a personal super contribution deduction also count as concessional contributions.

The concessional (pre-tax) contributions cap will be lowered to $25,000 for everyone. Previously, those aged 50 years and older could contribute up to $30,000 and $35,000 for everyone else.

Individuals who wish to make extra concessional contributions before 1 July will need to check what concessional contributions have been made to all their super funds from 1 July 2016 and arrange for the additional concessional contributions (up to their age cap) to be paid to their super before 30 June 2017.

A new super rule will be introduced effective from 1 July 2018 which will allow individuals with a total super balance of less than $500,000 at the end of 30 June of the previous year to ‘carry-forward’ their unused concessional contributions cap. This allows individuals to access their unused cap space on a rolling basis for five years.

For example, in 2018-19, Tom makes $10,000 in concessional contributions, leaving an unused amount of concessional contribution cap of $15,000. Tom can carry forward for up to five years to increase his concessional contribution cap. In 2019-20, in addition to his normal $25,000 concessional cap, Tom can use the $15,000 of unused cap from the previous year. This means Tom’s total concessional cap for 2019-20 is $40,000.

Non-concessional contributions
Non-concessional contributions include personal contributions for which you do not claim as a tax deduction. All non-concessional contributions made to all your super funds are added together and count towards the cap.

The annual non-concessional (after-tax) contribution cap will be reduced from $180,000 to $100,000. Those aged between 65 and 74 years old can still access this cap, provided they satisfy the work test.

Individuals who make non-concessional contributions with a total super balance greater or equal to the general transfer balance cap for the year ($1.6 million for the 2017-18 financial year) at the end of 30 June of the previous financial year will give rise to excess contributions.

For those under 65 years, you can still bring forward three years worth of non-concessional contributions. However, as the non-concessional cap has lowered to $100,000, you will only be able to bring forward $300,000 in a single year from 1 July 2017 onwards.

To access the non-concessional bring forward arrangement for 2017-18, you must be under 65 years for one day during the first year and you must have a total super balance less than $1.5 million.

The remaining cap amount for years two or three of a bring-forward arrangement is reduced to nil for a financial year if your total super balance is greater than or equal to the general transfer cap at the end of 30 June of the previous financial year.

Transitional arrangements will apply to those individuals who have triggered the bring-forward period in the 2015-16 or 2016-17 financial years but have not fully used their bring-forward before 1 July 2017.

Cloud-based storage is becoming increasingly advanced with age. The service’s easy access, tight security, and flexibility are attracting both big and small business owners.

Cloud storage refers to an online space that is used for the storage of data. It allows its users to backup data to a network of servers that are hosted by a cloud service provider. This data is then available through any Internet-connected device.

The main advantage of cloud storage is the flexibility of anywhere access. The data stored in the cloud can be accessed through any Internet-connected device, such as an iPhone or laptop at any location.

Cloud storage is cost-effective when compared to traditional security measures for protecting data. Traditionally, businesses had to pay for equipment, software, and personnel to ensure the security of their private data. The cost of data security in cloud storage is generally covered through a subscription cost.

Another advantage of cloud storage is the ability for businesses to easily scale up or down and only pay for what they actually use. Business owners have been wary of storing private information in the cloud due to the threat of data hacking and privacy concerns. However, cloud security is far stronger than any security devices a company can offer.

Current cloud providers are highly concerned with the security of their systems. They will often utilisecutting-edge data encryption and other security tools to protect data from being hacked. Some of the advanced cloud providers can include advanced intrusion detection, allowing security teams to fend off hackers even before they attack.

Also, physical data storage, such as an external hard drive, can easily be damaged or lost. Data that exists in the cloud is not physical and, therefore, cannot be fractured in the same way an external hard drive can.

There are a lot of benefits to making the switch to cloud storage. The software is provided immediately, and there is no wait on what the business has paid for. Working on the cloud allows businesses to be nimble, efficient and cost-effective.

When considering making the switch to cloud-based storage it is necessary to do some competitive shopping first. Business should consider the following:

• how much they are willing to pay, or whether a free account is the best idea

• their need for customer management, help and guidance

• the licensing arrangements of each service provider

• the capacity constraints of each provider

• whether the provider can still benefit the business in the future

Taking out insurance through a super fund can be a great option for some members, but it does also come with some pitfalls.

Most super funds provide their members with insurance options and an option to increase, decrease or cancel your default insurance cover. There are many benefits of taking out insurance through super, which include:
– the ability to purchase policies in bulk
– not having to pay for premiums with your take-home income
– the convenience of having your policy managed for you
– most policies in super tend to be pre-approved, meaning there is no need for interviews or medical check-ups
– life insurance inside super is deductible to the fund at 15 per cent annually; whereas life insurance premiums held outside of super are not tax deductible.

However, there are some pitfalls of holding insurance through your super, including:
– there is generally a limit on the payout that can be received from an insurance policy purchased by a super fund. In public funds, it is usually between $100,000 and $200,000. For some people, this amount may be more than enough. However, if you have dependents and a mortgage, it may be insufficient to look after your loved ones should something happen to you.
– the types of insurance and levels of cover are limited
– typically insurance cover rises after reaching 50 years – taking a large chunk of contributions
– life insurance coverage ends when you reach a certain age (usually 65 or 70); policies outside of super may cover you for longer

Anyone using a super fund to provide insurance should ensure that they have an appropriate death benefit nomination in place that specifies who their super will go to in the event of their death. If you nominate a non-tax dependent as the beneficiary then they might end up with a hefty tax bill in the event of a lump sum payout (whereas, life insurance payouts outside of super tend to be tax-free).

The ATO has provided business owners with further guidance on the deductibility of website costs in a recent Taxation Ruling.

The Tax Office considers a commercial website as a website which is used in the course of a business, irrespective of whether it is used directly to produce income. This does not include software provided on the website for installation on the user’s device.

Hardware, the right to use the domain name and content available on or incorporated into a website that has independent value to the business are considered separate from a commercial website.

The tax deductibility of a website depends on whether the expenditure on a commercial website is revenue or capital in nature under section 8-1.

Examples of expenditure which are tax deductible in the year incurred include:
– Periodic operating, registration and licensing fees
– Expenditure incurred in maintaining a website
– Modifications to a website that add minor functionality or make minor enhancements to existing functionality
– Domain name registration fees and server hosting costs
– Maintaining a social media presence and updating content mainly for marketing purposes
– ‘Off-the-shelf’ software that is licensed periodically

Costs that are ‘capital’ in nature are generally claimable over a number of years. Examples of capital expenditure include:
– Labour costs that are directly referable to the enhancement of the profit-yielding structure of the business
– ‘Off-the-shelf’ software products where the product provides an enhancement of the profit yielding structure of the business
– Acquiring or developing a commercial website for a new or existing business
– Modifications resulting in structural advantage
– Extended or new functionality

In-house software
Expenditure that is not deductible under section 8-1 may be ‘in-house software’ and deductible under the capital allowances regime. The expenditure may be deducted over 5 years from the time the in-house software is first used or installed ready for use.

If the expenditure on in-house software is incurred through developing computer software, the expenditure may alternatively be allocated to a software development pool and deducted in accordance with the pool rules.

For small business entities that choose to use the simplified depreciation rules and do not allocate the expenditure to a software development pool, the expenditure is deductible:
– immediately where the asset costs less than the instant asset write-off threshold, and
– otherwise, in accordance with the general small business pool rules.

Cultural fit should be considered just as important as competency when making recruitment decisions to benefit your long-term business.

Failing to consider cultural fit can lead to plummeting business productivity, poor performance, lost opportunities, poor public relations and high staff turnover. Successful recruitment judges applicants on more than qualifications and experience alone – it extends to assess cultural fit through personality traits and values.

To best assess whether a candidate will fit into your business’s culture you must understand your business’s culture in terms of values and expectations towards teamwork, communication, customer focus, integrity, respect and so forth. Knowing your business’s vision and values will help set a precedent when making hiring decisions.

Culture can be communicated at the beginning of the hiring process through criteria in the job advertisement, for example, working well under pressure may be a necessity. However, the interview often enables the interviewer to best assess the potential cultural fit, as their CV may not accurately reflect the candidate.

When interviewing applicants, use behavioural style questions to gauge cultural attributes. Behavioural questions, such as “Give me some examples of how you resolved conflict at work,” or “Describe a work environment where you had the most success,” are often a good way of ensuring behaviour is congruent with the style used in your business.

An interview is also a good time to communicate your business’s culture and to identify whether the applicant is motivated to match your culture. Explaining the culture of your business helps the applicant to further assess their own suitability, providing them with the opportunity to opt out if their values do not align.

Ideally, employers should equally consider whether the candidate is qualified to do the job and whether there is a cultural fit for the best hire.

Pre-retirees can take advantage of a range of strategies to boost their nest egg.

Here are three popular ways to top up your retirement savings:

Maximise contributions
Take advantage of the concessional (pre-tax) and non-concessional (after-tax) contributions by contributing as much as you can afford before reaching the caps. From 1 July 2017, the annual concessional contributions cap will be $25,000 for all age groups.

Consider spouse contributions
Spouse contributions are super contributions made on behalf of your spouse. Generally, you can claim a tax offset of up to $540 per year if your spouse is a low-income earner or is not working. From 1 July 2017, the spouse’s income threshold will be increased to $40,000 to assist more couples to support each other in saving for retirement.

Keep on working
The longer you work means more time to leave your savings untouched and additional time to contribute to super. Delaying retirement leads to a shorter retirement and hence more savings. You may also consider working part-time to enjoy income while waiting until Age pension age.

The Federal Court has recently agreed that ride-sourcing is taxi travel.

For GST purposes, the word taxi means a car (vehicle) made available for public hire that is used to transport passengers for fares.

State and territory laws regulating transportation of passengers contain specific definitions of the term taxi. A vehicle can be considered a taxi for GST purposes, but not for state and territory regulatory purposes.

The ATO defines ride-sourcing as an ongoing arrangement where a driver makes a car available for public hire; a passenger uses, for example, a website or smartphone app provided by a third party to request a ride, i.e. Uber, GoCar and the driver uses the car to transport the passenger for payment with a view to profit.

For those who provide ride-sourcing services, you are most likely to be running a business and therefore, you must:
– keep records
– have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
– be registered for GST, regardless how much you earn
– lodge Business Activity Statements (BAS)
– pay the GST portion of the full fare received from passengers for each trip
– include income from ride-sourcing in your income tax returns.

Influencer marketing may seem like a “buzz” term; however, the movement is providing more businesses with online opportunities to expand their customer base.

Online influencers are generally prominent individuals within an industry with large social media followings, i.e bloggers and celebrities. Small businesses can work with online influencers to promote their products and services.

One of the primary reasons businesses may choose to start a working relationship with an influencer is customer acquisition. As online influencers have a large active and engaged following, their exposure to potential target markets is expansive. Influencers tend to have a loyal social following and their followers are generally interested and trust their content.

For businesses who do choose to go down the road of influencer marketing, it is important to establish some base rules with the influencer. For instance, many social users expect influencers such as bloggers to disclose when a social post is an advertisement/paid post for a business. Creating a transparent environment is key to savouring relationships with loyal followers.

It is usually good practice to draft content for the influencer to ensure your business is portrayed in the correct manner. However, this does not mean the influencer has no creativity in the message rather it helps to make sure they understand your goals and stay on track.

Ever-changing trends, increasing competition and changes in customer buying patterns are just a few reasons why business owners should review marketing efforts regularly.

Past marketing activities that were once successful can easily go out of date. There are always new marketing techniques to experiment with but first it is important to let go of the marketing activities that are holding your business back.

Here are three marketing habits to ditch in 2017:

Wasting time on certain social channels
Not all social media channels will deliver results. The reality is your target customers will most likely have a preference for certain channels over others. For example, Facebook and Instagram may be better-suited mediums than Twitter and Snapchat for real estate agents; however, fashion retailers may utilise Instagram and Snapchat. The key is to experiment with different social channels to gauge levels of interest and engagement from followers, then decide on which channels are best to primarily market your business.

Failing to update your goals
It is common for small business owners to use the same marketing plan they created years ago. This can be quite problemsome especially if marketing tactics are not accurately reflecting your business’ current goals. Take the time to review your marketing plan at least annually or when new opportunities and threats arise.

Ignoring mobile
Mobile has now surpassed desktop as the primary device for internet browsing. Website content and social media posts need to be optimised for mobile users to ensure optimal browsing experience. Businesses that fail to customise their online services for mobile will fall behind, as mobile users favour optimised sites.

The reforms to superannuation made in the 2016 Federal Budget are on their way with most of the changes commencing from 1 July 2017.

Some of the changes to take place from 1 July 2017 onwards will include:

Lowering the concessional and non-concessional contribution caps
The cap on concessional (before-tax) contributions will be decreased from $30,000 (for those under the age of 50) or $35,000 (for those aged 50 years old and over) to the flat rate of $25,000 per year for all age groups.

The new annual cap for non-concessional (after-tax) contributions will be reduced from $180,000 to $100,000. This will remain available to individuals between 65 and 74 years old if they meet the work test. Individuals under the age of 65 will be able to bring-forward three years of contributions, i.e. $300,000.

Transfer balance cap
The introduction of a $1.6 million cap on the total amount that can be transferred into the tax-free retirement phase for account-based pensions. These pensions are commonly provided to defined benefit funds but may be provided to other funds, including some self-managed super funds.

Reduction of Division 293 threshold
The Division 293 threshold will be lowered from $300,000 to $250,000. Individuals with income and concessional super contributions exceeding the $250,000 threshold will have an additional 15 per cent tax imposed on the amount over the threshold, up to the total amount of concessional contributions not exceeding their concessional contributions cap.

Changes to transition to retirement income streams (TRIS)
Currently, where a member receives a TRIS, the fund receives tax free earnings on the super assets that support it. The Government will remove the tax-exempt status of earnings from assets that support a TRIS. Earnings from assets supporting a TRIS will be taxed at 15 per cent regardless of the date the TRIS commenced. Members will also no longer be able to treat super income stream payments as lump sums for taxation purposes.

Spouse tax offset
Currently an individual can claim a tax offset up to a maximum of $540 for contributions they make to their spouse’s eligible super fund if, among other things, the total of the spouse’s assessable income, total reportable fringe benefits and reportable employer super contributions is under $13,800.

The spouse’s income threshold will be increased to $40,000 from 1 July 2017. The current 18 per cent tax offset of up to $540 will remain as is and will be available for any individual, whether married or de facto, contributing to a recipient spouse whose income is up to $37,000. As is currently the case, the offset is gradually reduced for income above this level and completely phases out at income above $40,000.

Fuel tax credit rates increased on 1 February 2017. These rates are indexed twice a year, in February and August, in line with the consumer price index (CPI).

The rates vary depending on when you acquire the fuel, what fuel you use and the activity you use it for. Rates may also change for fuel used in a heavy vehicle for travelling on public roads. This is due to changes to the road user charge which is reviewed annually.

If you claim less than $10,000 in fuel tax credits each year, there are now simpler ways to record and calculate your claim. For the BAS period ending 31 March 2016 and onwards, you can:
– Use one rate in a BAS period – the rate that applies at the end of the BAS period
– Work out your litre based on the cost of the fuel you purchased.

To check which rate applies for your business, visit the Australian Tax Office (ATO) website or contact our office. Remember, there are time limits for claiming fuel tax credits, making adjustments and correcting errors – generally, you must claim or amend your claim within four years.

The end of a relationship is a particularly difficult time for most individuals – among the emotional pain comes the burdensome administrative tasks such as sorting out finances.

Although these tasks may seem tortuous/complicated; it is best to promptly address financial issues to safeguard your finances against misuse and ensure a piece of mind.

Here are three things to consider when protecting your finances after separation:

Joint accounts
If you think your former partner may exploit your finances, it is worth considering closing your joint accounts. Both account holders need to agree that the accounts should be closed. You will need to discuss how the remaining balance will be divided with your former partner, as you must have zero funds in the account before closing it. It is then necessary to establish your own account and redirect any direct debits or credits from your joint account to your new account (or make alternative arrangements).

Your will and power of attorney
Your will may not be the first thing to come to mind after a breakup, however, it is a critical document that needs to be reviewed, especially if your former partner is listed as a beneficiary or executor. After separating, review your will with a legal professional to make any necessary changes. If you appointed your former partner as your power of attorney, you may also consider revoking them upon separation. Again, a legal professional can aid you with this decision.

Home and other joint loans
Upon separation, it is best to advise any lender/s of your separation and the arrangements for paying the loan. Notify your bank if you wish to discontinue any redraw facilities or linked credit cards attached to your loan. Ask your bank for a written confirmation letter and keep a copy in case there are any issues down the track.

Many employers will simply lose touch with an old employee once they have left the workplace.