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You can reduce your fees by making our job easier,
here is some of what you could do help:
- Many people treat their company
or business bank account as their own. It may appear that way, but after
all, it isn't yours until you have met your obligations. It is
recommended that you retain separate bank accounts for business and
private transactions. Keep large cheque books and large deposit books,
they are more difficult to lose. Electronic banking is highly
recommended in this modern day and age. Likewise, wherever possible,
keep separate credit cards; one for the business one for your use.
- It is expected that you bank all cash and cheques
received, that way you can track your takings. It is best not to
transact in cash, therefore do not withdraw cash to pay bills or wages.
- If you have contributed funds toward the running of
your business, document it all and keep a trail. It is your personal
after tax money and needs to be repaid at some point. Please bear in
mind that in the case of companies there is a case for binding
agreements between you and the company because a profitable company must
first declare dividends before repaying director or shareholder debt.
You may be caught paying tax on your own money.
- Wherever possible, expenses, disbursements and all
other outgoings should be paid either by cheque, BPay or EFT; avoid
paying in cash. Paying in cash often results in lost tax invoices and
associated documentation so that expenses may not be included in your
annual tax return resulting in you paying more tax.
- Do you check your invoices when you receive them? Did
you indeed get the goods and services? Keep separate files for paid and
unpaid bills so that you know precisely what is outstanding and what is
not. Be systematic in your approach to paying your bills and you will
seldom be late or incur penalties. Mark each paid invoice with a
reference to the date and cheque or EFT receipt it was paid with.
- While we endeavour to remind all our clients of
statutory due dates it would be far more prudent if you would enter in
your diary all the statutory due dates for payment of BASs,
superannuation, company tax etc. Avoid the fines and your profits will
increase.
- Do you have a clear set of terms and conditions, do
you abide by them? How old is your debtors list? Remember, Invoice
early, often and collect promptly then watch your cash flow improve and
your profits increase.
- Accurate wages records are a must, especially in
industries where workers compensation insurance is an issue. You can use
a manual system, a wage book, or use a readily available software
package and we can train you how to use it. Be aware it is a statutory
requirements now days that a payslip is issued within 24 hours of an
employee having been paid.
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Don't get too excited about frequent flyer points.
There's more bookkeeping work when a business pays everything by credit
or debit card. I you're going to dwell on frequent flyer points, make
sure you have an adequate bookkeeping system to keep track of them, they
are viewed as a discount and potentially a profit, we can help with your
bookkeeping.
- Keep all your records files, annotated, referenced
and all your cheque butts filled in; you will notice how much less it
will cost you for us or any other accounting firm to meet your
compliance requirements. Remember that memory is fleeting and more so
the older one gets, so don't try to remember the detail, just note it,
file it - RECORD IT.
- You have major decisions to make, consult with us; we
may save you money.
DON'T ASK DON'T GET.
Was your software purchase intended to save you money?
Most people are not accountants and no matter how simple the brochure says it
is, you cannot attempt running your business using an off the shelf software
solution without adequate knowledge and that means training. Can you balance a
manual set of accounts or generate a set of coherent set of financial reports?
You make mistakes, the accountants have to fix it and
often that leads to higher costs than ever before because it takes far
longer to fix months of errors than it would have for an accountant to
process in the first place. DISAPPOINMENT SETS IN. Is that what happened to
you? I bet you think your accountant is ripping you off. Come talk to us,
all is not lost.
If you run your books properly, whether manually or by
using a software package, you should be able to tell what, where and why
your business is doing precisely what it is. Is it profitable, is it in a
loss situation, is cash flow sufficient to meet your current
obligations? We can show you how and save you money as well.
Common Problems
with in house bookkeeping and accounting packages are rife.
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