Our Blog.

Who Pays The Parental Leave A commonly asked question when it comes to parental leave is, “who pays the parental leave –  Is it the employer or the federal government?” The answer is: The Department of Human Services They manage any welfare payments such as age pension and parental paid leave. Once you have a […]

Should I Put My Home Into A Trust? By buying the family home in a personal name, we ensure we get the ‘Capital Gains Tax Main Residence Exemption’ when we sell that house later. There is a stamp duty concession once you’ve bought a home in your name. Those things often outweigh the benefits of […]

The Company Business Structure Explained The company structure is one of the most common business structures. Clients who have already done their research, or new clients who are looking at setting up a business, a company structure is  usually what they opt-in. For this structure, we have two different tax rates 25% – It used […]

In Australia, when you have a family and you want to go back to work, you may need to put your kids into childcare. What they’re introducing is an increase of the rebate from 85% to 90% for families earning less than $80 grand. You’re looking at $40 grand each in income, so parents can […]

The Impact Of Money Printing On Investors We invited Nick Webb of RSM Financial Services Australia to share his thoughts on the impact of money printing on Investors Here’s what he said: An important focus, for a physio clinic business, is to make sure you are getting a great utilisation from your team. This means […]

Every Business Owner Should Have This Rainy Day Fund When we went through the first few months of COVID and lockdowns, there was a valuable thing called a Rainy Day Fund. It is a backup account in case of an unforeseen event, you can get this easy-to-access pot of cash that can save the business. […]

Save Tax With A Motor Vehicle Logbook There are two ways to claim expenses for a motor vehicle Cents per kilometre method Your car depreciation, fuel, parking, tolls, repairs, insurance, etc. is grouped into one. You can claim $80 cents per kilometre, for every kilometre you have driven your car for business or work purposes. […]

How To Make Your Employees Work Efficiently For a lot of businesses, employment costs are the biggest expenses in their business. We noticed that if you do not have processes around making your employees more effective and efficient, there’s a lot of value that is being missed out on. Empowering your employees to either upsell, […]

How to convert website traffic into leads? Have a compelling offer This is your chance to stand out from the crowd. Offer something your competitors are not. If you sell products, offer a free demonstration OR show them a video of how your existing clients use the product. Bear in mind that, you do not […]

Cryptocurrency Tax Accountant It’s rare to see a client where crypto is their ‘day job’ – but more and more of our clients have portfolios, are trading, or are engaged in some form of investment or business with cryptocurrency here in Australia. Quick Links What we will cover Experience of Inspire Team who are involved […]

Buying Commercial Property SMSF | Inside and Outside Super WHY WE’RE SHARING Ben Walker has personally been an SMSF member since 2011 He began working with SMSFs in 2007 (before starting Inspire) and his role was heavily geared towards SMSF’s to grow people’s wealth. Since then he worked with hundreds of SMSF’s throughout his career. […]

Business Structure Tax Rates   You can use a business structure for doing anything like investing in shares, separating your assets out of your personal name. You can even run a businesses out of companies and trusts. We use that a lot with our clients here at Inspire when we are structuring their businesses where […]

Tracking Crypto Transactions For Tax A very common question in our webinar registration page was, “How do I track crypto transactions for tax? We want to get it right and we don’t want to pay any more tax than we need to. We want to pay the tax we legally have to, and not a […]

The #1 Myth About Crypto Tax Crypto myth #1: “I’ll only pay tax when I convert it to Australian dollars” Cryptocurrency is like a currency. You’re not going to get taxed until you take it back out completely to Australian dollars. The timing of the tax event (or when you get taxed), is when you […]

Tax Warning For Crypto Hobbyists CRYPTO MYTH: “My Crypto is a hobby so I don’t have to pay tax” The ATO’s view is that crypto is personal use if it’s kept or used mainly to make purchases of items for personal use or consumption. You might hold a very small portfolio of Bitcoin, Ethereum, or […]

Don’t Make This Crypto Mistake Crypto Myth: “I don’t have to pay tax because the ATO will never know about my portfolio.”  We kind of get that there is some level of anonymity but the ATO is onto this. Some of them aren’t incredibly helpful but in general, they’re not Muppets when it comes to […]

Crypto: Capital Vs. Revenue Accounts Another key tax concept when it comes to crypto, is your profit or what you earn on a revenue basis, a capital basis, or a capital account?  Money you receive is treated either as revenue account, or ordinary income. In terms of Revenue account: Normal ‘business’ income – If you […]

Can Your SMSF Invest In Crypto? CRYPTO MYTH: “My SMSF cannot invest in crypto” If you have a self managed super fund, there are no laws preventing an SMSF from investing in cryptocurrency. But keep in mind that if you are going to do this – You must read the trust deed – Trust deed […]

Can You Delay Crypto Tax Bills? Unfortunately, the answer is not favourable to what you are hoping for.  Keep in mind that the timing of the tax event is when you dispose of any asset or currency. Regardless of what you purchase next, you’ve still made a gain at the time of selling.  “Is buying […]

The 1st Step Of A Killer Digital Strategy We recently invited Jon Hollenberg founder of Five by Five on the webinar topic ‘How to create a kickass website (that actually works) Here’s what he said about the first step of a killer digital strategy – From a client engagement perspective, this is where we really dig […]

3 Benefits Of The BAC Grant On a recent webinar, we invited Michael Dunne, co-founder of Epic Sales Group to talk to us about the 50% Wage Subsidy for Eligible Employees. Here’s what he said about the benefits of The BAC Grant –  The 3 big ones are: Upskilling the team in your business.  Personal development […]

6 Tips To Reduce Your Crypto Tax How to reduce your Crypto Tax: Know the rules Get on the front foot (don’t bury your head) – We’ve heard of people who make a lot of money and they’re just like, “Oh, I’ll deal with that later.” make sure you get on the front foot with […]

Why Your Business Needs Professional Photos We recently invited Jon Hollenberg founder of Five by Five on the webinar topic ‘How to create a kickass website (that actually works) Here’s what he said why your business needs professional photos – What does your premises, office, or team look like? What is the process that you’ll […]

6 Steps To Research Your Competitors We recently invited Jon Hollenberg founder of Five by Five on the webinar topic ‘How to create a kickass website (that actually works) Here’s what he said on the 6 steps to research your competitors – The cool thing about the internet is you can research all your competitors […]

It’s been a tough year that’s challenged us to our core. We’d like to take you on the journey through our incredible wins and one of the toughest calls we’ve made to date. If you were a fly on the wall at Thankyou HQ over the last year, all you’d hear us talk about were […]

Reasons Every Business Need A Website Why do we have a business website?   Early into business, when Ben started Inspire, he found a huge growth in the first couple of months from his own network. He was only 23 years old and his network wasn’t that massive. But all of a sudden the growth […]

The Cost of Setting Up A Company Structure We give advice and education before setting up a company structure. The session costs $750 plus GST, depending on what you need, because some situations are sometimes completely different. But most structures are around about $2,500 for us to implement for you. We do that in the […]

  Are you properly protecting your personal assets? Recently, on the Reimagining Healthcare podcast  with @YianniSerpanos, I answered the question “When should somebody be thinking about asset protection when starting a business?” There are a couple of things to consider. When you have a director of the business (the person running the business) we actually don’t like […]

2 Key Pieces of Advice For SME Businesses in this Challenging Time 1) Make sure you have a plan for cash flow If you don’t already have a budget or forecast, make sure you go and do that for the next 3 to 6 months. We’ve been helping our clients with this through our “Emergency Assistance […]

How To Cut Down Expenses In Your Business Here are some things to be mindful of when reviewing your costs – do we really need to be spending this? Software – make sure you’re paying for the right amount of licenses for that software. Especially when people leave, some people don’t off-board, including myself I’ve found. […]

JobKeeper: The Distinction Between Business Participants & Employees   FAQ – “Can you please clarify, the employee versus business participant? I do collect a wage and exclude myself as an employee and have added myself as a business participant. Is this correct or incorrect?”   An employee has to be on your payroll before the 1st […]

Critical Reasons to Stay On Top Of Your Bookkeeping JobKeeper Reporting  By the 14th of each month (no longer the 7th), you’ll need to report your JobKeeper-related GST turnover, as well as making sure your payroll information is correct as you’ll be reporting that to the ATO.   Preparing BAS When it’s BAS time, either […]

  Buying a car with the $150,000 instant asset write off We’ve had a lot of clients ask us, “how does the increased instant asset write-off of $150,000 apply to a purchase of a car?” Here are a few things to consider: When you’re purchasing a car, you have to keep in mind that there are […]

Can you appeal a knock back for Cashflow Boost if you believe you’re eligible? Yes. Reading the legislation as it applies, if you fail, then there is an appeals process for special circumstances that you can go through. They are structuring the process a little bit more, but at the moment, you can send your […]

Pass One of These Alternative Tests To Qualify For JobKeeper There are rules and tests around the following – the name of each test is; Started the business recently Business disposals, purchases or restructures Fast-growth business – where you’ve had a substantial increase in turnover over the last 12 months Entities affected by drought or […]

What Happens If You Get Bookkeeping Wrong If you or the bookkeeper gets it wrong, it’s going to cost you money in some way, whether that may be missing out on GST, claiming GST where you’re not meant to or it might cost more in tax or accounting fees. Here’s some common bookkeeping errors we […]

Penalties For Illegally Claiming JobKeeper Benefits This is very real and as a reminder, the ATO and the Tax Practitioners Board, who licence tax agents have fired shots across the bow to accountants.  They’ve sent out newsletters and emails to us basically saying, “If you do the wrong thing, you’re risking your registration and obviously […]

JobKeeper Monthly Reporting Requirements   Now that May has finished, and if you are eligible – my recommendation is to lodge your monthly reporting for JobKeeper as soon as you can. Each month, to receive the cash from JobKeeper, you need to process a claim for the JobKeeper payment from the ATO business portal and […]

Legal Options That Can Save Your Business We spoke with @Danny King from Danny King Legal on our webinar last week about legal options when it comes to dealing with a team during COVID-19. 1 JobKeeper enabled stand down What we can do is a partial stand down where we shave off the excess wages […]

Should You Break Out Of Your Fixed Interest Rate? “Variable rates are significantly lower than they were a year or two ago, which means that if I’m on a fixed rate of 4%, and I see variable rates in the 2s now, I’ve got this feeling I want to cancel my fixed rate and switch […]

The Employee Consultation Process – Is not just about ticking boxes Natasha Hawker is the director and founder of Employee Matters, author of the book “From Fire to Hire & Everything in Between” and host of the HR Heroes Podcast. Here’s what she said on the webinar last week – The employee consultation process under […]

  Mind-Blowing Bank Offers Available Right Now! Here’s what Inspire’s mortgage broker, Colin O’Loughlin ran us through on a recent webinar – Right before we jumped on this webinar I checked one of the recent bank’s offers, and it was at a two-year fixed rate of 2.09% – which is absolutely incredible. Compared to what […]

JobKeeper Eligibility Update   The ATO wants to make sure you have done some research from an eligibility perspective, documenting why you believe you are eligible. The ATO have said that any attempts to defraud or fiddle with the numbers so that your business becomes eligible won’t be taken lightly and will take firm action […]

How To Get The Best Out Of Your Team During COVID-19 I had the pleasure of joining Natasha Hawker on a webinar last week around the topic of JobKeeper. Natasha is an employee expert and founder of Employee Matters. Her biggest piece of advice right now is to communicate! Here’s what she said – This […]

Don’t Make This Big Mistake When you apply for JobKeeper “If accountants are advising to add directors on the payroll, is it wise to get their instructions in writing?”  Here’s what we suggest. We received an email from the Tax Practitioners Board regarding the response to COVID-19 saying, “Some advisers may be grappling with the […]

Monthly Reporting Requirements for JobKeeper Each month, to receive the cash from JobKeeper, you need to claim the JobKeeper payment from the ATO business portal and report some key numbers. You will need to go to BP.ATO.gov.au (Business Portal ATO) or your accountant can do it via their Tax Agent Portal and each month, report […]

YFSB Interview Owner and managing director of Wyntec – ideal technology solutions. Married to Christy  since 2001, 6 years old daughter, Arwin. Started company in 2005, around the time of the GFC and had a 6 month old daughter. – ‘Insane, is the word I would use to describe it’ What was your reasoning to start […]

What is your business? MyCladders does transportable buildings; colour bond roofing metal roofs, wall cladding we put on roofs and gutters and help builders build roves. What was your reasoning to start up your company? I am accountable to myself. I have the ability to give someone a full time job. What makes you a […]

  I started my own business in 2012 (3 years ago) I left a much larger corporation owning 50% of the company to take the plunge. Wife: Emma. 4 kids, (2 under 2years old). Isabella,Tate, Quinn, Enya What is your business and what do you focus on? Building and creative design-  innovation for entertainment through Law. The […]

Bucket Companies: The least known and most underutilised strategy to save thousands in tax “Use Bucket companies – tax tip of the week!” I’d love to shed some light on what we call ‘Bucket Companies’, also called: Corporate Beneficiary Dump Company Family Vault Second Super And a few other creative ones! Why this strategy is […]

Bucket Companies: The least known and most underutilised strategy to save thousands in tax “Use Bucket companies – tax tip of the week!” I’d love to shed some light on what we call ‘Bucket Companies’, also called: Corporate Beneficiary Dump Company Family Vault Second Super And a few other creative ones! Why this strategy is […]

JobKeeper: Do I Need to Pay Super?   “Do I have to pay superannuation on the JobKeeper payments?”    There are three relatively common examples your  team members might be in. Team members that have been stood down – not giving any hours to the business. You still need to pay the minimum $1,500 per fortnight […]

JobKeeper Programme: Extensions Announced   Last week, the government announced two extensions for the JobKeeper programme. The enrollment to the JobKeeper programme has been extended to the 31st of May. So there’s no rush to enrol now. If you want to claim JobKeeper from the start ( the fortnight beginning on the 30th of March) […]

"If employees have been stood down after the first of March 2020, does an employer have to pay them to receive the $1,500 reimbursement per fortnight?"

The JobKeeper payment is a reimbursement from the ATO for wages that you’ve paid in the month previous.

If you're looking to claim JobKeeper from the month of April onwards (Including from the date it was available from - 30th of March) there are five things you need to keep in mind you need to do before the end of May to make sure you'll be paid when the ATO makes the payments in early May.

Happiness is a number between 1 and 10. What’s yours? If happiness was as simple as forcibly contracting a set of facial muscles, we’d all be happy – whenever we wanted and the world might be a better a place.  However, that’s not the case.  So this question might sound a bit forced but it’s […]

Would you like to pay by the hour or by the result? Let’s focus on saving money not charging fees   Do you ever feel yourself getting a little uncomfortable, suspicious or even cynical when you are getting charged by the hour by a consultant of some sort?  It’s okay, we do too.  It’s not […]

The Real Cost of Cars – A CBD carpark, yours for $407K. It all counts   Sometimes you find yourself driving around the city on a weekend wishing you had a guaranteed space to park your car.  That’s just part of normal life nowadays but it can get frustrating.  But finding a place to park, […]

Saying “No” to Necker? First World solutions to third world problems First World solutions to first world problems with real life impacts I want to start by saying that this is a guilt-free article, packed with opportunity and inspiration.  So don’t worry, you needn’t try to hide any first world problems you might have.  It’s […]

5 Ways To Deal With An Unexpected Tax Bill   This week, Business owners around Australia are getting smashed with BAS & PAYG Tax Bills.  While there’s no way to avoid paying tax (other than earning no profit or doing something dodgy / illegal) here’s 5 ways you can experience some Small Business Tax Relief […]

How The 2019-2020 Proposed Federal Budget Will Affect Individuals, Businesses, & Superannuation – Client Webinar The Federal Budget for 2019-2020 is in. Liberal and Labor have put forward their economic and fiscal outlook, including expenditure and changes to tax and super. In this article, we’ll outline the key elements of both parties budgets, and how […]

Setting Up Single Touch Payroll on Xero – Client Webinar This week’s Client Webinar is on Setting up Single Touch Payroll on Xero. We explore a number of things around Single Touch Payroll, or ‘STP’: – What is Single Touch Payroll? – Who is it for? – When does it start? – How do you do […]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS Paul Dunn: The 3 L’s That Determine Your Legacy, And How You Can Leverage it To Do Good Today on the show, it is a great privilege to chat with Paul Dunn. Paul is the man behind B1G1, a global business initiative on a mission to create a world full […]

Sarah Riegelhuth On Helping Millennials Become Financially Free & How To Manage A Remote Team Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS Is it true that millennials don’t know how to handle money? Millennials are our future leaders, so if they lack financial education, what does that mean for our future? This education gap inspired our […]

7 mistakes keeping business owners struggling for cash   It’s always been our mission to help families pull more money, time and happiness from their business… But if you look at the stats, not a lot of businesses are actually achieving this… Of the almost 1.9 million small businesses around Australia, 60% either – earn […]

SAVE $500,000 TAX | Accounting that pays for itself   We are well known for a campaign we ran two years ago called Save $500,000 Tax. It was a bold and audacious target to save our clients half million dollars in tax by proactively implementing cutting edge tax saving strategies. We didn’t think we’d actually […]

Tax on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency I’d like to clarify some thoughts around the tax on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency profits. Background of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Bitcoin has sometimes been referred to as the ‘currency of the underworld’. But whatever your view, it is likely that the currencies of the future will be cryptocurrencies. This topic is […]

B1G1 Study Tour to Kenya Property Development in Kenya We visited Aberdare Ranges Primary school on Day 2, then we drove up the road to the village which is where most of the children live. We learned that much of the poverty and displacement was due to political violence in 2007.  Due to an election, […]

3 Steps to Transition to Cloud Accounting   How do you move to Cloud Accounting? The transition from a desktop based accounting system to a cloud accounting package is an art. 1. Choose your cloud accounting package Firstly, you will want to make sure you’ve chosen the right package for your business.  The best way […]

Question 2: Holidays (7:28) HARVEE: I love it. Grossly simplified, but that’s actually the power in the process. It’s very cool, let’s go onto the next one then, which is one of my favorite topics. What was the Holidays button there Ben? BEN: Yeah, yeah, I got reminded of it this morning actually. We want […]

Question 1: Profit (4:45) With that in mind,weI might start with that first one, Profit. What we’re talking about there is how much you’d like to take out of the business in the next 12 months. Whether that’s 100 grand, 200 grand, 300 grand, but putting a target or a number down. Yeah, something to […]

Question 3 and 4: Ins and Ons (10:00) Let’s go into Ins and Ons please Ben. BEN: Yes. What those two dots, the In and On mean is time spent in the business versus time spent on the business. This concept is shared in a book written by Michael Gerber called the E-Myth where usually […]

Question 5: Retreats (12:36) BEN: Yes, yes, and you might look at this as an excuse to go somewhere lovely, but it’s exactly what we’re talking about at the start, where Stevie and I and Harvee went away for a couple of days with the sole focus of relaxing and also working on the business. […]

Conclusion (14:37) HARVEE: Yeah, beautiful. There are the five considerations that I want you guys to give the gift to yourself of having at least, it doesn’t have to be perfect, and a wonderful five page plan. It can look as simple as some notes in your iPhone, or a little piece of paper where […]

Business’ Giving Insight Shedding light on the effect of sharing the wealth Let’s start with a simple statement: giving to the needy is good.  We all know it and when possible, most of us are happy to contribute something – usually on a whim, oftentimes through some sort of set and forget direct debit system.  […]

Inspired to blur the line between the haves and the have-nots How we make it our business to make a difference Some of us are born in war torn, drought ravaged countries and some of us are born into favourable circumstances in affluent societies and that’s the truth.  And depending on which camp you fall […]

Inspire CA Media Release 24 November 2016 Finally!  Accounting is cool again Awarding a charitable and family first worldview Brisbane-based chartered accountants Inspire CA are doing things very differently and hope to win the Innovation Award in the 2016 Anthill Magazine Cool Company Awards in Melbourne next month. By reverse engineering their shared goal of […]

Mark Latham Big is Better AFR A walking loudspeaker that is not connected to an Engine Room. 50% employment 2.5 mil small business   http://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/big-is-best-so-why-are-politicians-capitalising-on-small-business-20150529-ghahzq

Plan for Profit in the New Year intro   Hey, it’s Harvee here. If this is your first experience with us, Inspire, I would like to take this opportunity to be introduced. We’re the guys who help young families use their small business to achieve big goals. We definitely are here to sort out your […]

Price does not drive cost – value and experience Little Creatures in Freemantle

Why the Accounting Industry is headed for Disaster Photo idea: trainwreck   – Fee pressures of outsourcing – Inability of mid-tier and Big4 firms to change quickly enough – If these firms are to switch their focus to the smaller businesses, unlikely to pay big prices so have to reduce – If price reduce, service […]

YFSB Interview Tom Freer – Wyntec. Owner and managing director of Wyntec – ideal technology solutions. Married to Christy  since 2001, 6 years old daughter, Arwin. Started company in 2005, around the time of the GFC and had a 6 month old daughter. – ‘Insane, is the word I would use to describe it’ What […]

5 x GAME CHANGING TOOLS TO HELP MAKE 2018 YOUR BEST YEAR YET   Happy New Year, Inspire Family. I want to support your success in 2018 by sharing with you 5 tools that I personally use every single week, that I believe are critical to business and life success in 2018. Bucket List – […]

Holiday for Good | Cambodia “Deep down I reckon every person wants to make a difference.  Maybe we’d all like to change something, but how do we do it?  How do we tap into the little part of everyone that wants to change the world and do it in a way that’s really simple?” Daniel […]

SAVING $8,000 A MONTH BY BUYING AN OFFICE (IN OUR SMSF) 6 Quick wins buying a business property in your family SMSF I’ll start off by saying that as a serial entrepreneur, I was fairly “Anti-Super” for a very long time.  That was until my best mate, business partner and tax wizard Ben Walker showed […]

YEAR IN REVIEW 2017 We are numbers people and WE BELIEVE THAT FAMILY IS NUMBER ONE Our model is simple Proactive Tax & Accounting that pays for itself in tax savings then Help to make the 7 Smart Financial Decisions of a Cashed UpTM Business. Perfect for Founders of 6 & 7 figure business owners WHO ARE […]

Australia’s Most Impactful Accounting Firm WE DID IT | $3M in proactive Tax Savings & 3M days of help to families in need across 16 countries. With every dollar of tax we proactively save a small business, Inspire will help a person in need for a day. Day for a Dollar As of dec 2017, we’ve […]

Make BAS work for you Learn how to turn a BAS Deadline into a BIZ Lifeline. A common mistake in thinking for business owners is that “BAS time sucks.” And while paying tax isn’t everyone’s favourite pastime, BAS lodgements do give business owners an awesome opportunity to review the business numbers that matter, every quarter. […]

It’s my bet bigger businesses will overpay millions in tax this financial year If you’re business turns over between $2M and $10M, make sure you read this! Why do you need to read this? From 1 July 2016, businesses turning over between $2M and $10M in sales have now gotten access to the Small Business […]

Are housekeepers Tax deductible? “If not, why not?  Bookkeepers are.  Not doing my washing gives me more time to work in / on the business = more profit = more tax. So I believe it should be tax deductible” Answer: Cleaning definitely is tax deductible, assuming that you have a home office (dedicated, not just […]

$5M Profit Tax Free? | Selling your business without selling your soul to the ATO   “Hi Ben, I’m about to sell my business after building it for the last 10 years.  I’ll probably pocket $5M from the transaction (woo-freaking-hoo!).  How do I keep the tax man’s sticky little hands off my gains? Please help…” […]

50 ways to Save Tax & Keep More of Your Hard Earned Cash | Checklist     Click here to download        

Paying little, less or no tax when you sell a business or large investment So, broadly speaking you’re looking to make capital gains or a sale of business assets or investment assets and just like any Australian, your intention is not to pay any more taxes than is needed on the gain on those when […]

The best tax outcome for Putting Money away for the Children   A question we get from time to time is about parents wanting to set up a bank account or a share investment portfolio for their children. We love this idea as it’s a great way for the kids to get ahead.  Whether the […]

Learn how to turn a BAS Deadline into a BIZ Lifeline. Of course, there’s more to “getting BAS right” than merely satisfying the minimum requirements set out by the ATO. The BAS process offers the in-the-know business owner valuable insights into: Growth building profit drivers – their effect and where they are coming from Vital […]

A Cashed Up Business Everyday business owners ask us “how do I get Cashed Up?”  We work with many businesses who are already well on their way to getting Cashed Up, but most are either drowning or just keeping their head above water. My reasoning as to why so many businesses are so cash poor […]

The top 9 Tax Planning strategies for High Income Employees We recently had a question from a client, not about structuring for his business, but what his wife could do from a tax planning perspective. The scenario is the husband runs a business, and earns a good $130k profit.  And through proactive tax planning, we […]

Lease Incentives: Should I take it as a fit out or rental reduction? Question: We’re negotiating our new office and discussing fit out etc.  The landlord is giving an incentive amount of $115,000 over 5 years. So we can either take this in rental reductions or a combination of rental reductions and fitout. I’m wondering […]

IS YOUR CURRENT ACCOUNTANT A DINOSAUR? Your current account may be a dinosaur if he / she – Offers advice late or not at all Does only what you ask Basically just does tax Only sees you once or twice a year Charges you for a quick call or email Charges by the hour (or […]

Could You Do With Some More Business? An important component of managing cashflow is to increase the amount of cash that’s flowing in. Which of course means getting new business through the door. How is that going for you?  Getting enough enquiries and orders, week after week? If you’re in the same boat as most […]

Your online guide to making BAS work for you Learn from mistakes without having to make them at our 17 Feb online workshop The big difference between winning occasionally and winning almost always is not only knowing the score but understanding the factors that can and will influence it. Ben Walker   For some, taking […]

Business Owner Checklist Download the business owners checklist here When you’re starting out in business it can be overwhelming with all the things you need to get in order.  The easy ones are business name, accounting software and logos.  But few realise how extensive the list of start up to-do’s really is.  So we’ve put […]

Get Paid Faster It goes without saying that a business needs cash flow to keep operating.  If too many customers forget, delay or refuse to pay, your business could end up in serious trouble! Debt collection is an aspect of cash flow management where a lot of businesses underperform.  However, it doesn’t have to be […]

Risks and assets – gotta keep ‘em separated! How to keep what’s yours If you are planning to build, establish, grow and benefit from a small business, protecting your assets should be one of your primary considerations.  Too many times you hear about people that have done brilliantly in business, only for something to go […]

The truth about your P&L. Numbers never lie Those that do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.  Heard that one before?  Your P&L (profit and loss) statement is an honest-to-goodness, no holds barred account of how your business performed over a predetermined period.  It is a record of fact and leaves […]

Before you pay too much tax this year… A second opinion may save you We all have to pay our fair share of tax – correct!  Whatever your accountant’s computer spits out, that’s what you have to pay – incorrect! As the owner of a small business, you’re not dealing with the typical individuals’ single […]

6 Reasons cash rich business owners take time out   In the lead-up to the busiest time of the year, if you’re an accountant, we have been putting a significant amount of time, energy and resources into… chilling out.  Yes, holidays, time out from the business, cultural immersion, all of that.  Some would simply say, […]

Harvee – Adam Houlahan is a friend of Inspire and a social media guru! He runs Web Traffic That Works, a social media agency that helps entrepreneurs gain influence and credibility online. He has a particular skill for LinkedIn, and this post is filled with some great insights on how to use it properly.  Plus… There’s […]

The answer is always Xero. Take this quick quiz to see if you could improve the way you work Inspire is built on the premise that we can help small business owners with young families, draw more happiness in the form of time and resources from the work they do.  One of the things standing […]

Pay it again, Sam. The joys of recurring revenue A reliable, recurring and regular income stream for your business from a single source is a wonderful thing.  Some businesses refer to them as retainers, others simply call it repeat business.  There are other names too but whatever you call it, from the outside looking in, […]

Is your Accountant making or taking your money? Cashed Up Business Q&A pt 2 As we inch closer and closer to the end of the financial year and the conclusion of the tax season, there’ll be conversations around how your business did and how well you did on the tax front.  As accountants ourselves, we […]

Are you up or are you down? It’s time to check the scoreboard… if you have one   With only 8 weeks to go until the end of 2016/17 financial year aren’t you a little curious as to how your business will look, results-wise, come June 30?  The correct answer here is “no”.  Bonus points […]

Knowing your number is one thing, here’s how to hit it. Cash Rich Business cash flow Q&A pt 1 An essential requirement for hitting a target is knowing where (and what) it is.  As we have mentioned many times before, if you have not yet worked out your “magic number” (your expenses + tax payments […]

Don’t be surprised by your profits. Plan to nurture and grow your earnings It’s always a great thrill when you look at your P&L and realise that you’ve made a profit.  Let’s face it, everyone loves a profit, especially when it’s big and healthy and we don’t even mind if it’s an unexpected event.  It’s […]

Don’t spend it all at once. A cash rich business takes care of tomorrow, today! Hope for the best, plan for the worst.  We’ve heard that a lot and the tax planning season, which is already upon us, takes elements of this saying into account.  Saving tax to ensure you only pay your fair share […]

Stop trying to squeeze blood from a stone. A cash rich business concentrates on creating value Spending too much time and effort shaving valuable layers off your margins to remain competitive is literally death by a thousand cuts for your business.  It’s excruciating, time-consuming and unfortunately futile.  But as someone wise once said, “if you […]

It’s time to take a chainsaw to your workload The key to success is to work hard, we’re told.  But they’re only telling us half the story.  The often quoted saying should be amended to “the key to success is to work hard for a while and then enjoy the results.” If you set sail on the […]

Build a business built to last. Cash Rich Business tip #2 – Get your structure right! Pick any business structure you like to launch your small business, it makes no difference at all in the very, very short term… and then suddenly… the pain.  The type of pain that can really hurt you and your […]

[su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s7tCmYe7Po&feature=youtu.be” height=”340″ controls=”no” autohide=”yes” showinfo=”no” rel=”no” modestbranding=”yes”] Building a Profit War Chest and save your Business How a Small Business owners can very quickly amass Emergency Cash Reserves and Build a Profit War Chest: Most business owners don’t have the time to or know-how to read the different accounting reports necessary to manage the […]

Building a “profit war chest” is just like riding a bike. A crucial step towards becoming a cash rich business Most business owners agree that cash is the oxygen that keeps the heart of a commercial enterprise pumping.  It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about trades, financial services or product sales and distribution, without a […]

The 10 minutes that could save you hundreds every month. Get ready for the Autumn “spring clean” It’s the invisible expenses that hurt your business the most – he amounts that sneak under the wire of your business accounts every month or quarter.  And even if you were asked point blank to name them all, […]

3 reasons your original purpose can determine your future If you can’t tell someone in two sentences what you do and why, your business is in trouble or heading that way.  Sure you may have a solid business structure, you’ve minimised your tax and things might be going well but your sales and/or service pipeline […]

Tax: are you paying too much, too little or about the right amount? 3 tax lies that ensure you get this wrong First of all, know your numbers inside and out.  Those of you who are familiar with Inspire remember that “knowing your numbers” is part of our mantra.  It’s the foundation upon which we […]

Leading the way to more time with family. You can’t be all things to all people – so why try? “I can’t give you the secret to success but I can give you the secret to failure – try to please everyone”.  Someone famous said that a very long time ago and it is as […]

The accidental tax (over)payer. Are you really going to tip the ATO? Just like any good business or even a studious school kid, our government works to a budget.  They look at the income and outgoings of our great land and even come up with a magic number of sorts to plan and allocate spend […]

Ensure your risk pays off… regularly. Funding the founder is only fair Really well paid people not only get paid for what they do and what they are going to do, they get rewarded for what they have done.  Not all of their achievements are on open display though.  We often debate the worthiness of […]

We’re going to save our clients, $1m in tax… again! Some of the things we just love to do around this time every year at Inspire.  Enjoy our 4 day Easter break – check.  A planned getaway of some sort – locked in.  Provide excellent year round service to our clients – of course.  Oh […]

A lean business is a healthy business. Keep fit year round Diets are temporary by their very nature.  They last from point A until point B, they are a means to an end.  What’s more they are usually the second last resort before far more drastic measures come into play.  The same applies in our […]

  Compound interest cuts both ways. Kill your debt before it kills you. There’s a lot to be said for the miracle of compound interest and how it can turn modest savings with small regular contributions into a sizable nest egg that hatches holidays, jet skis, long term financial security and more.  But as with […]

The Sheeran School of Business Success. Because talent is very rarely enough It’s becoming increasingly obvious, even to those that have joined the party a little late, that Ed Sheeran is a very successful singer songwriter.  I heard somewhere that he paid his dues by never refusing an opportunity to play and actually played 300+ […]

Thinking BIG will save your business pt 1 – think structure, save $$$ Entrepreneurs who want to change their world and possibly even rule it, constantly think big picture and act accordingly.  They paint their destiny in bold brushstrokes and display it for all to see.  This isn’t for everyone of course.  Some prefer to […]

Avoid the “vanity” lease and preserve your profits   Every Friday we just want to stop the world for a moment and give you a couple of real tips to think about that will make a real difference to your business and in your life. There is a fine and potentially very expensive line between […]

Breaking even is the new Breaking Bad. It seems okay… until… If you survived year one of your business ownership and you’ve broken even – well done and congratulations.  You’ve made some massive personal, financial and emotional investments and on paper, you’re no worse off than you were when you started.  In fact, if you […]

6 Reasons to book your holiday right now! You’ve heard the saying, “make hay while the sun shines”, right?  It means that you should work as hard as you can, for as long as you can while the money is still on offer.  It makes some sense but workaholics and people who feel they have to keep […]

Share your brain or feel the pain. How to avoid insulting business valuations and low-ball offers It’s a disheartening fact that many people have a fabulous business, with a healthy turnover but routinely get slapped in the face with low valuations.  It can be very disappointing and from time to time it can be insulting. […]

  How much do you want for your business? Every Friday we just want to stop the world for a moment and give you a couple of real tips to think about that will make a real difference to your business and in your life. Now there’s an interesting question to ponder over the weekend. […]

Profits are down soooo… do I take a pay cut? The “business $100 note” can save you from yourself   Every business faces a period when revenue drops below expectations for a time.  Hopefully this occurs at the beginning of your ownership journey, not the end.  It’s at this time that knowing your numbers will […]

Stay focused on your area of focus If you are an accountant that delivers excellent service and measures their achievements by how much tax you save people – stop reading now and carry on with what you’re doing.  If not, we’d like to echo some advice that came to us from one of our own […]

Numbers get bored too. Time to put them to work! Accountants often get saddled with the “boring” tag and that may be because the perception is that they deal exclusively with numbers.  And not just any numbers but bland inanimate numbers that simply tell you what happened – past tense.  These same numbers might also […]

How to make a memorable weekend Every Friday we just want to stop the world for a moment and give you a couple of real tips to think about that will make a real difference to your business and in your life. How many times has someone asked, “what’d you get up to on the […]

The agony of almost making it to the end of the month. Cashflow catastrophes and how to avoid them Few Olympic or endurance track images are as enduring as the long distance runner that, despite a body that has clearly given up, manages to will themselves over the line.  Last place never looked so good. […]

In Trusts we trust. Another way to make sure you pay enough tax and nothing more Paying too much tax is bad.  Paying your fair share is good.  Black and white statements don’t come much truer than that but as we keep finding, people, honest people running good businesses to help their families, are regularly […]

Recognise! Celebrating milestones is not only fun but functional A lot has been made of the value of setting goals, knowing numbers, aiming high, feeling the burn (wait, what?) and a whole bunch of other aspirational catchphrases.  They’re fun, they’re motivational and yes, sometime a little clichéd.  But it’s amazing how effective they are at […]

I have a pool so now I can buy an office – smsf magic trick #31 Recently we’ve been speaking about the many and varied ways technology allows us to run a business and the different ways of working people can enjoy as a result.  This led us to reviewing some really cool home office set-ups, as […]

Saving tax is a year round sport. And finals time is just around the corner (the angry coach edition) Australia is full of people who are very familiar with, if not completely nuts for, one sport or another.  They might have a favourite team, a favourite player or simply play on weekends or maybe after […]

The motivational benefits of knowing your numbers We believe there is a quantifiable psychological benefit to having a clear view of critical numbers.  But instead of trying to quantify them here, early on a Monday morning, let’s just focus on proving to ourselves anecdotally, that it’s true – more inspiring that way. To me, it’s […]

Before we go… You’re not a bank, so don’t act like one Every Friday we just want to stop the world for a moment and give you a couple of real tips to think about that will make a real difference to your business and in your life. Cash flow remains a hot topic and […]

(Facebook) friends don’t let friends pay through the nose If we didn’t care, we wouldn’t bother.  But we do and that’s why we like to stay connected with clients past, future and present by any means necessary.  There are those that believe that an accountant is a “suit” to be visited once a year or […]

We liked this… Take your work home with you… and leave it there The rising cost of office space, particularly in the CBDs, highlights the need for businesses to get even smarter about how and from where they run their enterprises.  The traditional office can work, so do co-workspaces but have we forgotten one obvious […]

What does a healthy business look like? Is it just me or have there been a lot of baby birth announcements on social media lately? Despite the Australian population swelling beyond 24million it may still come as a surprise that a child is born every 1 minute and 40seconds.  Which is quite mind-boggling because that […]

Before we go… I’ll have the steak, extra fries, hold the tax   Every Friday we just want to stop the world for a moment and give you a couple of real tips to think about that will make a real difference to your business and in your life. Can you feel it?  Tax season […]

Protecting your home: What’s yours is yours – let’s keep it that way! Why are we here?  A wonderful question that people from all walks of life, in a number of locations around the world have asked down through the ages.  Today, I’d like to focus on those of us who have stepped out and […]

Stop what you’re doing and learn how to stop procrastinating Yes, I see the irony.  Unless reading our Inspired Daily article is a scheduled part of your everyday work routine, there’s a chance that you’re procrastinating.  You are doing almost anything else rather than simply getting on with what you are supposed to be doing. […]

Simon says, “dopamine is dope” Well not in so many words, but inspirational author, thought leader and speaker Simon Sinek blames part of the so-called “dealing with millennials” problem at the feet of dopamine-peddling social media.  Agreed.  We echo the notion that a disproportionate amount of time, energy and emotion is devoted to accruing likes […]

Autumn’s coming – enjoy the sun, embrace the cloud Every Friday we just want to stop the world for a moment and give you a couple of real tips to think about that will make a real difference to your business and in your life. Many small business owners around the country are, as we speak, […]

Today’s BAS webinar can help you get it right It probably doesn’t get more embarrassing than what popular host and celebrity Steve Harvey had to go through when he misread the score card and named the wrong contestant as winner of the 2015 Miss Universe.  Let’s embrace the pain one more time.  Yikes! But many of us […]

Will “Siri” get done for tax evasion? The thing about ground-breaking entrepreneurs is that they think differently about everyday situations by applying very different, often elevated, goals and functionality to common items and situations. Back in the day we all thought about how sensible phones, phone lists/directories and maps were.  So we put them in books and […]

The Price is Right… or is it? Not enough thought goes into pricing.  Either that or the wrong thought processes are applied to pricing.  We see it time and time again in various businesses and particularly start-ups.  Over the weekend I thought about the often-seen “closing down sales” as I did a bit of shopping. […]

Why didn’t coalmine canaries have fitbits? Every Friday we just want to stop the world for a moment and give you a couple of real tips to think about that will make a real difference to your business and in your life. There’s an old saying advising us all that prevention is better than cure. […]

…and here’s the other half of your success formula Because we’re all about helping families derive more benefit from the business they own rather than merely working in a business that owns them, we need to shine a light on the whole truth about commercial success.  It’s a little unconventional but there again, I already started a […]

Like a rolling… tennis ball To say things got a bit warm over the weekend would be like suggesting too much tax is an inconvenience.  As the mercury soared, I stayed close to the air-conditioning while my thoughts were with small business owners. Something we hear quite often from our new and prospective clients is […]

Little (coffee) shop of horrors (part two) If a familiarity if not a deep understanding of the numbers in and around your business was not necessary, we wouldn’t be here.  But it is and we are definitely here for you.  So grab a coffee if that’s your thing and we can also finish the story […]

Little (coffee) shop of horrors (part one): Numbers never lie Did we mention we had a coffee shop – of sorts?  Yeah, we wanted people we met to be at ease and to share our fondness for constructive chats.  So we turned part of our somewhat oversized premises into a café. It was a really […]

The art of making the weekends count The traditional “week-end” is becoming a fading memory for a lot of the business owners we get to speak with and hear from.  That’s not to say that they aren’t getting any time off to enjoy life and/or spend time with family but the consensus is there’s less time to […]

Make it Rain. Invest in Multiple Buckets. Create automatic cash flow This article contains the revolutionary secret to beating the ever growing statistics of Business’ not making it after their first couple of years. These five simple steps will change the future of you and your business forever.  Step 5 – Invest in Multiple Buckets, create […]

Make it Rain. Get a Bigger Bucket. Generate repeat business This article contains the revolutionary secret to beating the ever growing statistics of Business’ not making it after their first couple of years. These five simple steps will change the future of you and your business forever.   Step 4 – Get a Bigger Bucket by generating repeat […]

Make it Rain. Fill the bucket. Attract more customers. This article contains the revolutionary secret to beating the ever growing statistics of Business’ not making it after their first couple of years. These five simple steps will change the future of you and your business forever.   Step 3 – Fill the Bucket by attracting […]

Make it Rain. Control the tap. Get paid faster.   This article contains the revolutionary secret to beating the ever growing statistics of Business’ not making it after their first couple of years. These five simple steps will change the future of you and your business forever. Step 2 – Control the Tap & get paid […]

Make it Rain. Stop the leaks. Take back control of your money This article contains the revolutionary secret to beating the ever growing statistics of Business’ not making it after their first couple of years. These five simple steps will change the future of you and your business forever.   Step 1 – Stop the […]

Make it Rain – 5 step plan to make your business work for you Step 1 – Stop the leaks TAKE YOUR PROFIT FIRST Revenue – How happy are you with your current revenue? Profit – How happy are you with how much profit you have sitting in your profit war chest? Expenses – How […]

How a Baseball team used Numbers to Win Call it coincidence, but over the past couple of days, I’ve discovered that the sporting “greats” use numbers to win. What do I mean by this? Well, let’s look at the example of the Oakland A’s. Prefer to watch this article? [su_youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD8fAdxrahE” width=”640″ height=”360″]   Moneyball […]

Time out – free speech Time out! Can we just talk for a minute… for free?   Firstly and most importantly the answer to that one is a yes.  A resounding and emphatic yes for that matter.  But let’s take a step back because I’ve come in half way through the story. Have you ever had […]

What’s Your One Number to Focus on in Your Business? Adapted from Gary Keller’s recent book, “The ONE Thing”, what is the ONE number you could focus on, such that by improving it everything else would be easier or unnecessary? What we want to identify here is the one number in your business that will […]

Opportunities can’t tell the time Just be ready to say “yes”!     Opportunities are stupid.  I don’t mean they are irritating to have around or generally score badly in basic arithmetic evaluations.  I mean they have no sense: no sense of timing nor sense of occasion.  They just appear – sometimes only fleetingly and […]

If you have never met us before, we’re the guys who help young families use their small business to achieve big goals. Now that’s a cause that’s very dear to our hearts because, as you may know, the statistics when it comes to failure in both business and family aren’t great. The experts say, three […]

Hiring your first employee – 6 Common Questions Hiring your first employee in your business can be a very daunting task if you haven’t done it before. There’s all sorts of worries that could be going through your head: How do I do the Payroll each week or fortnight? What do I need to do […]

Now for the three quick educational stories about Parkinson’s Law, The Size of Your Dinner Plate, & Toilet Paper.     They’re three lessons you won’t forget that reinforce why becoming a Cash Rich Business not only is a good thing, but it works because it works WITH human nature not against it. Perhaps you, like me, […]

The Bottom Line series – 4. Commonly asked questions Building a Cash Rich Business Commonly asked questions about Building a Cash Rich Business: I built up some debt over the years trying to keep things afloat.  How do I get out of that debt while still building my War Chest? At the Cash Rich Business […]

The benefits of becoming a Cash Rich Business: 1. The War Chest is a rainy day fund, a backup when storms hit but this fund is specifically for those really bad storms. It is not something to be accessed unless it is an emergency. When storms hit it can trigger a panic of trying to […]

Logic vs Human Behaviour I was talking to a good friend of mine recently who I know regularly donates blood. I know that because he posts on Facebook whenever he does it.  So yesterday, I asked him, how much blood have you donated? He said about 40 L. I said holy crap, the human body […]

Creating a powerful culture worth being a part of begins with you! I believe we each have a responsibility as individuals to be the culture that we want to see around us.For instance, if we walk into work and we’re grumpy and have had a bad morning and just happen to get up on the […]

How To Stay Motivated & Achieve Your BIG Goals It’s Monday morning; you’ve just finished a fantastic weekend. You’ve played the sports with the kids. You’ve gone to the beach, had a beautiful meal, and it’s just been wonderful. When you wake up, and it’s Monday morning, you check your emails, and you’ve got a […]

How To Set Company Goals That Your Whole Team Will Buy Into Learn how to set a big goal for your company and have your team actually buy into it and not just roll their eyes like every other time you’ve said this. It’s really important that we engage our team from the start with […]

4 Game-Changing tips on ‘How To Maintain Focus’   Focus, focus, focus. Learn how to stay focused, laser-sharp focus on your goals and stick to your priorities. How to maintain focus? That’s exactly what I think about when I think of focus, is a magnifying glass. You probably did this when you were a kid, […]

How To Create More Time In Your Day! Feel like you don’t have enough time? I want to share with you 4 easy and powerful tips so you can create more time, even when you feel like you  don’t have it. Now, this is a really interesting one, because the challenge is we all have […]

How To Use Facebook Groups To Increase Referrals And Retain Your Best Clients In this video, you’ll learn how to use Facebook groups to increase your referrals and retain your best clients. Hi, I’m Harvee from Inspire and stay tuned. How to use Facebook groups to grow your business and referrals, and retain your best […]

Stop Procrastinating! 2 Quick Tips To Help You Stay On Task You’ve been there before, you’re sitting on the computer, you’ve got your to-do list of things that are priority and important to do in your day, but you’re just sitting there scrolling and looking at Facebook, or you’re in your inbox. The worst thing […]

Increase your profit by mastering this little known economic principle…   Parkinson’s Law says is that if there’s an available resource, it will be used up. For example with my uni assignments, if I’ve got three weeks to complete a uni assignment, I’ll take the three weeks to complete the uni assignment. Realistically though, I’ll […]

Negative Profit – why this is bad, and what to do about it? What is negative profit? Imagine your business has ten thousand dollars a week coming in.A negative fifteen percent profit means that you are actually spending eleven thousand five hundred dollars. One thousand five hundred more, than you should actually be spending. One […]

Risky business – Dangers of Sole Traders, Partnerships & ABNs as Business Structures ?? As Accountants, we are seeing people drop out of high-paying employment or jobs, and jumping in and starting their own business. This is a very exciting time and it’s a great way to be absolutely in control of the impact that […]

Are you smoking away all your profits? I’m not proud of it.  But my first business was … selling cigarettes to under-aged kids.This entrepreneurial dream didn’t last long as the principal of my school had actually gotten wind of what I was doing. I packed up shop really, really, really quickly, but not before learning […]

Bookkeeping; how to know if you should be doing your own… ?⏳⌛️?⚖ When should you outsource your bookkeeping or when you should do it yourself? First of all, we need to figure out what’s the cost of a bookkeeper. Here at Inspire CA, we do have a bookkeeping package that’s around $200.00 a month. That’s […]

9 New Financial Year Resolutions you should make today It’s a new Financial Year, and we believe the key to financial bliss is starting the year the way you’d like to end it. So Ben Walker, brings you his top 9 New Financial Year Resolutions you should start now. 1. Miracle Morning A mentor of […]

Save $500,000 tax campaign – $1.26M saved, 62 Families, 3 months. In April 2016 we set a very big (and hairy) audacious goal.  To help young families in business by having, to save $500,000 tax for our clients before 30 June. Well it’s our pleasure to announce that as at Thursday 30th June we’re up […]

Why Business Owners Need To Take Holidays, 8 to 12 weeks a year I’m fresh off the boat from 9 magical days in New Zealand and instead of cheap souvenirs, I’ve got a game changing business strategy for you: Grab a big 12 month calendar and map out all the holidays you want to take, […]

Welcome Jake to the Inspire Team Hi #InspireFamily, Please join me in welcoming Jake Pretorius to the INSPIRE team. Jake came to us a few months ago with his dream of becoming an inspirational accountant. He has since excelled in his 12 week internship (aka baptism of fire!) all while juggling his last few months […]

561,478 reasons to aim high!   In April 2016 we set a very big (and hairy) audacious goal.   To save young families in business, $500,000 in tax before 30 June. Well it’s our pleasure to announce that as at Monday 13th June 4pm we’re up to $561,478 tax saved! Congratulations #InspireFamily. The campaign is […]

What’s difference between Salary and Profit? And how to get more of both   “How much should I / can I pull out of the business?” is a question we get asked almost everyday.  There are two primary ways a business owner gets paid from the business and it’s extremely important to understand the difference […]

Congratulations to the #InspireFamily aka clients of Inspire CA. We’ve been busily researching the latest in tax law and have found a number of strategies that will either save you tax, increase your wealth and / or accelerate your cashflow. Thanks to your prompt action, we are well on our way to our campaign goal – Save […]

Are you SuperStream ready? To make sure employer superannuation contributions are paid in a consistent, timely and efficient manner, the ATO has introduced SuperStream. The key component of SuperStream is that it is compulsory to make your superannuation contributions online with products that are SuperStream compliant. The easiest way to become SuperStream compliant is to […]

THANK YOU PHIL – A year of NEW beginnings! Last Friday the Inspire Team farewelled our friend and Senior Accountant Phil “Shep” Shephard. Phil has had a big year, welcoming his new baby girl Melody Jane Shephard into the world. He is now making a move to the sunny coast to be closer to family […]

This Inspiring Business Event is powered by Inspire CA, an uber cool and disruptive accounting firm that is proving that not all accountants are boring. Secure your tickets now: WEDNESDAY 8th JUNE, 5:30pm – 8pm  Co-Founder of Australia’s 9th fastest growing company shares his rare insights into finding your competitive advantage.   Inspiring Business Event […]

12 STRATEGIES FOR BUSINESS OWNERS TO SAVE $20,000+ TAX WE’RE HELPING YOUNG FAMILIES IN SMALL BUSINESS ACHIEVE A VERY BIG GOAL – SAVE $500,000 IN TAX BEFORE 30 JUNE. We’re calling it the … SAVE $500,000 TAX CAMPAIGN Imagine for a minute … What half a million dollars would mean, back in the hands of […]

Entrepreneurs Of Brisbane – Ezra Taylor We believe that every business owner has an inspiring story to tell.  A story of how they began.  A story of how they overcame the odds.  A story of what drives them.  A story of when they had a breakthrough.  A story of who inspires them to keep going. […]

Time Your Capital Gains – Hold for 12 months & Sell  in a low income year. How does this strategy work? You bought an investment. A property for example. Bought it for $200,000, sold it for $300,000. You made $100,000 profit – wooohoo. The tax man wants a piece of your pie – booo. It’s […]

How does this strategy work? Each month you pay super for your employees. 9.5% of their wage. For a quarterly payroll of $100,000, that’s $9,500. Now your Employee Super Payments are typically due on 28th day of the following month after each quarter finishes. For the quarter of March to June 2016, it’s due 28 […]

Pay your Life Insurance premiums from Super – and get double tax benefits. How does this strategy work? Life Insurance is money your family will receive in the event of you kicking the bucket. Interestingly the premiums you pay for Life Insurance are not tax deductible, unless they’re paid from your superannuation. Let’s say the […]

Top sales advice from one of top 5 Sales Professionals worldwide (fitness industry) Sales is such an important part of any business. Many of us hate the word sales, but it pay the bills and keeps the lights on. So we asked Richard Bell, the speaker at our upcoming Inspiring Business Event, “when you’re advising sales […]

DISTRIBUTE INCOME TO  RETIRED PARENTS (& IN LAWS!) How does this strategy work? Discretionary Trusts are great for Young Families in Business as they give you… you guessed it, DISCRETION. In fact they’re more well known as Family Trusts. They give you discretion about who pays tax, how much they pay and potentially when it’s […]

Make it Rain by stopping the leaks TAKE YOUR PROFIT FIRST “Money isn’t everything, but having a mountain of it sitting around is handy.” Step 1 – Stop the leaks This might surprise you but the Profit equation you were taught is wrong. Sales (minus) Expenses (equals) Profit does not work. If it worked you’d […]

  What is a Car Fringe Benefit? A car fringe benefit can occur when an employer makes a car they own or lease available for the private use of an employee. If you conduct your business through a company or trust, you may be an employee of the company or trust. Are any of your […]

Ben Love, Father, Businessman, and Hero We believe that every business owner has an inspiring story to tell.  A story of how they began.  A story of how they overcame the odds.  A story of what drives them.  A story of when they had a breakthrough.  A story of who inspires them to keep going. […]

Introducing Pedro Alcobio, owner of The Health Place   We believe that every business owner has an inspiring story to tell.  A story of how they began.  A story of how they overcame the odds.  A story of what drives them.  A story of when they had a breakthrough.  A story of who inspires them […]

Find out how Phillip Di Bella revolutionised the Australian coffee culture! We’ve all experienced the disappointment that comes with an average cup of coffee, however Phillip Di Bella has made it his mission to change this. Dissatisfied with the level of customer service and consistency within the coffee industry, Phillip started Di Bella Coffee. His obsession […]

Chapter One:  You Have The Power to Change Stuff Build an Inspiring Book List with Harvee Pene (Partner & Business Advisor at Inspire CA) as he undertakes his 2016 Challenge:  Read (implement & review) a Book a Week. CHAPTER ONE is the story of one of my favourite brands, Thankyou. A social enterprise that gives […]

Collaboration Not Competition: a tale of 2 candles 07 Mar Uncategorized Author: Ben Walker Only read this if you operate business in a very competitive industry, like we do. Competition = 2 competitive business owners fight over the flame of a single candle (a business opportunity). When they believe that only 1 can have the flame, […]

Accounting Answers: How Can I Buy a Commercial Property?   Why is an SMSF better for investing in commercial property, and leasing it back to yourself, than an investment trust? Many people ask us how is it that they can stop paying somebody else for their lease. A lease is a big expense, and they […]

#Accounting Answers: Self Funded Retirees So remember young family, small business equals family trust or discretionary trust as the ideal structure for 9 times out of 10. If you don’t understand how your structure works, or you don’t feel you’re in the right structure we absolutely need to talk, but let me give you a really cool example […]

#Accounting Answers: Review How You Pay Yourself   Before you can decide about the best way to pay yourself for your hard work in your business, you need to understand about structures. 9 times out of 10, if you’re a young family in a small business, your ideal structure is a company and a discretionary […]

The Power of Building an Empire Using Social Media Many Business owners tell us that GROWTH is amongst the top items on their agenda for 2016. To grow you need more customers. More customers means more sales. Before Sales you need Marketing. You probably dabble in Social Media. But not many of us generate tonnes of leads from Facebook. So […]

Build an Inspiring Book List with Harvee Pene (Partner & Business Advisor at Inspire CA) as he undertakes his 2016 Challenge:  Read (implement & review) a Book a Week. Book Review: What the All Blacks can teach us about the business of life.   At this level, sport – like business and life – is a mind […]

The Four Hour Work Week Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich.  Build an Inspiring Book List with Harvee Pene (Partner & Business Advisor at Inspire CA) as he undertakes his 2016 Challenge:  Read (implement & review) a Book a Week.   The Four Hour Work Week or 4HWW is a very […]

8 ways to know if you can afford to hire your next employee Part 2 of 2 The opportunities for growth in your business will come in ebbs and flows, like waves. Hire too early and you’re a sitting duck waiting for an opportunity off in the distant horizon. Hire too late and you’re playing catch up […]

Is donating to charity tax deductible? There’s three rules at play: Is it more than two dollars? Are they a DGR? You want to ask the provider that. Are you a profitable business? Now, why three is important is because of the ATO. If you are in loss, they’re going to give you the benefit […]

  Famous Fashion Blogger opens Fashion Boutique We believe that every business owner has an inspiring story to tell.  A story of how they began.  A story of how they overcame the odds.  A story of what drives them.  A story of when they had a breakthrough.  A story of who inspires them to keep […]

If 10x Business Growth is on the 2016 agenda, read this today. Many Business owners tell us that GROWTH is amongst the top items on their agenda for 2016. To grow you need more customers. More customers means more sales. Before Sales you need Marketing. You probably dabble in Social Media. But not many of us generate tonnes of leads […]

8 ways to know if you can afford to hire your next employee – Part 1 Can’t afford to hire your next employee? It’s an age-old dilemma for small business owners: You need help to grow your business, but you can’t afford to hire anyone. This common situation is a catch-22 that has driven many […]

#AccountingAnswers – Claiming GST on a new car   [su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcaGg10f5pk” width=”640″ height=”360″] How much GST can I claim on a new car? When it comes to claiming GST on a car (Goods & Services Tax), it’s very similar to claiming GST on any other business expense. You can only claim the GST to the percentage that it […]

  Collaboration queen makes career out of passion We believe that every business owner has an inspiring story to tell.  A story of how they began.  A story of how they overcame the odds.  A story of what drives them.  A story of when they had a breakthrough.  A story of who inspires them to […]

Do Cool Sh*t: Quit your day job.  Start your own business.  Live happily ever after. by Miki Agrawal.   Build an Inspiring Book List with Harvee Pene (Partner & Business Advisor at Inspire CA) as he undertakes his 2016 Challenge:  Read (implement & review) a Book a Week. I believe everyone wants to do cool […]

Book Review: Daring and Disruptive: Unleashing the Entrepreneur by Lisa Messenger. Book Review: Daring and Disruptive: Unleashing the Entrepreneur by Lisa Messenger .   Build an Inspiring Book List with Harvee Pene (Partner & Business Advisor at Inspire CA) as he undertakes his 2016 Challenge:  Read (implement & review) a Book a Week. Morning all, Happy Monday […]

Give your Super a Boost! An alternative way of building up your retirement savings. While most of us will hopefully accumulate enough superannuation throughout our working lives to have a comfortable retirement, many of us simply won’t have the funds there to splurge on something nice every now and then. What if we could tell […]

Book Review: UNPROFESSIONAL by Jack Delosa – How a 26 year old university dropout became a self-made millionaire Build an Inspiring Book List with Harvee Pene (Partner & Business Advisor at Inspire CA) as he undertakes his 2016 Challenge:  Read (implement & review) a Book a Week. Happy pre-Australia Day people’s. Turns out this book […]

Happy Birthday Inspire! Our own start up story, told for the first time. WOW it’s Inspire CA – Young Family Small Business 3rd Birthday today. For the first time, I’m going to share the cool story about how Ben Walker and I met (and way later came to be in business together) I helped start a big change management movement in […]

Help! My Cashflow is Killing Me #AccountingAnswers:  3 tips to even out the ups and downs Fixing cashflow problems is like dealing with the pain of a toothache. Strong painkillers give immediate but temporary relief. A filling or root canal can remove the problem of pain. Improvement in Oral Health with prevent further decay. In […]

Build an Inspiring Book List with Harvee Pene (Partner & Business Advisor at Inspire CA) as he undertakes his 2016 Challenge:  Read (implement & review) a Book a Week. Book Review: UNPROFESSIONAL by Jack Delosa – How a 26 year old university dropout became a self-made millionaire. Happy pre-Australia Day people’s. Turns out this book […]

Book Review: BUILD TO SELL by John Warrillow – Create a business that can thrive without you Build an Inspiring Book List with Harvee Pene (Partner & Business Advisor at Inspire CA) as he undertakes his 2016 Challenge:  Read (implement & review) a Book a Week. 1st day back in 2016 and it was highly […]

Build an Inspiring Book List with Harvee Pene (Partner & Business Advisor at Inspire CA) as he undertakes his 2016 Challenge:  Read (implement & review) a Book a Week. The Virgin Way: How to listen, learn, laugh and lead This is one of the only books that have left me laughing out loud, usually in […]

Book Review: REWORK – Change the way you work forever A better, faster, easier way to succeed in business Build an Inspiring Book List with Harvee Pene (Partner & Business Advisor at Inspire CA) as he undertakes his 2016 Challenge:  Read (implement & review) a Book a Week. Straight up, people around me would say […]

Book Review: CREATIVITY INC: Overcoming the unseen forces that stand in the way of true inspiration. Build an Inspiring Book List with Harvee Pene (Partner & Business Advisor at Inspire CA) as he undertakes his 2016 Challenge:  Read (implement & review) a Book a Week. This is a brilliant story about the commercial and creative […]

Book Review: CREATIVITY INC: Overcoming the unseen forces that stand in the way of true inspiration Build an Inspiring Book List with Harvee Pene (Partner & Business Advisor at Inspire CA) as he undertakes his 2016 Challenge:  Read (implement & review) a Book a Week. This is a brilliant story about the commercial and creative […]

Hummingbird House: Supporting a Hospice, for Children We recently attended a charity for Hummingbird House and while putting on my black tie, inquisitive 7 year old nephew asked “Uncle, what is Hummingbird House?” I said “Do you know what a Hospice is?” He said “Yeah it’s a sad place where old people go before they die.” To […]

[Photo Diary] Inspiring Business Event: Meet & Greet with Top Entrepreneurs of Brisbane. A visual memoir of the Australia Day themed Inspiring Business Event on Jan 22, 2016 Welcome to our first Inspiring Business event of 2016! What started as a small group of like minded business owners getting together for after work drinks and […]

[Photo Diary] Inspiring Business Event: Meet & Greet with Top Entrepreneurs of Brisbane A visual memoir of the Australia Day themed Inspiring Business Event on Jan 22, 2016   Welcome to our first Inspiring Business event of 2016! What started as a small group of like minded business owners getting together for after work drinks […]

Book Review: OVERSUBSCRIBED by Daniel Priestley – How to get people lining up to do business with you. Build an Inspiring Book List with Harvee Pene (Partner & Business Advisor at Inspire CA) as he undertakes his 2016 Challenge:  Read (implement & review) a Book a Week.   Harvee – The second I walked past […]

Book Review: OVERSUBSCRIBED by Daniel Priestley – How to get people lining up to do business with you Build an Inspiring Book List with Harvee Pene (Partner & Business Advisor at Inspire CA) as he undertakes his 2016 Challenge:  Read (implement & review) a Book a Week. Harvee – The second I walked past the […]

The secret recipe to breaking down Big Scary (and Hairy) Audacious Goals into bite sized chunks! Ever had a great idea for a business that was borne out of a frustration you faced?  Ever wanted to take a 3 month Road trip around Australia?  Ever tried one of those crappy frozen meals and wondered if […]

Goal setting is one of the most important things you should be doing with your team on a weekly or even daily basis. But sometimes it is harder to implement them than we think. In this video, Harvee will give you some awesome tips to help you stay on track with your company goals and […]

5 Questions to Profit in 2016   And designing the dream lifestyle you want, with plenty of holidays and time to work ON the business! Hey, welcome back to 2016!  Ever heard of the saying “the quality of one’s life is in direct proportion to the quality of the questions you ask of yourself”? I’m […]

Welcome to the NEW YEAR!!! Bring your game into the New Year: Michael Jordan knows his numbers   I just recently wrote an article about a baseball team using numbers to win.  And in that same week, hearing a quote, I realised something about Michael Jordan’s career. Michael Jordan would make a great businessman. Oh, I […]

How to Plan for Profit in 2016   Let’s Make it Your Best Year yet – Plan for Profit! Wouldn’t it be great to Plan well for 2016 now so you can spend more quality time with your family? How do the multi millionaires plan for profit for the next year so they can holiday in peace? […]

Benefits of having a trust own the shares in your company This is a fairly technical article – but it is an important one. All too often, I see business structures slapped together with average advice from accountants. And one of the killers is just setting up a company, with individuals (usually the business owner / owners) […]

Check out this webinar and see how to: Improve your Christmas cashflow so you can Holiday in PEACE. With Christmas coming up, the wheels of business tends to slow as everyone winds down for the year. But the problem for you is, you still have expenses that don’t go on holidays! Here is a summary […]

Business Structure Advice: Are you in the Right One? How does $34,000 TAXED SAVED sound? Have you ever wondered whether or not you’re in the right business structure? Or if you have no idea why you’re set up the way you are? To clear up the mist surrounding business structures, we’ve put together a quick […]

What’s Your Working Capital Timeline telling you? Understanding your working capital timeline allows you to control it. Understanding how cash flows to and through your business is the first step on taming the beast and setting yourself up to win. Download your free working capital timeline infographic

Understanding your working capital timeline allows you to control it. Understanding how cash flows to and through your business is the first step on taming the beast and setting yourself up to win. Download your free working capital timeline infographic   Comments Huy Vuong says 03/11/2015 at 3:27 pm (Edit) Nice and simple, very easy to […]

Build your business on the rock vs on the sand – multi-level marketing – cloud accounting –

The Age of Engagement – Internet Marketing Evolution Following on from last week’s post we’re continuing to uncover some of Roger Hamilton’s insights in to the future of markets, technology and doing business in the age of Web 3.0. Roger Hamilton is a visionary, futurist and social entrepreneur who connects with Richard Branson, the startup […]

5 Language Lessons all Businesses can Learn from Optus   Just this morning I read this letter from Optus. And you must be wondering why on earth an accountant is writing about a letter from Optus.  So here’s some context for you.  I have really learned to appreciate the people who, for lack of a […]

5 Business Trends That Are Already Shaping Your Business and Determining Your Profits   What you were doing 5 years ago is vastly different from what you’re doing today. So how prepared are you for the next 5 years? And will you profit? Roger Hamilton will. Roger Hamilton is a futurist, entrepreneur and visionary. He has […]

3 Speaking Rituals Entrepreneurs can use before Public Speaking It’s no doubt that public speaking is an easy feat for mastering. Some make it look so easy, and yet it can paralyse those who are finding their feet.  Myself included! One of my key numbers in 2015 is to share my message on “Knowing your Numbers”, 60 […]

CAANZ Brand Ambassador – A Hub for Innovation in Brisbane CAANZ Brand Ambassador Late 2014, I was asked by Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand (CAANZ) to be a CAANZ Brand Ambassador for the Chartered Accountants program. What it led to was an interview and mini-documentary on what we’ve done at Inspire CA, and with Inspire Cafe. The […]

Hiring Smart: How to build your team for growth Growth it great.  But not when it kills us! When we all of a sudden have an influx of work, this stresses the team and us, as the business owner. We often hear our clients who are experiencing rapid growth talk about their next hire.  We […]

What really annoys me is the Generally Accepted Poor Standards, or “GAPS”, in the accounting industry.  Accountants have the power to change the lives of business owners, but most of them aim for average. How many business owners do you know that actually say “I really like working with my accountant!”?  They are out there […]

New Years Resolution: 5 Urgent Reasons to Change Accountants in 2015 Most business owners are not happy with their current accountant.  So why don’t they change accountants? Studies show that we sometimes prefer working with the devil we know, to avoid the unknown or the adventure.  This avoids the question mark while we find comfort […]

Don’t Break the Chain: How Jerry Seinfeld measured success A few months ago, I was reading a write up about Jerry Seinfeld and how he tracked and measured success. The concept that he shared was to track visually, on a calendar, the days that you complete a task. For each day that you complete the […]

You’re Killing Conversion: Why you should stop doing Quotes in Xero Business owners underestimate the power of good quality proposals and a great conversion rate on their business. A quote is not a proposal A proposal, in my books, gets to the heart of your business, why you do what you do, and how you […]

Plan for Profit 2015 – Webinar Replay Here’s the recording of our “Plan for Profit” webinar – where we share how you can use the numbers to increase profitability in 2015. We put this webinar together in response to a few comments to help business owners and entrepreneurs plan their year ahead. In this webinar, […]

Plan to Profit 2015 – Holiday Reading List You might be familiar with Bill Gates’ almost life long habit, to go away on his summer holidays with a suitcase of books to read. And for our upcoming workshop, Plan to Profit in 2015, I’ve put together a list of books that will help you put together a strategy, […]

3 Numbers to focus on when it comes to Websites If you hadn’t picked me yet, I’m a fan of numbers – and appreciate high performing websites.  So it’s only fate that I should write an article on what numbers you should monitor when it comes to your website. I’ve put together five of what […]

Taking the ‘Numb’ out of Numbers – Brisbane Business News   The original article was published by Brisbane Business News and written by Jenna Rathbone on 27 November 2014.   ACCOUNTING 101 is enough to drive some business owners mundane mad, but  Ben Walker is turning the tables on the traditional model and the result is […]

[Award] Brisbane Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 Finalist In November 2014, I was excited to be announced as a finalist in the Brisbane Business News “Brisbane Young Entrepreneur of the Year” awards. Each year, the Brisbane Business News searches from Brisbane’s most ambitious entrepreneurs who are carving out their own unique position in the business community. […]

To Increase Cash Flow: Know Your Working Capital Days We all know that cash is king. And what is more necessary than optimal cash flow in your business? While Revenue and Profit are a “must” to measure, neither of them give any insight into your business’ cash position. Working capital days gives us the context to Revenue and […]

Can I claim the kitchen sink? Do’s and Don’ts for Home Office Deductions With the rise in cloud technology making the need to have a fixed ‘place of business’ outside the home far less important than it once was, many small business owners are choosing to operate from home. Meeting your clients at a decent […]

Why you should eat a GST Free Diet with one of Anthill’s 30 under 30, Mr Ben Walker – Bond Appetit Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS This podcast was recorded and published by Bond Appetit and Ronsley Vaz. The original article can be found here.   Podcast: Play in new window | Download Ben Walker is the Chief Inspiration Officer of Inspire CA (the accounting […]

Business Structuring Made Easy! Part 6: The Dangers – What if I Get it Wrong? In order to reinforce the importance of selecting the right business structure, our final article in this series looks at the consequences of getting the choice wrong and the potential costs associated with the transition to a new structure. Quite often clients […]

7 Impressive Marketing Blogs You Can Share With Your Clients   I’m sure that you can relate with your clients that developing engaging content takes an enormous, disciplined effort to get momentum. So does everything that’s worth it. Best of all? Like the promise of a flywheel, it gets easier as you go. But what […]

Anthill Online 30under30 2014 Ben has been humbled to be named as one of the Anthill Online 30under30 for 2014. 30under30 is an Anthill initiative that was launched in early 2008 to encourage and promote entrepreneurship among young Australians. The program provides recognition to 30 entrepreneurs under the age of 30 for their outstanding entrepreneurial endeavours. To […]

Smashing Sales – How to Create a Winning Sales Process We’re all masters at something.  But never masters at everything. Sales can be a nasty roadblock to an otherwise phenomenal business. I’ve jotted down a few points below of how you can very simply streamline the sales in your business. Have a Sales Process Sometimes […]

World’s first gluten free… accounting firm cafe? – bmag   The original article was published by bmag, written by Taylare Madden on Sunday 6th July, 2014.   Inspire Cafe has gone completely Gluten Free, and only accountants are invited. An accounting firm has set up in a cafe… but not any old cafe, an entirely gluten […]

Announcing The Live Your Legend ‘Unofficial’ Music Video! – LiveYourLegend.net The original article was published by LiveYourLegend.net, and written by Scott Dinsmore June 25, 2014. Believe it or not, Live Your Legend has a music video… And it’s not the one of me pathetically trying to break dance (which, unfortunately, you can find on YouTube – in the […]

7 Things Business Owners MUST Implement BEFORE June 30   We often find in business that many entrepreneurs and business owners are moments away from realising the potential that a few small changes in their modus operandi (or “method of operation”) can have on their business.  This is without mentioning the amount of planning and strategy that […]