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, in a white hot BAS panic because the deadline is just around the corner.

The world does not slow down so that we can fulfil our reporting obligations, in fact, it can seem like time speeds up the closer various due dates get.  I’m not surprising anyone when I say this can affect family and leisure pursuits, so as we set sail for another weekend, unfortunately, many will already have allocated their time to “hitting the books”.

Even more unfortunate is the fact that many resign themselves to these intrusions on family time with a sigh and a “what do can you do?”

Here’s what you can do to reclaim your free time

Embrace the cloud – If you haven’t already switched to a cloud-based accounting software solution like Xero for example, you really need to look into.  It basically uses automation and intuitive software to capture trends and complete basic admin jobs making tasks like invoicing and reconciliations less time-consuming.

Additionally, the various add-ons can arm you with the ready access to information you may already have trained yourself to wait ages for or simply go without.  Now, if you need/want information that may help you make a business critical decision or seize on an opportunity, it’s there waiting for you.  The next step is for you and your accountant to turn this ready availability of data into actionable steps towards securing and growing more profit and getting more out of life.

Tip: Selecting the right software solution that actually brings you benefits rather than muddying the waters can be confusing.  Our tip is simply to speak to us about what information you might need.  We’re more than happy to make a recommendation based on what will help you.

Are you sure, you’re sure?

Tip: get a second opinion when it comes to the important stuff.

Getting a second opinion is not just a sensible thing to do if your medical practitioner tells you to give up ice-cream.  Anytime the opinion of a professional is going to influence an important decision that may affect your livelihood or the outlook of your loved ones, you want to be doubly sure about the advice.  No better way than getting a second opinion and comparing the viewpoints and possible outcomes.

We’re heading into tax season very soon.  This means that you’ll be making some decisions:  deciding whether to continue down the road with the process you’ve become used to (lodge return, pay the bill) or seeing if you can reduce that tax bill by speaking to one of our team.

Fun fact: last tax year we saved our clients over million dollars just by taking a closer look at their situations and ensuring that they didn’t pay more than was necessary.

If you’ve been in business now for at least a couple of years and are turning over more than $250K per year, we feel really confident that we could save you $5,000 in tax savings immediately.

It might be worth having some second thoughts about this year’s tax strategy over the weekend and embracing some new opportunities.