While I’ve attached a picture of the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris, for as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to visit the Palace of Versailles and Monet’s Garden in Giverny…and tomorrow I get the chance to do just that!

Part of the idea of being in Paris for the writing course I am completing, was to live like a Parisian – we’re staying in apartments, buying our food at the local market and travelling around the city like locals instead of tourists…but I guess there are just some things a girl needs to do, and on this occasion I’ll need to behave like a tourist.

It was a very good idea that I researched a tour as soon as I decided to come to Paris, because Monet’s Garden closes on this very weekend every year…so I just sneak in!

I’m looking forward to ticking a couple more items of my bucket list…and it’s got me wondering – what’s on your bucket list? And when are you planning on ticking some things off?? I’d love to know…

Regards

Since I’m on annual leave…I’m going to cheat a little bit today and make things short and sweet!

If you prepare and lodge your quarterly Business Activity Statement (BAS) yourself, then it is due TODAY!

However, if you lodge your quarterly BAS through a registered tax agent or BAS agent, you’ve got until 25 November to lodge and pay…

Monthly BAS and Instalment Activity Statements (IAS) are due to be lodged and paid by 21 November.

For the benefit of my clients…don’t worry, I’ll be back in plenty of time!

Regards

If there’s one area of assets that business owners find it difficult to keep on top of – it’s fixed assets.

Fixed asset is the term used to describe assets owned by a business that are used to produce income but are not expected to be consumed or converted to cash within a year.

For most small businesses, fixed assets comprise plant and equipment, motor vehicles and computer/office equipment, with most of these items costing a substantial amount of money.

These types of assets are generally required to be depreciated in the financial statements and this is where things get tricky (note: there are some concessions relating to deductibility for taxation purposes, but this is different to writing off an asset for accounting purposes – and is one of the reasons I have job!)

Each asset must be depreciated according to its useful life and there are few mainstream accounting systems that cater for calculating this depreciation.

In the fixed asset module of Xero, each asset can be entered with its relevant data attached (ie: purchase date, cost etc), and while you will need an accountant’s help to determine the appropriate rate to be used – once set up, depreciation can be run on a monthly basis and this makes your interim financial statements even more accurate!

If you’d like a hand setting up fixed assets in Xero, please get in contact.

Regards

I’m here, I’m here, I’m here…well at least I hope I am!

After almost 10 months of saving, studying, saving, researching, saving, dreaming and saving (!?!?), I was due to arrive in Paris on Wednesday and I am so excited for this trip!

Regular readers of The Tax Chic will know that I celebrated my 40th birthday late last year, and this trip forms part of my presents to self…note I said “part of”!

I’ve really been enjoying my foray into blogging via The Tax Chic, and I think it’s this process that has inspired me to explore writing in a different sense, but I am a bit nervous…we accountants usually only work with numbers not words!  So how did I come to be in Paris?

On 16th December 2014, like many Australians, I woke to the devastating news of the overnight tragedy at the Lindt Café in Sydney.  That very same day I received an invitation from the Australian Writers Centre to a Life and Memoir writing course to be held in Paris…and with the message that “life is for living” firmly in my mind – I decided that now was the time.

I’ll be spending 17 days living like a Parisian in an apartment on Ile Saint Louis (with my lovely housemate from Sydney) and I’ll be studying, writing, shopping, eating, shopping, drinking, shopping and immersing myself in the culture as best I can.

Stay tuned for stories from Paris, and feel free to share yours with me too…

Au revoir