There are a number of things you need to consider when you are employing staff, but today we’re going to look at two very important forms.

For each new employee, there is specific information you need to have on record in order to meet your obligations towards payment of wages, withholding of income tax and payment of superannuation.

The very first thing I instruct my clients to do is to provide new employees with a TFN Declaration and a Choice of Superannuation form – without these, you simply cannot do everything you need!

You can find details of the TFN Declaration here, and you can usually pick up hard copies from most newsagents.  Many superannuation funds have a prefilled Choice of Superannuation Fund Form, but there is also a blank copy on the ATO website here.

You should add these to a checklist…has anyone done a checklist for employing staff?

Regards

Of course, when considering a software of any sort, there are costs to consider.

These costs include an initial outlay for set up and training and then ongoing costs to use the software – I’m not in the habit of spending clients money for the sake of it, but in my experience, this is money well spent!

If you’re looking to set up Xero for yourself, you’ll find the information on business plans here – the most popular is the Standard subscription (currently $50 per month), but if you have more than 5 staff you’ll need to go to the Premium 10.

But there are other options, available only through your friendly Xero Certified Partner (ie: me!).  These include a cashbook option for businesses or investment entities, where the operations do not require invoicing out to customers or payroll for staff.

The non-GST cashbook is currently $10 per month and the GST cashbook is currently $19 per month.  Both cashbook options include the benefits of bank feeds (and fixed assets) which is the primary reason I have signed clients up to this software, and they are extremely cost effective.

The Tax Chic is also able to tailor a package combining your Xero software, bookkeeping and/or accounting and taxation requirements, for one low monthly fee – contact me if you’d like to know more!

Regards

As my time in Paris comes to an end, where am I off to next?

Tomorrow sees me journey to Athens, Greece…and I’m a tad excited!

When I planned this trip, I knew I would have plenty of time to explore Paris while completing my course and I wanted to take the opportunity to visit somewhere I’d never been before…I could only spare a few days and so I settled on Athens – I mean it’s practically on the way home right?

My plans are to take a cruise through the islands of the Saronic Gulf then spend a couple of days using the hop-on-hop-off bus to explore the sights – if I’d been more organised I could have participated in the Athens Marathon, imagine that?

Anyway, I must go – I’m sure there’s last minute shopping to be done and a croissant or two to eat…

Regards

If you are a regular reader of The Tax Chic, you will know that I presented a blog series earlier in the year regarding trading structures.

If you missed it, you’ll find the summary (with links to the individual posts) here…

Unless it is fully explained to you in simple terms, understanding your structure can be difficult.  And if you’re not quite sure what your trading or investment structure is, please don’t feel bad, but I do encourage you to ask some questions and find some answers!

One of the common misunderstandings is between a company and a trust, especially when the trustee of the trust is a company – even I’m confused just writing that!

If you think you fall into this category, I’d be happy to explain it too you, I just need a copy of your latest lodged financial statements and income tax return.

If you’re interested in this, please get in contact.

Regards