Part 2 of the Victorian Dance Festival presentation with Bron Levett Coaching centred around The Tax Chic’s favourite topic…office procedures and systems!

In this space business owners are usually referring to record keeping and for me this encompasses a couple of different areas – what to do with the paper, and how to collate it all in a manageable format?

What to do with the paper?

With so many businesses being mobile these days, it’s important to have somewhere safe, clean and dry to store your receipts while you’re on the go.  Keeping a small plastic envelope (available from most stationery stores) in your car is a great idea – pop your receipts in the envelope during your travels then transfer them to your office on a regular basis.

Once inside you can keep your reciepts and paperwork in a temporary file such as a plastic “in-tray” or draw filing system (also available from stationery stores) and once you prepare you Business Activity Statement or Bank Reconciliation you should move your documents to a more permanent filing system such as using lever arch folders.

One important tip in keeping thermal receipts is to ensure none of the important details are covered by sticky tape or kept in plastic pockets for an extended period of time as the print will fade…

How to collate it all in a manageable format?

My love of the Xero accounting system continues.  I wrote a whole series of blog posts on Xero and you can find them by searching Xero on my website!

I have two rules when it comes to record keeping:

1. Get training, and
2. Make time

Let me know if you need a hand.

Regards

A couple of weeks ago Bron Levett Coaching and The Tax Chic presented to the Teacher’s PD Day of the Victorian Dance Festival.

We had a lovely day and I thought I’d share some of the things we talked about with you over the next five blog posts!

When the director of the festival, Kate Meade first approached me to speak, she came armed with a long list of topics including the concept of “Ethics in Business”

Ethics is the study of proper business policies and practices, but it can be a grey area at times when personalities, priorities and agendas clash.

For me, the primary concept of ethics revolves around doing the right thing including following the statutory and legal requirements of being in business (ie: registering your business name and maintaining appropriate insurance), maintaining the privacy of your customers and employees and taking careful consideration in publicity and advertising by being aboveboard and respectable.

As a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and a student of the International Coach Federation I am bound by a number of codes in relation to ethics and it would be wise for you to check with your industry body to ensure you are complying with any code they may have implemented.

Regards

Sometimes it seems like everyone is an expert – trust me, they aren’t!

In the area of determining whether a contractor is really an employee, don’t pin your outcome on the stuff of fairy tales, seek expert advice!

The National Tax Accountant’s Association recently released a list of myths surrounding the contractor v employee question including the following:

MYTH: if a worker has an ABN they’re a contractor

MYTH: everyone in my industry takes on workers as contractors so my business should too

MYTH: employees cannot be used for short jobs or to get extra work done in busy periods

MYTH: a worker cannot work more than 80% of their time for one business if they want to be considered a contractor

MYTH: my business has always used contractors, so we don’t need to check whether new workers are employees or contractors

MYTH: if a worker has a registered business name, they’re a contractor

MYTH: if a worker is a contractor for one job, they will be a contractor for all jobs

MYTH: my business should only take on contractors so we don’t have to worry about super

MYTH: workers used for their specialist skills or qualifications should be engaged as contractors

MYTH: my worker wants to be a contractor, so my business should take them on as a contractor

MYTH: if a worker submits an invoice for their work, they’re a contractor

MYTH: if a worker’s contract has a section that says they are a contractor , then legally they’re a contractor

All of the above are MYTHS!

To ensure you get this right, Contact The Tax Chic to discuss!

Regards

Each year on 1st April the Private Health Insurance companies adjust their premiums – I’ve never seen them go down, only up!

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have also begun using the same date to amend the rebates that are available to those who hold private health insurance.

If you’re keen to know what the current rebate is that you should/could be receiving from your health fund, I encourage you to visit here.

For each full year you hold private health insurance there are two calculations to be included in your tax return due to the change in the rebate applied part way through the year.

While I am often able to obtain this information from the ATO Tax Agent Portal, it is an extremely good idea to keep any correspondence you receive from your health fund and forward it to me for completion of your tax return.

Regards