Accounting Matters with

ACCOUNTING MATTERS IS YOUR BUSINESS THRIVING or just surviving?

BY SHAREE WEBSTER, CA DIRECTOR // HOLMANS ACCOUNTING & TAXATION

It is said that wellness is the act of practicing healthy habits on a daily basis to attain better physical and mental health outcomes, so that instead of just surviving, you're thriving.

BUSINESS WELLNESS How do you achieve wellness when you are in business? It can be achieved by ensuring that your business is providing you with financial wellness, which means making sure the business can meet current and future financial obligations. Achieving financial wellness should allow you to have the flexibility to achieve your goals. Benefits of financial wellness include less stress for you and the business, increased innovation and creativity, and a better outcome for your work/life balance. Areas to consider for your business to attain financial wellness are: • Hire the right people. • Focus on your customers and their experience. • Reduce your business risks. • Be adaptable. • Always think ahead. ACCOUNTING WELLNESS It’s been discussed before in this column about the benefits of your business adopting a cloud-based accounting package. For those of you have taken this on board – it’s time to take it to the next level and start using systems that assist with reducing data entry. For example, if you are using Xero, are you using their add-on program called Hubdoc? This program (free with Xero) allows you to capture invoices electronically – no more paper. It has the potential to deliver drastic time savings. To work towards accounting wellness: • Cloud-based software. • Bank data fees. • Programs that allow you to load invoices electronically. • Work towards the goal of recording data only in one place to minimise double handling. TAXATION WELLNESS We would call this tax planning. Tax planning is where you review your 2022 tax position prior to June 30 (usually in April/May) to implement strategies that will reduce your tax liability. After June 30, you are recording history and you can’t implement strategies to reduce your tax position. Common strategies to assist with reducing your current year’s tax position – these need to be undertaken prior to June 30, 2022: • Impact on any announcements in the budget. • Deferral/Timing strategies, for example prepaying expenses, stock valuations, deferring income. • New investment opportunities (mostly a deferral strategy also), like investing in new business equipment (immediate write-off rules), or negatively geared investments. • New entity/structure options, changing structure to accommodate growth, new owners or maximise exemptions, loss carry back scheme for “tax loss” companies and preparing a business for eventual sale • Retirement-based strategies including superannuation contributions. In summary, it’s time to think about strategies and options to put you and your business in the best possible position to thrive in these challenging times. m www.holmans.com.au

Disclaimer: This article contains general information only. Regrettably, no responsibility can be accepted for errors, omissions or possible misleading statements or for any action taken as a result of any material in this guide. It is not designed to be a substitute for professional advice, as such a brief guide cannot hope to cover all circumstances and conditions applying to the law as it relates to these items.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sharee Webster is one of the directors of Holmans and is located at the Maroorchydore office. Sharee is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce. At Holmans, Sharee specialises in business structures, taxation advice, superannuation and in particular, Self-Managed Super Funds (SMSFs). She has extensive experience in providing strategic tax advice.