Accounting Professionals Blog

By Nick Fitzgerald, Business Advisory Director, Accounting Professionals “I’m so busy right now,” is hands down the most common response I hear when I ask business owners, “how are you?” or “how’s business?” And, sadly, the answer to my follow up question “how is cash...

The sole purpose test is one the fundamental requirements for a Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF) to obtain tax concessions. It requires that the SMSF be maintained for the sole purpose of providing retirement benefits to its members or their dependents if a member dies...

By Nick Fitzgerald, Business Advisory Director, Accounting Professionals Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, once infamously said, “Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” While the first is inevitable, I believe...

The ABN system was originally introduced as a simple way to provide businesses with unique identifier when dealing with the government. It has since become a de facto licence to do business despite no substantial changes in the application process in the intervening...

The terms “independent”, “impartial”, or “unbiased” or similar terms can only be used to describe financial advisory businesses that meet certain conditions under the Corporations Act. Such conditions include not receiving commissions or volume-based payments. The...

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has ordered Toyota Motor Corporation Australia (TMCA) to pay a foreperson with overarching supervisory responsibility for some 69 team members the maximum compensation under the Fair Work Act's unfair dismissal provisions after it failed...

In simple terms, the Research and Development (R&D) tax incentive provides a tax offset to eligible companies that conduct certain R&D activities that are likely to benefit Australia’s wider economy. As a response to various reviews which indicated that the incentive...

If you are the trustee of one of the approximately 577,000 SMSFs in Australia at the moment, there are some areas the ATO wants you to pay particular attention to including the sole-purpose test, the in-house asset rules, unlawful schemes and arrangements, and...

The Government is planning to introduce an economy-wide cash payment limit of $10,000 as a part of its crackdown on the black economy. Any transaction that exceeds $10,000 will need to be made using an electronic system or by cheque. The cash transaction limit will...

Global trends such as Innovation, technology and globalisation are changing the business world and there are big winners and big losers. The relatively low level of capital required to ride the wave of global trends is an advantage to small business whom in the past...

Accounting Professionals are pleased to announce the appointment of Steve Macdonald to our growing Business Advisory Team. Steve is a specialist Business Intelligence (BI) and Startup advisor with recent experience as a BI Consultant to government, large corporates...

Are you nearing retirement or just want to put a little extra away for the future without putting a strain on your household budget? Contributing to superannuation might be your best bet. There are two main ways to boost your super balance, salary sacrificing super...

Single Touch Payroll (STP) is coming for businesses, it aligns your reporting obligations to the ATO to your payroll processes. You do not need to change anything you do now, you can still pay your employees on a weekly, fortnightly, or monthly cycle. If you’re...

Beware of work-related clothing and laundry expense claims this tax time, the ATO is cracking down on individuals making unsubstantiated and exaggerated claims. It has reminded taxpayers that only uniform, protective or occupation-specific clothing that you are...

Tax time has come around for another year, and this year the ATO is focusing on “other” work-related expense deductions and work-related car expenses.  It says taxpayer must remember that they are not automatically entitled to claim standard deductions and that all...

Pre-lodgement compliance reviews (PCRs) are increasingly being used by the ATO to resolve potential compliance concerns as they arise. Previously, PCRs have only been applied to significant taxpayers such as public companies, international groups and large Australian...

With the ATO’s compliance targeting of large businesses in the past few years reaping rewards, this tax time, its turning its attention to small businesses. As a small business owner, what do you need to be aware of to stay out of the ATO spotlight? A recent interview...

Did you know that in Australia, any organisation that handles personal information could be captured under the notifiable data breaches scheme which requires organisations to notify individuals whose personal information is involved in a data breach that is likely to...