Bookkeeping

The Not for Profits (NFP) sector in Australia is considered diverse and large (approximately 600,000 NFPs in 2010 per the Productivity Commission report), contributing to annual revenue over $100 Billion and representing 8% of the Australia's workforce (ABS, 2016). With the chief goal of achieving missions beneficial to the public, NFPs are expected to meet a higher standard of public...

20% of our clients are in the retail & food industry or in a business using a Point of Sales (POS) system. Their daily transactions are composed of 20-30% cash and 70-80% Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sales (EFTPOS). Though the level of cash transactions may be seen as low, substantial fraud can often take place in cash transactions....

Recent changes in government policy have resulted in substantial impacts on the Not-For-Profit (NFP) association sector. Government grants to NFP associations are expected to decline, contributing to the resourcing pressures for many NFP associations in Australia. Financial resources from memberships, donations, and government grants were core funds used to sustain NFP associations for many years. However, the concern in the...

The growing importance of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) roles due to globalisation and business complexity has led to the need of increased expectation for CFOs to become business strategists. Equipped by technology advancement, the role of a CFO is now transforming. Conventionally, CFOs are required to direct the company accounting, ensure the financial information accuracy, and monitor the financial health...

Single Touch Payroll (STP) is now becoming compulsory for businesses, which have minimum 20 employees. You will be required to report on the new system from 1st July 2018. What needs to be prepared to get ready for the new system? Would there be any impact on your business transaction or cash flow? Here are few check points to ensure...

XERO entered Australian accounting software market seven years ago. They used to be a boutique-sized business; however, they brought a disruptive innovation that has changed the landscape of accounting industry. Software used to be installed in our computers; and accounting data were handled mostly offline from our desktops. When XERO came out, we just loved it. It allows us to...

Coming back from XEROCON SOUTH in Brisbane, I kept asking myself about what have we learnt from the event. In the past, we tried to figure out the most suitable accounting software for our business and clients. XERO was the best choice. When at XEROCON SOUTH and talking to my colleagues, I realised that XERO is embarking in a leadership...

I could not stress enough how important Customer Service is to the success of bookkeeping business. Once, a young graduate staff asked me: "why did our client stay with us for years?" Up until then, I thought that accounting industry is competitive. A slight reduction in the fee of the competitor could make us lose a client. I explained to...

Most people assume that bookkeepers and accountants get along very well. The reality, however, is they tend not to share a lot of information with one another. Bookkeepers and accountants should dance around with each other to realise the best possible outcomes for their clients. But why are such harmonious and effective relationships hard to achieve most of the time?...

It is a great time for small businesses in Australia. With further tax deduction and booming cloud business solutions, small business owners can better achieve their entrepreneurial goals. In this article, I would like to share a few useful cloud business services for small businesses and discuss how we can best benefit from using them. The most prominent issue faced...

Last week, I caught up with a successful Canberra-based sportswear retail entrepreneur. When sharing about the challenges we faced as business owners, I was glad that my counterpart had learned the importance of bookkeeping and understanding the numbers in his business. One of his biggest mistakes was to hire a low-cost bookkeeper and to outsource all finance-related matters to the...

Since starting out in 2009, my staff and I have dealt with a wide range of customers from different industries and it got me thinking about what makes a customer great or ideal. Among our pool of customers, there are some who we thoroughly enjoy working with, and I'm confident to say that we'll be working partners for the long-term....

One of our clients recently asked us why we spend two to three hours to prepare one set of business activity statement (BAS) each time, when we can easily export BAS from MYOB. He believed that we should not be 'double-handling' as this wasn't cost-effective. Since I started Tailored Accounts in 2009, I have always insisted on 'double-handling' because we...