Expert Advice

They say cash is king. Find out how to give yours the royal treatment. There's a golden rule in business: No matter how much you sell, if you don't collect the money, you're going to go out of business. As business owners, we often get so wrapped up in selling our products and services that we forget to take the...

A competitive salary and impressive work-life balance sound ideal but they aren't enough to keep your best employees. According to our recent survey of 1,516 people, 61 per cent look for another job in order to secure more challenging or exciting work. This was followed closely by a lack of career development (60 per cent). The opportunity to improve salary...

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....

In the Australian Consumer Law, the people have remedies against two separate but equally important groups: the retailers, who sell the goods; and the manufacturers, who produce the goods. This is the manufacturer's story. Last month I wrote about consumer guarantees - the rights and obligations of retailers, but the story for manufacturers is different, and their liability essentially stems...

Yes, speed kills - the difference is that it's the other way around for the websites. A slow loading website is most likely reducing your conversion rate, hampering your search engine ranking and in essence affecting your business revenue and bottom line. In this article, let's talk about the need for speed in the digital world. 1. Why is speed...

Have you ever heard there are two (2) sides to any story? Metaphor: When you board a plane from Sydney to New York, the pilot knows his/her destination point and the route to get there. Over the course of the flight the plane will endure many environmental influences along the way e.g.: wind, rain, other aircrafts, restless passengers etc… the...

"Cash is King" is an expression I have often thrown around in relation to property matters. No doubt I picked it up from an early mentor of mine who also fancied the mantra. However catchy a line it may be, the principal behind it is by no means universal. When it comes to funding major works within a strata building,...

The rapid rise in the use of temporary and contract assignments has seen a blended workforce become the norm in many industries and sectors. But the success or failure of this arrangement often comes down to how well temporary and contract employees are integrated into a team. The very nature of this form of employment means that temporary and contract...

After a trade mark application is filed it is examined by a Trade Mark Examiner. All trade mark applicants hope to get a "clear" Examination Report. This enables the application to be advertised as accepted. However, many applicants receive an Examiner's "adverse report", leaving some to think the application is "dead in the water" (not automatically true) and others wondering...

The Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (PPSA) has been in force for a little over 5 years and cases still emerge where either a lack of understanding, or a lack of attention to detail, cost the owners of goods significant sums of money. In the recently reported case of Alleasing Pty Ltd v Onesteel Manufacturing Pty Ltd (Admins Apptd), the...

Owning a business takes a huge amount of energy and drive; growing a business takes even more. We work with many businesses across a variety of industries and time and time again, five key challenges crop up: Overexposure… Keeping client business at a safe percentage of total revenue is a challenge for many businesses. Developing a healthy number of regular...

On 3 January 2017 the ACCC released statistics that more than 20,000 shoppers complained about 'consumer guarantees' in 2016. With Christmas presents now unwrapped and gift cards spent during the stocktake sales, if a good is faulty what obligations do businesses face? The Australian Consumer Law imposes non-excludable consumer guarantees on the sale of goods and the provision of services;...

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...

If you're the owner of a company that, unbeknown to you, conducts research and development (R&D) which could qualify for tax incentives - to the tune of 45 cents for every dollar spent - now's the time to explore how much tax money you might be leaving on the table. There are countless companies across Australia that periodically end up...

Many SME owners struggle to differentiate between profit and cash flow. If asked to produce a cash flow forecast, most will revert to producing a profit forecast. But profit and cash flow are definitely not the same. GROWTH IS NOT NECESSARILY A SIGN OF SUCCESS For example, did you know you can actually go broke if your business grows too...

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...