Tag Archive for: Business management

Tax Planning for Primary Producers

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‘End of financial year’ is a big deal for us accountants. With the intensity of the annual budget, tax lodgement due dates, and FBT deadlines all easing towards the end of June, we’re well and truly ready to relax a bit … maybe even welcome in the new financial year with a wild office party and NFY-eve countdown…

The other thing we love doing around this time of year is tax planning!

And the last few federal budgets have included some serious concessions for primary producers. We’ve listed below a few of the key tax planning opportunities for primary producers, and outlined some of the changes that have been made over the past few years.

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Are you taking data security seriously?

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You’ve heard it all before: change your passwords, make them difficult to guess … blah, blah, blah.

But it’s time for us all to take data security seriously. Cyber criminals are targeting Tasmanians and their businesses of all types and sizes. If you’re not looking after your – and your customers’ – data, you could well be the next victim.

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Farm Management Deposit (FMD) scheme changes: What they mean for Tasmanian farmers

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The Farm Management Deposit (FMD) scheme allows farmers to set aside primary production income in years of high income, to draw on in leaner years. The deposits are an excellent cash flow planning tool and an important strategy for primary producers to consider in their tax planning. They help farmers build up cash reserves while smoothing fluctuating income, maximising profits and minimising tax liabilities.

Effective 1 July 2016, the government introduced several amendments to the FMD scheme. The changes give farmers more flexibility in managing their businesses and mean that FMDs should be back on the table during the upcoming tax planning season.  In this article we look at two of the changes that we see as particularly relevant to our Tasmanian farming community.

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Employers: understanding the tax system

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Navigating the tax system to ensure you are meeting all your obligations as an employer can get confusing. In this article we look at some common areas of concern for business owners and provide some handy tools and tips.

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Xero improves bulk changes to invoice reminders

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Last week Xero released an enhancement to their invoice reminders. The release allows you to bulk-select groups of invoices to switch reminders on or off from the main Invoicing list.

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3 Tips to Update Your Business Plan for the New Year

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What’s your New Year’s Resolution: “stay fit”, “stress less”, “save more”? The New Year is a welcome opportunity for some personal reflection and goal setting, but are you making any resolutions to help make your business better than ever? January is a great time to consider your business goals and to plan what you’d like to achieve in the coming twelve months.

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Top 3 stresses for business owners & how to manage them

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We all know that, left unchecked, stress can grind down your passion and undermine your performance – not to mention, take a serious toll on your physical and mental health. So when you consider the pressures of starting and running a business it seems wise to add effective stress-management to the list of skills you need to develop to build and sustain a successful business.

Everybody experiences stress sometimes. But it is possible to stop stress from derailing your productivity, profits, and overall well-being. Follow these practical tips to avoid the main causes of “business-owner stress.”

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Considering a change of structure for your small business?

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The final tranche of 2015 small business budget announcements have made it into law, now expanding the tax relief available for small businesses to change the legal structure of their business. This new arrangement is designed to provide greater flexibility for small businesses to change legal structures without incurring an immediate CGT liability, and allowing it to defer CGT to a later point in time.

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What is the right legal structure for your business?

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Choosing a business structure can be tricky. How you choose to legally structure your business can have many tax, legal and financial implications.

There are four commonly used legal business structures in Australia: sole trader, partnership, company and trust. The advantage and disadvantages of each should be carefully considered before you decide which one is best for you.

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Can you use business assets for yourself?

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Is there a problem with using your company’s assets for yourself? Assets that belong to your business, but which are used for your own benefit or enjoyment, can potentially trigger a tax issue known as “Division 7A”.

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