Blog categorized as Guides

Owners considering outsourced accounting worry about control, data safety, cost, industry knowledge, software, exit terms and their own involvement, and a good provider should answer each clearly before they sign.

Medical practices carry GST-free and taxable supplies, practitioner arrangements and payroll tax and super questions that go beyond a typical small business, and outsourced accounting can take these on while the practice keeps clinical and strategic decisions.

A well-run move to an outsourced accountant follows a clear month-one plan covering scope and authorisations, a records health check, systems and calendar set-up, and a first reconciled month-end with a review meeting.

Two businesses with the same profit can be worth very different amounts, and valuation and due diligence test how reliable the earnings are, how much depends on the owner and what liabilities sit behind them.

Working from home claims are usually legitimate but fail on evidence, because the fixed rate method generally needs a record of actual hours worked across the year, not an estimate from memory.

A profit and loss report, a cash position and an aged receivables report together cover performance, survival and collection, and reading all three side by side is what turns numbers into decisions.

Mixed personal and business spending is a records problem for a sole trader but can become a Division 7A deemed dividend for a company, so fixing it before year-end matters more than most owners realise.

The ATO generally accepts electronic records, but only if the copy is legible, complete and retrievable, which is why a blurry phone photo is no better than a lost receipt.

Equity granted to employees isn't taxed like ordinary salary, and startups often assume any equity grant automatically qualifies for concessional treatment without checking the actual eligibility criteria.

Companies must pass both an aggregated turnover test and an 80% passive income test to access the lower 25% rate, and both need to be checked every single year — not assumed to carry forward.

Cyber insurance policies vary significantly in scope, and exclusions like unmaintained security standards, social engineering scams, and prior known vulnerabilities can leave businesses without coverage exactly when a claim matters most.

The small business restructure rollover lets eligible businesses change legal structure without an immediate CGT hit, provided the same owners retain economic ownership and the change is timed separately from any actual sale.

The loss of a founder or critical employee creates compounding financial pressure — lost revenue, recruitment costs, potential loan covenant breaches, and possibly a forced shareholder buyout — that ordinary business insurance doesn't address.

Payment redirection scams increasingly hinge on whether a business had reasonable verification processes in place, not just on the scammer's sophistication — and the fix is a documented, independent-channel verification step, not just staff vigilance.

Paying a contractor doesn't automatically transfer IP ownership the way employment does — Australian law requires an explicit assignment clause, and without one, businesses may only hold a limited licence to use work they paid to have created.

Courts start from a position that restraint of trade clauses are void unless proven reasonable, and an overly broad clause risks being struck out entirely rather than simply narrowed — which is exactly why cascading, stepped clauses exist.

A company lease doesn't protect a director personally once a landlord requires a personal guarantee, and the scope often extends well beyond rent — covering make-good costs, option periods, and holding over, with liability that doesn't end just because the director resigns.

The margin scheme can significantly cut GST on a property sale by taxing only the margin rather than the full price, but it requires a written agreement between buyer and seller before settlement — miss that, and it can't be applied retroactively.

A retention of title clause in your terms and conditions generally isn't enough on its own to protect your goods if a customer becomes insolvent — without a PPSR registration, a liquidator can treat your goods as part of the general asset pool.

Going concern GST-free treatment on a business sale requires six specific conditions to all be met — miss even one, like retaining a "minor" asset the buyer actually needs, and GST applies to the full sale price