First Class Accounts - Bookkeeping and Franchising Blog

With the end of the financial year looming, many business owners will reviewing their systems and procedures in preparation for the coming year. Some may be considering a financial management system to help them better manage income and expenses.

However, financial management systems come in all shapes and sizes and it's important to fully understand the purpose of them and which systems will work best in your business.

First Class Accounts is extremely proud that Serge Crismale of First Class Accounts Picton will be featuring at the upcoming Your Business on Xero Event Series.

Serge, our 2012 Franchisee of the Year, has been invited as a panellist for the Sydney event on 27 May 2013. The purpose of the event is to enable bookkeepers, accountants and add on partners to network with one another so that they can pass on helpful hints and tips to their own clients.

A few weeks ago, the Institute of Public Accountants revealed that there are just 14,000 registered bookkeepers in Australia servicing almost two million businesses. This startling statistic got us here at First Class Accounts thinking - just how many bookkeepers in Australia are operating outside the system?

We say we would never use an unlicensed plumber or electrician, yet a number of business owners have employed an unregistered bookkeeper to manage their finances. This has long been a concern for the industry and in March 2010, the BAS (Business Activity Statement) Agent Laws were introduced in the bid to filter out unexperienced bookkeepers and recognise qualified bookkeepers.

Cash flow is essential to the operation of any company but many small business owners don't understand the fundamentals of what it really is and therefore, how best to manage it. In part one of this series we look at the basic definitions, followed by management strategies in part two.

Last edition we covered the first six mistakes in bookkeeping that covered everything from DIY bookkeeping to the issues with invoicing at the last minute. This week we will be looking at the last six steps in ensuring you avoid the most common mistakes.

7. Cash-flow – the lifeblood of business

If your cash-flow is not monitored, planned and predicted it can have a very negative impact on the success and viability of a business. By relying on your bookkeeper to prepare regular bank reconciliations, as well as monthly historical cash-flow reports and rolling cash-flow projections, you will enjoy a sense of confidence and feeling of being in control. It will enable you to make contingency plans if necessary, rather than being forced in to crisis management.

Bookkeeping: A nuisance or necessity? 

The New Year is upon and as we look forward to a prosperous year ahead one thing on many business ownersresolution list is to get their books sorted and find more time in their life.

Our well-known personal finance software range now has a new name. The Reckon Accounts personal range including Personal 2013, Personal Plus 2013 and Home & Business 2013 have been launched in Australia this month.

This is an exciting change, and one that marks the start of a number of planned changes for Reckon.

First Class Financial Group is proud to announce the launch of First Class Capital, a new division of the company. First Class Capital is conceptually similar to "invoice discounting" but entails a number of distinct characteristics to make it a truly unique and compelling product.

Making your business as profitable and secure as possible should be one of your financial goals. Some small business owners interpret this goal as being to save as much money as possible i.e. don't spend. Whilst this can have advantages, there are times spending a little can achieve more information, control and efficiencies. It may also help by having the processes in place to grow your business and still control it (and not vice versa).

Great accounting software can be a key as can good staff to ensure it is setup and operating to its maximum potential. However there is often more that you can do. One rampaging area is loosely defined as Add-ons. These are programs written by usually smaller third party software suppliers that have specialised functions to add even more features that can help your business even further.

By Gerald Chait, Group General Manager – Marketing, Reckon Limited the Australian distributor of QuickBooks Accounting software.

The Commonwealth Government's Standard Business Reporting (SBR™) program was created to make submitting government forms less time-consuming and more convenient. As many bookkeepers know, in the past there has been a lack of consistency across the various government agencies in regards to reporting terminology. SBR changes this to help save accounting professionals, and their clients, time spent on compliance activities.

Congratulations to Serge Crismale of First Class Accounts Picton who has won the 2012 Franchisee of the Year award. Serge was declared as the winner at the annual First Class Financial Group Conference Gala Dinner. Held in the famous beach resort town of Hua Hin, Thailand, this was a landmark conference as it was the first held overseas by our network. The announcement was met by rapturous applause from the crowd of 140 that included franchisees, partners, event sponsors and national office staff.

The award caps of a highly successful year for Serge after he was named Runner Up in the NSW Franchisee Community Service Award in June, whereby Franchise Council of Australia acknowledged Serge's contributions to his local community through his work as Treasurer and now Senior Deputy Captain at the Lakesland Bush Fire Brigade.

Many business owners find that life is a struggle as they to try to juggle running the business with getting the bookwork done. It is vital for management to have accurate and timely information to control costs, manage working capital, maintain margins, and ultimately ensure the profitability of your business.

In this 11-page eBook, entitled "12 Common Management Mistakes in Bookkeeping for Business", you'll learn:

Congratulations to Debbie Stanton, who has been named the 2012 Field Support Manager of the Year at the Queensland and Northern Territory Excellence in Franchising Awards. Debbie was announced as the winner at an awards dinner in Brisbane on July 21.

Organised by the Franchise Council of Australia, the awards are designed to recognise, showcase and reward outstanding work in the franchising sector.

If you are using pencil and paper, or even a spread sheet, to do your accounting, it is costing you a lot of time. It probably worries you and is very easy to make mistakes. The good news is that accounting software is getting much more efficient and powerful to assist your business.

However choosing from the established programs and their many features and newer online programs is getting harder and there are many issues to consider.

With the launch of the Carbon Tax you need to be well prepared for it. There are two aspects for businesses – what costs are going to increase / how to manage these and secondly how (and if) these costs can be passed on to customers.

Nuts and bolts of it

Not everyone has heard about the two exciting changes hidden in the Budget for small business owners.

Previously you could use the Small Business Entity Concession scheme to entirely claim the value of Assets purchased up to a value of $1,000. This limit has been dramatically increased to the value of $6,500 GST Exclusive from the 2012-13 tax year.  Other Assets you can claim are depreciated at a rate of 30%   (15% in the first year).

At First Class Accounts, our slogan is 'more than just bookkeepers' and our aim is to assist our clients by adding value above expectation. This is one of the many things that seperates us from our competitors.

As a network, we partner with a number of service providers in order to maximise the benefits to our clients. One such partner is Ballast who have kindly provided us with some helpful tips to minimise tax in 2011/2012.

Most people who inquire about franchise business opportunities are in a state of flux about their working life, career direction or business investment options. There are many that people consider, such as:

• Lack of satisfaction or opportunity for growth in their current job versus security of employment
• Is my current occupation/job fulfilling my needs for personal growth?
• Does my current role offer the prospect for meeting my goals for income generation and security in the future to provide for me and my family's needs long-term?
• Do I want to be in business for myself and do I have the confidence to go it alone?
• Do I have the ability to build a business concept from scratch?
• What are the risks or benefits in buying an existing business?

In evaluating issues such as those above, many come to see the franchise sector as offering opportunities with proven business systems, defined investment, coupled with training, support and marketing. There are, however, over 1200 franchise systems operating in Australia, with varied levels of success and development. The quality of training, support from the franchisor, brand marketing, their unique selling proposition or intellectual property that provides any competitive advantage, and, critically, the satisfaction of the franchisees within the system – are all factors to be evaluated.