Next Level Accountants, Geelong summarise the 18/19 Budget

The 2018-2019 budget has come through with a few positives, items that will be carried through to the new financial year and more. The budget entails a lot of promises for small to large businesses, individuals and the government.

To simplify it, here are a few small business and individual focused points that you may benefit from:
·         A 7-year income tax plan will reduce taxes for low income earners brining slight financial relief
·         Taxes will be lower for small to medium Australian businesses
·         The budget will extend the $20,000 asset write-off until 2019
·         $530 worth of tax savings will be gained by tax payers earning under $80,000 pa.
·         For businesses earning under $20 million (most start-up companies) the refundable R&D offset will be the applicable company tax rate plus a premium of 13.5 percentage points. This allows R&D costs to be funded, therefore companies can inject it back into their research and development.
·         A limit of $10,000 on cash payments to a company will be introduced in 2019
·         No tax deductions will be made where PAYG is not withheld for example payments where contractors don’t have an ABN.

If you require some clarity on the Budget or advice when it comes to small business accounting, then speak to our Geelong accounting team at Next Level Accountants.  

To read more about the 2018-2019 Budget, click here.

Our Geelong Accountants Discuss Tax Planning

Our Geelong Accountants Discuss Tax Planning

Many business owners are savvy when it comes to reading the profit and loss reports of their business and understanding their margins and where they are under and over spending. However, when looking at the profit and loss report the largest expense of the business, namely income tax is absent. The premise of tax planning is you can only manage what you can measure. Tax planning is this – measurement of the estimated tax liability for the financial year.

With only two months until the end of financial year, Next Level Accountants, Geelong are working with our small business owners to prepare their small business tax plans. The tax planning process involves reviewing the business financial performance to evaluate the business profits year to date. We then forecast the profit for May and June based on the business budget to arrive at an estimated profit figure for 2017.

Don’t be mistaken, tax planning is complex. For example, care must be taken when formulating profit forecast for 2017 to ensure that the plan captures the tax level adjustments correctly. Items such as depreciation need to be applied to asset purchases. For example, if your business is a Small Business Entity, defined as a business with a turnover less than $10 million then your business may be eligible to claim a 100% write-off of any asset acquired costing less than $20,000 excluding gst. Further, other business assets can be allocated to a depreciation pool. The depreciation pool allows a small business to claim      

• a 15% deduction in the first year (regardless of when you purchased or acquired them during the year)
• a 30% deduction each year after the first year

A structured approach to investigating other tax planning opportunities such as, accelerating deductions, deferring income, capital gains tax and debt issues need to be considered and measured for the best results. Further, understanding the various eligibility rules and how these issues apply can have a big impact on net profit.

Our Geelong based, CPA qualified accountants spend up to 40 hours per year in professional development to enhance their knowledge of the tax system and how that applies to various client circumstances.

After applying our knowledge of the law and client circumstance a benchmark profit figure is arrived at, then calculation of the tax liability takes place. Our role from here is to find all the ways to reduce the tax liability. Our goal is to show you how much money we can save you in tax by applying the right strategies for your circumstances. Implementation of these strategies may need to occur before the 30th of June, so a sense of urgency needs to apply.

If you would like to discuss your tax position and potential, then please give Next Level Accountants, Geelong a call on 03 9040 1520 or send us an email here. 

New Kids on the block: Pako river-end Businesses Breakfast

New Kids on the block: Pako river-end Businesses Breakfast

When you say you’re an accountant you’re commonly met with a full body scan – head to toe – accessing if you fit the accountant stereotype: boring, lack of social skills, dorky and number obsessed. The businesses receiving an invite to our River-end Pako Business Breakfast are probably having similar thoughts or ‘why on earth would I want to go to an accounting firm for breakfast’? We’re here to change people’s views. We have changed with the times, we are animated, innovative, energetic and most notably incredibly invested in modern technology. We are doing things very differently from conservative accounting firms, we have changed with the pace of society and giving clients what they want and need:  an up-to-date accounting platform, minimum data entry, administration and paper work which is allowing them to spend more time on the business or with their family.

We have originated from Melbourne bringing the expertise from the big city but leaving all the hustle & bustle and gloom behind. All our employees are Geelong based and many of them are born and bred in the area. It’s time for us to get to know Geelong and in doing so our neighbors. Our business Breakfast is an opportunity to create a supportive, like minded network of businesses who can collaborate should the need arise.  Life is easier and enriched when your part of a community and we want to build this with the businesses in our neighborhood.  We have invited all river-end Pakington business to attend our office on the 12th of April at 7.30am to share a nourishing breakfast prepared by Skinny Dippers, another local up and coming business. All businesses attending have been asked to prepare a brief dialog on their business operations. You can see the event here: Pakington River-end Business Breakfast.

So now I bet your thinking how is this accounting firm any different from other firms. Well for starters:

•  We don’t have a receptionist: Told you we removed administration tasks. Don’t worry we are keeping people in jobs. How:
• We have more Accountants than administration stuff. We’ve really focused on removing unnecessary paperwork then only people working on your files are experienced accountants.
• We are completely Xero based. Why? We don’t want to fluff around with accounting software that isn’t the best for our client’s needs.
• We have a marketing manager to ensure we are always having fun and great communication with our clients
• We have an open plan work space. It’s fresh, modern and sleek. You can see it on our Instagram page. That brings me to our next point:
• We are social media savvy. We like to provide fun, engaging and aesthetically pleasing articles and images to our social network. We also like to ensure our clients or new customers are able to reach out to us in the most convenient way possible for them.

 Don’t believe above points check out our Instagram and Facebook!

Really want to attend our breakfast now but don’t reside around the river-end of Pako? Do Not fret we are holding business events open to the public every second Thursday of each month. Like us on Facebook to keep up to date.