Whitehills, Business Advisers & Chartered Accountants, Brisbane

Our first client newsletter for 2012 is now available and is specifically aimed for you and your business.
This month we cover :
- New reporting requirements for the building and construction industry.
- Opportunities to boost your superannuation and save tax before a likely rule change.
- Personal Property Securities Register
- Market Valuations for tax purposes.
- The Carbon Tax and what it means for you
- Understanding SGC.

Please take the time to have a read.
We are also happy to receive feedback and look at any issue you may want us to cover in future issues.

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Recently the Queensland government announced the deferral of its plan to abolish transfer duty on non-land Queensland business assets (such as Goodwill and Plant & Equipment) will be until the budget can accommodate the abolition. Many commentators have noted that this may be deferred indefinitely.

The abolition had been scheduled from 1 July 2013, following the original aim to see it removed on the introduction of GST in July 2000. It should be noted that other States have either abolished duty on non-land business assets (e.g. Victoria, Tasmania and ACT) or have scheduled to abolish it (e.g. New South Wales and South Australia from 1 July 2012 and Western Australia from 1 July 2013).

 For more information on non-land business assets and if you are affected please contact our office on (07) 3231 9100.

Selecting the best accounting software for your organisation is one of the most critical business decisions you face. This process is difficult at the best of times, however with new cloud technology which Neil spoke about in September last year, there are plenty of new products on the market. So which is the right accounting package for you? 

Many organisations stay with their current accounting system too long. It's comfortable to use something that's known and understood. There's usually fear involved (or at least a strong apprehension) with switching to something new and unknown. Plus, there are significant time and resource issues, including the cost to change and the time needed to learn the new system.  

However as your business changes it is important to look at how your accounting system will handle these changes. In order for a system to meet your business needs, it should interconnect with your existing business practices and adapt to technological innovations. Ideally, you want software that's simple, intuitive, and closely matched to how you already do business. 

To talk to us about what accounting software you should implement contact us on (07)3231 9100 or email@whba.com.au.

The Office of State Revenue Queensland has announced that the lodgement date for the December 2011 payroll tax is now the 16th January 2012.

The lodgement date for payroll tax is normally the 7th of the following month.

To read the official press release please go here. 

There was some encouraging news yesterday about the difficult area of taxation of trusts. The government has released a consultation paper as part of the first step towards re-writing the trust law provisions still contained in the 1936 Income Tax Assessment Act.

Thrilling reading of course, but the comments I like best so far:

·         “This is not a “crack down” on the use of trusts”

·         “Trusts are a legitimate structure through which Australians should be able to conduct their personal and business affairs”

·         “Tax liabilities should “follow the money” in that they should attach to the entities that receive the economic benefits”

·         “It should be clear whether amounts retain their character and source when the flow –through or are assessed to beneficiaries” Read more…

You simply can't escape the impact that Steve Jobs had on the world. He and Apple are embedded into our day to day lives. Take a look at the number of patents his name is attached to and you see that his time was never idle.

Whilst his legacy may never of been in doubt it's when you see footage like this youtube clip that you understand how generational that legacy is going to be.
By the way the video is of a year six student. If only my children were this confident!.

Well in essence Whitehills is open 24hrs 7 days a week through our web site and client portal. I just thought I would shamelessly promote it as such.

Our client portal allows for a secure login area that can maintain your accounting and taxation affairs. This means that when you are looking at going to a financier you can simply logon onto your designated area and simply print off your last few years tax returns or the relevant financial statements (as a matter of policy we do suppress TFN's for obvious reasons). Read more…

I happened to be going through some old files a few weeks back and came across a quote for a new server for our firm from 1987. Quoted Price $89,430.00 - 1 Mg Memory, 320 Mg HD. No doubt it was cutting edge at the time and an essential investment for our business. It of course highlighted just how far technology has advanced.

As it is for a lot of our clients technology is still a significant investment for our business. Today, as opposed to 1987, there is any multitude of cost effective solutions to consider. One of those solutions is Cloud computing. Read more…

How well do you really know what drives your business?

You might track your weekly sales to a budget, but your sales total is actually the result of many factors that lead to this result. Some factors might be within your control and others which are completely out of your control.

In the case of sales, this could be the result of your marketing activities, the training and skills of your sales team, the level of customer satisfaction from your last sale or even the impact of the weather (just ask the ice cream seller at the beach if the number of sunny days has an impact on sales!)

These non-financial measures are sometimes referred to as 'lead indicators'. Your financial measures such as sales, margin and profit are referred to as 'lag indicators'. Read more…