One of the allures of cloud accounting is that it makes keeping your accounting records more accessible. Entering payables, managing receivables, and reconciling your bank account are now effortless. It does make you wonder whether you even need an accountant or bookkeeper at all these days!
I often liken it to having a car. You can operate the car pretty well on your own. You know how to drive, how to put fuel in it, how to fix a flat – maybe even change the oil. But unless you were specially trained you wouldn’t try doing much more than that. You know that there are lots of things that you don’t know, so you pay a mechanic to do routine (and unexpected maintenance) and give you the certificates you need to keep the government happy. Sure, you could watch you-tube videos until 4 in the morning (every morning) and work out how to do most of what the mechanic does, but you would probably never do it as well as they do.
Should your website be social? Are you looking to turn that static website into something a bit more interactive for your visitors? Keep reading to discover how to become…
A Bit More “Sociable”…
There’s no doubt that social media is a powerful marketing and communication tool for businesses and non-profit organizations that have embraced it.
Yet, for most of us, our websites are still where the rubber meets the road. It’s where you turn visitors into leads, and prospects into clients and customers. It’s where you build your credibility and sell your wares.
IMPORTANT: This post is specific to New Zealand. If you are not a New Zealand business/taxpayer then it is probably not applicable to you.
Vehicle licensing
On 1 July 2015 the ACC vehicle licensing levy is being reduced. The cost of relicensing most vehicles will drop by around $130 a year. If you need to renew your vehicle’s registration before then, you can save money by renewing your registration to expire in July 2015. Note that the relicensing form and online renewal allow you to specify the number of months, and is not confined to three and six monthly periods only. When your vehicle licence expires after 1 July 2015 the reduction will automatically be applied to your renewal.
We often get asked about what records you should keep, in what format, and how long you should keep them for. So here’s a quick guide to record-keeping for your business. What to Keep
It is probably better to ask “what should I throw away?” The short answer is nothing. It is best practice to keep almost everything. From an expense perspective, you need to keep adequate records that prove that the expenses you have claimed were real, recorded correctly, and justifiably incurred in the process or pursuit of earning taxable revenue. For the first two parts, an invoice or receipt is usually sufficient. Additional notes are a good idea to help with the third. Who did you meet with? Why? What was the outcome? Common areas for the challenge here are entertainment, travel, and obscure training (that yoga retreat is only going to be deductible if you are a yoga instructor).
Inventory often accounts for a large portion of your business's current assets. Knowing how much to have on hand is a complex task. The very best of forecasts are seldom accurate and occasionally unforeseen problems do occur.
Inventory management impacts different functional teams within the organization. Each team will have competing priorities and differing needs regarding inventory levels.
Manufacturing staff will be looking to streamline processes to increase the efficiency of plant and machinery. While at the same time, the activities of the sales team can result in short-term delivery commitments and frequent rescheduling of the production plan.
A Manufacturing Bill of Materials (MBOM) is like a recipe that provides all of the parts and assembly details of a product. Like a recipe, the more accurate and definitive the details, the better the finished product.
Every type and quantity of part and raw material will be listed, as well as every process, assembly and sub-assembly direction. The MBOM includes details on which parts are Off-the-Shelf (OTS) or Made-to Specification (MTS) and even lists what items or processes are needed for packaging and what equipment is used for assembly. If it is used in or for the manufacturing of the product, it will be included somewhere in the MBOM.
We are now well on our way through 2015 and already talking about the end of the year. But setting goals is a positive step to changing your future. Everyone wants more Twitter followers. Some make the argument that numbers don’t mean anything, but each number is a person, who could be a potential client.
Having hundreds, thousands, millions of people recognizing YOU is not only an ego boost but good for your professional reputation too.
Imagine someone clicking on your profile and seeing 10,000 followers. Immediately that shows a user that you have something interesting to say, you’re an expert in your industry, people like you, and people know who you are.
Running a social media strategy as well as being a business owner will only lead to stress and sleepless nights. But everyone is on social media, right? Even the Pope.
You need to strike the balance between informative and annoying. Studies show the optimal postings for the two most popular networking sites are:
If you’ve been exposed to any of our own media pieces (ads, letters, etc.) you’ll have noticed a high level of ‘personalisation’ in all of them. There’s a big reason for this…
Adding any kind of ‘personalisation’ increases response significantly.
Why? Because the recipient of your media piece gets the impression that you sent it to them – personally, rather than to 5,000 other people. Plus it helps your media piece stand out from the crowd, automatically giving it more attention.
IMPORTANT: This post is specific to New Zealand. If you are not a New Zealand business/taxpayer then it is probably not applicable to you.
Are you worried about paying your terminal tax bill on 7 April?
We understand how terminal tax can sometimes put pressure on your business’ cash flow. Even more so, if it’s worked out that you also owe Inland Revenue (IRD) for interest and late payment
penalties on the unsettled liability. And, if you add into
the mix that looming provisional tax payment due on 7 May (the final installment for the 2015 year)… well, it can add up to a few sleepless nights, right?
IMPORTANT: This post is specific to New Zealand. If you are not a New Zealand business/taxpayer then it is probably not applicable to you.
Minimum wage
The minimum wage will increase to $14.75 per hour. Training and starting-out minimum wages will increase to $11.80 per hour Child support
The amount of child support some parents pay or receive may change. Inland Revenue’s new formula for calculating child support now includes both parents’ incomes and circumstances, and recognises a wider range of care.
Xero has a “secret” transaction type (two – in fact) that many users aren’t aware of, and those that do often mis-use. It’s called “Prepayment” and “Overpayment”. These transaction types are actually variations of the standard Spend/Receive Money bank transaction but they have very unique treatments. These transaction types allow you to record money received from a customer (or paid to a supplier) BEFORE the proper invoice has been received.
PPOP1You access them from the Spend/Receive Money entry screens from the Manage Account menu (but, for some reason, not from the New Transaction widget on the Account Transactions screen).
From the Reconcile screen you need to be on the Create tab, then click “Add details.” The Prepayment/Overpayment options are in the drop-down menu beside the “Spend As” or “Receive As” menu. The default option is “Direct Payment.”
A “Buyer Created Tax Invoice” (sometimes referred to in other countries as a “Recipient Created Tax Invoice” or “RCTI”) is an invoice for sales tax purposes that is created by the purchaser of the goods rather than the seller of the goods. This is common in many industries especially where the purchaser has to assess the quality, quantity or price of the goods after they are delivered.
IMPORTANT: This post is specific to New Zealand. If you are not a New Zealand business/taxpayer then it is probably not applicable to you.
The government has made some major employment relations changes, effective from 6 March 2015. Changes target flexible working arrangements, rest and meal breaks, continuity of employment for vulnerable employees upon restructuring, the good faith provisions, collective bargaining, and how the Employment Relations Authority gives its determinations. Flexible working arrangements
I mentioned last month how important ad extensions are when using Google AdWords (in my opinion, Google AdWords should be compulsory for any company trying to advertise a presence online).
Whilst ad extensions have been around for a number of months, it’s surprising how few advertisers use them, so it’s a big opportunity for you to dominate your keywords. You see, ad extensions make your ad at least twice as big, meaning your competitors’ ads get ‘pushed’ further down the page.
The stats, for once, don’t lie… Digital marketing giant eMarketer estimates that social media platforms boast over 1.73 billion users worldwide. A number that’s expected to climb to 2.55 billion by the year 2017. What’s more, according to a recent Nielson study, 46% of consumers turn to social media to help with purchasing decisions. This means that your prospects are most certainly out there, and they’re relying on the social aspect of the web more and more to help them decide who to do business with. So how can you tap into this incredible opportunity to gain more leads for your own business? Let’s take a look.
Over the years, I’ve spent hundreds of thousands of pounds and dollars on AdWords. Right now we spend several thousand pounds every month on our AdWords campaigns.
IMPORTANT: This post is specific to Canada. If you are not a Canada business/taxpayer then it is probably not applicable to you.
Xero just released a Canada-only update today!! They have enabled the cheque-writing tool (previously only in the US edition) for Canadian users. This is a great addition for us Canadians, given our banking systems complete lack direct payment functionality (we are so behind the times!). BTW, I think that this is the only time Xero have release a change for one country only within the Global edition – it bodes well for us, and I hope that it will lead to a Canadian edition this year. Anyway – to read more about the Cheque Register and Cheque Printing functions within Xero, please visit the Cheque Payments screen in the help system. Here are some basic pointers:
February was the month of ‘LOVE’ so I thought I’d open this month’s issue by focusing on your customers, clients or patients. More importantly, why we need to make them feel ‘LOVED’! (it was timely while I was preparing!) On average, and for a variety of reasons, most businesses will lose between 10% and 20% of their existing customers each and every year. Customers come and go. It’s simply a fact of life. Some of the reasons for customer attrition are unavoidable but others are in complete control of the business. Interestingly, according to a recent survey by the Sales and Marketing Executives International, customers stop buying for the following reasons:
