Support measures to assist those affected by COVID-19

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Options available to assist businesses impacted by COVID-19

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will implement a series of administrative measures to assist Australians experiencing financial difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Commissioner of Taxation Chris Jordan is encouraging businesses impacted by the coronavirus to get in touch with the ATO to discuss relief options.

“We know that many businesses and communities are being heavily affected by the challenging economic conditions created by the outbreak of COVID-19,” he said.

“The ATO will work shoulder-to-shoulder with businesses to assist them through this difficult period and do what we can to ease the pressure.

“Once you contact us, we’ll tailor a support plan for your needs and circumstances.”

“Support measures could include deferral of some payments, quicker access to GST refunds, and options to enter low-interest payment plans for existing or future tax debts.”

We understand this is a time of significant uncertainty and that we will need to be flexible in how we help businesses.

Options available to assist businesses impacted by COVID-19 include:

  • Deferring by up to four months the payment date of amounts due through the business activity statement (including PAYG instalments), income tax assessments, fringe benefits tax assessments and excise
  • Allow businesses on a quarterly reporting cycle to opt into monthly GST reporting in order to get quicker access to GST refunds they may be entitled to
  • Allowing businesses to vary Pay As You Go (PAYG) instalment amounts to zero for the March 2020 quarter. Businesses that vary their PAYG instalment to zero can also claim a refund for any instalments made for the September 2019 and December 2019 quarters
  • Remitting any interest and penalties, incurred on or after 23 January 2020, that have been applied to tax liabilities
  • Working with affected businesses to help them pay their existing and ongoing tax liabilities by allowing them to enter into low-interest payment plans.

Employers will still need to meet their ongoing super guarantee obligations for their employees.

To make it easier for people to apply for relief we will be increasing our presence in the areas of highest impact. A temporary shopfront with staff specialising in assisting small business will be established in Cairns within the next few weeks. In addition, we will consider ways to enhance our presence in other significantly affected regions, making it easier for people to apply for relief. Additional temporary shopfronts and face-to-face options are currently under consideration.

We will also continue to work with the tax profession, other government agencies and local organisations to make sure other impacted communities are also supported during this time. We will ensure our services are tailored to the needs of the community and will work with taxpayers and their tax agents to tailor support to their individual circumstances.

Outside of business, the ATO will also work with individuals experiencing financial hardship, and their tax agents, and will apply appropriate tax relief measures for serious and exceptional circumstances, such as where people cannot pay for food or accommodation.

Unlike the bushfire relief measures, which applied automatically to particular geographic areas, assistance measures for those impacted by COVID-19 will not be automatically implemented.

Anyone impacted by COVID-19 is advised to contact the ATO to request assistance on our Emergency Support Infoline 1800 806 218, when they are ready, to discuss their situation.

Source ATO

ReceiptBank Awards 2020

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Notch Above named 2020 RBX Award Finalists

ReceiptBank is hosting their inaugural Awards to celebrate Accountants and Bookkeepers paving the way for our industry.

Shortlisted as a Bookkeeping firm who has actively paved the way in the industry, leading by example, working with cloud-based solutions such as general ledgers and Receipt Bank, Notch Above Bookkeeping has been selected as a ReceiptBank Awards Finalist in the Bookkeeping Firm of the Year category!

“The Awards provide a great opportunity to celebrate the success of accountants and bookkeepers in Australia, Singapore and New Zealand over the past year. Congratulations to our finalists,” said ReceiptBank’s committee comprised of industry professionals who review all nominations and meet to discuss each submission.

Director Ben Gay said he was extremely proud of what Notch Above Bookkeeping had achieved, with the support of a great team and wonderful clients who work solely in the cloud to achieve amazing results.

“We’re thrilled to be shortlisted and to attain national recognition amongst some of the best bookkeepers in the industry,” Ben said.

“It’s the calibre of the businesses involved that sets the benchmark high. We commend all Finalists and look forward to joining them in Sydney next month.”

Winners will be announced at an exclusive event on 2 April at Sofitel Sydney Wentworth celebrating forward-thinking accountants and bookkeepers to learn best new practices, cutting-edge tools and technologies to ensure future-proof businesses.

Notch Above Bookkeeping is a team of certified Xero bookkeepers and BAS Agents. Based in Brisbane, they help small business clients right across Australia prepare their BAS returns and streamline their bookkeeping processes, payroll and accounting records. Read more here or call 1300 015 130.
square-pay-card_freepik.com

Square and Xero enhance integration, POS features

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If you’re a Xero subscriber using Square, you know how great these solutions are.

Better organised data gives the ability to drill down into sales and gain better business view.

Xero is working to make sure they’re even better when combined, starting with the announcement that the Xero-Square integration has been enhanced for Australian users. You’ll see several new features. 

Pay Xero invoices online with Square

When you create an online invoice in Xero and email it out, you can now give customers the option to pay it instantly via Square. This makes it easy for your clients to settle their bills on the spot with a credit or debit card. Faster payment means better cash flow. 

There’s no longer any need to create duplicate invoices in Xero and Square. And when the payment hits your bank account, it appears in your bank feed and is recorded in Xero. Easy. 

“Many of our customers love using Xero and have shared suggestions on how we could improve the integration,” said Chris Rich, Square’s Australian lead for customer success.

“We pride ourselves on listening to feedback, and have worked with Xero to ensure the new integration has the deep functionality our customers need for their payments and accounting platforms to interact seamlessly.”

Point-of-sale integration

The new integration creates a daily sales-summary invoice in Xero that captures the previous day’s transactions in Square. You can choose to break down the imported data to transaction level. Simply set up your own rules, depending on how you’re accepting payments and how those payment records come in from the bank feed to Xero. 

For example, you can customise and split the sync of data into specific Xero general ledger accounts (such as food sales to your Food Revenue account, beverage sales to your Beverage Revenue account). 

The new integration also captures all point-of-sale transactions correctly including tips, surcharges and the relevant taxes. You’ll be able to easily report GST. And if your business has multiple locations, Xero and Square can now separate transactions accordingly.

Better organised data gives you the ability to drill down into your sales and gain a better view of the business. 

Payment processing integration

In addition to the daily sales invoice, Xero automatically creates bank rules when you connect your Square account. When Square deposits money into your bank account, you’re able to reconcile it quickly. Fees related to Square’s processing fee are assigned to a fees account. 

It’s a feature that small businesses have been requesting, so we think it will be well received by users of Xero and Square. With the new improved feed, it’s easier than ever to reconcile your transactions. You’ll get transaction-level detail exported from Square into Xero.

All of these improvements reduce the need for manual data entry and time-consuming reconciliation of data. 

If you’re using Square and Xero already, let us know what you think of the updates. You can download Square in the Xero App Marketplace or call Xero Platinum Partners Notch Above Bookkeeping on 1300 015 130 for help to get started!

Source: Xero
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Integrated quoting in Xero Projects

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Introducing seamlessly integrated quotes in Xero Projects

A key challenge for small businesses in services industries is accurately quoting for their time and expected costs on jobs.

So Xero has made the process of quoting and tracking profitability on jobs simple with the launch of quotes in Xero Projects. 

Now, it’s easy to estimate jobs, send and track acceptance of quotes, and track costs back to budget, all within Xero Projects. This results in more accurate quotes, easier invoicing and better visibility of profit on every job.

How it works

Create a new draft project

We know that not all quotes end up being in-progress projects, so Xero added a new draft state for projects, so business owners and staff can separate their upcoming or quoted projects from those in-progress. This means it’s always clear what jobs are coming next, already underway or complete. Projects in draft status are only visible to Admin and Standard level users so new leads and upcoming quoted work is kept confidential.  

Estimate the work

Xero added the ability to create an ‘estimated expense’ to capture any expected costs related to the job. This means you can estimate how much a particular item (e.g. crystal chandelier) or group of items (e.g. light fittings) will cost, and how you will on-charge it on the project. When adding an estimated expense, you can choose to pass on the exact cost, add a mark-up, or set a custom price.

Transform your estimates into an online quote

Once you’ve estimated the work, creating a quote is a breeze. You can create a quote from a project based on the project amount or tasks and estimated expenses. The project amount option creates a single line item for the estimated total. The tasks and estimated expenses option lets you select the tasks and expenses you’d like to include.

Monitor quotes and track costs to budget

Users with Admin or Standard level permissions can see all quotes sent from Projects with the creation date, status and expiry date. When an actual expense is added to a project, it can be matched back so you always know how you’re tracking to budget. Multiple actual expenses (e.g. flights and meals) can be bundled into a single estimated expense (e.g. travel). And there’s never any duplication of information required from projects to quotes to timesheets and invoices.

What’s next?

Xero continually invest in and improve Xero Projects and have some exciting updates coming: 

  • Add margins to multiple expenses in one go
  • Invoicing multiple expenses on one line item
  • Marking items as invoiced

We love getting feedback, so please leave a comment and let us know what you think. Not using Xero or Xero Projects? Call Xero Platinum Partners, Notch Above Bookkeeping, in Brisbane on 1300 015 130 today.

Source: Xero 
small business Notch Above Bookkeeping Brisbane

Fuel up with BP and Xero Connect

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Hitting the road?

Xero now integrates with BP Plus Fuel Card in Australia, keeping small businesses on the road without the headache of holding onto physical receipts.

BP has partnered with Xero Connect in Australia to enable business customers to automate the entry of monthly invoices related to fuel expenses into Xero. This solution is perfect for any business that needs to fuel up a work vehicle for business-related trips.

How Xero Connect works

With Xero Connect, invoices flow automatically into your Xero account, eliminating manual data entry, saving you time and helping you increase data accuracy. You can connect to your Xero account via the BP customer portal, provided you pay your invoices directly and not through a third party. You can also select your preferences, including the accounts you want your fuel expenses to be coded to.

Once connected, the BP invoice will flow automatically into Xero as a draft bill awaiting your approval. When the invoice is paid, payment will appear in Xero and is matched to the bill for easy bank reconciliation.

General Manager of Business Partnerships for BP Australia, Mike Hart adds that the Xero Connect partnership is another way BP is making business even easier for our fuel card customers.

“Every business is always looking for ways to do things better: whether it be a little tweak to free up some time, a new tool that grants deeper insight or a fresh system to give more benefit over time. As a result of this partnership with Xero our customers will be able to feed their BP Plus fuel invoices automatically into their Xero account. Ultimately, helping customers save time, gain better accuracy and removing manual entry, giving them more time to focus on their business priorities.”

Keeping your business fuelled for longer

Businesses using the BP Plus Fuelcard in Australia can purchase fuel at over 1,400 sites. BP Fuelcard also offers even more advantages; features include up to 51-day credit terms for Australia, and 24/7 online monitoring provide even deeper detail and help minimise mistakes or even fraud occurring, and the BPMe App even lets you pay from the comfort of the car.

Special new BP customer offer

Right now, BP Plus (AU) is offering new customers 6 cents off per litre until 2020* and up to 51 days interest-free credit. Even after 2020, you’re still set to save at least 2c per litre, every time, when you fuel up. More information and T&C’s about how to apply for a BP Plus Fuelcard (AU) and take advantage of this special offer, can be found here. The BP integration is now available to Xero customers in Australia.

Get onto Xero with Notch Above

Xero is Australia’s most popular cloud-based bookkeeping and accounting software. Transform your business with real-time financial reports by making the switch to Xero with help from Notch Above Bookkeeping. Call us on 1300 015 130 today.

Join the Xero tribe today!

Source: Xero
calculator financials pen

Numbers should tell a story

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Money is a tricky topic for a lot of business owners

There’s the matter of how to account for it, how to present it and, of course, how to raise it. 

In this day and age where accounting has been made a lot easier and financial information more transparent, how should business owners approach their numbers? 

Here are some things we figured out:

Numbers should tell a story 

Proper accounting is more than just compliance. It’s an opportunity to paint a picture of your business – where its strength and opportunities lie, as well as its risks and challenges which, in turn, can help business owners make better decisions. 

But accounting is a technical skill and not all business owners are necessarily savvy in this field. This is where a good bookkeeper can come in. 

More small and medium-sized businesses are leveraging accounting solutions like Xero to get yesterday’s data. Back in the day, this was an accountant’s job. It would take days to collect information from a client and the bank before they could present the numbers. But because cloud accounting solutions do all this already, we bookkeepers get to take more of a role as advisors, reading and interpreting the numbers into actionable advice. 

This is important because business owners don’t always think about this. They see positive numbers and think they’re doing well, so no need to bother checking what’s under the hood, right? 

We knew one business in particular that didn’t realise 82-83% of their revenue was coming from one customer. They knew it in their heads, but didn’t have a concrete number for it. When their relationship with that customer soured, they had to scramble to get back on their feet. 

Had a bookkeeper stepped in to provide advice beforehand, whether that was to take care of that customer or to focus their efforts into acquiring other big customers, the business wouldn’t have had to rely on a single major source of revenue. 

Back then, many business owners saw bookkeepers and accountants solely as the people who could help them pay less tax and comply with the law. But now, thanks to new solutions and emerging technologies, we get to be so much more than that.

Having worked with plenty of businesses over the years, we’ve noticed how the approach to their numbers varies. Some don’t prioritise accounting and financial transparency, while others inflate the importance of fundraising to a disproportionate degree. 

Learning to use and understand the powerful reports inside Xero are critical to the overall success of your small business. The management team at Notch Above are able to work with you to customise advanced Xero financial reports, while identify strategies to increase your cash flow or setup your annual budget. Read more here or call us on 1300 015 130.

Source Xero

ticking clock

Can we help you streamline your accounts process?

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If you need the team at Notch Above Bookkeeping to help you, we will.

We love this stuff! Here’s how we can help:

Book your Next Action Discussion with us so we can go through:

  • Where the money has gone in your business and how to stop this happening again.
     
  • Why there is never any money left to pay the BAS and what processes to put in place to ensure there is next time.
     
  • How you and your staff can save time with admin processes in your business right now.
     
  • How you can reduce the time it takes your customers to pay you so the money is in your bank sooner.
     
  • Which KPI’s would be useful to track in your business so that you can really push your business forward.
     
  • Anything else you wanted to have a chat on … well, nearly anything.

We have a great team who just want to know if you need our help.

And so, in 15 minutes, you can tell us what the biggest financial issue in your business is right now. Your business is worth that time. Here is that link again for booking a slot with us soon. We look forward to talking with you!

cafe counter front of house

STP reporting for small employers started 1 July

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Small business clients need to be ready for STP by 30 September

Reporting through Single Touch Payroll (STP) for small employers started on 1 July.

Your small business has until 30 September 2019 to take action and there is a range of resources available to help:

  • Introductory guide for small employers – to help small employers understand the basics of STP, what your options are, as well as a decision tree.
  • Concessional reporting options – eligibility for these concessions depends on your circumstances. More information can be found at ato.gov.au/concessionalreporting.
  • Product lists – there are two product lists of STP-ready solutions:
    • a product register which provides a list of commercially available STP solutions at api.gov.au/productregister
    • a low and no cost register for micro employers (those with 1-4 employees) at ato.gov.au/stpsolutions; this list includes mobile apps, simple reporting solutions and portals.

There may be circumstances where a business won’t be able to report before 30 September. We can help apply for extra time for you to get ready. More information about STP deferrals can be found at ato.gov.au/stpdeferrals.

Notch Above can take care of all the bookkeeping tasks you would rather not do, like bank reconciliations, supplier payments, payroll processing, invoicing and debtor management and BAS returns. We set up systems and checklists to ensure nothing is missed and things are processed when it suits you. We can be involved as little or as much as you like, we give you the flexibility to decide what’s best for your business. Call us today on 1300 015 130.

Source ATO