RA Business Advisors

Xero

Security – The Endless Dilemma

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Internet security

 

In this day and age, nothing takes precedence more than security. When I say security, I’m not talking about locking your front door or installing a home security system. I mean keeping your account and business information secure and encrypted.

Attention-grabbing headlines relating to online scams, hacks, or viruses are endless, we are constantly trapped worrying that our secure data is being uploaded to someone halfway around the world. Despite these endless stories, the internet is still safe for businesses – provided you take necessary precautions.


Information Matters

No matter what hard drive you use, IT guy you’ve got on speed dial, or how locked tight you keep passwords; your valuable information is NOT safe. From accidentally spilling your morning coffee, to a virus infecting your system and stealing all your valuable information.

Viruses have been plaguing computers well before illegal downloads occurred. In fact, computer viruses (or worms) first began in 1971 with ‘The Creeper Virus’. The first worm was simply an experimental program that became self-replicating, and an anti-virus program was created to remove it. Whilst virus and anti-virus are considered quite yin and yang, security packages just won’t cut it when a hacker wants your information.

To defend against these notorious criminals you don’t need to hire a professional anti-hacker for combating worms, you simply need to move your accounting to the cloud. The cloud replicates your data in different locations to make sure it’s both secure and available when you need it. Not even a natural disaster can affect your accounting data.

Your decision

If you’re thinking about moving your accounting the cloud, look no further than Xero. Security is the top priority and Xero takes every measure to ensure your information stays safe. You won’t need to research what cloud company to join, as Xero has done their due diligence and already utilize a secure and reliable company.

Beginners Guide to Surviving Tax Season

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1. Bookkeeping

Whether business or personal, everyone should be doing this in some capacity. Tracking your income and expenses makes tax preparation and filing so much easier for you and your accountant. To file your taxes, your accountant needs an up-to-date balance sheet (businesses), an income statement, and a record of capital-asset activities for the year (buying, or selling of assets).

2. Receipts and records

Record keeping is the number one priority anyone should have regarding expenses. It doesn’t matter if you keep your receipts organised in a shoebox or online, your accountant will thank you.

Protip: Reduce the clutter by choosing software that allows you to upload and store your receipts.

3. More than just receipts

Sometimes a receipt just isn’t enough. I know, it hurts to hear but it’s the truth! Providing fuel receipts for the use of your personal car won’t cut it. You need more information to back your deduction. The most effective way is to create a log. Track your km’s based on business vs. personal. The ATO won’t accept deductions for personal use, so make sure you make it clear how far you drove for business reasons.

Protip: Driving to and from work is NOT deductible

4. Deductions

Business expenses must be ordinary (accepted within your trade) and necessary. It’s also important to separate personal and business expenses, capital expenses, and any expenses related to the selling of goods (cost of goods sold).

5. Tax strategy

Tax-deductible business expenses are a great way for small businesses to reduce their tax liability. This is especially helpful for companies that are aggressively spending in order to expand. These reasons (and many more) are why tax strategies are so paramount for your business. This is why you need to choose a trustworthy and effective business advisor.

Whether you’re clambering to make your 2017 tax deadline or you’re just not sure what expenses you can deduct, you’ll need an accountant that understands your business and its year-long activities.

To speak to someone who will happily get to know you and your business, call RA Business Advisors on 07 3367 0852 and speak about your tax woes today!

 

Make Technology work for you

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Your small business

Running a small business seems great in theory; you’ve got the benefits of being your own boss, extra income, flexibility – the ‘Australian dream’.

When in reality you’ve got hours of administration work, constant pressure of cash flow, and endless hours working on the small minute financial details of you business. With revolutions in technology like the famous ‘cloud’, how come you still have hours of bookkeeping, payroll and the like?

The cloud isn’t the be all end all

Great, you’ve setup your business and transitioned everything into the cloud. Have those hours of painstaking work dialled back? Or has it just gotten worse? The cloud isn’t user friendly and unless you’re prepared to take up another university degree or spend hours reading through multiple guidebooks on bookkeeping, payroll, and marketing. When you’ve got inventory, cash flow, supplies, and clients/customers to worry about, how can you spare the time?

The cloud, bookkeeping applications, payroll software won’t save you time, it’ll just increase your workload.

By now you’re thinking, why did I ever start this small business, will it ever succeed? Don’t worry; you don’t have to handle all of this paperwork on your own. Luckily, there is a major time-saving solution just one phone call away.

 

The truth about the digital age

Going digital isn’t all that, sure it’s great in some aspects but sometimes you really need a human element. This isn’t new to the technological world either. Many major companies such as Apple and Spotify use ‘real human beings’ to create popular playlists.

Not to mention those little food apps like Foodora and Uber Eats that combine technology with real human beings. Would you trust a robot delivering your weekly order of Mexican? It doesn’t even begin with these guys, full stack businesses have been around since smart phones came into existence!

But this article isn’t about your food delivery needs, so let’s get back to the topic of your business. Apps won’t make your professional life easier like they do with your personal. You need a REAL solution; well don’t worry reader that’s where professionals come into play.

And by professionals I mean, accountants and business advisors. Don’t worry you won’t need to open a new tab and scour the internet for a business advisor that actually makes sense. We’ve got you covered!

 

Xero: The beginning of the end

Xero is definitely a life changer, as we’ve discussed before but it can also be a hassle if you don’t know what you’re doing. Small business owners enjoy using Xero as it makes accounting fun but in the long run some are making a mess of things. I mean, if you join a bookkeeping Facebook group, you’ll see what I mean.

Enter: a Xero-savvy business advisor with a free one hour training session. Now before you go rummaging around for your keys, you’ll need to book as everyone knows time is valuable.

 

What if I still can’t get it right?

You’ve gone through your free training session, maybe you’ve booked a few more but you still can’t quite get the hang of it? Lucky for you our tech-savvy advisors know Xero inside and out, so you don’t have to!

And here’s the absolute kicker; choosing a business advisor over a DIY can not only save you time but it’s less risky and less expensive than hiring an in-house bookkeeper. So if you aren’t up to the task of sorting out your payroll, taxes, accounts receivable, and accounts payable, then I advise you to give us a call or book a consultation.

 

Introducing Xero Projects

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September was an exciting month for Xero partners and small business owners in Australia, as Xero held their annual Xerocon conference in Melbourne. Xero utilised the event to announce an abundance of new apps and features, along with some changes arising in the cloud accounting system. One exciting new feature announced was Xero Projects, which is a tool that will give small business advisors like us the ability to collaborate even more closely with our clients. Projects will give business owners the ability to track their jobs more precisely, ensuring easier planning and budgeting and more efficient resource allocation. The essential goal for Projects is to help drive business efficiency and profitability.

Xero Projects Features

Xero Projects is a new simple time and cost tracking tool that:

• Focuses on the financial side of project management.
• Integrates with key Xero features, including contacts, invoicing, and very soon bills and bank reconciliation.
• Provides flexible, easy project invoicing.
• Supports fixed price and time billing.
• Monitors project budgets and financials.

It has been designed especially for small businesses with simple costing needs, allowing for collaboration with Xero accountants who will be able to provide live informed decisions and allow small business owners to manage their business more efficiently.

xero projects

Pricing

For businesses working with Xero accountants such as ourselves, Xero Projects is going to be free to use for the rest of 2017. Following 2017, this feature will initially be priced at $7 per month in the introductory period, then $10 per month thereafter.

We love this new addition from Xero, tools such as Projects are making Xero’s software an even more attractive proposition for small businesses owners – further expanding the platform to achieve efficiency and profitability.

If you are interested in learning more about Xero Projects or any other Xero add ons, our Xero experts are always available for a chat. Get in touch with us on (07) 3367-0852. or schedule a free Xero Consultation session below:

Post Contributor:
Andrés Pascoe

Make the Change to Xero

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With 30 June on the horizon the end of this financial year is fast approaching. If you have been struggling with old accounting software or Excel worksheets why not try eliminating these struggles before the new financial year? Why not change? Xero is beautiful online accounting software that is both easy and affordable to use, so much so that thousands of small businesses have made the transition. Utilising the power of the cloud Xero holds many advantages over other accounting software.

The cloud is, in basic terms, the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product over the internet. The software and data are hosted by a provider on their servers off site which we can access via the internet through a web browser. We already utilise the cloud checking emails, online banking, social media applications and many more. However, the cloud has consumed the way we live because of the power of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets, the ability to access information anywhere and at anytime. For more information directly relating to the cloud please refer to our previous blogs.

Traditional desktop software carries a multitude of problems and with it brings unnecessary stresses:
• Data and system isn’t up-to-date
• Only works on one computer and data bounces from place to place
• Only one person has user access
• It’s costly and complicated to keep back ups
• It’s expensive, difficult and time-consuming to upgrade software
• Customer support is expensive and slowThe benefits of Xero speak for themselves:
• Cloud security is world class (same security as online banking)
• Clear overview of current financial position, in real-time
• Multi-user access makes it easy to collaborate online with your team and advisors
• Worry-free maintenance
• Everything is run online, so nothing to install and everything automatically backed up
• Upfront business costs are reduced – version upgrades, maintenance, system administration costs and server failures are no longer issues
Many of our clients have made the move and loving it.  So if you want to avoid the software induced stress of the next financial year now is the time to change. If you have any queries in reference to changing to Xero please do not hesitate to contact us, as we will be more than willing to help you change over.