ESS BIZTOOLS - Business Advisory Services Update Podcast

Benchmarking is a great tool for accountants to utilise to analyse a business so that information on the business' performance can be conveyed to the directors, owners, leadership team. To enable credible figures to be produced, it is very desirable that the individual departments within a business are segregated so that separate Profit & Loss Accounts, Key Performance Indicator Reports, Budgets a...

Now is the time for accountants to be having a cup of coffee with SME clients to help set the business' strategic plan for 2021. Some of the questions that you could ask include: What are your top 5 sales lines? What mark-ups do you make from these products? What are your bottom 5 sales lines?..... Read The Full Article Here

As we consider the challenges, potential problems and rewards that might be possible in 2021, SME leadership teams and their accountants could do well to incorporate the strategies of "scaling up" in their strategic plans for the next few years. The key concepts of "scaling up" require businesses to: Attract and keep the right people - leadership team and team members with adequate training and mo...

There are numerous other areas in the strategic planning process in which accountants can assist SMEs, including: Review of charge out rates being utilised by tradies to ensure that the charge out rates will ensure that, if productivity is in accordance with the estimates, the targeted profit will be generated. Review of retail businesses' expectations of product mix and mark-ups relative to those...

There is a strong expectation that 2021 will be a better year than 2020.  However, this will not occur unless there has been some strategic planning undertaken over the next 4 weeks so that the strategies and expectations for 2021 are identified and promoted to the team.   Accountants, who are supplying Business Advisory Services, will be able to assist SMEs to clearly identify strategies for this...

rowd Sourced Funding Equity Raising has certainly introduced new opportunities for SMEs as well as for accountants and business advisors. SMEs can access a retail investor audience for a fraction of the typical cost for public companies under a prospectus. Proprietary limited companies can now have a potentially unlimited number of investors under the Crowd Sourced Funding regime (previously limit...

Accountants could spend some quality time with their SME clients at present planning their business strategies for 2021. Why not have a cup of coffee with your clients and discuss these strategies with them, particularly those clients who have received JobKeeper payments. In the Business Advisory Services Update Webinar/Conversation on Wednesday 9th December at 11.00am AEDT (10.00am AEST) Mark Hol...

There are hundreds of government grants available from the Australian, State and Territory governments, primarily targeted at businesses with turnovers under $50 million per annum. The range of services that government grants will finance include: -  Funding of research and development activities undertaken by a company at a rate of 43.5% of eligible research and development expenditure. -  Up to...

Debtors' management is often not given a high priority in a business and this can lead to high levels of debt owed to the business. Accountants can assist their clients to improve their debtor's management systems by encouraging a monthly calculation of "Debtors' Days Outstanding". Debtors efficiency will be enhanced by the utilisation of a written debtors' management system which will assist the...

Matt Vitale, Co-Founder of Birchal, Crowd Sourced Funding Intermediary, indicated this week that during 2020 his company had assisted more companies than it had in 2019. Birchal expects to assist even more companies to raise capital during 2021. To be eligible, a company needs consolidated turnover of less than $25 million, gross assets under $25 million and not listed on a stock exchange....   Re...

Young companies can qualify for the "Early Stage Innovation Company" status by passing the "Principles Test". Five questions need to be answered: Is the company genuinely focused on developing for commercialisation one or more new, or significantly improved products, processes, services, marketing or organisational methods? Is there high growth potential?.... Read The Full Article Here

Section 708 of the Corporations Act enables a private company to raise up to $2M in a 12 month period from a maximum of 20 retail investors. "Retail Investors" are defined as people who are not "Sophisticated Investors". "Sophisticated Investors" are people certified by an accountant as having a net wealth of $2.5M or, for the last 2 years, had a gross income for in excess of $250,000. There is a...

If you haven't already planned your strategies for 2021, now is a great time to be holding some "think tank" meetings to identify key strategies that your accountancy firm should be implementing during the next 12 months Following on from the Com Bank "Accounting Market Pulse Report" which identified that Business Advisory Services would be the most in demand service supplied by accountants in the...

There are 3 distinct capital raising opportunities for SMEs, as an alternative to borrowing money from a bank.   The capital raising requires companies to issue shares to new shareholders and, in so doing, the company and its directors avoid having to offer security, sign personal guarantee documents and make monthly repayments....   Read The Full Article Here

The consequences of not registering on the Personal Property Securities Register can be very expensive. Risk management is very important for every business and one of the major risk categories that accountants can assist clients on is an awareness of the Personal Property Securities Register. Every business should develop a policy of registering customers on the Register so that the business..  ...

Businesses that provide enabling or supporting technologies, imports or services to drive business growth or improve business competitiveness in one or more of the government's targeted sectors can also access the grants of up to $20,000, on a 50% funding basis, to undertake virtually any activity which will contribute to an improvement in the company's performance.  The types of businesses which...

The Australian government, via the Entrepreneurs' Program, operates the Business Growth Grant Program which is targeted at companies which operate in the following targeted segments: -  Advanced Manufacturing -  Food and Agribusiness -  Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals -  Mining Equipment, Technology and Services -  Oil, Gas and Energy Resources   Read The Full Article Here

In my discussions with accountants it is obvious that, if an accountancy firm decides that it's going to offer Business Advisory Services, there needs to be a marketing campaign to alert clients & prospects that the firm is offering a broader range of services. If there is no marketing campaign, how is the target audience going to know that the firm is now able to assist with the verification of c...

At the Accounting Business Expo held on 16/17 November the number of presentations relating to Business Advisory Services was very high – probably the highest ever for this type of forum. A wide variety of speakers spoke on numerous components of the services that accountants could deliver under the banner "Business Advisory Services" and "Chief Financial Officer Services". This response adds sign...

Accountants can assist professional practices by implementing a strategy for the setting of charge out rates to ensure that the key components that contribute to a professional practice generating a profit have been considered.   The key component for the calculation of charge out rates include:   Read The Full Article Here

In the first presentation of our new Business Advisory Services Update weekly webinar presentations I'll be joined by Amanda Gascoigne, Chartered Accountant, Coach and Mentor, Amanda Gascoigne Consulting and we'll discuss the issues of 'resetting your practice', particularly as it relates to servicing tradies' businesses. How many tradie business clients does your accountancy firm have?....     Re...

  This is an overview of my presentation to the "Accountancy Business Expo" this afternoon at 1.30pm AEDT (12.30pm AEST).  Register for your FREE ticket to the Accounting Business Expo - https://secure.terrapinn.com/V5/step1.aspx? E=10138&p=1&_ga=2.139956148.680047742.1604884253-2119313395.1604884253 The key items that I've included in this presentation cover the major issues that, I believe, are...

A common question that accountants hear from retailers is "Why, if we are selling so much product, aren't we making a profit?" In my presentation to the Accounting Business Expo on Tuesday 17th November at 1.30pm AEDT (12.30pm AEST) I'll briefly discuss this very important question.  Register for your FREE ticket to the Acco....   Read The Full Article Here

Accountancy firms have experienced significant increases in work activity directly as a result of assistance being given to business clients relative to surviving the COVID-19 crisis. In many respects this is the first prolonged experience that many accountancy firms have had with delivering a broader range of professional services (commonly known as 'Business Advisory Services') to assist clients...

Many accountants have large numbers of tradie businesses as clients. In my presentation to the Accounting Business Expo on Tuesday 17th November at 1.30pm AEDT (12.30pm AEST) I'll discuss the proactive role that an accountant can play to assist individual tradie businesses set realistic targets and then assist those clients to achieve those targets by ongoing support during the year. Register for...