Your business accountants should play a key role in helping you make strategic decisions. This includes helping you understand the financial impact of your decisions.

Business owners make decisions on a daily basis about the strategic direction of the business. Your business accountants can assist you in making decisions during:
– expansion
– taking on new employees
– implementing new technologies
– entering new markets.

At BJT, we understand the common issues you might face in business through our exposure to many different businesses over the years. We work with business and family groups to nurture financial well being through good decision making. As accountants, we rarely come across a situation that they have not worked through before for a business. This experience in solving (sometimes tricky) problems is invaluable to any business owner.

Talking to your accountant

Talk to your accountant when you are making business decisions to save time and money in the long run

– If you are thinking about buying a building to run your business out of – talk to your accountant
– If you need to buy a new delivery vehicle – talk to your accountant
– If you are thinking about creating a new job in your business – talk to your accountant
– If you are having cash flow difficulties, and you want to see how long it will last – talk to your accountant

Remember that your business accountants have probably seen it all!

Call the team at BJT Business Advisors if you are uncomfortable or worried about having a conversation with your business accountants. We can help you choose the right path forward.

Better Business, Better Life with BJT Business Advisors

BJT Business Advisors are specialist business accountants based in Berwick. We love working with businesses and family groups all over Australia. Our empathy, along with the experience and expertise, mean our clients are well looked after now and for the future.

Read more about our services here or get in touch with BJT Business Advisors on 03 9709 2600 today to discuss your business structure requirements.

The post Business accountants are your best business resource appeared first on BJT Business Advisors.

Operating a business can be extremely rewarding, but it can also be risky. One of the fundamental aspects of owning a business is ensuring your personal assets are protected from misfortune. Minimising exposure to risk means paying attention to business structure.

Some businesses operate in a high-risk industries – for example, asbestos removal. Others operate in a high-risk environment – for example, restaurants and food preparation businesses. And, many external factors can expose a business to risk – for example, when a customer goes bankrupt. These situations can put a great deal of pressure on your business. Some businesses are sued, and some go broke as a result of exposure to risk.

Containing the damage to only one part of your life is a fundamental aspect of operating a business. Having the right business structure (and good insurance) in place means your personal assets are more protected than if you were operating as a sole trader.

There are a few key business structures that are used in Australia, and each has their pros and cons. Talking to your accountant will help you, as a business owner, to understand what the best structure is for your situation.

BJT Business Advisors can support you to get your structure right, to minimise the potential impact of the risks.

Better Business, Better Life with BJT Business Advisors

BJT Business Advisors is based in Berwick. We love working with businesses and family groups all over Australia. Our empathy, along with the experience and expertise, mean our clients are well looked after now and for the future.

Read more about our services here or get in touch with BJT Business Advisors on 03 9709 2600 today to discuss your business structure requirements.

The post Business structure is more than just tax appeared first on BJT Business Advisors.

We recognise that a clean set of accounts, prepared by a good bookkeeper, provides enormous value to business owners.

As a business owner, you would like to know at a glance, at any given point in time:
– what you owe
– what you are owed
– how much cash you have available

Many online accounting software systems give you this dashboard overview. However, the dashboard is only as good as the data entered.

This is where a good bookkeeper is worth more than their weight in gold.

A good bookkeeper will ensure the information that goes in to your accounting system is error-free and allocated to the correct accounts. He or she will be able to produce reports for the business owner on a regular basis, and be able to interpret those reports. A great bookkeeper will produce a Business Activity Statement with correct GST allocations in a timely way. And, a good bookkeeper will work closely with your accountant so you have the best possible team working towards the “Better Business, Better Life” philosophy.

BJT values the close relationship it has with the bookkeepers it works with

Carolyn says, “a good bookkeeper is our link with the business.
“He or she understands the day-to-day dealings of the business, and can assist the business owner in making an informed decision.

“The ever-changing world of business compliance can be a minefield, and a good bookkeeper can give a business owner the knowledge and information to maintain their lodgement requirements”.

BJT Business Advisors offers a full business bookkeeping service from our offices in Berwick. BJT Books is headed by qualified, experienced bookkeeper Carolyn Keen.

Better Business, Better Life with BJT Books

BJT Books is based in Berwick. We love working with businesses and family groups all over Australia. Our empathy, along with the experience and expertise, mean our clients are well looked after now and for the future.

Read more about our services here or get in touch with BJT Business Advisors on 03 9709 2600 today to discuss your business structure requirements.

The post A good bookkeeper is worth more than their weight in gold appeared first on BJT Business Advisors.

BJT Business Advisors are accountants in Berwick. Bryan James began BJT with a a select group of clients and a principle of teamwork. This principle is about your accountant working in partnership with you to achieve your business goals.

After working with Bryan and the team for many years, Michelle Beadle became the principal partner six years ago. BJT Business Advisors now offers accounting, taxation, bookkeeping, superannuation and business advice for business owners.

Michelle is passionate about her work and her clients.

She says, “we just love working with businesses and business owners.

“Their energy and drive is what drives us to achieve the best outcome for our clients, from individuals to large complex businesses and family trusts.

“We really do believe in our philosophy of Better Business, Better Life”.

Better Business, Better Life reflects everything BJT does

Michelle says, “We work with you to improve your business and give you a better quality of life as a business owner.

“It is a rare business owner that does not wake at three in the morning at some stage along their business journey, worrying about issues that all businesses face.

“Whether it’s cash flow, staffing issues, customer problems or something else, you can rest assured we have seen it all with our clients over the years.

“I think it’s comforting for our clients to know these are common themes among most businesses.

“And, we find that there is always a solution when we work it through with our customers.”

Better Business, Better Life with BJT Business Advisors

BJT Business Advisors is based in Berwick. We love working with businesses and family groups all over Australia. Our empathy, along with the experience and expertise, mean our clients are well looked after now and for the future.

Read more about our services here or get in touch with BJT Business Advisors on 03 9709 2600 today to discuss your business structure requirements.

The post Accountants in Berwick appeared first on BJT Business Advisors.

Investment volatility is the risk of the value of your investment moving up and down. With high quality investments, their values should move up more than they go down.

Investments which are expected to produce higher long term returns (such as shares) tend to experience higher levels of short term volatility.

On the other hand, investments which are expected to generate lower long term returns (such as bonds) usually experience less volatility in the short term.

This can be seen in the charts below which show the range of historical returns for various asset classes over various periods, as well as their long term average returns. As you can see, the longer you hold your investments the less they are affected by volatility. For example, the range of returns for Australian shares in any single year has been -42.4% to 71.3%. However, the range for 10-year periods has been 2.6% to 18.2% p.a.

Note: Investors who redeem their investments after a fall in value turn a notional loss into a permanent loss. If they are high quality investments, this is usually a poor decision, because high quality investments should recover from falls in value.

How you can manage investment volatility

Investment volatility can be managed using three prudent principles of investing:

• Only invest in high quality investments
• Construct a properly diversified portfolio
• Regularly review your investments to ensure they continue to maintain their quality.

^Luke Sheehan is an Authorised Representative of Australian Unity Personal Financial Services Limited (AUPFS) ABN 26 098 725 145, AFSL 234459. This information has been prepared by AUPFS. The taxation position described is a general statement and should only be used as a guide. It does not constitute tax advice and is based on current laws and their interpretation.

This information has been prepared without taking into account the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. Because of this you should, before acting on it, consider its appropriateness, having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs

The post What is Investment Volatility? appeared first on BJT Business Advisors.

Are you organising gifts for your clients and staff and not sure how you will be affected by Tax??

Christmas Parties.  The Australian Taxation Office considers these  as “entertainment benefits” and as such are subject to FBT unless specifically exempt or if they fall under the “minor benefits” exemption.  A minor benefit is provided to an employee or client on a one off or irregular basis, provided the cost is less than $300, inclusive of GST, per employee or client.

For example

If you are celebrating your Christmas party on business premises on a working day with only your employees and clients attending, and supplying finger food is not subject to FBT, however, there is no GST Credit claimable nor is it tax deductible.

Christmas parties held off business premises are exempt from FBT where the cost for the employee and their associate is each less than $300, inclusive of GST. No Tax deduction or GST credit can be claimed.  The cost of clients attending the party are not subject to FBT, and again no tax deduction or GST credit can be claimed on their portion of costs.

Please note that benefits provided to employees at the Christmas function are considered separately when applying the $300 minor benefits exemption. eg:- dinner at a restaurant costing $220 per person + providing your employee with a hamper costing $85 = Total cost of $305.  Although the total cost is more than $300, the provision of both benefits will usually be exempt from FBT under the minor benefits exemption.

Christmas Gifts – Non entertainment gifts provided to your employees are usually exempt from FBT where the total value is less than $300 inclusive of GST.  A tax deduction and GST credit can also be claimed. Type of gifts included are flowers, wine, perfume, gift vouchers and hampers.

Please note that non entertainment gifts handed out to clients and suppliers do not fall within the FBT rules. Generally a tax deduction and GST credit can be claimed for these gifts, provided they are not excessive or overly valuable.

The post 2017 Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) appeared first on BJT Business Advisors.

Go to the column which matches the average annual earning rate your investments should achieve.

Move down that column until you reach the average annual capital drawdown rate (far left hand column) you will be making on your savings

Your drawdown rate is the amount of income & capital you will withdraw from your investments each year, divided by the amount you have invested, multiplied by 100.

The number you arrive at in the table estimates the number of years your money will last.

Example of how to calculate your drawdown rate

Let’s say someone has $600,000 in retirement savings and they require an income of $54,000 p.a. Their drawdown rate is:

$54,000 ÷ $600,000 x 100 = 9%

If their earning rate is say 4%, then their money will last around 15 years.

Tips to ensure our calculator has as much relevance as possible

• If you want your retirement income to increase with inflation, you can take that into account by subtracting the expected rate of inflation from the earning rate of your investments. We expect inflation to average around 3% p.a., so if your investments earn on average say 7% p.a., then you would select 4% as your ‘real’ earning rate.
• If you will qualify for the Centrelink Age Pension you shouldn’t include it when you calculate your drawdown rate. For example, let’s say a homeowner couple aged 65 has $400,000 in savings which earns 7% p.a., (that’s about 4% after inflation) and they require $42,000 a year income. They should initially qualify for age pension of around $22,000 p.a. (indexed). So, to calculate the life expectancy of their retirement savings, they should use a drawdown rate of 5% (i.e. [$42,000 less $22,000] ÷ $400,000 x 100). Given the real earning rate of 4%, this means their savings should last about 41 years.

Of course, our ‘Money Life Calculator’ is just a guide. To accurately assess the life expectancy of your retirement savings you should talk with the team at BJT Private.

We have access to a sophisticated software system which takes into account all of the variables and calculates taxation and Centrelink benefits each year of your retirement.

Strategies to help you stretch the life expectancy of your retirement savings

• Increase your contributions to super before you retire (including using the ‘Transition to Retirement’ rules to create additional tax advantages)
• Arrange your finances so you pay no tax in retirement
• Increase the return you generate on your investments
• Arrange your finances to qualify for higher Centrelink benefits
• Retire later
• Work part-time in retirement
• Lower your income requirement in retirement
• Sell your home for a less expensive home
• Decide to leave less or nothing to your estate

For the majority of retirees, the most appropriate solution usually involves many strategies. As your financial adviser we will be pleased to model different scenarios for you to ensure the right combination of strategies is employed for your situation and lifestyle needs.

Luke Sheehan is an Authorised Representative of Australian Unity Personal Financial Services (AUPFS) ABN 26 098 725 145, AFSL 234459. This information has been prepared by AUPFS.

This information has been prepared without taking into account the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. Because of this you should, before acting on it, consider its appropriateness, having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs.

The post How long will your savings last in retirement? appeared first on BJT Business Advisors.