In this post, we explain the processses regarding your quarterly BAS lodgements, the due dates, and how we would like to interact with you to get your BAS returns done, and keep you up to date with your regular lodgements.
Please watch the enclosed video and feel free to contact us regarding your obligations and how we can assist you.
We hope this update finds you well and in high spirits!
We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to make sure our clients are always on top of their financial game. With tax season approaching, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the goals we set at the beginning of the year and assess how we’ve progressed.
At Fiscal Artisans, we believe that our team members are our most valuable asset. That’s why we’re excited to introduce you to the people behind our financial services. They’re diverse, each bringing their unique skills, experiences, and personalities to the table. From our friendly customer service reps to our highly skilled accountants, every team member is dedicated to providing excellent service and helping our clients achieve their financial goals. We take pride in the fact that our team is not only highly competent but also warm and approachable. So the next time you call or visit our offices, you can feel confident that you’re in good hands with our team of Fiscal Artisans.
We are excited to introduce Kate Boden, our new VA extraordinaire! With her extensive experience in both administrative and customer service roles, we are certain that Kate will be an invaluable asset to our team. Her attention to detail, strong organisational skills, and ability to multitask will ensure our operations run smoothly and efficiently. Not only does Kate bring valuable skills to the table, but her positive attitude and friendly demeanour make her a pleasure to work with. We are thrilled to have her on board and can’t wait to see all she will accomplish in her new role. Welcome to the team, Kate!
To email Kate for any of your requirements from us, click below
G’day everyone! It’s great to have Manish Kalani back in Oz after a decade away. Manish is returning with his family and embarking on a new chapter, Down Under. For those who don’t know, Manish has been an integral part of Fiscal Artisans since the beginning, churning out the financial nitty-gritty that keeps our operation ticking. But it’s not just about crunching numbers for Manish – he’s excited to get acquainted with everyone and get to know everyone on a more personal level. So welcome back, Manish, and all the best for this exciting new phase in your Aussie adventure!
Are you looking to stay ahead of your taxes this year? Look no further than our Tax Planning sessions, held throughout April, May, and June. Our professional team of experts will guide you through the latest tax laws and regulations, providing you with the tools and knowledge needed to minimise your tax bill and maximise your returns. From individual tax planning to corporate tax strategies, our sessions cover it all. Don’t wait until the last minute; book your spot today and make tax season a breeze.
We will be contacting our business clients with a suggested date for our tax planning meeting, but you can also contact Kate at admin@fiscalartisans.com.au or 0400 338 501 to book an appointment. Or go to our appointment booking page for more information and to book in.
Are you interested in investing in property and expanding your financial portfolio? Look no further than our upcoming Property Investment Seminar! Hosted by industry experts and seasoned investors, our seminar will equip you with the knowledge and skills necessary to make informed decisions and achieve financial success. We believe that anyone can achieve financial freedom through property investment, and our warm and supportive community will be with you every step of the way. Don’t miss this opportunity to grow your wealth and build a brighter future. Join us at the Property Investment Seminar and take the first step towards securing your financial future.
For more information, please go to: Property Investment Seminar.
We are looking at recording the session for our interstate clients and will have the video available to watch in the forthcoming weeks.
Managing finances can be overwhelming in the current economic climate – but having the right team of professionals to help you create a plan and prioritize your objectives is invaluable.
With Fiscal Artisans’ team of experts, you can rest assured that your finances are being managed with utmost care and precision throughout every step of the process. We understand our clients come from different backgrounds – whether you are looking to establish investments or reduce your debt – we will work with you to create an effective action plan!
Be sure to reach out for help so we can provide you with comprehensive solutions for your financial well-being. Take the initiative now – pick up the phone and call us for an appointment: let us help you truly make a difference in these economically trying times.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has hiked the official cash rate by another 25 basis points to 2.60%. How will this rate hike impact your monthly mortgage repayments, and when will it happen?
At the beginning of May, the cash rate was just 0.10%. Today it increased for the sixth straight month to 2.60%.
It’s worth noting that the cash rate hasn’t been this high since July 2013, almost ten years ago.
The speed at which the increases have occurred has stressed many. And there are concerns about when it will stop. In reality, the Reserve Bank has probably been too slow, started acting too late, and may keep the rates going too long and then find themselves having to reduce rates sooner than planned.
The time to have started altering the cash rate was probably around July 2021, with small – 0.1 to 0.15% increases perhaps every 1 or 2 months – to cool the market before inflation took off. We don’t know whether there was economic or political pressure to avoid taking action, but we now have an overheated economy struggling to cope with the internal and external pressures evident daily in the news and the financial results personally, locally and globally.
We face further rate rises – perhaps taking the target cash rate to around 4% (a further 1.5% over the next few months) with maybe a pause for 3 – 4 months in 2023 before further ‘adjustments’ become necessary – that could go in either direction. The fact that this was a 25-point rise instead of another 50-point rise points to a possible easing by the RBA as they approach their desired ceiling. Inflation numbers will be key in the coming months – as will GDP and growth numbers. And the October Federal Budget could be a game changer. No pressure on the Treasurer at all!
RBA Governor Philip Lowe said that further increases were likely over the period ahead.
“The cash rate has been increased substantially in a short period of time. Reflecting this, the (RBA) board decided to increase the cash rate by 25 basis points this month as it assesses the outlook for inflation and economic growth in Australia,” said Governor Lowe.
Unless you’re on a fixed-rate mortgage, the banks will likely follow the RBA’s lead and increase the interest rate on your variable home loan soon.
Let’s say you’re an owner-occupier with a 25-year loan of $500,000, paying principal and interest.
This month’s 25 basis point increase means your monthly repayments could increase by almost $75 monthly. That’s an extra $685 on your mortgage compared to May 1.
If you have a $750,000 loan, repayments will likely increase by about $110 monthly, up $1030 from May 1.
Meanwhile, a $1 million loan will increase almost $150 a month, up $1,380 from May 1.
When the RBA hikes the official cash rate, your bank will usually announce its own interest rate hike (and have its own notice period) for variable rates in the following days.
Let’s run through a quick example.
Assuming your monthly mortgage repayments are made on the 20th day of each month.
Let’s also assume you receive a notice from your lender this Friday (October 7) of their own subsequent rate increase, with a 30-day notice period.
By the time October 20 arrives, you won’t be paying higher repayments, as the full 30 days notice would not have passed.
When that 30-day notice finishes on November 6, the daily interest rate you’re charged will increase to the new amount.
That means when your monthly repayment on November 20 rolls around, you’d be charged at the new, higher rate (but calculated only from November 6).
By the time December 20 arrives, the monthly repayment amount you’re charged will fully reflect the new rate.
Some options we can help you explore include refinancing (which could include increasing the length of your loan to decrease monthly repayments), debt consolidation, or building up a bit of a buffer in an offset account ahead of more rate hikes.
If you’re worried about how you’ll meet your repayments in the months ahead, give us a call today. We can work with our associates and look at getting you the best deals on the market – even with your existing bank!
To start that process – and get a clear picture as to what your numbers look like – grab our fact finder at Fiscal Artisans Fact Finder
It has become common knowledge that Optus has had its database breached.
And this has personal relevance to me, as I am an Optus mobile subscriber, with my business (mobile) number and those of my entire family impacted by the breach. I received the ‘generic’ email from Optus on Saturday (12:51 am. Nice they got it out at a time when it was likely to be buried under a plethora of spam emails), so the awareness of the issue came more from the press reports than the ‘genuine communication’ to its customers.
The key issues we need to look at here are:
It APPEARS (as Optus has not been crystal clear yet with this information) that their basic database information has been ‘taken’.
This includes:
Full customer name
Date of birth
Phone numbers
Email addresses
Account addresses
They claim that payment details (Bank and credit card numbers?) and passwords have not been taken – just the identification data. But that is bad enough.
Access may also have been obtained to the I.D. document details provided for the ‘100-point check’ each account holder needs to provide.
This would also mean access to items like:
Driver’s licence – state, number and expiry date;
Medicare card number and details; (They have reported that details of at least 35,000 current and expired medicare cards were accessed)
Passport details;
Other items used for verification could be your electricity account details, rates notice, etc.
The danger here is that these details are potentially enough to create a fraudulent I.D. or to assume someone’s identity to do things like:
How did it happen?
While Optus has been claiming that it was a sophisticated attack, it seems the reality is that they left their backdoor unlocked and the lights on. The door might not have been wide open, but it was not far removed from that situation.
Many business systems are set up to ‘talk’ to each other using an interface or ‘API’ to do so.
To explain this, here is an explanation from The New Daily
In basic terms, APIs are ways for computers to pass code between each other (such as instructions). They are often used to enable services such as Google’s weather alerts, which make use of Bureau of Meteorology data.
They are supposed to be safe because companies usually have authentication rules attached to their APIs – but Optus allegedly did not.
“What we’ve seen is there was an API where you pass a phone number, and a phone number’s just … you just keep adding one, and you cover them all eventually,” Mr Hunt said.
“So why was there an API [without user] authentications? That could be a programming error.”
So the system that Optus was using did not have enough security built into it to stop a systematic ‘guessing’ of the key to access the data. It would be like if I could get hold of your ATM card and just keep guessing your PIN time after time without ever being locked out of the process. In time, with enough guesses, I will get access and can get all of your money. In this case, it only takes one correct ‘guess’, and access is obtained to potentially the whole database.
Data security is becoming increasingly important, and more attention needs to be given to this by everyone in business – even if you are a ‘business of one’ and freelancing or self-employed. Again, look at your contact details, the data you hold on your associates, customers, and finance arrangements and think about what data you need to hold – and how secure it is.
It is often considered that your database is one of your greatest assets in a business, and the reality is, that it is also potentially one of your greatest liabilities or risk factors, as you need to ensure you are ‘protecting’ your position and that of your customer base when you undertake your activities.
So, the potential danger here is that the data obtained won’t just impact activity with Optus. It can impact people in other areas.
I have been asked by a concerned client to check data on the Tax Agents portal, as it appears that some hackers are trying to change details with the ATO. This could result in tax refunds landing in the wrong bank accounts, GST or other tax claims being made incorrectly, or business entities being created to defraud the government, using false names obtained via a data hack to draw funds out from the ATO.
We will be doing random checks of client data on the ATO site to make sure nothing has changed (and if you are an Optus customer, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us, and I will check your ATO data to make sure it is all ok)
After spending over 4 hours on the Optus ‘chatbot’ trying to get some clarity on what has been taken – and running into the same brick wall as everyone else on finding out ‘exactly’ what was released, the action that I took was as follows: (and what I would suggest is done by anyone else who is a current Optus Mobile system user)
The need for security over a business’s data is significant, and everyone in business needs to look at this situation and identify the lessons relating to their own data.
As business owners, we hold a large amount of data on our clients – and also on our suppliers, financiers and associates. And, the more ‘automated’ we make things, the more data we hold to make that possible. E.G. ID numbers such as ACN, ABN, TFN, Director IDs, driver’s licences, bank accounts, addresses, date of birth, etc., are all recorded. If that data is hacked, it becomes easy for an identity to be duplicated or to change and divert the information.
This is how we operate in terms of Fiscal Artisans with our data.
We suggest that all business operators look at their systems and determine if changes need to be made to increase their security over the data they hold.
We are happy to assist and advise around your data management, and we can assist you with associates who can provide you with the services needed to improve your data security.
Meanwhile, please check your own systems and make sure that they are as secure as possible.
After all, you wouldn’t leave your front door open or leave the keys in your car would you?
Treat your data with the same level of security.
Enjoy your weekend – and check your data security!
For more information, or to discuss your own data situation, please email me at stuart.smith@fiscalartisans.com.au or call me on 0409788399.
Stuart Smith CPA
Director
Fiscal Artisans.
Australians have until 20 September 2022 to seek priority allocation of an .au direct domain name that matches their existing domain name.
Anyone with an Australian presence (including businesses, organisations and individuals) can now register a new domain name category, known as .au direct. These shorter, simpler domain names will end in simply ‘.au’ (e.g. mybusiness.au) and complement existing namespaces such as ‘com.au’, ‘net.au’, ‘org.au’, ‘asn.au’, ‘id.au’, ‘gov.au’ and ‘edu.au’.
Existing domain name licence holders have been provided priority to register the .au direct equivalent of their domain names until 20 September 2022, after which domain names that have not been allocated will become available to the general public.
This new option for domain names creates opportunities for businesses, organisations and individuals. However, it could also provide another opportunity for cybercriminals by facilitating fraudulent activity like business email compromise. For example, by registering yourbusiness.au where you have already registered yourbusiness.com.au to impersonate your business.
The ACSC recommends that all Australian businesses, organisations and individuals consider taking advantage of the priority allocation process to register the .au direct equivalents of their existing domain names. In cases where conflicts occur, such as when different organisations own similar domain names (e.g. mybusiness.com.au and mybusiness.net.au), priority allocation will help determine who can register their .au direct equivalent. Until 20 September 2022, registrants of .au domain names licensed before the launch of .au direct have priority to apply for the matching .au direct domain name.
After this date, it may be possible for ‘cyber-squatters’ to register ‘your’ domain name and seek to impersonate your website or use it for various fraudulent activities, or simply ‘squat’ on your name and potentially look to sell your own site back to you.
Businesses, organisations and individuals who have registered a domain name outside of Australia can also consider registering an .au direct domain name. For example, a business that currently holds mybusiness.com should consider registering mybusiness.au. This will prevent cybercriminals from registering these domain names and using them for attempted financial fraud.
You can reserve your .au direct domain name by visiting an auDA accredited registrar.
If your business or organisation is a victim of business email compromise or other fraudulent activity, please report the incident to the ACSC through ReportCyber or contact 1300 CYBER1 for support. auDA also has a complaints process available you can access through their website.
You have done more in the last financial year than just survive, but it has been hard!
This is the time that we turn our attention to our year-end obligations – namely, preparing financial statements and preparing tax returns, and looking at how well (or otherwise) we have done for the year.
For many, the financial statements and tax returns that we prepare are a ‘historical document’. It is a look at the numbers ‘in the past’. But what it can be, is a roadmap to the future – the starting point to your next trek.
What do you have your sights set on for 2021/2022? How can we Go Beyond The Numbers to help you achieve it?
With another financial year over, and one which for so many will have been one of the hardest ever faced, it is beneficial to look at your current situation and reflecting on your successes, not just what has or has not happened.
For many, being in business is a bit like trying to climb Mount Everest.
It is tough!
The air is thin up there, and it seems like something many dream about, but few succeed at actually doing. And no matter how hard you try, you feel like it is all uphill, all the time. And if you fall, the crash will be hard, and deadly.
Let’s look at The Numbers
Many people know that Mt Everest is over 29,000 feet, or over 8,800 meters tall. To scale the mountain, people usually start at one of the two base camps, which are over 5,000 meters above sea level.
To many, it seems an insurmountable task.
But let’s look at this differently, and Go Beyond The Numbers
One of the things that I have been doing for a while is checking in regularly with my business coach. Michael has been a client, friend, confidant, and business coach for some time now. He has helped me look at many aspects of the business, my processes, and, more importantly, the values and ethics inherent within my organisation.
In one of our recent meetings, we looked at the last year or so and set the targets for the year ahead (his and mine). As part of this discussion, we acknowledged that we had done more than just ‘survive’ with what we have been doing over the last few years.
He described it as ‘being at Mt Everest base camp’, having got there under our own power.
Let’s unpack that and how this relates to what you do.
To get to base camp, there are a few options.
You can fly in;
For many people, ‘just getting to base camp’ is a success. It means that they have gone from ‘zero’ – sea level, starting with nothing but their personal skills and knowledge – to scale a height few people achieve. They can stay there and ‘live’ quite successfully.
In business terms, it means you are running your own business, paying your way, covering your living expenses, and providing for yourself and your family, without having to ‘go back downhill’ and ‘work for wages’ (or get financial support from family or friends to survive). You have ‘got the combination right’, and you are not staying awake at night, wondering how the gas bill will be paid next week.
Having ‘walked up to base camp’, you have developed the strength, the skills, and the resilience to maintain your position at a high altitude. This is something that you need to both acknowledge and celebrate.
In some cases, people have ‘flown’ into base camp without acclimatising to the rarefied air. For most of these people, being at base camp is simply a ‘holiday’, and they cannot stay for very long.
And you are not just surviving. You are thriving.
Think of it this way. The Everest base camp is over 5,000 meters above sea level. Everest is under 9,000 meters. So, if you have ‘achieved base camp’, you are more than halfway there already. Going further is not ‘starting from the bottom’ at all.
For some, yes, that is the goal, but it is not the ‘only’ goal.
When you get to base camp, it is not hard to look around and see that there are a wide range of mountains that can be climbed. You don’t have to choose ‘Everest’ and be done with it.
Your choice can be completely different to anyone else, or you can simply stay at base camp.
In a business context, that choice could be:
The choice is yours. But it is not a choice that means you need to ‘start again’, nor is it something that you need to do ‘alone’.
At base camp, to climb the heights, the first thing you need to do is:
The Sherpas are the experienced, local climbers who ‘know the mountain’. They carry the loads needed to support you on your mission, and the local knowledge and guide and support you to achieve your goal of summiting the peak.
In a business context, the Sherpas come in several forms. It is the team of advisers – accountants, lawyers, bank and finance support, coaches and mentors who work with you.
It is also the ‘tools of the trade’ (in the business and finance context) that we use to help you keep on track – and helping to ensure you don’t fall down a crevasse. Tools such as Xero, and add ons like Dext (for data collection) and cashflow tools to keep you on top of your financial information are part of this. Your systems and processes, the way you do the things you do. Your marketing, social media, etc.
And the setup and structure that you ‘wrap’ around your business – with all the statutory and regulatory requirements in place to keep your trek in line.
This is what we mean by ‘Go Beyond The Numbers’. We look at the results, ask questions, and work with you to achieve your next peak. We ‘assemble the sherpas’ and come on the trek with you. We help you mount the summit, and take pride as you stake your claim on the peak.
As an example, amongst the projects we are assisting clients with are the following:
a) Redevelopment of a regional property into a multi-unit dwelling, to retain one and use the others to build an investment portfolio;
b) Analysis of a business for sale (and undertake stocktakes and financial lending arrangements) to enable a client to expand their existing business beyond its current regional spread;
c) Convert a client business from ‘sole trader’ to a corporate structure, to both reduce total tax payable and expand their opportunities to grow their business;
d) Rent or buy? A client wants to look at whether to buy a small property to run their business out of, compared to renting a facility; And assist with the bank’s information needs for this.
e) Using property investment to reduce the tax a client pays this year and build an investment portfolio for retirement for their future. (or to ensure that their kids have somewhere they can move into in the future!)
f) Manage my portfolio! Would you please help me keep track of my share purchases, sales, dividends etc.? Even Crypto if you can (and, yes, we can)
In all of the above cases, we are working with our clients, helping them to ‘lead the trek’. We “assemble the Sherpas”, be it professional advisers (finance brokers, share traders, lawyers, etc.) and tools of the trade – software, data, reports etc., to help to make things happen. The only limitations (besides legal issues!) are your imagination and desire to make things happen.
So, having got to base camp and realising you are breathing the clean, thin air of achievement, where do you want to go next?
What is your Everest?
Name your peak, and let’s go! We can make 2021/22 the time of your next achievement, plan, take action, and make it happen.
What is it going to be? Call or email me, and let’s talk about it.
Onwards and upwards – and let’s Go Beyond The Numbers.
Stuart Smith
Director (and Head Guide)
Fiscal Artisans
