Talking Concepts

September 2023

INTEREST RATES

Interest Rates that start from…

5.84% p/a Variable Rate
5.86% p/a Comparison Rate

Based on our lender panel, ING Mortgage Simplifier Variable Rate, provides the most competitive Interest Rate. Interest rates are correct as at 13/09/2023 and subject to change at anytime. The comparison rate is based on a loan amount of $250,000, over a 30 year term. WARNING: This comparison rate is true only for the example given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees and other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. Terms, conditions, fees and charges apply and your full financial situation would need to be reviewed prior to acceptance of any offer or product.

Dates to Remember

21 September 2023 – Monthly BAS – August lodgement and payment due

30 September 2023 – Single Touch Payroll (STP) – end of year finalisation declaration due

21 October 2023 – Monthly BAS – September lodgement and payment due

31 October 2023 – Final date for lodgement of Income Tax Returns if not lodged via a tax agent.

11 November 2022 – Quarterly BAS – September lodgement and payment due

21 November 2022 – Monthly BAS – October lodgement and payment due

28 November 2023 – Quarter 1 Superannuation Guarantee Charge due

21 December 2023 – Monthly BAS – November lodgement and payment due

22 December 2022 – Office closes for Christmas break

ATO MyGov Account

Source: ato.gov.au

By linking your myGov account to the ATO, you can manage your tax and super affairs whenever it suits you.

In ATO online services you can lodge and check the progress of your income tax return as well as update your personal details, keep track of your super and arrange to pay a debt.

To link your myGov to the ATO:

Sign in to your myGov account.
Select View and link services on the myGov home page.
Under Link a service heading, select Link next to Australian Taxation Office.
Select I agree to the terms and conditions of use.
Enter or confirm your personal details.
Answer 2 questions about your tax record.
Select I agree to verifying and linking my record.

If you attempt to answer 2 questions but don’t have the required information to link, a linking code option will appear. You’ll need to phone the ATO to get a unique linking code. We will need to ask you questions to prove who you are. This is to protect the privacy of your account.

Staff Update

We’re sorry to see Shannon leave our bookkeeping team and we wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

Concepts & Results are happy to welcome Halima & Meagan to our bookkeeping team! You may have already been introduced to them if they’ve taken over your file.

The difference 70 years can make

Warrigal Road 1953

Warrigal Road 2023

Feel Good Article

You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere. Why did you spill the coffee?

“Because someone bumped into me!!!”

Wrong answer.

You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup. Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea. Whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out.

Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which WILL happen), whatever is inside you will come out. It’s easy to fake it, until you get rattled.

So we have to ask ourselves… “what’s in my cup?”

When life gets tough, what spills over? Joy, gratitude, peace and humility?

Anger, bitterness, victim mentality and quitting-tendencies?

Life provides the cup, YOU choose how to fill it.

Today let’s work towards filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation, resilience, positivity; and kindness, gentleness and love for others.

Remembrance Day

On the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, a minute’s silence is observed and dedicated to those soldiers who died fighting to protect the nation.

At 11am on 11 November 1918, the guns on the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare. The Germans called for an armistice (suspension of fighting) in order to secure a peace settlement. They accepted the allied terms of unconditional surrender.

The conflict had mobilised over 70 million people, left between 9 and 13 million dead, and as many as one third of these with no grave.

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month attained a special significance in the post-war years. It became universally associated with the remembrance of those who had died in the war.

Originally known as Armistice Day, it was renamed Remembrance Day after World War Two to commemorate those who were killed in both World Wars.

Today the loss of Australian lives from all wars and conflicts is commemorated on Remembrance Day.

We will remember them.

Lest we forget.

Tax Time

If you have not already had your tax return done, it may be time to start thinking about getting everything together.

Remember C&R are nearly 100% paperless, so think about alternative ways to store and provide your tax receipts and information.

Why not create a google drive, dropbox or similar account and create a folder for each financial year. You can save your receipts, emails, straight to this folder as you receive them, and then easily share the relevant folder with our office when you are ready for us to lodge your return.

How long do you have to keep receipts?

For tax purposes 5 years is a good guideline.

There are some situations where you will have to keep records for longer than 5 years and these may include:

Records of depreciating assets

For depreciating assets, you generally need to keep the record for as long as you have the asset for, and then another five years after you sell, or otherwise dispose of, the asset. However, there are different time periods and requirements that apply if the depreciating asset is in a low-value pool or is subject to rollover relief.

Records of capital gains tax assets

For capital gains tax (CGT) assets, you generally need to keep the record for as long as you have the asset, and then another five years after you sell, or otherwise dispose of, the asset.

Petroleum resource rent tax records

Petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT) records need to be kept for 7 years or more.

What does the small business energy incentive mean?

Source: The Knowledge Shop

Announced in the May 2023 Federal Budget, Treasury has released the exposure draft legislation to enact the small business energy incentive.

The incentive allows businesses with aggregated annual turnover of less than $50 million to access a bonus deduction equal to 20% of the cost of eligible assets or improvements to existing assets that support electrification or more efficient energy use. The maximum bonus deduction is $20,000 (i.e., up to $100,000 of qualifying expenditure).

To be eligible for the bonus deduction:

The expenditure must be eligible for a deduction under another provision of the tax law; and
The asset must be first used or installed ready for use, or the improvement cost incurred, between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.

Some further guidance has been provided on what will qualify as eligible expenditure and this appears to be reasonably broad, if somewhat difficult to quantify. A new depreciating asset is eligible for the bonus deduction if:

It uses electricity and there is a new reasonably comparable asset that uses a fossil fuel available in the market (e.g., the taxpayer chooses an electric asset over a gas / petrol powered asset); or
It uses electricity and is more energy efficient than the asset it is replacing or, if it is not a replacement, a new reasonably comparable asset available in the market (e.g., broadly, upgrading to a more energy efficient asset, or picking a more energy efficient new asset); or
It is an energy storage, demand management or efficiency-improving asset.

Improvements to existing depreciating assets may also be eligible for the bonus deduction if they enable an asset to use electricity instead of fossil fuels, to be more energy efficient, or facilitate energy storage, demand management or monitoring.

There are a range of exclusions from the bonus deduction, including expenditure on assets that can use a fossil fuel, assets which have the sole or predominant purpose of generating electricity, capital works, and motor vehicles.

Financing costs, including interest and borrowing expenses, are also excluded.

Modernising Business Registers (MBR) Program scrapped following cost blowout

Source: Corpsec Services

The Modernising Business Registers (MBR) Program

introduced by the Morrison Government in 2019 was to deliver a new modern digital registry system for Australia that would be one source of truth of information and streamline processes for businesses. It would unify the ATO's Australian Business Register (ABR) and the 31 registers administered by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) all in one place in a purpose built contemporary digital registry platform called the Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS).

The ABRS website promised:

Streamlined Services - Making your registry transactions more efficient. Less Red Tape - Helping you meet your registry obligations. Better data quality - Giving you access to trusted and valuable information. It was a long overdue and much anticipated overhaul of our cumbersome and archaic ASIC registry systems and processes. Despite ongoing delays, there was much anticipation pending the launch of the new registry platform, that would eventually link ABNs and director IDs to approximately 2.6 million registered companies in the new platform and would replace the existing ASIC registry system. A system considered by many as no longer fit for purpose.

However, the new ABRS registry platform is now just a pipe dream

In February this year, the Albanese Government commissioned an independent review of the hugely complex MBR Program with findings expected by 30 June 2023. The review was anticipated to deliver a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the program and provide recommendations for changes, improvements and strategies to best position it to achieve its intended objectives. On 28 August 2023, following the release of the Independent Report of the MBR Program by Mr Damon Rees PSM, the Government announced that the program will now be scrapped. While the review considered various options to turn the program around, it ultimately concluded that the program 'could not deliver value for money’ with massive blow-outs in costs and delivery timeline, and accordingly should stop! You can read the announcement by The Hon Stephen Jones MP on 28 August 2023 here:

Ministers Treasury Portfolio

Options and Findings

The detailed report offered 5 options and considered each in detail:

You can read the final report of the Independent Review of the MBR program by Mr Damon Rees PSM released 28 August 2023 here:

The Treasury

Ultimately, Mr Rees recommended the MBR Program be stopped and the return of registry functions from the ATO to ASIC with attempts to save some of the systems developed during the MBR program. He recommended the return of registry functions to a new division within ASIC with additional targeted investments by the Government to uplift data integrity and quality to stabilise legacy systems to deliver improvements to the current registries.

Summary

Registry operations will continue under ASIC in their current form. The legal requirement for directors to apply for a Director ID is unaffected. This is despite Director ID numbers currently sitting idle in the ABRS platform with no immediate solution to linking them to registered companies. We wonder if the Government will deliver on the budget promise to abolish company search fees and exorbitant late penalty fees. We wonder how long Australians and even foreign businesses wanting to enter the Australian market will need to endure current inefficient processes, which continue to include hard copy lodgements via mail, challenges communicating with ASIC for even the simplest of matters and enormous red tape and duplication of effort. We will now need to wait for the Government to regroup and consider how it will improve our business registries. Until then it’s business as usual with ASIC registry, ABRS for director IDs, ABR for ABNs, ASIC Connect, ASIC Regulatory Portal and the Licensee Portals.

Identity Theft

Protect your personal information

Source: Moneysmart.gov.au

If your personal information falls into the wrong hands, it can be used to steal your identity.

If you think your identity has been stolen, report it to your bank and change your passwords.

Signs of identity theft
If your identity has been stolen, you may not realise for some time. These are some signs to look out for:

* Unusual bills or charges that you don’t recognise appear on your bank statement.
* Mail that you’re expecting doesn’t arrive.
* You get calls or texts about products and services you’ve never used.
* Strange emails appear in your inbox.
* A sudden increase in suspicious phone calls, texts or messages through social platforms.

Act fast if your identity is stolen
What to do if you think your identity has been stolen.

Contact your bank
Contact your bank so they can block the account. This will stop a scammer from accessing your money. You may also need to cancel any credit or debit cards linked to your accounts.

Change your passwords
If someone has stolen your identity, they may know your passwords. Change your passwords straight away. Think about all of your online accounts, including social media and other bank accounts.

Report the fraud
If you think your personal information has been used, you can report it to the police via ReportCyber.

Report it to the relevant websites
If you think someone has hacked into your online accounts, report it to the relevant websites.

Alert family and friends
If someone has taken over your social media accounts or your email address, alert your family and friends. Tell them to block the account.

Report it to the ACCC
The ACCC’s Scamwatch collects data about scams in Australia. Your report helps Scamwatch create scam alerts to warn the community.

Contact IDCARE
IDCARE is a free service that will work with you to develop a plan to limit the damage of identity theft.

What to do next
Protect yourself from identify fraud

* Simple steps you can take to avoid identity theft.
* Use strong passwords
* Make sure your passwords are long and contain a mix of numbers, symbols, capital letters and lowercase letters. Strong passwords make it harder for people to hack into your accounts.
* Shred your documents
* Letters from your bank, super fund and employer can all contain personal details scammers can use to steal your identity. Shred these kinds of letters before you throw them out.
* Use public computers with caution

If you use a public computer, for example, at a library, make sure you clear your internet history and log out of your accounts.

* Be careful on social media

Be aware of what you post on social media, particularly if your profile is public. Scammers can find out where you live, work and visit through your posts.

* Use security software on your computer

Use virus protection software to help stop hackers from accessing your information. This software can help protect you if you click on a suspicious link or visit a fake website.

* Monitor your bank transactions

Check your bank statements and online accounts regularly for unusual transactions. If you spot something unusual, check it with your bank and find out if you need to act.

* Request a copy of your credit report

Check your credit report for any unusual or incorrect debts, loans or credit applications. If you suspect fraud, you can request a temporary ban. Find out how to get a free copy of your credit report.

* Secure your mail

Put a lock on your street mailbox so that people can’t steal your mail.

CBA rolls out digital refinancing function

Source: The Adviser

Borrowers can now commence and submit refinance applications online with the major bank as part of a new digital refinancing solution.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has rolled out a new digital functionality that enables proprietary channel customers to not only start their own digital refinance applications online, but also verify their ID, and complete a credit assessment online before finalising their applications with a CBA home lending specialist.

The digital refinancing capability has been rolled out by the major bank to “make it easier and quicker for customers to refinance their home loan online” – and comes after CommBank research found that one in three Australian homeowners would consider refinancing if the process was simple and fast.

It is not available to the broker channel.

Speaking of the new capability, the executive general manager of home buying at CBA, Michael Baumann, said the new functionality was born out of the drive to create a more seamless experience for customers when refinancing.

RBA holds cash rate steady

Source: The Adviser

The Reserve Bank has paused the cash rate yet again as it waits to assess the impact of the previous 12 hikes.

Following its August monetary policy meeting today (1 August), the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has decided to hold the official cash rate steady at 4.1 per cent.

This marked the third pause in the rate-hiking cycle since the RBA began lifting interest rates in May 2022 and the first time the bank has decided to hold the cash rate for two consecutive months in over a year (since March and April 2022).

RBA governor Philip Lowe stated following the decision: “The higher interest rates are working to establish a more sustainable balance between supply and demand in the economy and will continue to do so.”

“In light of this and the uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook, the Board again decided to hold interest rates steady this month.”

Mr Lowe added that this would give the board more time to “assess the impact of the increase in interest rates to date and the economic outlook.”

However, Mr Lowe stated: “Some further tightening of monetary policy may be required to ensure that inflation returns to target in a reasonable time frame, but that will depend upon the data and the evolving assessment of risks.”

Reacting to the decision, Simon Bednar, the chief executive of aggregation group Finsure, noted that Mr Lowe had faced “intense pressure” as the central bank had repeatedly increased interest rates since May 2022 to try and control runaway inflation.

“Given that inflation levels are lower, and the economy still hasn’t absorbed the full impact of previous interest rate rises, mortgage holders would be relieved if the RBA kept the pause button on for a while,” Mr Bednar said in the lead-up to the decision.

“While inflation is still above the RBA’s target range, retail sales are weaker and any further increases to the cash rate risk putting more pressure on the economy.”

The CEO of aggregator Mortgage Choice, Anthony Waldron, said that borrowers will be pleased to see a second hold, however, a stable cash rate didn’t stop lenders from lifting rates on some fixed and variable-rate home loan products.

Mr Waldron added that recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed the “recent spate of cash rate rises is beginning to have a meaningful effect on inflation and on consumer spending”.

Similarly, the executive director of aggregation group Connective, Mark Haron, said the cash rate being held steady for the second time in a row “may alleviate some pressures that borrowers face amid another decrease in inflation rate”.

RBA shake-up

Mr Lowe is reaching the end of his seven-year tenure and is due set to step down from his role next month.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers named Michele Bullock as Mr Lowe’s successor following a cabinet meeting on 14 July 2023. Ms Bullock will enter her new role as RBA governor on 18 September and will run for a seven-year term.

Additionally, as of 2024, the RBA will hold eight meetings a year as opposed to the 11 meetings, which is currently the case.

The new meeting dates for 2024 are as follows:

5–6 February
18–19 March
6–7 May
17–18 June
5–6 August
23–24 September
4–5 November
9–10 December

Mr Bednar commented: “I believe the move from next year to have a few two-month gaps between RBA board meetings will be beneficial as it will allow the central bank more time to assess the impact of its decisions.”

What is Payroll Automation and Why You Need it

Source: BooksTime

Whether you own a small firm or a transnational corporation, payroll automation simplifies one of the most critical aspects of your organization’s operations – the payment of employees. It is vital for enterprises that cannot afford to recruit an entire financial department.

Instead of relying on yourself to do your payroll, trust a specialized app to do the job. It ensures your staff receives timely and accurate compensation for their work in a small amount of time and without mistakes.

What operations may you automate?

Often people wonder if it is possible to automate payroll fully. Indeed, you can trust special software to solve such problems. However, you still need a specialist who will provide the system with the necessary data, monitor the execution of processes and analyze information. Consider the key use cases:

Onboarding and staff transfer: time-consuming procedures often require re-entering information in different structures that store payroll insights, leading to errors. Automatic systems regularly update employee data and send appropriate notifications to stakeholders, ensuring timely payroll.
Paying staff wages is a vital job that not all financial professionals like because it is time-consuming, and any mistake will cause staff dissatisfaction. Automatic management of different stages of payroll makes a settlement with employees as fast, accurate, and economical as possible.
Controlling worker hours: to compute how much workers have earned, a firm must understand how much time they have worked. The advanced application provides professionals with separate tabs for setting their working periods, rescheduling shifts, controlling overtime hours, and more. Timekeeping functions let the administration monitor and report how much time staff spends on different objectives.
Computing and filing taxes: correctly computing mandatory payments can be a complex activity, especially if you have professionals who work in various states. The RPA monitors taxes for multiple regions and fields, applies optimal rates to accrued salaries, and transfers dollars to authorized authorities.

The IRS requires companies to keep payroll tax records for four years. The manual system requires a specialist to keep track of every digit, which is time-consuming and adds to the clutter. Special payroll programs create and save information in one storage so that you can find the necessary insights at the first request of regulatory authorities.

Key profits payroll automation

It is critical to comprehend saving time and capital through payroll automation requires specific resources to adopt the program. You will have to spend more than one day learning all details of a digital solution and training staff, but the initial investment quickly pays off due to the effectiveness of online programs. Let’s discuss other benefits of RPA:

Maximum efficiency and cost benefits: if you’ve ever done manual payroll, you comprehend it takes time and energy. Automated programs take care of the labor-intensive processes so you and your employees can concentrate on rising and expanding your organization. Such digital products save capital and precious hours of activity.
Error reduction: no one likes to make mistakes, but sometimes they occur. A person may forget to indicate, enter inaccurate data, etc. Implementing RPA avoids such errors; every employee receives a fair wage.
Data security: if you utilize digital payroll solutions, you do not need to transmit information by e-mail or in hard copy, where there is a risk the data will accidentally or intentionally fall into third parties. Instead, insights are stored in a secure, central location with limited access.

Most digital products provide workers with personal credentials to view payrolls, determine vacation eligibility, and evaluate their performance. It reduces the burden on managers and creates an atmosphere of mutual trust in the firm.

Some words about payroll automation

Salary is the capital workers receive for their activity. The payroll process includes determining the amount of remuneration and withholding mandatory fees and benefits. Such action may also require making various types of records, e.g., the distribution of paychecks. Payroll is an essential and expensive procedure requiring much time and resources.

The robotic process automation (RPA) technique lets you decrease the number of manipulations a person performs via delegating payroll processing duties to a particular application. RPA in this industry provides a variety of objectives, from computing tax collections to generating payroll reports and handling direct deposit. Automation tools guarantee time and capital savings, especially during the tax period.

Electronic Signing

At Concepts & Results we ask you to sign documents electronically whenever possible. This can be via Xero, Docusign, or Adobe sign.

You’ve helped save…

See our previous newsletters below

Visit us

Want to discuss the above face to face? Come visit our specialised team members to find out more.

612 Warrigal Road, East Malvern PO Box 61, Holmesglen, Vic 3148

Call us

Have any questions? Further discussions on the above can be may be held over a telephone appointment.

(03) 9569 5676

Contact us

For any and all queries regarding the above, you may contact Concepts & Reuslts by emailing us

admingroup@cr.com.au