In the last two months, the world has changed. And with it, business has also changed in ways that are likely to be with us permanently. It is time to think about what the future is likely to bring to start preparing our businesses for the new reality. With bricks and mortar business being impacted by forced closures and social distancing, there has been a rapid move towards remote systems… Read more
We have worked with many businesses over the years, proving that they are being defrauded by their accounts staff. The impact of such theft can be enormous – for example, the payroll manager at Clive Peeters stole over $20 million and bought 43 properties and 3 cars with the proceeds of her crime. Unfortunately, the most common response that we have seen is to sack the perpetrator, hush it up… Read more
The role of the traditional bookkeeper is changing. Traditionally bookkeepers were employed to do data entry – put in all bills, invoices, payments and receipts, and then produce reports. Nowadays, with automation, the role of a good bookkeeper has changed. A good bookkeeper understands your business, and should be able to recommend systems and procedures to improve your business efficiencies. Most businesses are using accounting software – your bookkeeper should… Read more
Freeway is a remote application that integrates with Ostendo. As such it is able to capture valuable information via tablet or phone without needing to access Ostendo. This has extended the use of Ostendo into many new areas, as it enable staff to be able to enter data while in the field, and while out of access to internet. However, because of the breadth of use of Freeway, it is… Read more
What are batch numbers and why are they used? Batch numbers typically are associated with inventory. The Items within a Batch have all been manufactured to the same standards and contain attributes that are unique to that Batch. With manufacturing, you can assign a batch number to the products that are made from the same lot of raw materials, and then track that same number through to the sale. With… Read more
We are counting down to end of another financial year, and we all know how much work is looming in July. So here are some tips to help you get ready in advance to reduce your stress levels and your work levels. If you need any extra help around financial and payroll year end, you can call on us. Speak to your accountant and send your financial statements to them… Read more
Ostendo is operational software designed for businesses that have complex inventory, manufacturing and job/project/service type requirements. There have been some very exciting features released for Ostendo in recent months. Here are just a few of them. FREEWAY We are finding that Freeway is perfect for job based businesses with staff on the road. Freeway is a free app that integrates with Ostendo. It is designed to manage jobs and… Read more
This article first appeared on the MYOB Blog titled ‘Managing BAS and GST‘. BAS stands for Business Activity statement. All Australian businesses that have revenue of over $75,000 (except for not-for-profit organisations which can be over $150,000) are legally required to fill in a Business Activity Statement and report to the Australian Taxation Office. How often do I need to do a BAS? Usually businesses just starting up would report… Read more
The world of Accounting software and Add Ons is growing and developing rapidly. And businesses are enthusiastically entering this world. Add Ons are allowing businesses to automate and streamline their processes, as the add-ons provide the specialisations that accounting software don’t. There is a huge range of Add Ons that provide for many different business specialisations – such as webstores, staff rostering, staff time capture, complex inventory management, Point of… Read more
When a business first starts, it may use a spreadsheet to track its purchases and sales of stock. But it doesn’t take long for a successful business to outgrow spreadsheets, as this is a labour intensive method of dealing with stock that is rarely “real time”. Most businesses will start with an accounting software that has an inventory management system included – such as MYOB AccountRight and recently Xero. As… Read more
Ostendo has just released new features to its jobs and manufacturing work flow. In particular, the new assignment board is going to be a boon to business. What does an assignment board do? It enables a supervisor to easily and quickly see all work that is required and to work out what should be done when and by whom. The assignment board lists all the manufacturing orders due in the… Read more
We are fast approaching the end of the financial year, so it is time to start preparing. Here are my 14 top tips for making your end of financial year easier for you and your accountant. 1. Call Your Accountant The most important thing, at this time of year, is to call your accountant and make a booking to review your year to date financial position. There is still time… Read more
We return from the recent MYOB Roadshow with good news. MYOB has released some exciting new features that will streamline the bookkeeping process further and drive more business efficiency. In particular, the Smart Bills feature is a huge innovation…enabling businesses to automatically receive, store and link electronic formats of bills into their MYOB Essentials and MYOB AccountRight Live software, and have the program record the details of the bill. This… Read more
Experience outweighs Education in Australia! A recent study of Australian businesses recruiting for payroll specialists has shown the experience in using payroll software is an extremely important criteria for businesses looking for payroll staff. In fact, in the study 87% of businesses advertising for payroll staff had a criteria of past payroll software experience while only 3% required any form of certification in payroll. So while we (as bookkeepers and… Read more
In the excitement of setting up a new business, one of the key forecasts of profitablity in the planning process is often overlooked. Breakeven analysis is a really interesting tool in planning for profit, because it allows business owners to calculate how many sales they need to achieve in order to cover all their costs. It is the point at which the revenue of the business equals the costs of… Read more
The Operations Centre enables the users to see the entire history of interactions and interrelationships with: Customers Suppliers Specific customer assets – for example, serial number tracked assets that may be serviced by the business Sales Manufacturing Jobs Purchasing In the screen below, the user has selected a specific customer and time frame. On the left hand side of the screen appears a list of every interaction with the client… Read more
Many businesses start out by buying accounting software, and then use it to run their operations…keeping inventory control, managing the sales and purchasing orders, billing their customers, collecting payments etc. However, as businesses grow, the complexity of their operations also grows and there is a need for software that will manage these processes. Ostendo is one such type of software, integrating with accounting software such as MYOB, Quickbooks, Xero and… Read more
Yes, it’s true. We ARE MYOB tragics…we have been working with the software for over a dozen years, and have helped thousands of clients to use the software in the best way to suit their business. We think we know just about everything there is to know about MYOB. One of our favourite tips in MYOB is how to find particular transactions. How often would we get a call from… Read more
Cloud accounting technology is revolutionising how business operates and as MYOB consultants and bookkeepers we’re at the forefront. So we’ve decided to launch a monthly email newsletter tailored to help you understand the latest and greatest in cloud accounting and bookkeeping. The newsletter will feature a handful of the best articles on the topic that we’ve come across during the month as well as a monthly cloud accounting tip and… Read more
“Hey, boss, the ATO is on the line for you…they want to come out and do a TAX AUDIT!!!” Do you have nightmares about a phone call like this? Even if you are the most honest finance manager, you may still dread a tax audit due to the amount of time and cost that it can take. Do you want to reduce your anxiety about whether you might inadvertently trigger… Read more