Making Your Tax Easier by Preparing in Advance

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

5 Accounting Add-Ons Retailers Ought to Know About

By now, it has become clear to businesses, including retailers, that the cloud is not simply a fad, it is a business computing model that is here to stay. According to a survey conducted by KPMG International, 70 percent of the respondents are confident that the cloud effectively delivers multitudinous efficiencies that ensure cost savings. There is a great deal to gain for retailers who move their POS and accounting…  Read more

What you ought to know about MYOB’s new updates

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

Looking for More Payroll Work? Here’s what you need to know

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

Breakeven Analysis : Profit Planning

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

Add-On Review: Kounta Point of Sale

Are you battling with that old cash register or with clunky old POS system? Are you ready to lift your game and get with the times? Kounta is a Cloud based system that is easy to setup and get start trading almost immediately. The best part is that it allows you to use it on iPad, Android Macs or even your existing computer. It links seamlessly with hardware and provides…  Read more

What I learnt at MYOB PartnerConnect and Xerocon

[Image: MYOB]It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks attending two of Australia’s national conferences MYOB PartnerConnect and Xerocon. At MYOB PartnerConnect our business 2 Peas Pty Ltd was once again awarded the Victorian Top Sales Partner and National Top Sales Partner for 2014. This is now 6 consecutive years in a row. Woo Hoo!! Both events were presented to bookkeepers, accountants and certified consultants Australia wide. The event hosted an…  Read more

Third Party Accounting Add-Ons May Just Save Your Business

In the past, businesses used server-based systems for their accounting and operations. The systems were either huge packages that cost the same as our national debt or were standalone systems that didn’t integrate with any other system, required duplication of entry and were prone to human error. These systems were propped up by a multitude of spreadsheets, to compensate for the shortfall in functionality provided. With the advent of cloud-based…  Read more

Using the Operations Centre in Ostendo

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

An Ostendo Guide : 6 Core Features to Complement the Growth of Your Business

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

Finding Your Transaction in MYOB : Confessions of a MYOB tragic

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

How The Cloud Can Revolutionise Your Business

The revolution of CLOUD accounting has brought so much value to the world of business. The market offerings are getting better by the day. Cloud brings enormous flexibility for business as well as collaboration between business owners, bookkeepers and the accountants. The introduction of live bank feeds by software providers also improves accuracy of data which bring further efficiencies. Flexibility You now have the flexibility to work anywhere anytime from…  Read more

Talking Business Partnerships with Eagle Waves Radio : PODCAST

We are almost at the end of another fabulous month and once again 2 Peas were invited to take part on a popular Sydney radio station called Eagle Waves Radio in the heart of Sydney. The studio was located on busy George Street Sydney inside a popular café called Vivo. It is the creation of passionate small business advocate and multi award-winning business owner Angela Vithoulkas. Angela’s passion is to…  Read more

Use a BAS Agent and Stress Less

“Doing the BAS” is one of the real low points of business ownership for many people. Business Activity Statements are complicated and time consuming to prepare, taking you away from more important business tasks – or eating into your personal time! Unless you’re an expert, you’re probably going to pay more than you really need to. Worse, you could mess it up and underpay your taxes. The Australian Tax Office…  Read more

‘Cashing in on the Cloud’ MYOB Webcast Recording

I was excited to be invited to take part in a MYOB live webcast presented by David Koch of Sunrise and Business Builders on Tuesday in sunny Sydney. Joining me on the expert panel to discuss ‘Cashing in on the Cloud’ was MYOB CEO Tim Reed and Smithink 2020 director David Smith. What a fabulous experience it was to meet one of my favourite celebrities in David Koch. A true…  Read more

Launching Cloud Bookkeeping Email Newsletter

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

MYOB Essentials – Are you in the CLOUD yet?

Cloud accounting is no longer the future – cloud accounting is here and the market offerings are getting better and better each month. The most popular cloud accounting players in the Australian and New Zealand markets is MYOB, who have several cloud products. MYOB Essentials is geared mostly for businesses without complex operational needs. Because Essentials is totally online, it suits businesses that don’t want the expense of buying and…  Read more

Small business tax tools

“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

Is my bookkeeper taking me for a ride?

I’ve come across many clients asking the same question: “Is my bookkeeper taking me for a ride?” As accounting software experts, there is not much we haven’t seen at our firm. The most important thing in any business is to ensure you hire a professional and experienced bookkeeper that you can trust. It surprises us how many business owners opt for price over quality when engaging people to look after…  Read more

Avoid a GST audit with these simple principles

The thought of a GST audit would frazzle most people. Unfortunately, it does happen and could happen to you. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) conducts GST audits to ensure businesses fulfil their legal obligations and operate appropriately within the system. These audits may be conducted by phone and/ or visit from the ATO to check the integrity of information lodged. Some of the key factors that may raise concerns are:…  Read more