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Q: Should financial literacy such as savings plans, credit scoring, personal finance, credit cards, interest rates, home loans, interest calculations, buying and selling and the value of money all form an important component of the high school curriculum?
A: I think it would be good to put into part of the mathematics curriculum. My eldest daughter detested mathematics and needed a tutor to get her through her HSC. She loves Real Estate (so we tried to give her assistance on these areas). Because this interested her she became a human sponge. What she has learned about personal finance and investment due to her interest in the subject since leaving school is nothing short of amazing to me. I think she would have enjoyed maths if these items were covered in the curriculum. Looking at myself I am sure I would have been better equipped if they had been covered when I was at school.
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Q: I use a bookkeeper for my business BAS, and an accountant for my tax. The bookkeeper enters all the business data on an Excel spreadsheet which I give to the accountant with the rest of my information. I've discovered that the bookkeeper has made a major error every year (for 6 years) by entering my receipts incorrectly, so I have paid a lot more tax than I should have. The accountant has had the original documents as well as the spreadsheets. Should he have checked the spreadsheet data??Thanks!
A: Hi Meroula,
I agree with Brendan, you are long overdue for an Accounting Package and a decent Bookkeeper. I have been a bookkeeper for 20 years and I can't tell you how many times I have to go in and clean up rubbish because the bookkeeper was not qualified and the Business owner did not understand the value that a qualified person can bring to the business.
When looking for a replacement ensure that they have at least their bookkeeping certIV and they should probably be a BAS Agent (that way you know that they have to have enough knowledge to satisfy the Tax Practitioners Board.)
It is important that that your Bookkeeper also has a working relationship with your Accountant so that they understand how to provide the best service to you.
I would also suggest "MYOB essentials" as a good starting point for a new user as it is nice and simple to use and learn. Its also easy to correct user error from an Advisors side of things.
Xero is not a bad product but my experience is that very few people that are using it are really using it to its full potential, so they are paying more money than they need to be.
Hope that helps :)
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Q: We had a old company with credit card balance of $25000 then we opened a new company on august 2017 with new myob file.
For some reason i made mistake, instead of paying the old card from old bank account and entering in old myob file, i paid it from the new bank account which is for new myob file and new company.
My boss doesnt know this yet because he did not want anything with old company to go in new myob. how do i fix this without raising red flag?
A: Hi mohinish you simply pay the amount that you paid from new account back to the new account from the old account. If it is a transaction that requires your boss to authorise then i suggest you tell him of the mistake.
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Q: Hi, I have recently purchased half of the Family farm. For accounting/ bookkeeping purpose, is it best to set up a partnership or trust? Open to other suggestions
A: Hi Tammy, as you are purchasing an ongoing concern, what is the current structure? Surely there is a current accounting setup covering the farm and you would become a 50% shareholder. Would this not have been one of the discussions with your Tax Advisor at time of doing your due dilligence on the purchase.
Or am I misunderstanding the question and its merely about a Real Estate Purchase? In which case is there income to be received or a loan to be paid?
As you can see without a fully detailed question its difficult to answer and give an answer that is relevant.
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Q: Hi. I've just started working with a courier franchise. I need my own ABN. Ive never worked with a abn no before and was wondering what is the best way to go about it and reduce my tax and what I'm able to claim. Thanking you.?
A: Hi Dan, its a little difficult to answer your question without knowing more about how you are set up financially with other aspects. But I would think as you are new to this and it sounds like you are subcontracting to a company who owns a franchise not the franchisee yourself. The easiest solution till you get used to running your own business would be to set up a sole trader business - You can get an abn under your own name or you can register a business name that you might want to run under and get your abn against your business name and yourself.
There are a few other items that you may need to understand as if you are subcontracting to one company only - then you may still be viewed as an employee as far as the tax office is concerned.
The best person to discuss any issues that may be relevant would be your tax agent as he/she will know what your current state of affairs are and advise you accordingly how best to proceed. Make sure that they explain things in every day terms so that you understand and can make the best decision on how to proceed.
Remember to anything you want to expense in your business you will need paperwork and documentation to support it, as the tax office can and does audit businesses on a regular basis and the keeping of good records will make life a lot easier in these situations.
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Q: Hi I'm in need of some help in finding some info small business for centre Link. I need to gather up some paper work in which I have no clue where to get it from or where to start ? Since I have just got my abn just to get some money from a company now want use it again. I can't supply all the docs but they want this info which the ato don't even no we got the Abn yet til next yr maybe.
A: Hi Michael,
where to start is a question people often ask. But in order to direct you where to go you need to be a bit more specific about the information you have been asked to gather. The information Centrelink will be asking for will be relevant to Centrelink now, and in relation to what they are currently providing you with and how your being in Business will affect how they continue to provide you services.
So if you are able to be more specific with what they are requiring from you I may be able to direct you, otherwise you might wish to speak to your Tax Agent and they should be able to assist you.
