Australian SME Business News and Accounting Articles

Marketing remains as an important process that can determine the growth of a small business. Marketing must be parallel to the entrepreneur’s goal, size and nature of the business, target market, and the key product or service. Global professionals have come up with reliable marketing tips and strategies to help entrepreneurs reach their business goal within a little time.

Just recently, it has been revealed that almost 7000 of WA's small businesses have had a tax windfall.

A one-off payroll tax rebate awaits the almost 7000 WA’s small businesses as the Barnett Government commits to reimburse up to $41,250 each for the payroll tax in an attempt to bolster the non-mining parts of the economy.

But the WA’s small businesses will have to wait until next year to get the cash.

Yes, businesses can also benefit from Facebook. Though accounting software for small business are still among the most important tools, Facebook can also be a way to increase sales and reach more probable customers. How to do this? Here are some ways.

Setting up a business in this time of economic uncertainties can really be difficult. If any business does not sell or prosper, the investment would be wasted along with the time and efforts invested into it. But these things can be avoided if we try to look into what is probably going to sell in the next few days and months.

Small businesses have done well over the Christmas period. The sales that they made over the said period had exceeded what was initially expected. However, the general figures of the calendar 2011 did not prove impressive despite the subdued conditions of the market.

Compared to the same month last year, the sales trends of small businesses show that in December 2011, there was an increase of about 3.3 percent according to ANZ Banking Group’s monthly Small Business Sales Trends. The report added that the growth had been continuous for eight months due to good performances in the mining states, and non-retail and service sectors.

A recent survey reflects that among the top priorities of small and medium business this 2012 are customer relationships and increasing business activity in the markets.

This was according to the Business Monitor Survey which was released recently by MYOB, a management service provider. And yes, the customers remain the main focus of small and medium businesses.

"Customers will understandably remain the core focus for Australian SMEs in maintaining and strengthening their business health in 2012, with our research finding more than one third of businesses are set to increase activity around attracting customers' attention and building their loyalty,” said Tim Reed, Executive Chief of MYOB.

Only 48 percent of businesses are expecting an improved performance in the coming 6 months, according to Westpac Local Business Sentiment Survey. Furthermore, it said that this figure is 11 points down from the May survey. Among those that cause the biggest worries are increased costs and declining revenue.

From just 33 percent, there are already 40 percent of respondents who now believe that it is becoming more difficult to run a business.

At present, half of firms are already adapting cloud computing in their business processes after being convinced of the technology’s benefits. According to a new research by Spiceworks, a social business network company, a good 46% of the total 1,200 small and medium-sized businesses is already using this online accounting.

In CloudPro’s report, this figure reflects an increase from what only used to be 28% who were using the Australian accounting software earlier in 2011.

"Despite market fluctuations, 2011 proved to be a great year for disruptive technologies as SMBs increasingly adopted tablet computers, cloud services and virtualisation technology," says Jay Hallberg who is the co-founder and vice-president of marketing at the research study.

According to the results of a survey of accountants, the Australian small business owners’ financial performance will be negatively impacted by the introduction of a carbon tax.

Data from a survey conducted by the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) shows that 70 percent of the respondents are worried about the financial performance of their small business clients as they believe that their small business would be negatively affected while 66 percent believe that enough consideration about how the tax will impact SMBs have been provided.

IPA chief executive, Andrew Conway, commented on the survey that IPA members were trusted advisers to the Australian small business community. Furthermore, he believed that the perceived bleak outlook for the small and medium business sector over the next 12 months is very alarming for them.

New figures indicate small business owners are anxious about tax time.

A massive 91% of new small business owners have very little understanding of their annual tax obligations, while 84 per cent are unsure of the things they can claim as a business expense. This was revealed by the American Express Tax Time Survey.

According to Jason Fryer, head of small business services at American Express, understanding GST and the consequences of making a mistake cause a lot of worry amongst small business owners.

“Setting up your own business can be like jumping into the unknown. Our Tax Time Survey shows that completing the business tax return for the first time is often fraught with anxiety,” he said.

Research has shown that the biggest challenge of small businesses today is cash flow. Delinquent accounts increased by 20 per cent in the March quarter with payments over 90 days late.

This problem has been caused by customers delaying payments. The situation is compounded as the government incentives of 2009-2010 have already ended before the economy has reached the level required by small businesses to survive. To add to the problem, the natural disasters in Queensland and Victoria had adverse effects on small businesses in parts of Australia.

On a national perspective, the difficulty of small businesses is not reflected as it is heavily influenced by the mining industry’s momentum.

COSBOA, or the Council of Small Business of Australia, has given a warning that the upcoming minimum wage increase will definitely hurt small businesses.

Fair Work Australia has lifted the minimum wage from $569.90 to $589.30 per week last Friday (3rd June). The increase of $19.40 per week has come midway between the union’s call for a $28-rise per week and the business bodies’ call of a $10 increase. COSBOA is among the business bodies.

According to COSBOA executive director Peter Strong, the ruling is a pay decrease for small businesses even if employees are a getting a pay increase.

“People need more money and we understand that, but small businesses don't get a lot of money,” said Strong. “At the moment, small business is a lot of hard work. We're just here to make a living and it impacts on small business owners' family income,” he added.

The Coalition’s plans for the tax office to process superannuation payments on behalf of small business have been welcome by the Council of Small Business Organizations of Australia (COSBOA). This proposal has been dubbed as the “first real removal of red tape for the sector in memory.”

The coalition proposes that small businesses will be allowed to transfer its total employee entitlements to the Australian Taxation office and the Taxation Office will distribute the payments to the relevant super funds.

There is more willingness on the part of small businesses to borrow. This is due to increased competition amongst the banks. A significant boost to the big four’s loan books may not show for a few months yet.

Businesses of all sizes have shown their willingness to borrow over a 12-month horizon since November 2010. However, research firm, DBM consultants reported on Tuesday that expectations declined in April for all except for the smallest micro-sized enterprises.

According to Wikipedia, a small business is a business that is privately owned and operated, with a small number of employees and relatively low volume of sales. Small businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorship. However, any small business need not stop at this level. There could be a chance that this will work out for another person or group in the form of a franchised agreement.

Franchising, in principle, is practicing another company’s or firm’s business model based on terms and conditions or an agreement.

In an effort to speed up resolutions to small business disputes and to minimize costs incurred by small businesses involved, a new national small business tribunal has been created by the Australian government.

Nick Sherry, Federal Minister for Small Business, was the one who proposed this tribunal option in an options paper that was released.

A business lobby group says that the confidence in small businesses has remained weak. This is primarily because of the high Australian dollar and the likelihood that interest rates will be raised.

The index for business conditions was 43.8 points in the March, quarter which is only higher by 0.1 compared to the previous period. This was revealed in the small business survey by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry or ACCI. Figures below 50 indicate a contraction in the economic conditions of small businesses.

They had expected a better performance of 49.3 index points.

Tough weather and economic conditions may have hit Queensland earlier this year, but a recent survey says Queensland’s businesses remain upbeat.

Although Queensland was found to be below the national average in terms of “happiness”, its outlook is positive. This was according to Westpac’s Local Business Sentiment Survey.

“What we found interesting was that even though Queensland is doing it especially tough it registered a happiness score of 58, just under the national average,” said Westpac General Manager SME Segment Sian Lewis. “This shows a particular resilience in the Queensland business community – I would have expected them to be a little more off the pace,” he added.

Realizing that small business operators are going through tough times with this current economy, the Australian government is giving an instant tax write-off of the first $5000 of any motor vehicle purchased from 2012 to 2013. This offer is intended for small business operators. This is because small businesses comprise 96 per cent of Australian businesses and are the backbone of the Australian economy as stated by Treasurer Wayne Swan.

Of Australia’s 2.7 million small businesses, it is the motor vehicle that is the main capital item. This offer will certainly improve cash flow and help business owners expand and reinvest.