Australian SME Business News and Accounting Articles

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.

In order to prevent further financial crises, regulations have been designed that will specifically hit small businesses and enterprises. This means that lending to such businesses will prove to be more difficult. This is according to Professor Ian Harper who is a partner of the Deloitte Access Economics. He is also a member of the Wallis Inquiry in to the financial system done back in the ‘90’s.

"The biggest loser will be SMEs because large institutions can go direct to the bond market to raise fund," he said after Mike Smith, ANZ Chief, said that the rules that require banks to hold more capital will affect the global economy.

Excessive red tape from the state government, councils and WorkCover are causing damage to small businesses in Australia.

According to Yasmin King, New South Wales' first small business commissioner, small business operators in the state are struggling to have their voices heard and are suffering under excessive regulation.

After six months into the job, Commissioner King was saying that her job is to ensure that small businesses are thriving rather than just surviving as she observed that small businesses in her state are struggling to compete with big players because it is being forced to pay excessive wages.

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.

An MYOB report reveals that about half of Australian SMEs are now dissatisfied with the federal government. The rage of these small and medium businesses has reached a three-year high. From just 31 percent during the last three months, the number of dissatisfied SME’s has soared to 56 percent recently.

Only 14 percent of the 1000 surveyed business owners in October say they are happy. This shows a decrease from the 27 percent last August.

According to Tom Reed, MYOB Chief Executive, business owners are a pragmatic group and they may be appeased if the government takes some straightforward measures.

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.

Cloud computing has been considered helpful and efficient by many small businesses. This is because IT functions such as database servers, file servers, document storage, and application development are given an alternative.

There are many advantages that can be achieved by any business that engages in cloud computing. The following is a rundown of these.

As the government red tape is increasing more than 30 per cent over the past five years, a total of $7 billion a year in taxes, fees, and other charges are slugging small businesses in Queensland.

Family businesses in Queensland are struggling through 90,000 pages of regulation that govern the sector.

Burgeoning paperwork and some extra cost of taxes are being blamed by a huge chunk of operators as the reasons behind slumped growth and progress. These paper works include mandatory permits and licenses, calculation methods, audits by payroll tax officials, and the fear of what might be brought about by the carbon tax next year.

According to the recent ANZ small business sales trends report, small business sales lifted for the fifth consecutive month in September. The report shows small business turnover increased by 5.2% year on year.

Based on ANZ data on the value of credit, debit and Eftpos transactions through its merchant terminals and ANZ card transactions processed through other systems for businesses, at least two-years-old with annual turnover less than $5 million.

ANZ Head of Australian Economics and Property Research, Ivan Colhoun, said year-to-date growth is "fairly flat" at 1.7%. "And with headline inflation running at around 3.5% y/y in 2011, this implies real (inflation-adjusted) small business sales growth is still relatively weak in September," says Colhoun.

According to the opposition, it could mean disaster for businesses as there is a move to sharpen the teeth of the auditor-general.

The private member’s bill of independent MP Rob Oakeshott that targets to give the auditor-general greater powers to follow money trails and to ensure the government gets its money is being debated by the Senate.

The audits will be extended to government business enterprises such as NBN Co. should the bill be passed.

Furthermore, the bill will also allow the investigation on how federal money has been used by states and territories and assess the performance of contractors such as home insulators.

Budgeting lies at the foundation of every SME business’ financial plan. It is the key to a successful and efficient financial management (if done properly). However, it is often overlooked.

On the surface it seems that budgeting is a tedious financial exercise for your small business, especially if you feel your finances are already in good order. However, good budget can really help your small business keep its spending on track and even unearth some hidden cash flow problems that might free up even more money to put toward your other financial goals.

So if you do not want to learn the value of budgeting the hard way, try to learn some tips on budgeting basics for SME business.

According to Roger Marshall, Accounting Standards Board Chairman, there are more than 200 responses received for the consultation on International Accounting Standards for SMEs. He noted that “this is more than expected, although not much more.”

Marshall added that there were “no huge surprises” because of the level of consultation that was held during the past few months. He continued to say that it would also take some time to digest all the contributions.

The National Australia Bank’s SME Quarterly Survey for the March Quarter has shown that the confidence of Small to Medium-sized enterprises is back after the floods that occurred last December and January.

Demand was the only constraint to SME’s that had a significant rise. Borrowing costs, staffing, global economic uncertainty, and cash flow were considered less significant constraints on long-term decision making in the March quarter.

There are signs of optimism that are seen but it is still a challenging time for SME’s. This is according to NAB Business Australia Executive General Manager, Daryl Johnson.

The SME feedback is said not to contain the housing association’s concern about the dangers of switching to international financial reporting standards.

Chairman of the Accounting Standards Board or ASB, Roger Marshall, is quick to defend that such inconsistency means that there is a need for further discussions. He further revealed his plans of meeting up with the housing association trade bodies after the consultation closes on April 30.

SME’s still prefer going to their accountants for advice rather than their bank, lawyer, business coach, or financial partner. This is according to MSI Global Alliance’s March 2011 survey of Australian small business owners. The advice taken predominately relates to business strategy and personal tax structures.

According to Charles Hornor, MSI Global Alliance spokesman, the result of the survey does not come as a surprise. What seems surprising for him is that accountants are also rated highly as a source of retirement advice. It is not an uncommon accounting practice for clients to be referred to their related financial advisers.