All Articles
December 2013 Issue 89
Australia spent $5.6 billion on mobile devices last year and this trend is continually growing. More than 75% of the population chose mobile devices because of the convenience factor and most people kept their mobile devices close to them throughout the day. The natural progression then is for people to buy goods and services via mobile devices, because it's accessible,...
December 2013 Issue 89
Team meetings are a great way to get everyone on board, reach consensus, gather opinions, build the team, work on a problem and share information. However, as there are a number of people present, this makes them challenging as group dynamics and roles that individuals in the group take on may hinder communication and progress. Ask yourself the following questions:...
December 2013 Issue 89
Australia's economy is maintaining momentum and consumer confidence is strong heading into the busy end of calendar year period, fuelling an active jobs market. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index rose 1.9 per cent to 110.3 in November, close to the previous 2013 peaks in March and September. Consumer sentiment is being buoyed by low interest rates, rising house and...
December 2013 Issue 89
In the prefect world property investment and owner occupied mortgage holders will fix their repayments at or near the bottom of the interest rate cycle for a period of time that is sufficiently long enough to ride through the next peek. Endless articles have been published on this subject but few, if any, are reliably instructive as to actually picking...
December 2013 Issue 89
Sugar has become one of the main talking points of our society in terms of health, with the prevalence of obesity related diseases, such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome increasing all the time. Glucose (also known as sugar or carbohydrates) is what the brain uses for energy. Consequently, we cannot take sugar out of our diet. The Atkins Diet is...
December 2013 Issue 89
In 2003 Australia ratified the Child Protection Convention. This Convention is also known as the Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition and Enforcement and Co-operation in respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children. The Child Protection Convention provides for the personal protection of children and for the protection of property of children. While the Convention was...
December 2013 Issue 89
As Neil Sedaka crooned "Breaking up is hard to do". But it is doubly hard if you are both members of an SMSF! In an SMSF, the individuals that "own" the fund have the dual role of trustee and member. This gives rise to problems that are unique to SMSFs. The individuals must separate their roles as trustee from their...
December 2013 Issue 89
Do you know that the registration of a business, company or domain name gives you no substantive intellectual property rights in law? Many businesses operate under the belief that the registration of a business, company or domain name gives them the exclusive right to use that name and provides a form of immunity against infringement proceedings brought by owners of...
Corporate Governance
The confidence of Australian directors about the outlook for business and the future of the economy has dramatically improved since the election of the Coalition, but they see increasing red tape and the burden of regulation as Australia's greatest economic challenges, according to the latest Director Sentiment Index (DSI) which is published by the Australian Institute of Company Directors ....
Business Law
Many businesses invest considerable sums to develop functionality for their computer programs. Contracted IT developers are commonly asked develop solutions to reorganise the way in which business information can be stored, accessed and used. The solutions themselves become valuable assets, but controlling rights to the solution is often left overlooked until it is too late. Paying a consultant to...
Accounting
We have seen a significant amount of activity by the Australian Taxation Office ("ATO") in relation to reviewing the timing of Superannuation Guarantee ("SG") payments. Employers are currently required to pay 9.25% (up from 9% in 2012-2013) of Ordinary Times Earnings into the employees' superannuation fund by the 28th day after each quarter end (i.e. 28 October, 28 January, 28...
December 2013 Issue 89
Canberra business PayMe Australia has been recognised for its innovation and growth in the field of specialised payroll management by winning the inaugural Canberra BusinessPoint Business of the Year award. PayMe Australia, a contractor payroll management company, was originally formed to support the payroll needs of IT contractors in the ACT. Today PayMe provides specialised services to the IT, administrative,...
December 2013 Issue 89
DON DI PLACIDO DIRECTOR I look back on the past 25 years of my professional career as an accountant and business owner with a sense of pride and achievement. Running a business, as any business owner will know, requires not only expertise in your particular area of knowledge but the need to adapt to the changing needs and expectations of...
December 2013 Issue 89
Cake, presents and diamonds - that was the scene at the National Press Club, where businessmen and businesswomen from across the region gathered to welcome the new face o Canberra Women in Business. Canberra Women in Business (CWB) celebrated 21 years since their organisation founding. In celebration of their coming of age CWB hosted a lavish birthday party on Saturday...
December 2013 Issue 89
Many industries are still experiencing difficult times. The retail sector faces challenges such as the battle for online sales, decreased consumer confidence and unemployment. Resources, mining and manufacturing are encountering challenges caused by exchange rates and the high cost of doing business in Australia. To make the most of this optimism and ensure they have a clear path to growth...
December 2013 Issue 89
It's true, it can. If you're thinking about a new website, then make sure you build one that has responsive design because it will deliver great results for your business. WHY? People lead busy lives today and want to access information quickly through their mobile devices such as tablets or phones. If your website is responsive, then customers will be...