Expert Advice

As this article goes to print, the final touches are being put to the first budget from the Abbott led federal government. The Treasurer, Joe Hockey, has been vocal about Australians having to do the so-called 'heavy lifting' in this forthcoming budget - meaning that there is likely to be fiscal restraint announced that will impact all of the economy....

I recently studied the Australian Bureau of Statistics figures regarding businesses in the ACT, and while the figures are a little old, they tell an important and consistent story. At any given time, there are approximately 25,000 businesses in Canberra - each year approximately 4,000 start and 4,000 exit. Assuming Canberra is similar to other jurisdictions in Australia, you can...

A management buy out or MBO is a transaction where a company's managers obtain debt and/or equity financing from a bank or the existing owner to purchase the company's assets and operations that they are responsible for managing. Many business owners include senior employees in their succession plan, either because of previous commitments; because they feel the employees "deserve" the...

How can a redundancy payment impact on your family law settlement? The Coalition Government's decision to cut 12,000 public sector jobs during its term means that some government departments have started to offer or will be offering redundancies, both voluntary and A redundancy payment, whether voluntary or forced, can impact on a family law property settlement. It can also have...

Okay so you finally go around to doing your will. Well done! You will probably find that spending a little bit of time (and money) drafting your will goes a long way to giving you some peace of mind. But as important as it is having a will in place is not enough. You ought to consider the following: Do...

Did you know that if a trade mark application is accepted by IP Australia, it is advertised in an Official Trade Marks Journal? At any time within two months from the date of the advertisement, a third party can file a notice of intention to oppose the registration with a view to starting opposition proceedings. In theory, anybody can file...

It was a long and successful term at Healthy Identity. Along with our sister company, Tennis Canberra, we have very tired sport and health coaches. For our tennis coaches the Australian Open was kind to business with Canberrans flocking to the tennis courts over the hot Australian summer. I have to admit - I love what I do, however teaching...

As mentioned in my April column about the benefits of investing in property through your Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF) there are tight restrictions and essential processes in proceeding down this path Compliance with each of these elements can be quite daunting but there are legal, financial planning and mortgage brokering professionals who have expertise in SMSF investment property purchasing...

Have you ever visited a website to book a holiday to Fiji and then wondered why every website you visit after that is showing you ads for tropical holiday deals? It is very likely that you are being "re-marketed" to via the Google Ad Display Network. This is a really great online marketing tool and it is available to all...

The ecommerce and mobile commerce trend is continually growing in Australia. More than 75% of people choose mobile devices for the convenience factor. Around 17% of Australians shop via their mobile devices. Most people keep their mobile devices close to them throughout the day. The natural progression is to buy goods and services via mobile, because it's accessible, fast and...

If you want to join the C-suite (CEO, CFO, CIO, COO), you are not alone since a recent Hays survey concluded that more than half of all employees working in Australia aspire to be high-level executives. In a survey of 1,364 professionals, 55% said they aspire to a position as a top executive and a further 295 said they have...

It is commonly understood that over 80% of businesses fail in their first 12 months of operation. A further 50% fail within the next 12 months. Is this symptomatic of business operators not being good at what they do? Not necessarily. What those statistics do not reveal is that often the idea that spawned the business is insufficiently supported by...

A recent legal case in the Victorian Supreme Court has highlighted the importance of ensuring that the correct GST clause is used in business contracts. A properly drafted GST clause can avoid any problems or unintentional financial consequences. Last month the ruling illustrated the continued difficulties (and disputes) with regards to GST and real property transactions. In this case the...

The use of temporary workers in Australia is no longer a quick fix but a long-term staffing solution for employers, according to the Hays survey of temporary workers and their employers. Our survey found 31.2 per cent of organisations consider temporary workers to be a key component of a long-term staffing strategy. This ranks above their use to overcome permanent...

Your self managed super fund (SMSF) can borrow to invest in real estate. Over the last few years more Australians are realising the benefits of managing their own super and in particular, investing in property through their super fund. Dreaming of spending your retirement on a golf course, or sailing the Greek Islands on a yacht? Aren't we al. Well,...

Google is pretty clever when it comes to delivering relevant content to web users. You might have noticed that when you search for a phrase on your office computer, you get a different set of results to when you search for the same phrase at home. You can thank Google for that. When you search for something online, you are...