May 2014 Issue 93

A Six Canberra-based businesses have recently been awarded funding from the latest round of the ACT Government's Innovation Connect grant program. Innovation Connect provides matched funding grants of up to $50,000 to assist early stage Canberra businesses and entrepreneurs to accelerate the development of products and services through commercialisation pathways. Paramodic Pty Ltd, which is developing a second-stage prototype for...

The next six weeks will be critically important for business in the ACT. The Expenditure Review Committee has been meeting; the final report of the Commission of Audit has been delivered and will be released before the 2014- 15 Federal Budget is handed down on 13 May 2014 and a month later on 3 June 2014 the ACT Budget will...

There have been some significant changes around Privacy requirements recently that impact on the way that many employers should handle privacy issues. Firstly, significant amendments to the Australian Privacy legislation came into effect on 12 March 2014. The changes provide additional protections with regards to the use of data and restrict how Australian businesses collect, store and use data. The...

The Export Council of Australia (ECA) with the support of Austrade and Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) recently published the results of Australia's International Business Survey (AIBS) 2014. An interesting part of the report is the survey outcome on barriers to exports and international business. In the survey, respondents were asked to identify the most significant challenges of doing...

Although many kids won't be concerned about whether they are heading off to a top-performing school next year, their parents might be. According to some experts, being in the catchment area for one of the top 20 government schools in a major city can increase property prices from 5-15%.1,2 Plus, rental demand and yield in the same areas can be...

Cash flow, as they say, is the lifeblood of any business. It doesn't matter whether you're making thousands of cars a year or selling lemonade to neighbours, if you're stuck waiting for payment from customers then you can't pay your suppliers for the next batch of products to sell. Here are 10 tips to help you improve your cash flow:...

A statutory demand notice is a formal, attested demand, which if correctly issued and served, gives the debtor company 21 days from the date of service to pay or compromise the debt to the creditor's satisfaction. If the company fails to do so, then it is presumed to be "insolvent". If a debtor company takes issue with the claim in...

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...