November 2016 Issue 121

Why? Well he's the fella the 'Pareto principle' is named after. And what is that? I hear you asking. Well, get ready for some earth-shattering news. Known as the 'law of the vital few', the 'principle of factor sparsity' or the good old '80/20 rule' is best explained as follows: for most things about 80 per cent of the effects...

One of the biggest challenges of running a business is trying to get through the never-ending list of jobs that need to be done. Some of these are income producing but many are overhead or administrative related. The advantage of running a modern-day business is the range of excellent tools we have available to assist in streamlining some of these...

Do you have a diverse workforce? At PCA People we emphasise the inclusiveness and accessibility of opportunities for all people. A diverse workforce is beneficial to all; it offers increased perspectives, creativity, experience and understanding. To support this, in the past seven months, we completed an intensive program with the Australian Network on Disability, building and enabling our resources and...

I'm really enjoying working back in public practice at the Gillespie Group after a six year period working with Defence Housing Australia (DHA) as their Taxation Manager. Prior to this I spent a little over 10 years in public practice with firms such as PKF in both their Sydney and Canberra offices working in areas of financial accounting, auditing and...

Significant changes to Enduring Powers of Attorney in the ACT came into effect on 1 September 2016. Whether you have an existing Enduring Power of Attorney or are thinking of making an Enduring Power of Attorney, the changes may have an impact on you. When creating an Enduring Power of Attorney, a person is able to authorise their chosen attorneys...

The peak body for apartment and unit owners in the ACT is wary of a potential drone "free for all" in the wake of recent moves to relax laws and forego licenses for some users. Apartment and unit blocks (strata communities) now house over 7 million Australians, and the peak body representing owners in this space want the laws to...

It was 12 months in the planning, many were in the region for 5 weeks and the Rally ran for 7 days. That was the CMCA's 31st National Rally held at EPIC from 8 - 14 October 2016. The 240 strong Volunteer team warmly welcomed over 1300 people in 720 vehicles to an unseasonal cold and wet Canberra. Registrations were...

Wisdom Learning, a Canberra-based Registered Training Organisation was recently recognised as the '2016 Service Champion - Small Business' at the, Customer Service Institute of Australia's, Service Excellence Awards held in Melbourne. Wisdom's CEO Rod Hattch and Director Jana Clyde were honoured to accept the award. Since commencing operation in 2002, Wisdom has been widely recognised in education and business however...

Photo : Richard Tuffin 'Convergence - Optimising your organisational change' is back in Canberra on 7 -9 March 2017 at the National Museum of Australia. Attracting over 40 national speakers across the 3-day event, Convergence is bringing people to Canberra to have a conversation on change management. With an ideas marketplace, a digital showcase, 5 streams of masterclasses, and 3...

From left to right Justin Jacobs, Rob Chaloner, Mat Walkerden and Damian Hardy. stratton.com.au, Australia's largest consumer vehicle and asset finance broker, has today launched a disruptive play at the salary packaging and novated leasing industry, introducing a new product initiative that promises real benefits to employers and drivers alike and much needed transparency. stratton, which is majority owned by...

The highly skilled professionals working within medical and allied health sectors are an essential part of our lives. Each year, particularly being parents of busy and active children, we each spend many hours visiting the doctor, physiotherapist, chiropractor, dentist, orthodontist….the list goes on. As medical professionals, you look after us and our families. But how well do you look after...

ASIC has recently written to company directors highlighting the need for caution when contacted "out of the blue" by advisers seeking to assist them in cases of financial distress. Notices of winding up applications are readily available for public inspection. A number of organisations distribute daily lists of such Notices to professional (and other) contacts. A Notice of winding up...

XERO entered Australian accounting software market seven years ago. They used to be a boutique-sized business; however, they brought a disruptive innovation that has changed the landscape of accounting industry. Software used to be installed in our computers; and accounting data were handled mostly offline from our desktops. When XERO came out, we just loved it. It allows us to...