October 2016 Issue 120

Have you ever looked up as you entered your local super market? There's a whole host of banners and posters up there. Have you wondered why the local bakery at 11am smells like pies instead of baked bread, like it did when you got your coffee at 8am that morning? There are a lot of things like that, sitting in...

Coming back from XEROCON SOUTH in Brisbane, I kept asking myself about what have we learnt from the event. In the past, we tried to figure out the most suitable accounting software for our business and clients. XERO was the best choice. When at XEROCON SOUTH and talking to my colleagues, I realised that XERO is embarking in a leadership...

When it comes to a company, the corporate "constitution" is often assumed to be the most important document when it comes to governing its day-to-day affairs and operations. In reality, there are a range of issues which are not covered by a constitution and implementing a Shareholders Agreement can be key; giving certainty and clarifying shareholder "rights", expectations and procedures....

We all need to get paid… but for many small businesses, getting invoices out and money back in, can become an ongoing issue. We have five top tips to get your invoices working hard. 1. Systemise The more you can automate the invoicing process, the easier it will be for you (and your team) and the more transparent it will...

Many organisations spend large amounts of money hiring outside consultants to analyse risks to ICT systems. Surprisingly in almost all cases, consultants working in IT Security do not have access to all relevant data, including history of previous incidents, which is particularly important when conducting risk assessments. The lack of access to such data makes it extremely difficult to make...

In this column I have previously opined on how independent financial experts, such as insolvency practitioners, add value in Family Law property disputes. During the past decade, amendments to the Family Law Act 1975 (FLA) and Bankruptcy Act 1966, have largely aligned procedures between the two jurisdictions, where one party is a bankrupt. However, no such accommodation exists for the...

Labels assist consumers in distinguishing one product from another. Domestic industries protect their home turf against imported products that make ambiguous claims about origin of products. Laws at both the international and domestic level enforce a differentiation between local and foreign products. There are two broad categories of labelling laws you need to keep in mind when selling into any...

The 2016 Hays Global Skills Index has been released, highlighting Australia's talent mismatch between the skills unemployed workers possess and those employers want to hire. The report, published in collaboration with Oxford Economics, shows that despite an existing pool of labour, employers in high-skill industries such as IT, accounting, healthcare, life sciences and professional services can still find it difficult...

On Friday the 7th of October 2016 Strata Community Australia (ACT) held its third annual awards night at the National Museum of Australia. As President I had the honour of addressing the crowd with a few thoughts on the preceding year. Reflecting on the past twelve months was a timely exercise for me personally following a hectic period at the...

Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is the science of adjusting and fine-tuning a website's content and structure so that it can rank better on search engines for one or more keywords. The idea is simple. If your website ranks high on search engines such as Google, more people are likely to find you, contact you and eventually buy from you....