Marching into March!

We are almost 3 months into 2017 and we just know some of you still feel like you are on summer holidays!  Along with preventatives for summer nasties such as ticks and fleas for our animal folk, we have some preventatives to share for painful nasties such as BAS, IAS, reporting and tax obligations for our client folk.

It’s still early in the year, so let’s get things sorted so we can just cruise through the rest of 2017 with minimal surprises.

Preventative #1

Know your obligations

Just as you would send your client’s reminders for their pets when they are due for vaccinations, make some calendar notes for when your IAS (if applicable), BAS, tax work, and tax payments are due.  You can put money aside for these things before they are due if you know ahead of time what to expect.  It will still be a painful jab, but at least you will be prepared for it.

You might even want to include yourself on your reminder system for when things are due so that you get a text or email leading up to the event.

Preventative #2

Know who is doing the work

As some clients might book in with a certain vet because they excel in a certain area of expertise, the same goes for your financial work. You need to choose the right team for the job. If APL doesn’t take care of all of these things for you, assign a person in house who will be responsible for these matters, or hire a qualified external bookkeeper.  Let the person know that they will be responsible for lodging and paying on time.  So many expensive ATO fees can be avoided if forms are simply lodged on time!

Make sure the person knows what is expected of them and is able to complete the work and most importantly, accurately and on time.  This will save you money in the long term.

Preventative #3

Send information when requested as soon as possible

It’s no use having a client come in with their sick pet, to sit in reception and wait – without filling out a form about the pet or it’s history, not communicating with you in any way although expecting you to be able to make an accurate diagnosis in a timely manner.

It’s similar in the accounting world. Some people never call, they never write … If we weren’t cold unemotional number crunchers with thick skins (from dealing with the ATO) – we could quite possibly feel like an abandoned litter in a cold lonely dark cage (but with Wi Fi and coffee).

If information is requested, it is because something needs to be prepared for you.  Without receiving the complete amount of information the work can be delayed.  This has a knock on effect and is unduly disruptive if working on a job.  We are unable to complete reports without completed questionnaires and this in turn will delay your reports, tax &/ or financials which could prove costly to your business if there is a serious problem that can’t be picked up because of a delay waiting on a completed questionnaire.

Solidarity March

This is the last month of our quarterly theme “Remote and Travel”.  It has gone quite well with Nicole working remotely from up north, our tax work being completed down south, and the rest of our APL team working hard in the Brisbane office taking care of everything else for you.  We will let you know if we have passed or failed this quarter, and if we will be rewarded!

Drug Rebate Points and Tax 

Last month we promised to explain your drug rebate points and tax position. Sorry in advance to those of you who love to spend your Provet Points on personal items and so have ignored the higher cost of purchases to the business, it’s not good news.

The ATO have a very similar example on their website:
Pamela has a painting business, and buys her paint from a wholesaler. The wholesaler has a program that entitles her to points that can be redeemed for shopping vouchers. Pamela redeems her points for vouchers worth $2,500 and uses these to acquire clothing for herself and her children. The $2,500 is taxable income and needs to be declared.

You may be burying your head in the sand thinking that the ATO won’t know, but how easy (and quite possible) is it that the ATO will audit a large international company such as Provet as part of Henry Scheinn. One look at their accounts will show that this program exists, one print out will give the ATO a full list of all their customers, and then the ATO know to check on you and make sure that you have declared anything you should have.

We suggest you choose your suppliers based on cost and service, don’t try get a personal kick back that the ATO can come after you for, it’s not worth it.

Dog tails

So this makes for the 3rd month of the year – which means only 9 more until we get more holidays!

During first quarter I have been sent to obedience school to learn how to behave like a gentledog, some manners, and maybe some agility although I think as a sausage I’m pretty agile already.  Who else can fit under low couches and grab crumbs like me?!  Certainly not my brother Zack.

If you are looking to sharpen up your signed document recall skills, excel at completed questionnaire fetch, or complete the bank statement and Xero comment obstacle course in a new personal best time then have a chat to the APL team and they may be able to reschool you too and help you with any bad habits.  They have good treats.

I’m up to date with my preventatives, have filled out all my obedience enrolment questionnaire on time, paid by the due date and really look forward to what the next quarter may bring.  The only surprises they have at APL are the ones I make. Under desks.

Marching off,

Strudel.

Please Note: Many of the comments in this publication are general in nature and anyone intending to apply the information to practical circumstances should seek professional advice to independently verify their interpretation and the informations applicability to their particular circumstances. In particular, please note that ‘Zack’ & ‘Strudel’ are dogs and do not have opposable thumbs so have to type with their noses.