The month of the April fool

Tax Planning time is almost upon us, and that means it’s time for you to send us your information to prepare these reports to be able to plan the best possible strategy for you to maximise profit, take care of your personal super contributions and minimise tax before 30 June.  Don’t be an April fool – send the information now!

Odometer readings

If you have cars registered in a business name you will need to send us odometer readings at 31 March.

Chocolate is toxic for dogs

’tis the season of chocolate and other celebrations, and just as chocolate is toxic for dogs – poor planning is toxic to accountants and we believe the symptoms are similar to those of our canine friends who have ingested chocolatey goodness. So, it’s time to get everything sorted to minimise stomach cramps, projectile vomit, financial stress and panic come 30 June.

Things to give some thought to:

Super fund payment limits for yourself if you voluntarily contribute to your super fund.  You may need to get an up to date statement from your superannuation fund to ensure you don’t go over your contribution limit. ie. $30,000 if under 50 years in 2016-17, or $35,000 if turning 50 years old or older in 2016-17.

The Super fund contributions threshold will be changing for the next financial year. ie from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018.  The maximum contribution cap for a super fund will be $25,000 for all ages.  This means you may need to change your payments and/or adjust your direct debits if you have those set up.  You do not want to go over the threshold.

You may also want to think about any equipment you may need in the near future and consider making the purchase prior to 30 June to get the deduction in this current financial year.  If you are currently eligible for the $20,000 equipment write offs bear in mind that this amount will be reduced back down again by the ATO in the new financial year possibly back to $1,000 but this amount is yet to be announced.

Brand new quarter

Our APL quarterly theme for last quarter was Remote & Travel.  The remote control car was a hit, the travel items around the office went down a treat, half of the inflateable palm trees are still standing and our KPI’s have been smashed.  We are pleased to announce that we will be rewarded for this quarters efforts by visiting Escape Hunt where we will be locked in a room together and given a mystery to solve.  The mystery needs to be solved before we are allowed out of the room (thankfully this is capped at 60 minutes).  It’s a game of team work, problem solving, compromise, negotiation and of course dress ups and a photo shoot – pretty much just another day at the office.

Our new quarterly theme is still being discussed.  We have a loose idea of what we want to achieve, but we are still discussing themes, online shopping potential and of course the reward.  So stay tuned.

Our latest rescue

As our Profitdiagnostix product has expanded we have had to recruit an extra set of paws.  We’d like to introduce you to Debbie, our latest addition to the Profitdiagnostix team.  She comes from an IT background and is super excited to be a part of the growing Profitdiagnostix team.  She will also be the voice and wagging tail you will most likely encounter when you call our APL office.  Team Profitdiagnostix and Team APL – she is a part of both worlds and we look forward to learning some of her tricks as well as teaching her some of our own.

Dog tails

It’s been a busy month at APL for the four legged staff members.  We had APL Dog Day last week where everyone bought their dog to work.  This isn’t anything unusual as there is always at least 2 dogs here, sometimes 3 (depending on Daisy’s mood ie. her need to be around German dessert and/or her sausage (dog) tolerance level), but to have 4 dogs in the office at the same time, and 2 other dogs visited in the afternoon made for some crazy fun times.

Here are some happy snaps from the day.

Beagle – Our CEO “Zack”, Sausage – “Strudel”, Border Collie – “Mya”, Maltese X – “Daisy”.

    

 

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.