Author Topic: Australian Small Business Owners - Accounts & Budgeting + General Advice  (Read 1216 times)

Television

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G'day All,

I'm starting out on my own as a contractor / small business this year and was hoping to seek some thoughts from the community regarding a couple of matters.

Prior to this year, I was working a PAYG job and also had a side hustle (through a sole trader ABN) and an investment property. I diligently recorded all income in YNAB, budgeted every dollar, etc. etc.

This year I've established a PTY LTD company (of which I am the sole employee) and due to the more rigorous reporting requirements and the desire to get my shit together a little more, had intended on using some sort of accounting software (it's looking like Quickbooks at this stage - cheaper than Xero and seems to provide the same functionality for my purposes).

My rough plan at this stage is as follows:

1) ABC PTY LTD (ABN Holder)
- Establish Business Bank Account & Business Credit Card (to only be used for work related expenses - transport, office supplies, education, etc.)
- Send Invoices Out, Receive Monies (hopefully)
- Establish budget for - Company Tax , GST, Wages, Super, General Expenses (further categories in here - software subscriptions, etc.). Set money aside from these for each invoice as required.
- I was also going to establish a little "annual leave" budget category to set money in to so that if I do choose to take some time off, I will still be able to pay my monthly salary. I realise this isn't necessary but I figure will help keep things clearer in my head as to what each dollar's "job" is in my Business Account.
- Pay myself a salary which will be calculated to minimise my individual income tax liabilities while still covering all relevant expenses.

2) Me Myself & I (TFN holder)
- Continue as normal, really. I budget the salary I receive from ABC PTY LTD + rental incomes, carry on as per normal.

Is this how other people do it? Could you give any recommended improvements or changes?

At this stage I am going to attempt to do all my own bookkeeping and potentially BAS reporting as well to try and keep costs down and because of the nature of the business, I don't expect there to be a great deal of accounting to do.

Also, if anyone knows of any good websites or other resources for advice for small business owners, e.g. a blog like MMM, that'd be greatly appreciated!

Fresh Bread

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Re: Australian Small Business Owners - Accounts & Budgeting + General Advice
« Reply #1 on: February 12, 2018, 10:24:35 PM »
I'm following because I also have a small business, I'm no good for advice though :)

I changed to a company set up this year but I am so far just muddling through the paperwork and have probably missed something that was supposed to be submitted quarterly. I don't have any accounting software yet because it was just so expensive but I do use Deputy for managing staff timesheets and a simple free app for tracking payments in cash. Because I have employees, it increases the price of accounting software, plus I have a lot of fiddly record keeping before the invoice stage that the accounting software wouldn't help with! I am constantly trying to streamline that but there is no existing software on the market that can help my particular situation as far as I can see*.

I'm also an employee of my company and so pay myself super. The ATO is really cracking down on late payers/ non-payers, so even though it's yourself, it might be worth calling to check what's necessary. Because I have employees with four different super funds I pay via the Super Clearing House which makes it super quick & easy.


* I need a little app built but I don't know how and can't afford to pay anyone the zillions of dollars I hear that it costs as it would be reasonably complex.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!