Happy New Financial Year!
Welcome to 2016/17!
A new financial year – what are you going to try to achieve this year?
Are you happy with your financial performance? Are you happy with the support that you’re receiving from your accounting/advisory firm? Are you getting feedback?
I’m going to ask you six questions to undertake a review of your preparation to be an outstanding business during 2016/17. If you would like some further advice on the questions that I’m going to raise, I will have suggestions on where you can turn to for support.
Debtors’ Days Outstanding
“Is the debtors’ days outstanding in your business less than 40 days? If not, my recommendation is that you have a debtors’ due diligence system review undertaken for your business.”
Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR)
“Are you aware of the PPSR? Do you know that approximately $300M has been lost by businesses in Australia since this legislation commenced about 3 years ago? Have you considered the risks that you’re running by not registering assets?”
“If you’re registering assets on the PPSR, have you asked your accountant/adviser to conduct a review? Recently, I was told by a solicitor of a problem that had occurred to one of their clients that, inadvertently, there had been a mix-up on terminology between “grantor” and “grantee”. This caused the business to lose around $400,000. Perhaps that could’ve been avoided if there had been a follow-up review of their systems.”
Succession Planning
“Do you have succession planning operational within your business?”
“Succession planning isn’t just for the owners or CEOs but can apply to all positions within a business. An accountant/adviser who is offering business advisory services can undertake a review for you.”
Business Plan
“Do you have a business plan? If so, is it up to date? Are you using it? Should you have a business plan?”
“Business plans are like maps for tourists. If you haven’t got a written plan, how are you going to know where are you proposing to go? More importantly, how do you compare your current performance against your predetermined strategy?”
Financial Position
“Do you understand your financial position? Do you understand the terminology that is used in financial accounts? Are you receiving accurate monthly, departmentalised management accounts that you and your team of managers can use to really understand what’s going on within your business? Are the KPIs that you’re receiving appropriate? Do they help you run the business or could you think of some better KPIs that might serve your purposes better?”
Early Stage Innovation Companies (ESIC)
“Have you developed a new product, process, service, marketing or organisation method? Are you interested in raising capital to help you with this new venture?”
“If so, I’ve got some great news for you.”
“The Federal government has finalised the legislation for the ESIC. By the time you listen to this podcast, that legislation will be operational so you could form a company and, as long as it complies with the requirements to be called an ESIC, you could raise capital in excess of $2M if you wish. This would probably make you happy and would also make the investors happy because they can receive some significant taxation benefits by investing in an ESIC.”
“Accountants/advisers who are committed to offering business advisory services for clients can assist you in these processes of, not only confirming that you’re potentially eligible to be deemed to be an ESIC, but then assisting you to get investment ready.”
Accountants/Advisers Can Helps
ESS Small Business and our associated company ESS BIZTOOLS have developed detailed packages to assist accountants/advisers to deliver each of these services to their clients.
We’re more than happy to introduce you to accountants/advisers who are committed to supplying business advisory services to small/medium enterprises.
ESS Small Business has a directory of accountants/advisers who are interested in supplying a wider range of services, commonly known as “business advisory services”, to small/medium enterprises. This directory is called “Find an Accountant/Adviser”.
Visit www.esssmallbusiness.com.au and click on “Find an Accountant/Adviser” menu tab. All you need to do is to type in your postcode and the system will then show you accountants/advisers in or near your postcode who offer a wider range of commercial services to small/medium enterprises.
To welcome 2016/17, we’re presenting a special webinar, free of charge. This webinar will evaluate Early Stage Innovation Companies legislation and advise you on the process that will have to be undertaken for you to self-assess, possibly with assistance from your accountant/adviser, then to assist you to become investment ready.
This webinar will be held on Wednesday 6th July 2016 at 4pm AEST. If you would like to register, please click here.
I look forward to presenting this webinar to you.
If you have any questions in relation to how accountants/advisers can assist you to add value to your business, please don’t hesitate to contact me on 1800 232 088 or send me an email at peter@essbiztools.com.au.
Once again, happy new financial year and, from the team at ESS Small Business, good luck for a highly successful 2016/17.
Peter Towers
Managing Director