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Small Business

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Accounting software for Small businesses  to be compliant with ATO accounting methods according to ato website. Below accounting software in intended to be developed , keeping in mind  ato accounting guidelines

accounting software australia calculator

Building and construction industry

As part of the 2011-12 Federal Budget, the government announced the introduction of taxable payments reporting for businesses in the building and construction industry.

The Taxable payments annual report will be required to be submitted by those businesses in the building and construction industry that have paid contractors for building and construction services

From 1 July 2012, businesses in the building and construction industry need to report the total payments they make to each contractor for building and construction services each year. You need to report these payments to us on the Taxable payments annual report.

A list of those developers who have registered their intent supporting the new Taxable payments annual report in their products for the 2012-13 financial year below

Small business accounting software

Accentis Enterprise

Web Address
http://www.accentis.com.au

Description

Accentis Enterprise is a fully-integrated accounting, business management and manufacturing system (ERP/MRP) suitable for businesses having between 2 and 100+ users. Designed for small to medium-sized businesses who have outgrown their off-the-shelf system, Accentis Enterprise is fully designed, manufactured and supported in Australia and has been tailored to suit Australian business who need an affordable, feature-rich and flexible business management solution.

All modules are designed as part of Accentis Enterprise, not third-party add-ons, and include:

– General ledger & financials
– Customers, receivables and Customer Relationship management (CRM)
– Suppliers, payables and Supply Chain Management (SCM)
– Inventory management & warehousing
– Job costing
– Manufacturing (kitting, BOMs, MRP)
– Payroll & Human Resources
– Fixed Assets
– Reporting (over 500 standard reports, all customisable)

MYOB AccountRight Enterprise

Description

Business intelligence and accounting software.
Like AccountRight Premier only more advanced. Use MYOB AccountRight Enterprise (formerly MYOB Premier Enterprise) to drill down to your accounts, payroll and warehouses from wherever you are using Terminal Services. It really does take your numbers to the big stage. It also comes with a 12 month membership to MYOB Cover.

Accrivia

Web Address
http://www.accrivia.com.au

Description

The Accrivia software package offers a range of accounting and operational modules software  (including General Ledger, Cashbook, Payroll, Debtors, Creditors, Jobs / Projects, Inventory and Web Interfacing) and caters for small and medium businesses that require more than an ‘off the shelf’ accounting package.

QuickBooks 2012-13

Web Address
http://www.reckon.com.au

Description

QuickBooks 2012-13 allows access for up to 30 users simultaneously (depending on version used) and includes a comprehensive payroll module, industry specific editions, accounting reports and multi-user capability. QuickBooks 2012-13 also includes the ability to submit your BAS return via the Standard Business Reporting online system.

Classic Software

Web Address
http://classicinfo.com.au

Description

ERP Software for the Mining, Exploration and Oil & Gas Industries

ClearAccounts

Web Address
http://www.clearsoftware.com.au

Description

ClearAccounts is a complete windows based multi-user accounting system designed with flexibility for medium to large size companies, compliant with ATO regulations. The core modules include Debtors, Inventory, Creditors (Cashbook), and General Ledger and can include Purchase Orders, Sales Orders, Payroll, Job Costing, Bill of Materials (Kits), Fixed Assets, Sales Quotes, Foreign Shipping, Overseas Creditors, Colour Selections (Tiles), Point of Sale and Masterviews & Charts, fully integrated. ClearAccounts includes electronic creditors payments bank file creation, electronic filing of BAS, bulk emailing facilities and can have custom modifications to meet specific company requirements

Arrow Financials

Web Address
http://www.arrow.net.au

Description

Arrow Financials delivers to businesses timely and accurate information, smart drill downs menus, extensive audit trails, real time interactivity for immediate data update and response. Arrow Financials is modular in its design, which enables you to select the modules in a combination that best meets your individual business requirements. Available modules include Arrow Financials include: Cashbook, Debtors, Creditors, General Ledger, Job/Time Costing, Fixed Assets, Payroll, Purchase Orders, Sales Orders, Stock, Bill of Materials, Foreign Currency, Multi-Company, Security Matrix, Special Pricing Matrix, Front Counter, Serial Batch Tracking, Advanced Sales Analysis.

Tax Assistant

Web Address
http://www.softassist.com.au

Description

Preparation and electronic lodgement of all tax forms 2001 to 2013.
Tax Assistant integ

Attaché Accounts

Web Address
http://attachesoftware.com

Description

Attaché Accounts software is aimed at small to medium businesses that have outgrown off-the-shelf packages and require better network performance, customisation and control. Operational benefits include faster order processing, more flexible pricing, improved stock control and warehouse management, faster debtor payment and advanced reporting. In addition, Attaché Accounts provides specialist solutions such as CRM, Job Costing, Manufacturing and electronic document delivery. Attaché Accounts has no large upfront software payment, just a low monthly amount, and you can scale the software (up to 100 users) to match your growth

Interactive Accounts Manager [IAM]

Web Address
http://iam-online.com.au

Description

Web based online accounting software produces standard reports & SBR reports. The user can interact with their accounting professional well within the software.
This is an ideal software for ABN contractors, Sole traders and micro & small businesses.

E-record replacement

Software to replace E-record software  download is  over here

More information here http://www.ato.gov.au/businesses/paymentsreporting


How to build a small business website with wordpress in 25 minutes

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Make a Small Business Website - 2015

If you’re selling online services or products, or just have a small business – then having a website today is essential and wordpress makes this easy. But even if you don’t sell anything directly online, the website can be useful just like a business card of yours on the internet to get more customers in touch with you, with information about you, your business, and the services offered.

What we will show below in short ( summary )

1. Pick and purchase a domain

2. Set up hosting ( 1& 2 are both covered together with bluehost hosting)

3. Install WordPress and a Theme

4. Add content and set up your site (part2)

Well for many of you who possibly don’t know what is wordpress, it’s one of the most popular website building software on the internet and its easy to use. This Website software is being used by tops brands like BBC America, Sony Music, FORD Social, Ourselves and Beyonce. You can easily build your website for a small business in 25 minutes flat and it can take a bit longer than that if you’re not as computer savvy as some. With the wordpress easy set-up, you can be up and writing for your website the same day after it’s installed.

You will need to sign up with a hosting company to set up your website. Installation of your website is made easy in this process with the 1 click install available from bluehost hosting which also provides a free domain with their 36 month plan. More details below..

This software is so versatile and flexible you can use it to create a professional looking website or just a personal blog, infact you can create a many different kind of websites with it – be it a Ecommerce shop website, A fashion blog , a photography webpage, a gadget showcase or a personal story blog. You get hundreds of free designs from within word press ( wordpress themes) to change and customise the look of your blog, but I always recommend that you purchase a paid theme from a good wordpress theme provider (I recommend elegant themes-Great designs at an affordable price and a large number of themes to choose from) to ensure your blog is always upto date and secure and doesn’t break.

What is wordpress themes ?

It’s a skin that you can put over your blog to change its look or design. You get pre made designs for a word press website that you can get free or then purchase from a wordpress theme provider, you just need to download that design and upload it to your blog to change the whole look of your blog and this can be done in less than 5 minutes

Having a well-designed website can also be an effective way to market your business and compete with larger brands in your industry. Whether you’re creating your first website or rebuilding an outdated one, here’s a step-by-step guide to help you design, market and maintain a great professional site.

Below is a quick Step by step procedure on how to get your wordpress website installed and started in 25 minutes

I have provided bluehost hosting for this tutorial as I have used them before and I am happy with them and they also provide a domain name with your hosting which makes the whole process easier and quicker to do.

Here is the step by step guide

 

1. Go To bluehost – Click here

1 starting a small business website 36

( or click on the get started now button image)

2. Get your Domain Name

2 get your domain nameIt It will tell you if  the name is not available and you can search for another name

3 if domain is availabel or not

 

3.Enter your details for sign up,once you find and appropriate domain name

4 sign up

4. Choose what additional options you need with your website  like privacy ,backups etc (as you can notice  below the domain name is free with the 36month plan,which gives you a discounted price of $3.49 a month)5. what options yu need for your website privacy etc

5. Enter your credit card details on the bluehost secure site and  click submit.

6. billing details

You will get emailed  your receipt  and  login details and  You can  access their 1 click install set up after login into the admin panel to set up your word press website by following the prompts.

Here are the steps you should follow after looging in ( this should be similar/same on all the major web hosting companies):

  1. Log in to your hosting account.
  2. Go to your control panel.
  3. Look for the “WordPress” icon.
  4. Choose the domain where you want to install your website.
  5. Click the “Install Now” button and you should get access to your NEW WordPress website.

 

 

Your wordpress website should be ready now

 

Choosing a Design Theme or Template for your site

Once you have successfully installed WordPress to your domain, you’ll see a very basic yet clean deafault site
But while default design is basic ,you need a good looking site – a design template that tells people that you mean business and attract people to your blog/website. Once you have found a good looking  theme you like, installing it is as simple as clicking “Install” followed by “Activate” to change the look of your site

Pros: Of building your own website

· No technical skills needed. You can create a website in minutes.

· Affordable. Also, reduce costs by making your own site changes.

· Often includes, free integrated hosting.

Cons:

· Advanced functionality is limited to number of plugins available in the website builder program
Small business offer from godaddy


Tired of Waiting for your Website to Load? $1/ mo Hosting + Free domain!

A$1.99 per month Website Builder™ with Free domain

Some other website building options

 

Moonfruit

Moonfruit is a free website host and editor with a plethora of fresh designs and detailed editing options.

Weebly

Weebly’s online website designer is a little easier to use than Moonfruit’s. Quite a few of Weebly’s themes are the same as those offered by WordPress, though Weebly optimizes your site for mobile devices.

 

Why wordpress ?

I chose WordPress for this guide because it was the easiest CMS or (website platform) I found that non-web savvy people could get installed and work with. There is lots of free web-site automatic software and websites out there that let people build a website for free.

The problem with this being

1) it only works on their hosting so you don’t really have full control of your own site

2) When it comes time for you to have a designer come in to add functionality you need to or improve the site according to your needs, they won’t be able to use that software, and likely ask you to start all over again.

Don’t procrastinate and get your business online and give it a good chance to get more customers to your business. Good luck!

Jeff is an avid blogger and website builder and writes about website creation when he is not blogging on start-a-website.info or talking about technology at digitalgrog.com.au his Australian blog.You can get in touch with him here on twitter and G+.

Find Out Why Dealing In Scrap Cars Can Earn You Real Money And A Bright Future

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scarp metal from cars australia

Do you consider yourself as an aspiring entrepreneur?

Do you wish to invest your sweat and money in a world-changing business idea?

Then scrap cars can be your deal!

Scrap cars are not necessarily 100% damaged cars. Period!

Scrap cars are damaged cars which the owners do not wish to own it anymore. Hence, scraps. There are over 1 Billion vehicles around the world, but only a few scrap car businesses because it is capital intensive and moreover, no one really understands what to do with scraps to make some real money.

What you can offer that no one else can?

This is a question that you need to ask before you even think of entering the scrap car removal business. Please do not think of giving sellers the option of car removal for cash or preferably more cash than your competitors because that model has long been tried and has only resulted in failed or heavily loaned businesses.

You need to find that one thing which can help you recycle and resell the purchased cars efficiently.

Selling the car part by part?

Remodelling it completely to sell it off?

Modifying it for the Collectors?

Keeping it long term to sell to the vintage fanatics?

Or

Doing something environment friendly with the scraps to avoid tons of metal being dumped?

These are not the only solutions, but a hundred more can be formulated with the right mind and team members. The possibility is endless because the number of cars do not seem to reduce, rather increase exponentially in the near future; proving that the industry is growing and investing in the initial stage can result in some sweet results in the future.

Steps towards Success

In order to run a profitable car scrap removal business in the long run, you need to focus more on the services that you can offer and charge your customers on them, such as:

● Allowing your customers to call you for a pickup and drop of their car from anywhere they want.

● Selling (auctioning) individual parts of the car to Collectors.

● Safekeeping the car and remodelling it can help you charge some extra bucks for the storage as well.

The fact that you do not have to keep your products in perfect condition makes the whole proposition a little more interesting because you cannot damage a scrap car anymore than it usually is (mostly).

You need to have a digital presence for your potential customers to reach you at the click of a button, plus the digital aspect will act as a platform on which you can display different kinds of products that you might be selling. The scrap car business requires you to build a network in different areas of the world because it usually is first-come-first-serve and the collectors do not wait when they see a genuine piece.

Start Now to Make Profits in Future

This kind of business can also be profitable in smaller regions because where there are people, there is a large number of cars. Scrap car removal in Newcastle, Scrap metal in York or scrap car body parts in Manchester etcetera is not just common, but also growing rapidly.

These kinds of businesses require immense hard work and capital in its initial stage, which makes it difficult for every entrepreneur to invest in it. But if you can make real money from scraps, then you can be the best entrepreneur in the world.

The road to success isn’t smooth and a few bumps will only make you shine brighter- Dhoundhu

Buying-In Benefits – The Advantages of Becoming a Franchisee

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Buying-In Benefits ~ The Advantages of Becoming a Franchisee

For many people, purchasing a franchise is a popular means to achieving the goal of starting a new business. With a higher average rate of success than start-up businesses and developed methods of successful business strategies, there are many benefits in choosing to invest in a franchise model.

Franchises combine the independence of small business ownership, with the benefits and support of a big business network. When buying a franchise, you therefore become part of a wider business community, providing you with ongoing support, training and other benefits. Read on to find the other key advantages of becoming a franchisee.

Established Brand Identity

Franchisees are able to take full advantage of the already established market image of the corporate brand. Most established franchises are easily identifiable to the public, providing your business with cumulative marketing impact. Franchised businesses have some of the most successful brand identities in the world and have even built national and international brand-name recognition, such as McDonald’s or KFC.

The name recognition that comes with an established brand and the consistency of the franchise model, provides your business with pre-existing customers who have previously enjoyed the franchise system’s products or services.

Lower Risk

Existing customer awareness of the brand and the guidance of the franchisor are just some reasons that franchises enjoy a lower failure rate than their start-up business counterparts.

A lot of planning and trial and error go into starting any new business from scratch. When you purchase a franchise, you purchase the knowledge of those who have gone before you. This is the expertise of people who have made mistakes, learned from them and developed systems that are profitable and successful for the market and the individual business.

Ongoing Support

Franchise companies are dedicated to the success of each franchise location. They therefore have staff dedicated to providing ongoing assistance, even after you have built and started running your business.

Most established franchisors have already survived decades in their respective industries, and are therefore experts at providing tips and tricks to help your business succeed. A good franchise company will have training programs designed to provide ongoing training and the most successful methods to run the business.

Exclusivity

Exclusivity is another advantage of buying into a franchise. Most franchise agreements provide you with an exclusivity agreement in your specific area. This means that an identical franchise will not be permitted to open within a certain distance from your business.

The exclusivity arrangements of most franchise agreements alleviate some of the competition and provides you with an opportunity to make your stamp on the local business market.

Record of Success

When you buy a franchise, you are buying an established concept that has been previously successful. In fact, before buying a franchise the owners are required to disclose their market results, so that you can verify the numbers prior to making a purchasing decision.

Marketing Assistance

One of the biggest advantages of purchasing a franchise, is the ability to benefit from national advertising campaigns. Advertising can be one of the biggest expenses for any new business. Being supported by national and international marketing strategies therefore puts you at an advantage over other local competitors.

Owning a franchise typically gives you some freedom in pursuing local marketing and advertising campaigns. With the support of the franchise’s marketing experts, providing you with proven tools and strategies for attracting and retaining customers, you can even launch your own locally-targeted campaigns.

~

While there are always risks in any new business venture, purchasing a franchise limits some of the concerns of a start-up business. Being a franchisee can indeed be the fast track to success, if backed up by hard work and persistence. When you purchase a franchise, you buy into a proven business model with huge growth potential; providing you with the opportunities and support to run a successful and profitable business.

Bio: Laura Costello is a recent graduate of a Bachelor of Law/International Relations at Latrobe University. She is passionate about the law, the power of social media, and the ability to translate her knowledge of both common and complex topics to readers across a variety of mediums, in a way that is easy to understand.

5 Strategies to Minimize Abandonment of Shopping Carts for Your Online Store

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shoppin carts online vs

Once a customer makes a few purchases from your store, they are bound to be loyal. However, abandoned carts are always a problem for most online stores. Luckily, it is easy to manage them and get back your loyal customers to their buying behaviors. Some of the tactics you can use include:

Follow up on abandoned carts

Regardless of how strong your SEO strategy is you need a plan moving forward. Following up on abandoned carts is the first strategy you can make a follow up on. Once you have a SEO agency set up the framework to drive more traffic to your site, you can proceed with your core skills. Follow up on customers who were once buying from your store and lure them back to continue doing the same.

Manage your leads from the start

It is a long road from the time a person visits your online store to when they choose to buy. Most of the time potential customers will give up along the way or take a lot of time before they can buy from your store. Luckily, you can close a sale within a short period if you choose to manage your leads from the start. Once you drive quality traffic to your site with help from the best SEO agency, you can start managing them from there. Allow yourself to ask them for help as soon as they show up on your site. You can offer to help them find an item with ease and close that sale within a few minutes.

Utilize email marketing for buying customers

Email marketing is what every online store should use not only manage abandoned carts, but also to increase the conversion rate. The returning customer is your major asset as they guarantee that you will have sales in future. Always treasure that and by using email marketing, you can win every day for loyal customers. To maintain that spirit of buying, you will need constantly send promotional emails to customers and remind them of the best offers they are missing out on. Consult a SEO agency with expertise in email marketing to optimize your email content for objective marketing.

Keep track of the customers ‘buying behavior

The buying behavior should have an even pattern for a loyal customer. If you identify any deviation from the norm, then you should move in to find out what went wrong. Did the customer change stores, or did the customer move? It helps you to keep a record and remind the customer to come back now and them. If they went to another store, then they might come back when they hear from you.

Respond to views and responses from customers

Since you are running an online store where people are spending their real hard earned cash, then you have to respond to their queries. Whether positive comments or not, you need to keep your composure. It is all about making the customers happy. If the customer is not happy then your business will be in danger or losing revenue. You have to make sure that you follow up on any issue and respond as fast as possible and assure a better service. Also, respond to complements from customers to a cordial relationship.

Streamlined Systems – 5 Ways to Improve Office Efficiency

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access communication

Source: Geralt/Pixabay

It’s getting hard and harder to make a dollar. Living costs are rising, but wages are not keeping pace. What’s more, most business’ profit margins seem to get narrower by the day. Rather than make drastic changes that could impact those around you, it’s time to turn your office into one of efficiency to benefit your bottom line. Here’s how to do it:

Update Your Communication Methods

If you haven’t heard of cloud unified communications, then you’re missing out on dramatic savings that could have a positive impact on your business. Unified communications are an advanced phone, video, email and messaging system that merges all these different communication methods into one.

You can make and receive phone calls from anywhere in the world on your official business number, use instant messaging and group chat, and even utilize voice and video calling. Even more eye-opening is the price tag. Unlike traditional phone systems which are complex to maintain and expensive to upgrade, modern methods such as unified communications are scalable and affordable.

Time Tracking Technology

Did you know that over 30 percent of employees waste at least half an hour of work time every day? That might not seem like a lot, but that equates to around four hours every week, per worker. It can make you wonder whether your team’s roles as are streamlined as they could be.

Time tracking technology can help you to establish how much time a particular task takes. While some staff may see it as a privacy invasion, that’s not its purpose. Once you know how long a job takes to complete, you can find out whether some staff can take on more work, or if others need a helping hand.

Team Project Management Applications

Remember in school when everyone had a job to do on a team project, but something always went wrong? Crucial data fell through the cracks, someone didn’t pull their weight, or people forgot which job was theirs.

The workplace can be a lot like that without appropriate project management applications in place. Time equals money, and if you can save time with streamlined project management applications, why wouldn’t you? Such apps have digital paper trails, task allocation, and instant messaging so that everyone knows where they are.

Integrated Workplace Management Systems

When you’re trying to make your workplace more efficient to boost profitability, the last thing you want to do is spend more money. However, that’s often the answer. If you’re going to spend it anywhere, invest in integrated workplace management systems.

Such software can spell the end of most of your everyday programs, transforming them into one easy-to-manage system. In the long-run, you’ll save time, cut down on expensive fees, and make your workers’ days a little bit easier.

Give Your Workers Freedom

While offering your staff freedom doesn’t sound like efficiency, it can have more of an impact than you think. Give your team the freedom to turn their office space into a place for them, and productivity will follow.

Studies show that 17 percent of those with custom workspaces were more enriched and empowered than workers without anything to call theirs. Even a family photo and a few knick-knacks can make all the difference.

Cutting costs isn’t always about redundancies, downsizing, and cutting back on stationery purchases. It can be as easy as focusing on efficiency and productivity to save time. Time is money; let’s not forget. Find out whether your workers’ roles are at full capacity, and invest in beneficial technology to make their lives easier. The financial rewards will follow.

Tips to Grow Your Kitchen and Bathroom Design Business

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business with bathrooms and renovation

Starting a kitchen and bathroom design business is no rocket science as there are so many who have made out there. If you are an enthusiast for interior design, it is never too late to start and become a huge brand. Here are tips on how to grow your business as a kitchen and bathroom designer.

Focus on Marketing

You might have all the right skills to deliver impeccable designs and remodelling, but you have no one to deliver to. A lot of craft persons rely on referrals to reach as many people as possible, but this does not always work since not everybody likes you and will put good work out there for you.

On the contrary, recommendations are not harmful at all but will not get you where you want to go. Start by coming up with a brand name and a simple, attractive logo that represents you. Punch in a slogan cannot hurt too. With these in place, start small according to your financial ability.

You can start with social media pages, podcasts, and blogs and grow to more prominent marketing platforms as you gain more customers and make more money. While still at marketing, move with the trend and consider setting up a website where clients can quickly look through your services and products, including making orders and giving feedback for the services received.

Increase Your Staff

As you look to grow in terms of impact in the market and amount of returns you make, consider starting the growth from the inside.

Marketing might work incredibly well for you depending on how good your strategy is but if you do not have an adequate workforce to deliver to the many clients that you got yourself, they will leave and look for a designer who delivers.

Become selfless for the greater good by spending more of the profit to add a few more skilled employees with the potential to grow too in your payroll to increase productivity and improve on service delivery. Eventually, this investment that seems to be dragging your income at the moment will pay off.

Find a Reliable Supplier

Like all other businesses, you will need people to supply to you certain products that you need to make every design you come up with a masterpiece. As part of starting the business, you will need a list of the basic things required to deliver to clients, and with these, you can start looking for the right people to do kitchen and bathroom supplies for you in Australia.

Go for someone whose competency is at the same level as yours or even higher to avoid last minute rush or delays in delivering to clients’ expectation. The ideal choice here is Argent which is a renowned brand throughout Australia and globally for stocking top-tier products at significantly reduced prices.

Make Quality a Priority

The growing might seem easy, but maintaining the trend is not guaranteed, primarily if you are known to play around with the quality of service you deliver. Everybody wants value for their money, and that is why you need not compromise with the quality of service you deliver to clients to keep them satisfied and recommend your services to others.

Connect with Colleagues

As they say, no man is an island, and when starting a kitchen and bathroom design business, you need to learn from others. It is crucial to add on some creativity in your interactions as well and give much thought into hanging out with other designers in the business.

Best way to do this is to attend exhibitions and visit any kitchen and bath showroom in town where your peers are and wear your ‘people’s person’ hat. You will be stunned by how much extra you get to learn by interacting with your competitors and confrères.

Offer other Services

Do not stick to doing new bathroom and kitchen design for clients but consider adding extra services that will allow you to reach out to more clients and get to grow your business.

Remodelling, consultation, and maintenance are some of the additional services you can bring in rather than only working with clients doing completely new projects.

With the right skill set, planning, and the spirit to learn from others and a handy guide like this, there is no reason why you should not grow to a prominent brand recognized and respected globally.

The Rostering Revolution: How to Effectively Track a Remote Workforce

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remote working from home  wfh

As the world sees a huge shift towards remote working in the last few months, businesses and offices all around the globe have had to find effective ways to manage and track their workforce. Managing staff in an office setting can be difficult enough, let alone managing a workforce that is situated all around the country. Whilst tracking a remote workforce can take a little time and effort on the part of a business owner, it is not an impossible feat. In today’s article, we have a look at how business owners can effectively track a remote workforce by using various tools and strategies that help streamline the tracking process. Read on to find out more!

  1. Software is Essential

When it comes to tracking schedules and work hours, software is an absolute essential. Relying on word of mouth or manual ways of tracking hours is almost always a recipe for disaster. This is why it is so important that business owners make use of tools such as an app for rostering your staff when engaging with a remote workforce. With the help of a timesheet and scheduling app, you will be able to effectively and closely monitor employee hours, shifts and schedules. Software essentially does the work for you, thus greatly reducing the burden on your shoulders whilst at the same time tracking your workforce with utmost precision and accuracy.

  1. Face-To-Face Interaction

Face-to-face interaction when it comes to managing a remote workforce is actually more important than you may think. It can be all too easy for both employers and employees to feel disconnected when working from home, which can ultimately prove to reduce motivation and efficiency levels. In order to prevent this, it is incredibly important that business owners engage in face-to-face interaction with employees at least once a week. This could be in the form of a team meeting, a one-on-one meeting with staff or even just an online socialising session that allows everyone to come together and let their hair down. Never underestimate the power of face-to-face interaction when it comes to tracking a remote workforce.

  1. A Culture of Accountability

Once a business has implemented its time tracking and scheduling software, it is important for those who are higher in the hierarchy to lead by example. This can come in the form of sharing your own timesheet with your employees and encouraging everyone to do the same. Openly sharing timesheets can greatly improve employee motivation and can easily set a benchmark for performance, efficiency and productivity amongst the workforce. Sharing this information also helps to foster a culture of accountability amongst your workers which will inevitably make your job of tracking them much easier in the long run.

  1. Focus On Deadlines

One of the best ways to encourage productivity and efficiency with remote workers is to set strict deadlines that workers have to meet. Ensuring that your team fully understands the scope of their work and being firm with deadlines is a fantastic way to ensure that every monitoring activity will be focused on one singular outcome instead of getting your team to collaborate together towards a shared goal. Individual deadlines can keep employees on their toes, thus ensuring that everyone is giving their 110% and reducing the need for business owners to constantly be checking up on activity and efficiency levels.

  1. End Of Day Report Summaries

With the number of tasks that your team has to deal with, it can be easy for them to lose track of what they have accomplished during the day. This is why introducing end of day report summaries is such a great idea. These summaries can be used as a tool to help both employer and employee identify opportunities for improvement, iron out any potential issues and keep track of their activity on a daily basis. Summaries should be paired with regular team meetings in order to make sure everyone is on the right track and no one is left lagging behind.

——

Tracking and managing a remote workforce can be a challenging job, but it certainly isn’t one that is impossible. By utilising a wide variety of tools and ensuring clear and effective communication channels with your workforce, you’ll find that managing your team is a lot easier than you had ever imagined.


Big four banks to dish out refunds into bank accounts before June end

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No one gets money for free, but the refund from Commonwealth bank, Westpac bank, ANZ and National Australia Bank might be hitting your bank account soon.

Forget EOFY tax return refunds from the tax office, this is sweeter as you don’t have to apply for it, its your money getting refunded without any paperwork needed.

If you see this in your commonwealth bank account

Additional interest
refund
Value Date_ 25/06/2020

additional interest refund

The refund posting may look different depending on which bank you bank with.

Fancy a $10,000 refund?

Refunds can be anywhere from couple of thousand dollars to even $10,000 or more depending on how many loans you have with the bank.

Why the refund ?

If you have a refund looking like above in your bank account you could have possibly got a refund related to remediation done on your home loan, refunding you amounts of interest that was wrongly charged by the bank.

This is due to the remediation the banks have been forced to do due to the government enquiry into banks and how they treat and charge their customers.

CBA Refund on home loan interest charges 2020 for COVID19

This is not a refund, but more like a payment  for the interest on interest  you get charged for your deferred home loan repayments. Australia’s largest bank will make payments to home loan customers impacted by coronavirus to offset interest charges. 

When a home loan repayment is deferred for six months, interest is calculated and added to the loan balance each month which can result in customers paying interest on interest each month. Anyone having a home loan could possibly get this refund before end of June this year.

“This means for an average loan of $350,000, CBA will be refunding approximately $45 to offset the effect of interest on interest over the six-month period. Customer payments will vary based on their loan amount and interest rate.” Commonwealth bank representative said.

2020 – Big four’s Banks current relief packages for covid19

The four major banks in March announced they would allow home loan customers to defer mortgage repayments for six months as part of a $100 billion scheme with the Reserve Bank of Australia to alleviate stress on Australian households, as thousands are tipped into unemployment. 

CBA – Following the end of the six-month pause, home loan repayments remain the same as before, with the loan term being extended. CBA will also make a one-time payment to offset the interest on interest being charged to customers over the deferral.

Westpac – Impacted customers are being offered a 3-month pause with the option for a further 3 months after review. Home loan repayments increase after the deferral, but the loan term remains the same.

national australia bank

NAB – Following the repayment holiday, home loan repayments increase, but the loan term remains the same.

Australia New Zealand Bank

ANZ – Customers can choose to keep the loan term the same or extend it by six months, with a review at three months, with both options likely resulting in mortgage repayments increasing after the pause.

Robodebt refund: June 2020

The Federal Government has announced it will refund more than $721 million dollars in wrongly issued Centrelink debts to over 373,000 Australians.

The incorrect debt collections made between the 2015/2016 financial year and November 2019 targeted individuals who had supposedly received more welfare than their income entitled them to.

The debts were automatically calculated by special algorithms without human intervention and became known as rob debts.

How do I get my robo debt refund?

If your eligible, the amount will get credited in your account, so update your details on mygov if not done already.  Government Services Minister Stuart Robert said 190,000 individuals will be repaid starting from July 1.

Royal Banking Commission Australia

Started: 14 December 2017

Ended: 4 February 2019

The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, also known as the Banking Royal Commission and the Hayne Royal Commission, was a royal commission established on 14 December 2017 by the Australian government pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902 to inquire into and report on misconduct in the banking, superannuation, and financial services industry.

2018 CBA Junk Insurance Refund

After the royal commission, refunds for 140,000 were said to be issued to CBA customers

Commonwealth Bank will issue $16 million in refunds to 140,000 people who were sold add-on insurance right before the bank’s ‘junk’ products become the subject of royal commission hearings.

“Consumer credit insurance” has been pitched to customers as a safety net that’ll help them meet their credit card or loan repayments if they lose their job, become sick, injured or die. The financial regulator characterises them as not of much value and consumer groups simply describe them as ‘junk’.

Consumer Credit Insurance. Consumer credit insurance (CCI) covers you if something happens to you that affects your ability to meet your credit repayment. You may be offered CCI cover by your lender when it approves your credit (such as a credit card, personal loan or mortgage).

Find more about this here- https://www.choice.com.au/money/insurance/insurance-advice/articles/commonwealth-bank-refund-16m-junk-insurance-royal-commission-080318

2016 -Recent Fee for no service scandal:

The sweeping scandals – tagged by ASIC as “fees for no service” in its landmark report in October 2016 – saw the big banks and AMP targeted for practices dating back years where millions of dollars in fees were creamed off accounts for financial advice never given.

Wealth management and financial advice industries were involved and investigated in the banking royal commission for this scandal.

Commonwealth bank Wealth package refund in 2015

This happened in 2015. If you held a wealth package, you could have got a refund. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) was said to refund approximately $80 million to around 216,000 Wealth Package customers as compensation for failing to apply fee waivers, interest concessions and other benefits since 2008.

It equated to an average refund per customer affected of around $370, which includes interest. In this case bank staff had to manually apply many of the discounts available under the Wealth Package, which in some instances did not occur.

2017 – CommInsure refunding – CCP premiums

Commonwealth Bank and insurers QBE and Virginia Surety would repay a total of over $26 million to people who were mis-sold add-on insurance, including consumer credit insurance.

CreditCard Plus (CCP) Insurance protects customers’ credit card repayment obligations in the event of death, terminal illness, disability and involuntary unemployment.

Following a review of their records, they identified that CCP Insurance may have been sold to a number of customers who may not have been eligible for all the benefits when they bought their policy. Therefore, they were refunding the premiums paid by impacted customers.

More details here – https://www.commbank.com.au/insurance/creditcard-plus/faqs.html

2020 Westpac refund for small business – Merchant terminal fee relief

The Merchant terminal fee relief was a part of Westpac’s COVID-19 support package for Australian businesses, for 3 months, starting in April 2020.

All eligible merchant customers would have received their final refund payment and westpac are working to provide you with a GST adjustment note for tax purposes in the coming weeks.

Who is eligible? -Merchant customers with a total card spend of less than $5 million per annum.

More here- https://www.westpac.com.au/help/disaster-relief/coronavirus/business/merchant-terminal-fee-refunds/

2015 – 2019 Nab Refunds

NAB’s refund program was set up in 2015, however only about $300 million has been paid back to customers.  IN 2015  National Australia Bank WAS SAID TOl refund A$25 million ($18.38 million) to around 62,000 wealth management clients who were wrongly compensated.

https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2015-releases/15-194mr-nab-wealth-refunds-additional-customers-following-asic-action/

In 2019 Nab was ordered to pay back money to customers for junk insurance given to customers by shoddy financial advice. This came about by the royal banking commission.

It now expects another of its remediation Project Hunt to be finished in October.

ASIC is currently overseeing more than 100 remediation programs expected to pay out more than $2 billion to consumers on top of the almost $1 billion that has already been returned. About $10 billion has been set aside by the industry for remediation programs.

Qantas refund /Airline refund/ Flight Centre Travel agent refund

Qantas and Singapore airlines have many destination flights from Australia and there are thousands of customers still waiting for refunds directly from the airlines or then from flight centre or travel agents.

Airlines have given a mix of “travel credit” “travel vouchers” flights for future and money refunds. Flight centre has attracted court action and being looked into by authorities for delay in them giving refunds to customers.

Those customers who have accepted a travel credit voucher may not be eligible for a refund of money, however those whose flights got cancelled will be able to claim a refund.

Delayed air ticket and hotel accommodation refunds by travel agents and airlines could lead to further legal action being taken by irate customers due to interest charges escalating on credit cards.

Qantas Refunds

https://www.qantas.com/us/en/book-a-trip/flights/compensation-and-refunds-policy.html

Singapore Airline refund

https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/us/travel-info/charges-changes/cancellations-refunds/

Flight Centre Refunds

https://www.flightcentre.com.au/support/bookings#my-options

https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/flight-centre-to-refund-cancellation-fees

The ACCC has received more than 6000 complaints from consumers dissatisfied with travel companies’ refund policies and cancellation fees, with thousands more contacting their local state or territory fair trading agencies seeking assistance resolving individual disputes. 

Qantas is refunding customers for flight cancellations after the ACCC COVID-19 Taskforce raised concerns with the way the airline had handled claims

CRUISE REFUNDS

Cruise Ships Australia

COVID-19 has been called one of the worst things to happen to the cruise industry in decades.

Thousands of cruise customers from big cruise companies like Caribbean Cruise, Princess Cruise, Carnival Cruises and P & O Cruises are awaiting their refunds due to cancellation of cruises all over the world.

Most cruise liners though American owned, operate from overseas tax haven countries and so has been denied by USA for financial bailouts in the COVID19 Crisis times.

Most cruise liners are offering cruise credits to their customers leaving not many options to disgruntled clients.

Princess cruises

https://www.princess.com/news/notices_and_advisories/notices/refunds-and-future-cruise-credits.html

Royal Carribean Cruises

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/booking-cancellation-refund-policy

P&O cruises

https://www.pocruises.com/request

Carnival Cruises

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/list/search/suggested/1

Reference Websites

Banks:

Westpac Bank – https://www.westpac.com.au/

ANZ Bank – https://www.anz.com.au/

National Australia Bank – https://www.nab.com.au/

Commonwealth Bank – https://www.commbank.com.au/

Government:

ACCC

ASIC – https://asic.gov.au/

ATO – https://www.ato.gov.au/

APRA – https://www.apra.gov.au/

ACCC – https://www.accc.gov.au/

Search Keywords to Article:

Refund from CommBank 2020

Commonwealth bank refund

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When do I get my cruise refund

4 Main Tips to Be a Successful Business Administrator

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marketing and conversion australia

Business administration is a great career for you if you’re patient, able to make decisions on your feet and have a keen eye for detail. If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve got you covered. Don’t hesitate to explore this career further even if you don’t tick all the boxes – there is plenty of time to learn and prepare yourself mentally for a stress-free business administrator job. If you are wondering how to be a successful business administrator, check out our 4 tips below and see for yourself.

Never Stop Learning

Whatever career you choose, there is always room for improvement. Business administration courses prepare you for this career and shed light on how you can contribute to companies by working on real projects that prepare you for the competitive business world. The curriculum is practical, so you can demonstrate your theoretical knowledge and gain practical experience which comes in handy when you need to solve real business problems and overcome different business challenges. A diploma of business administration is proof that you’re able to apply yourself to the task and know every nook and cranny of the business or a company you represent.

Organization

Being organized and able to work under pressure are two key skills a successful business administrator has to possess. People rely on you to help the business evolve, show off your critical thinking skills and come up with creative solutions to problems if there is need to. This is also a great way to prosper in your career. Job duties include managing files and data, managing meetings and helping the business run smoothly by using a range of specialized managerial techniques. The core of all these job duties lies in organization and time management. Prioritize your daily goals according to their importance for the company to maximize the profit and minimize the time necessary for completing the task.

Be Inquisitive

As a beginner, don’t be afraid to ask questions or make mistakes. While interacting with different experts in the field, you can learn a lot about case studies or presentations that are relevant for your future career growth, if you’re interested in climbing up the ladder one day. Pay attention to details, and how you communicate with others. First impression does matter. When a new client arrives, it is your job to make him feel welcome and keep him in the loop about meetings and day-to-day business operations. While speaking to him, you can find out more information about the way he conducts his business and the approaches he prefers.

Adept in Technology

Computer literacy is a pretty common job requirement these days. Creating reports, data entry forms or a calendar that includes important dates doesn’t require advanced computer literacy. However, you have to be proficient in the Microsoft Office package and efficiently use it to accomplish your daily tasks. A thorough understanding of operating systems the company uses, customer relationship management systems and different applications for scheduling or responding to e-mails is necessary. In addition, it would be helpful to have great keyboarding speed and accuracy. Furthermore, your verbal and written communication skills will be the icing on the cake for your employee that will most likely seal the deal.

It’s important not to be afraid of constructive criticism or any type of feedback. Don’t take it personally. The feedback is there to help you do your job better and make necessary changes, if necessary. What do you like the most about this career and what skills should a successful business administrator possess? Tell us all about your opinion in the comment section below!





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