Podcasts about ess biztools

Peter Towers, Managing Director of ESS BIZTOOLS and Andrew Geddes, Director of Andrew Geddes Pty Ltd, discuss “Where to for Australian Accounting Industry in 2022-2023”

Our team at ESS BIZTOOLS has created an opportunity for accountants, like you, to offer a broader range of commercial services to their SME clients in a cost effective way. Providing professional Business Advisory Services can add a new stream of income that will flow into your practice and help grow your business. But, for smaller firms, offering new services over and above compliance work is often seen as an uphill battle, especially with all the preparatory work involved. Read More: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=442&Itemid=639

“We joined ESS BIZTOOLS five years ago as a subscriber and we have never looked back – it is an amazing set of products and tools that we utilise with our clients but we also utilise the system to guide young accountants in our mentoring program to better understand the challenges of delivering a wide range of non-compliance services to SMEs.”  “ESS BIZTOOLS enables us to empower young accounting professionals with tools and knowledge to achieve their goals”.  Priscilla Bea Smith, Director, Cloud Nine Associates who joined Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS in the final webinar presentation of the ESS BIZTOOLS Black Friday Business Advisory Services webinars. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=421&Itemid=639

In session 3 of the Black Friday webinar extravaganza Amanda Gascoigne, Amanda Gascoigne Consulting joined Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS for a discussion on 5 Key Product Packages that are part of the ESS BIZTOOLS' Business Advisory Services offering for Accountants, Business Advisors, Chief Financial Officers and Bookkeepers. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=419&Itemid=639

Andrew Geddes, Accounting Industry Coach and former Chair of Greencross Ltd, a Top 200 ASX company joined Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS for a discussion in Session 2 of the ESS BIZTOOLS' Black Friday webinar series and made the following comments relative to the utilisation of: Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=418&Itemid=639

SYSTEMISING BUSINESS ADVISORY SERVICES In last week's ESS BIZTOOLS' Business Advisory Services Podcast – “Systemising Business Advisory Services”, Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS discussed recent comments made by experienced accountants on why systems are important for the effective delivery of Business Advisory Services. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=417&Itemid=639

Amanda Gascoigne, Principal, Amanda Gascoigne Consulting, made this comment in the ESS BIZTOOLS' Business Advisory Services Podcast last week - “I can assure you that if you've got the systems, you will get that extra work, but you have to make a proactive decision to be reactive and respond to the type of services that your clients want you to provide to them”. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=416&Itemid=639

Andrew Geddes, Australian Accounting Legend, Chair for 10 years of Greencross Ltd, a company which developed over 30 years from a very small veterinary surgery to be a Top 200 ASX company utilising the “Scaling up Process” that Geddes introduced to the Greencross leadership team 15 years ago. We invited Andrew Geddes to participate in the ESS BIZTOOLS' Business Advisory Services Podcast with Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS on the subject “Scaling up Strategies for Team Building”.....   [Read the Full Article Here]

At long last the COVID-19 lockdowns are ending and there is an air of optimism in the marketplace as businesses go about the task of reopening and repositioning themselves for what is expected to be boom conditions in 2022. Accountants, this is a great opportunity to identify yourselves as a proactive accounting firm that is willing to supply a range of business enhancement services to your SME clients. In the “ESS BIZTOOLS Business Advisory Services Podcast” this week Phil Chynoweth, Managing Director, Bridge Global joined Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS to review the recent Zoom presentation by Professor Terry Kramer, Adjunct Professor, Anderson School of Management, UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) and to comment on the benefits for Australian companies from participating in the UCLA GAP Field Study Program.  You can listen to the podcast by clicking here. “Terry Kramer, as an Adjunct Professor at UCLA, has spent time at Harvard University but more importantly fundamentally he is a businessman who ran Vodafone in America and has had a number of senior business positions.” [Learn-More]

Diversification Strategies for Small and Solo Firms is the title of Peter's presentation. Peter has already produced a 50 minute webinar on Diversifying Accounting Services – Why? which I have uploaded in the group, so we thought we would discuss the key requirements of diversification on how small and solo practitioners can implement diversification strategies to their accountancy services. In this session Peter and Amanda talk about why diversification makes good commercial sense and strategies to get started on this pathway

According to the recent report released by CommBank Accounting Market Pulse, diversification of services is a major objective by accountancy firms all over Australia this financial year.   ESS BIZTOOLS is pleased to contribute to this diversification strategy by offering a 50% discount on four product packages which are significantly diversified to give accountants, bookkeepers and business advisors a great choice of the type of services that they wish to offer to their SME clients. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=392&Itemid=639

One of our Affiliates has agreed to support professional firms who subscribe to ESS BIZTOOLS' Special Package Offers before 6th August 2021 with ten packages being available to the first ten new subscribers to ESS BIZTOOLS. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=391&Itemid=639

In the most recent ESS BIZTOOLS’ Business Advisory Services Webinar/Conversation, Matthew Karakoulakis, Principal Legal Officer of AMK Law discussed with Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS a range of legal issues that affect inventors and small companies as they undertake research activities. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=376&Itemid=639

Mark Holton, an Accountancy Industry Consultant and Director of Smithink Pty Ltd, discussed with Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS the opportunities that accountants have to differentiate their firms by proactively advising clients on research and development opportunities and the taxation benefits that they can obtain from the proper implementation of a research and development system. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=375&Itemid=639

Are companies giving sufficient priority to determining return on investment as part of the decision as to whether to proceed with a research and development project?  This will be the theme for the conversation between Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS and Peter Milla, Managing Director, Business Tree Pty Ltd, an experienced innovation consultant, in the ESS BIZTOOLS’ Business Advisory Services Webinars/Conversation on Wednesday, 17th March 2021. There are many questions that have to be considered by a company as part of formulating a research and development project, which include:... Read The Full Article Here

In the ESS BIZTOOLS’ Business Advisory Services Webinar/Conversation on Wednesday 10th March 2021, Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS will discuss with Priscilla Bea Smith, Director, Cloud Nine Associates some of the important issues on which small business and medium-sized enterprise owners and CEOs are seeking advice: Preparation of Budgets and Cashflow Forecasts for the next 12 months and beyond. Determination as to whether the business needs some extra funding and, if so, giving consideration to the “Australian Government 50% Guaranteed Loans” that are for loans of up to $1 million to be repaid over a 5 year period at a low interest rate. Applications need to be made to banks and financial organisations that ...   Read The Full Article Here

Many businesses are facing an uncertain economic future and will be looking to their accountants/business advisors/bookkeepers to give them advice as to what the future holds for them.  The key to this advice is for accountants to have the confidence and ability to offer “Predictive Accounting Services” so that their clients have an awareness of the financial implications of the decisions that they are now making. Paul Barnaby, the Australasian Representative for PlanGuru and an experienced Chartered Accountant and Predictive Accounting Consultant, together with Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS are....   Read the Full Article Here

There is a range of services beyond taxation, that smaller accountancy firms can provide to their SME clients, to assist those businesses to grow and add value. Amanda Gascoigne, an experienced Consultant to smaller accountancy firms, together with Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS are the presenters of the ESS BIZTOOLS’ Business Advisory Services Update Webinar/Conversation on Wednesday, 24th February 2021 at 11.30am AEST (12.30pm AEDT).  To register for this free webinar ....   View The Full Article Here

In our last Business Advisory Services Webinars/Conversation for 2020 Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS and Paul Barnaby, Managing Director, Beyond Accounting Technologies and Australasian Representative of PlanGuru, discussed the concept that ‘Predictive Accounting’ will be vital in the planning to help clients in 2021. More Info: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=349&Itemid=639

Welcome to our new format of weekly Business Advisory Services Update articles and videos with presentations by ESS BIZTOOLS and one of our Affiliates where we will discuss various issues relating to the implementation of Business Advisory Services by accountants/business advisors/bookkeepers. Our first presentation “Reset Your Practice” will feature Amanda Gascoigne, Chartered Accountant, Coach and Mentor, Amanda Gascoigne Consulting and Peter Towers Managing Director ESS BIZTOOLS. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=322&Itemid=639

The final COVID-19 Survival Panel webinar for SMEs is being presented on Wednesday, 28th October 2020 at 12-noon AEST (1.00pm AEDT). The keynote presenters are Ashley Evans, Managing Director, AAA+ Financial Solutions and Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS and ESS Small Business. Read more: https://www.esssmallbusiness.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=273&Itemid=639

Business people are looking for more accurate financial information as to what the effect of their decisions will be on their future operations by utilising 'predictive accounting' which incorporates 'key driver budgeting' to prepare Budgets, Cashflow Forecasts and Predicted Balance Sheets relating to their future operations. In the next COVID-19 Survival Panel webinar will be presented on Friday, 23rd October 2020 with the theme relating to “Predictive Accounting”. The keynote presenters are Paul Barnaby, Regional Integration Consultant, Asia-Pacific PlanGuru, CEO Beyond Accounting Pty Ltd, a Predictive Accounting consultancy firm and Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS.   Read The Full Article Here

Good news last week for your clients in the building and construction industries and some tradies. The Australian government’s Stimulus Package Number 4 will bring some joy to the building industry, including tradies operating in the house building and renovations industries. In this week’s COVID-19 Survival Panel webinar Peter Towers, Managing Director of ESS BIZTOOLS, will comment on the opportunity that is available for accountants to offer a 'Chief Financial Officer' service to assist your clients to meet post COVID-19 challenges including....   Read The Full Article Here

Greetings from ESS BIZTOOLS and our affiliates.  Welcome to this weekly update on issues confronting accountants, business advisors and bookkeepers from the COVID 19 coronavirus. This week we looked at: Financing your Business Engaging your Accountant to add Value to your Business Read The Full Article Here

Greetings from ESS BIZTOOLS and our Affiliates, welcome to this weekly update on issues confronting small businesses and medium-sized enterprises from the COVID-19 coronavirus. Preparing for the end of the lockdown. Read More: https://www.esssmallbusiness.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=256&Itemid=639

Greetings from ESS BIZTOOLS and our Affiliates, welcome to this weekly update on issues confronting small businesses and medium-sized enterprises from the COVID-19 coronavirus. Read more: https://www.esssmallbusiness.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=255&Itemid=639

Are your clients having difficulties borrowing from banks? Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS, will be making a presentation to the Crowdfunding Institute of Australia next Friday and would love your input as to what is currently happening in your location. Read more

The Crowd Sourced Funding Equity Raising Scorecard produced by ESS BIZTOOLS as at 31 July 2019 has identified that 31,141 investors have invested an average of $1,207 in the 44 companies that have raised $37,586,246. (Click here to view the Scorecard) This uptake indicates that after a slow start Crowd Sourced Funding Equity Raising is starting to raise much needed capital for Small Businesses and Medium Sized Enterprises all over Australia. Mr Robin Holt, Senior Campaign Manager of Melbourne based Crowd Sourced Funding Intermediary – Birchal Financial Services has indicated that he was in the United Kingdom when the equivalent of Crowd Sourced Funding Equity Raising commenced and has stated that it took two years for the market to take off to the significant level of investment that is now evident in the UK...     READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

By now you will probably have heard about Crowd Sourced Funding Equity Raising (CSF) and just how powerful an option it is for your small and medium sized business clients to raise capital from the public. There’s certainly a lot of buzz in the accounting industry at the moment. While you may have heard about the concept in general, perhaps you aren’t completely up on all the details and its benefits. Discovering all those details yourself could turn into a major research project if you try to do it from scratch. Fortunately, we, at ESS BIZTOOLS, have done the tedious work for you. Our team has collated all the information you’re going to need to get a full grasp of the process and we’ve put it together in one package. Guess what we’ve called it? READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Let me be blunt. You are running out of time! If you want to discover how your SME clients can raise capital without throwing themselves at the mercy of the banks, and, how your accountancy firm can profit substantially from new revenue streams... then yes, you really are running out of time. Why? Because, we at ESS BIZTOOLS, are offering a 40% discount on all the information, strategies and documentation you are going to need to fully understand and work with Crowd Sourced Funding Equity Raising. But, like magic, that discount will disappear in a puff of smoke when the clock strikes midnight on Friday 15th February 2019. Don't miss out!...     READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

ESS BIZTOOLS can assist accountants to commence the journey to diversifying their income by offering a range of non-compliance services to their clients and prospects. You are invited to visit ESS BIZTOOLS now, if you wish. When you visit the new ESS BIZTOOLS’ website you will be able to review the products which have been produced by a team with considerable experience in the accountancy industry as well as in the operation of small/medium enterprises.

Where to start on the journey of supplying a proactive accounting service to your clients? You could visit the ESS BIZTOOLS’ website so that you can view the wide range of product packages that are available to assist you to implement commercial services to your clients. Alternatively, you can read this article first.

Hello, I’m Peter Towers, Managing Director of ESS Small Business and ESS BIZTOOLS. Welcome to Empowering SMEs. Directors of SME companies, business operators, committee members of not-for-profits, charities sporting and social organisations need to be able to write these three things down. Have you formulated your plan for the next three months? If not, let me help you.

Hello, I’m Peter Towers, Managing Director of ESS Small Business and ESS BIZTOOLS.  Welcome to Empowering SMEs. Directors of small/medium enterprise companies, committee members of not-for-profits, charities and sporting organisations need an overall understanding of “business” to carry out their duties. An understanding of “business” is what “corporate governance” relates to.   Many directors and committee members do not fully appreciate the wide range of items that they are legally responsible for, once they are appointed a director or committee member.  It is this awareness and understanding of a director’s key role and responsibilities that we’re trying to articulate through the series of webinar/workshops on “corporate governance”.

Hello, I’m Peter Towers, Managing Director of ESS BIZTOOLS.  Welcome to Empowering SMEs. Today I want to talk to you about awareness of legislation, because this is a very important component of the new Corporate Governance Network Product that we are releasing, with the first webinar/workshop on the 9th May 2018.

We have spoken previously about the implementation of New Year’s resolutions relative to the delivery of a wider range of professional services to your clients. Today, I'd like to respectfully suggest that resolution number one for 2018 should be “Help Your Clients Avoid the Personal Property Securities Register Quicksand!”   Over $400 million has been lost by Australian businesses, both large and small, since the Personal Property Securities Register regime commenced in January 2012.   Unfortunately, a significant number of small/medium enterprise operators have no knowledge of the Personal Property Securities Register and indeed, when told about this legislation, many people question why they have to register on a government register to protect their own assets!   There is no doubt, in my mind, that the vast majority of your small/medium enterprise clients need their accountants’ assistance in navigating the requirements of this legislation.   The best place to start is the definition of Personal Property which is defined as “all forms of property other than real estate”.   This covers an enormous range of “business assets”, including: debtors leases of more than two years (was one year up to 20th May 2017) stock – stored on someone else’s premises/on consignment livestock – especially livestock on agistment crops goods artist works plant and equipment motor vehicles, boats, aircraft licenses and trade marks intellectual property service entity arrangements   One of the biggest problems is business assets that are stored on someone else’s premises – in someone else’s warehouse or on consignment to another business.   There needs to be a “triggering event” for a potential problem to emerge. This will always be the appointment of a liquidator, receiver or trustee in bankruptcy to a customer, licensee or the owner of premises where your client has business assets situated.   One of the biggest problems is a liquidator being appointed to one of your client’s customers who has been making payments to your client that a liquidator determines as being “preferential payments.”   Some accountants claim that all work aspects of the Personal Property Securities Register are legal work. I disagree.     I have talked to many legal practitioners who have all indicated that their role is to prepare the two key documents that businesses require – Terms of Trade Agreement Retention of Title Agreement   There is a lot more involved in an effective system to protect your client from the consequences of not registering on the Personal Property Securities Register other than these two agreements.   Businesses need systems to ensure that the Terms of Trade and Retention of Title Agreements are sent promptly to any new customer for signature prior to the supply of any goods and to ensure that there is a follow-up system to ensure that your client receives the signed documentation and that a decision is then made whether to register this customer on the Personal Property Securities Register. All of this must be done promptly so as to comply with the legal requirement to process a registration on the PPSR prior to any goods being sold and within 15 days of the date of the agreement.   The legal practitioners that I have spoken to have indicated that they do not do this work. When I’ve enquired of them who they think does this work they have replied – consultants, accountants, someone within the business’ office.   Why not hold some briefing seminars for the various subgroups of clients that you probably have, such as: subcontractors prime contractors primary producers wholesalers and retailers others   This will enable you to talk to a group with common interests in the operation of this legislation.   ESS BIZTOOLS has developed a Personal Property Securities Register Product Package to assist accountants and business advisors to conduct due diligence reviews on your clients' systems to assist your clients to navigate this complicated legislation, the registration requirements and seminar material for the presentation of seminars to your clients and prospects.   If you would like to obtain more details why not click on to www.essbiztools.com.au and then click onto the Personal Property Securities Register Product Package.   If you have any questions relative to the ESS BIZTOOLS' Personal Property Securities Register Product Package or any of the other product packages that have been produced to assist accountants/business advisors to offer a broader range of professional services, please do not hesitate to contact us. peter@essbiztools.com.au 1800 232 088  

If accountants want to be involved in an exciting “new income stream” – now is the time to make sure that your team has been trained and reviews have been undertaken to identify clients who might be interested and that you are ready to roll out a fantastic service.   What I’m talking about is “Crowd Sourced Funding Equity Raising”!   Or you can potentially sit back and watch some of your clients being poached by other accounting or consulting firms that are aware of the tremendous opportunities that are going to be available to the Australian accounting/business consulting industries from the opportunities that Crowd Sourced Funding presents.   ESS BIZTOOLS has been supplying business advisory services products to accountants since 1997.   Each year since then we have released a range of new products to keep accountants abreast of the latest developments in the commercial market which relate to small/medium enterprises.   The latest product is “Crowd Sourced Funding”!

As accountancy businesses meet the challenges of going to the “next level”, accountancy firm leaders will need to refresh their leadership skills and knowledge to meet the ongoing challenges including: digital disruption competition staff recruitment and motivation some competitors outsourcing work overseas what sort of services do we supply to our clients e.g: Assistance to clients wishing to raise capital as Crowd Sourced Funding Companies or Early Stage Innovation Companies Chief Financial Officer services Risk Management Reviews – Personal Property Securities Register/Insurance Covers Financial planning Superannuation Fund Audits Applying for an Intermediary’s Licence for Crowd Sourced Funding Equity Raising Legislation Other business advisory services   Cindy Hook the Australian CEO of Deloitte outlined her views on leadership recently, which included some of the following:   “Be Purpose Led” Make every individual feel a deep sense of purpose and involvement and feeling that they are appreciated for making a difference.   “Be Bold” Leaders must be able to set agendas and then power through the problems that emerge concentrating on positives not negatives.   “Empower your Team” whilst a leader needs to understand his or her strengths and weaknesses it is very important that the leader gives space to individual team members to enable them to grow.   “Be Open-Minded” Workforces are becoming more diverse – leaders must guard against becoming “close-minded” as they get older. To be an effective leader you have to be open-minded.   “Foster an Inspiring Culture” Leaders need to encourage those, for whom they are responsible, to develop their personal skills and confidence, if an organisation is going to be able to meet the challenges ahead - To become product champions or industry champions.   The challenge for accountancy firm leaders is to ensure that the team understand the direction that the firm wishes to go in and that the entire team have been encouraged to develop the skills that are going to be needed to enable the firm to deliver the “next level” of business advice in a clear manner with empathy to your small/medium enterprise clients.   ESS BIZTOOLS includes a separate Leadership Product Package developed by Peter McDougall AM, Managing Director of The Leadership Academy.   This package will assist partners, managers and team members to gain an understanding of the culture of leadership as it applies to accountancy businesses wanting to go to the “next level”.   You can view an overview on the ESS BIZTOOLS’ Leadership Package – click here.   Leadership for accountants wanting to go to the “next level” will be considered in our next free webinar – Equity Crowdfunding Forecast to Grow Tenfold in Just 5 Years!” - that is being presented on Wednesday 6th December 2017 at 12 noon AEST (1.00pm AEDT). To register please click here.

I’m referring to the Prime Minister’s announcement that he has instructed Australian government departments to ensure that invoices, submitted by small/medium enterprises to a government department, are paid within 20 calendar days.   That’s great news and I’m sure many small/medium enterprises will be monitoring their payment records to ensure that the government departments are paying them within the time stipulated by the Prime Minister.   The Prime Minister’s comment that small business should “not be used as a bank” is welcome news for SMEs.   It is an acknowledgement that the Australian government takes too long, or has not always paid its bills on time, which has hurt small businesses.   The government’s reaction is in response to the Australian government’s Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman – Kate Carnell’s criticism about late payment by federal government departments contributed to Australia having been awarded a very dubious title of having the “longest debtors’ days outstanding in the world”.   Whilst the Prime Minister’s announcement is welcome, big business has a significant role to play in paying invoices on time as well. It would be great if Kate Carnell could influence big business to pay their invoices to SMEs within 20 days as well!   Small/medium enterprises’ managements also have a significant role to play in reducing their debtors’ ledgers.   Many larger businesses complain that small/medium enterprises do not help themselves in that they lodge tax invoices without all of the required documentation and this delays the payment process. Another complaint is that the tax invoices are not submitted within the lodgement timelines that the customer has established that, if abided by, would ensure payment was made within the stipulated time.   This opens up a tremendous opportunity for accountants and business advisors if you are committed to undertaking business advisory services on behalf of your clients.   One of the services that I believe you should be offering to all of your business clients is a regular debtors’ system review (at least annually). This would involve undertaking a review of the systems that your clients are using in all aspects of the control of debtors, including the regular calculation of the debtors’ days’ outstanding figure that applies to the client’s business.   The review would include checks to ensure that all invoices are being sent promptly to their customers and that every month the calculation is made as to what the debtors’ days outstanding figure is and that management is aware of that calculation and takes prompt action to review what is happening if the figure has blown out.   These small/medium enterprises will really benefit from their accountants/business advisors undertaking a due diligence review on their debtors’ processes and formulating an appropriate debtors’ management system for their businesses.   The SME Debtors’ Systems Manual, supplied by ESS BIZTOOLS, is a template that an accountant can edit to create a “personalised debtors’ system” for an individual client. This manual will greatly assist the person who is responsible for the administration of debtors within the client’s business.   This is proactive business advisory services work for accountants which will contribute to an improvement in small/medium enterprise businesses’ cashflows. This involvement by you will also contribute to the creation of a “new income stream” within your accountancy business.   ESS BIZTOOLS has two product packages available to assist accountants in this process: Debtors’ Management Product Package (Click here) for additional information. SME Debtors’ Systems Manual (Click here) for additional information.   We have a free article available for you “Debtors’ Days Outstanding Silent Killer of Modern Business”.   If you require any additional information on the Debtors’ Management Product Packages available to assist accountants/business advisors to supply value adding services to small/medium enterprises to assist in the reduction of debtors’ days outstanding, please do not hesitate to contact us.  

Equity crowdfunding is forecast to grow tenfold in just 5 years! It’s worth repeating that – equity crowdfunding is forecast to grow tenfold in just 5 years.   Australia is expected to follow crowd sourced funding trends in the United States and United Kingdom as these markets have already adopted crowd-sourced funding reforms which have overseen massive growth in capital raising via crowd-sourced funding platforms.   What an opportunity for accountants and business advisors to create a “new income stream” and, at the same time, assist SMEs that would like to raise capital to assist in the growth of their businesses!   Enable Funding (formerly ASSOB – Australian Small Scale Offering Board) has forecast that the new crowd-sourced funding capital raising market will soar from $119 million in 2016 (primarily S708 capital raising) to $1.5 billion in 2021, which would result in a tenfold increase. (www.enablefunding.com)   Enable Funding believes that the new crowd-sourced funding reforms in Australia will have a similar effect on the Australian crowd-sourced funding capital raising market and investor interest in that market.   Enable Funding has forecast the following crowd-sourced funding equity raising amounts: 2017 – $210 million (primarily S708 and Early Stage Innovation Company Capital Raising) 2018 – $420 million (this will be the first year to have an impact from Crowd-Sourced Funding Equity Raising) 2019 – $688 million 2020 – $1.023 billion 2021 – $1.519 billion   This primarily relates to capital raising forecasts for private companies or private companies which have converted to unlisted public companies.   Enable Funding has a real track record in this market. Enable Funding was founded in 2007 (under the name ASSOB) and is now the largest investment crowdfunding platform in Australia and one of the largest in the world.   Enable Funding is an equity crowdfunding platform that has assisted in the raising of more than US $130 million for issuers since its inception.   Many of these businesses were small/medium enterprises when the capital was raised.   ASIC is expected to finalise the licensing of the first batch of intermediaries for crowd sourced funding shortly. Companies will then be able to commence the capital raising process.   This raises the question; what is your accountancy business going to do relative to this market opportunity? This is a brand new market that no Australian accountancy business, large or small, has any significant link to because crowd-sourced funding equity raising is brand new in Australia.   Our suggestion is that you survey your clients to ascertain those companies with group turnover under $25 million and group gross assets under $25 million who are not registered on a Stock Exchange anywhere in the world.   Once you’ve established this group you could then pose some questions and try and answer them internally: Does this client want to expand their business? Has this client talked about purchasing another business? Is this company contemplating financing a succession plan on some basis? Is the company paying off loans? Is the company paying off high credit card debts?   Do you think it would assist these companies if there was an injection of capital into the company? Do the directors have a vision for this business? That’s very important if they are going to attempt to raise capital.   You could then have a conversation with the directors to determine whether they might be interested in considering raising capital by issuing shares in their company.   This will give you the opportunity of outlining to the company directors what’s involved in the journey to become eligible to raise capital as a Crowd-Sourced Funding Company.   Most of these companies will require assistance in the preparation of: a Business Plan; Budgets and Cashflow Forecasts; Information Memorandum; in the preparation of a Crowd-Sourced Funding Offer Document; and for the negotiations with the intermediaries to assist the company directors to select an intermediary with whom they wish to work.   Your initial investment to get started on crowd-sourced funding (at our special price celebrating the launch of Crowd-Sourced Funding Equity Raising) is only $299 including GST.   ESS BIZTOOLS has developed a unique Crowd-Sourced Funding Product Package for the Australian accounting/business advisory industries. If you would like to view the preview of the Crowd-Sourced Funding Product Package please (Click here).   We are presenting a free webinar on Wednesday 22nd November 2017 at 12-noon (AEST)/1pm (AEDT) that you are welcome to attend titled “If You Only Want To Do Tax - Don’t Attend This Webinar!”. (Click here) to register to participate in this webinar. The webinar will feature comments on Crowd-Sourced Funding, Early Stage Innovation Company Capital Raising and an accountant’s role in helping clients get ready for this very important new market opportunity.   You are invited to view a webinar we presented, based on our presentation with Marc Johnstone, Chief Operating Officer of Enable Funding at ATSA 2017 in Sydney last month – “Crowd Sourced Funding presents Opportunities to Create New Income Streams”. (Click here).   If you would like any further information relative to “Equity Crowdfunding Which is Forecast to Grow Tenfold In Just 5 Years”, please do not hesitate to contact me - peter@essbiztools.com.au, visit www.essbiztools.com.au or www essbasip.com.au. Have a great day.

Today I want to talk to you about innovation.  Innovation is important in Australia.  The Australian government has recognised this by introducing an Innovation Statement and a range of legislation to support innovation.   The first new law to be introduced related to Early Stage Innovation Companies.  That will apply to: entrepreneurs inventers companies; and business people who are developing new products, processes or services and other new types of products.   This legislation commenced from 1st July 2016; yes, it's already operating.  Unfortunately, the government, for whatever reason, has not fully promoted and publicised that this new, exciting legislation is now operational.  That's unfortunate, because this legislation will give many small/medium enterprise operators, inventors and entrepreneurs the opportunity to present your business to potential investors who, hopefully, will then be encouraged to make investments in your types of companies.   Why don't you undertake some research to see whether you fit some of the key characteristics that are going to be required to be deemed to be an ESIC? Was your company incorporated in the last three years? There are some rules that allow companies incorporated up to six years ago to be eligible for ESIC, but the main emphasis is on companies that are under three years of age.  Does your company undertake research and development expenditure? Have you participated in the Accelerating Commercialisation Grant Programme? Have you been a participant in an Accelerator Programme? Was your company's total expenditure for your company and any wholly owned subsidiaries in 2015/16 under $1M? Was your company's income, including any wholly owned subsidiaries, in 2015/16 under $200,000? Has your company developed a registered patent or a plant breeder's right that has been registered anywhere in the World? Has your company processed an innovation patent or a registered design anywhere in the World? Have you already raised more than $50,000 from "arms-length" investors in 2015/16? Have you developed a new product, process, service, organisational or marketing methodology for your business?   If you have undertaken these types of activities (not all of them by any stretch of the imagination) then you are potentially eligible to be deemed to be an Early Stage Innovation Company.   Our recommendation is that, if you're going to be able to satisfy the requirements of investors, you will require professional assistance to complete the various statements and to assemble all of the supporting documentation to be presented to investors.   If you'd like to talk to an accountant who is able to assist you to determine whether you're an Early Stage Innovation Company, why not go to our website - www.esssmallbusiness.com.au - and then click on "Find an Accountant/Adviser" and then all you have to do is to insert your postcode and you will then be able to read the names and a summary of the services that those firms offer, who are subscribers to ESS BIZTOOLS (our other major product) and who are able to deliver you advice and assistance on the due diligence process to assist you to become an Early Stage Innovation Company.   If you have any enquiries, why not send me an email - peter@essbistools.com.au and we will get back to you with suggestions on what your next steps should be.   Australia really needs companies that are committed to the innovation process.    The team at ESS BIZTOOLS and ESS Small Business look forward to supporting you on your endeavours.

Hello, I'm Peter Towers, Managing Director of ESS Small Business.  Welcome to Survival Hints for Small Business.   There are tremendous opportunities for investors under the Early Stage Innovation Company legislation.   What is an Early Stage Innovation Company?  This is a new corporate structure that the Australian government legislated for in May 2016 and commenced operations from 1st July 2016.  The legislation is targeted at companies that are developing new products, processes or services.  In the main the companies have to be under three years of age, but in some circumstances the companies could be under six of age.   There are three tests with which the companies have to comply.  They have to pass two of these three tests.   The first test is the "Provisional Test" (that's the name we've given it) because it looks at the age of the company, and whether it's income is under $200,000 in the previous income year, not including any grant income from the Accelerating Commercialisation Grant. The company's expenditure in the previous income year has to be under $1M.  The company cannot be listed on a Stock Exchange anywhere in the world.  That's the Provisional Test.   Assuming that the company has answered these questions, they can then move into what is called the "Gateway Test". Within the "Gateway Test" there are seven subjects for consideration and the company can earn points from each of these subjects.  These subjects include: research and development - over 15% of expenditure whether the company has been admitted to the Accelerating Commercialisation Grant Programme whether the company has participated in an Accelerating Programme, delivered by a registered organisation whether the company has already achieved investment of, at least, $50,000 from "arms-length" investors whether the company has registered a patent, plant patent whether the company has an agreement with an organisation that is specified under the Higher Education Act for the Research & Development Act whether the company has registered an innovation patent or a registered design   There are points available for each of these subjects, ranging from 25 points to 75 points.  What the company has to do if it's going to qualify under the Gateway Test is earn 100 points or more.   If a company has successfully completed the Gateway Test and earned more than 100 points, and obviously the company has already passed the Provisional Test, then the company has self-assessed as an Early Stage Innovation Company.   However, if the company was unable to accumulate 100 points under the Gateway Test, it now must move into the third and final series of tests. This is known as the "Principles Based Test".   Companies that gain acceptance as an ESIC under the Principles Based Test will normally be very new companies that have just completed their research and development; perhaps as a sole trader or partnership and have now decided to incorporate a company to assist with the capital raising activities.   To be assessed under the Principles Based Test, the company needs to positively answer five questions Is the company generally focused on commercialisation of a product, process, service, organisational or marketing methodology? Does the company have high growth potential? Does the company have the ability to scale the business? Is there a market opportunity, broader than the local market, in which the company is currently operating? Does the company have competitive advantages?   If the company is able to successfully answer these questions, that would be great, but most companies' boards of directors will have difficulty answering those questions and supplying the required supporting evidence unless they obtain an independent report from an "arms-length" professional consulting firm which is able to review the company's operations, look at the company's business plan or documents as to what it wishes to achieve and have that report as the key supporting document for investors and the Australian Taxation Office to review.   This legislation has been established on the basis that companies can be a self-assess, so that the company will be able to undertake these tests themselves; but then they need to convince investors that they have undertaken these tests in an appropriate professional manner.   At some stage, all of this material is going to have to be submitted to the Australian Taxation Office and AusIndustry.  It can be submitted to the Australian Taxation Office and AusIndustry at a very early stage for them to review the material and decide whether the company is an ESIC.  I expect that this process will take a considerable amount of time and there is no expectation, from our point of view, that the ATO or AusIndustry will undertake this assessment process unless they receive all of the supporting information.    If a company is able to convince investors that they have successfully self-assessed and this could be in particular relating to the Provisional Test and the Gateway Test, then an investor can invest in those companies, but ultimately the company will have to submit the information to the ATO as part of the company's tax return that follows after the date the investment was made.   Obviously with the Principles Based Test, we believe the company will require an independent "arms-length" report.   ESS BIZTOOLS and ESS Small Business have developed a "package" which we call the ESS ESIC Product Package to assist accountants to undertake this due diligence process of companies to determine whether they have appropriate reasons to be able to classify themselves as an Early Stage Innovation Company.   What's all the fuss about, from an investor's point of view?  Well, this is the only investment that I know of in Australia currently that you're able to obtain a 20% tax offset on your investment.  The maximum investment for a sophisticated investor is $1M to obtain the offset, so that would mean that for $1M in a year, the investor would obtain a tax offset of $200,000.  If you don't use all of the tax offset in one year, it can be carried forward to subsequent years.   For a retailer investor, which is anyone who is not a sophisticated investor, the maximum investment is $50,000 and therefore the maximum tax offset is $10,000.   Investors in an Early Stage Innovation Company are also eligible for a Capital Gains Tax Exemption, if they hold the shares for more than 12 months up to less than 10 years, and then there is no Capital Gains Tax payable on that original investment.  If you invested $500,000 into a company and subsequently your share of the sale proceeds of that company was $3M, the $2.5M profit is tax free in the original investor's hands.   A complimentary copy of an article "Tax Incentives for ESIC Investors" is attached with this transcript.   We're presenting a webinar on "ESIC Investor Opportunities" on Wednesday 14th September 2016 at 5.00pm.  Click here to register to attend this webinar, free of charge.   If you have any questions about any aspect of investing in an "ESIC" type company, you can obtain details from the accountants and advisors registered on the ESS Small Business website.   The accountants that I'm referring to who can assist you are the accountants/advisers who are on our website - www.esssmallbusiness.com.au.  If you click onto the Accountants/Advisors Directory and insert your postcode, the system will identify for you the accountants/advisers who are committed to assisting small/medium enterprises, inventors and other businesses to assess whether the company is an ESIC and then to assist the company on the investment readiness and investment presentation phases.   If you have any further questions, please send me an email - peter@essbiztools.com.au.   Good luck with investing in an Early Stage Innovation Company!   Thank you.     Peter Towers Managing Director      

Do you know that there are accountants/advisors around Australia who are committed to supplying a Virtual Chief Financial Officer (CFO) service to their small/medium enterprise clients?   ESS Small Business and ESS BIZTOOLS have developed material for those accounting/advisory businesses to utilise, to give you a more effective service and to give you the products that you’ve asked for as an industry of small/medium enterprises, in survey after survey over the last 15 years.   In fact, the ESS Small Business and ESS BIZTOOLS’ package gives accountants/advisors access to a wide range of information and products that they can utilise to help you add value to your business.   One of the key articles we’ve prepared is a summary of what public companies are looking for when they hire a CFO or chief accountant.  You might say, “I’m not a public company”.  However, it’s amazing how many of the services that public companies have listed that they require from CFOs, which also apply to small/medium enterprises.  I was a CFO in a listed public company some years ago.  I can assure you that there are many similarities.   The problem you and most of your colleagues have, as small/medium enterprises, is that you haven’t got a CFO person in your organisation available on a daily basis.   There are accountants/advisors around Australia who are committed to supplying a Virtual CFO service and, with modern communications, technology and computer programs, there’s no excuse that accountants/advisors can’t supply a Virtual CFO service to you.   The days of accountants/advisors only supplying taxation services are gone!  There’s a lot more to running a business than worrying about tax returns.  The information you really need is the kind of information which will help you run your business more effectively.   Accountants/advisors who are committed to offering a Virtual CFO service can offer you pre-prepared packages of services that they’re able to offer.  Alternatively, they’re happy to sit down and tailor a program to suit your specific requirements.  Of course, to work with the team that you already have.  You may have a very capable bookkeeper who can do a significant part of the work that might otherwise have been allocated to a CFO.   However, there will always be some activities on which you will need an external input, including analysing your budgets and cashflow forecasts and making sure that your monthly financial accounts are being prepared to suit your requirements.   Management Accounts If you have five different businesses operating within your business, why not have five separate Profit & Loss Accounts that are prepared for management, not for the ATO.  Your accountant can consolidate all those into one Profit & Loss Account at the end of financial year to submit to the ATO.  Preparing financial accounts for submission to the ATO is required, however this process doesn’t help you run your business or add value to your business.  Accountants/advisors need to be supplying you with the services that will help you operate on a day-to-day basis.   Key Performance Indicators Have you sat down with your management team and asked them whether they understand the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)?  Incidentally, are you receiving KPIs on a daily, weekly and monthly basis?  The key is do your managers understand what these indicators mean?  If not, your accountant/advisor, acting as a CFO, should be able to sit down and inform them as to the basis of these calculations.   Indeed, there are government grants around at present for skills development for which your accountant/advisor could assist you to apply, to introduce a special skills training program, to ensure that your management team and your team clearly understand what all the financial information means, to help improve your business performance.   Benchmarking Are you benchmarking your performance against commercial benchmarks?  There’s a great organisation in Australia, Benchmarking.com.au, which produces benchmarking reports.  You could also prepare a benchmarking report exercise with other businesses with similar industry background to you.  They could be situated in any part of Australia, thus enabling your business to be compared to a number of other businesses.   Accountants/Advisors can Assist There’s a tremendous opportunity for you to influence the type of services that you’re receiving from your accountant by asking them to submit to you a proposal to undertake a Virtual CFO service for your business.  You can say, “You don’t know these types of accountants.”  We’ve got the answer for you.   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/advisors in or near your postcode who are committed to supplying a wide range of commercial services, namely business advisory services.  You can then make contact with them and have a no obligation conversation with them, to see the types of services that they can offer to your business.  You will then need to make a decision on what you’re going to do on the supply of these types of services to your business.   Remember, accounting relates to far more than taxation.  Taxation is not the only activity that accountants/advisors can do for your business.   A complimentary copy of an article on improvements in accounting services for a small/medium enterprise, “Utilisation of Accountancy Businesses Offering CFO Services”, is attached with this transcript.   We’re presenting a webinar on utilising accountants/advisors to supply a Virtual CFO service, which will be held on Wednesday 17th August 2016 at 4pm.  Click here to register to attend, free of charge.   If you have any further questions, please send me an email - peter@essbiztools.com.au.     Peter Towers Managing Director  

Have you got a business plan?  Do you know what purpose it will serve your business?  Have you talked to your accountant/advisor about helping you to prepare a business plan?  This is the facilitation role that accountants/advisors could perform.  The main group of people involved in a business planning process are you and your team and your accountant/advisor is there to facilitate, ask the questions, record what you’re saying and try to get feedback from you and your team as to what they perceive should be happening within your business.   ESS BIZTOOLS and ESS Small Business have developed material that accountants/advisors can utilise to be able to fully discuss with you all aspects of your business.  This can be encompassed with forms, articles, briefing documents and questionnaires, to assist in understanding what your aims are in your business.   This is a very important process because, if you have a business plan, you can then measure your actual performance every month, quarter, six months and, indeed, every year, to see how you’re going to see, if you’re on target.  If you get behind what your plan indicated that you were going to achieve, perhaps you can then do some fine tuning and catch up.   Alternatively, you could develop a revised strategy for your business plan that takes into account a few things that did go wrong and this is how you’re going to correct it, so this is your new plan for your new journey in the next few years.   Please don’t hesitate to talk to your accountant/advisor on assisting you in the preparation of a business plan.  The best document is a written document that also contains an action plan that details who’s supposed to do something, when are they going to do it by and to whom this task has been allocated.   Then follow up at each Board Meeting, Board of Advice Meeting or Management Meeting which, hopefully, your business is conducting on a monthly basis.  Each of those meetings should have an agenda item, “Implementation of Business Plan”, that you can refer to, to see who is supposed to have done tasks in the previous month and have they performed those tasks.   The business plan is not only a written document but will also become an implementation document to help you implement the strategies that you have given due consideration to, as part of the business planning process.   Accountants/Advisors can Assist You may say, “Well, our accountant only does tax.”  We’ve got an answer for you.  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, including the preparation of business plans.   We’re presenting a special webinar, free of charge, featuring “Business Planning for SMEs”, on Tuesday 2nd August 2016 at 4pm AEST.  Click here to register to attend.   A complimentary copy of our article on business planning and how business plans can help you in achieving your business visions, is attached with this transcript.   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.       Peter Towers Managing Director  

As a small business operator, are you aware of the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR)?  Has your accountant/advisor talked to you on how you can minimise the risks under this register?  Do you know that, in Australia, over $120M has been lost by small and large businesses in court cases involving the Personal Property Securities Act (PPSA)?  Virtually in every one of those cases, the company or business had not registered on the PPSR.  It’s rumoured that over $200M in addition has been lost by other businesses who haven’t registered on the PPSR, sought some legal advice and found that they had no case to be able to present.  Therefore, they lost that money.   You could insure on the PPSR for under $5 for a 7-year period per transaction.  Undoubtedly, this is the cheapest insurance in Australia.   ESS Small Business provides material to accountants and small/medium enterprises to help you review your business operations, to determine your risk areas.  The risk areas cover virtually every asset in your business, except land and attachments to land.   The legislation applies to: debtors stock stock on consignment vehicles plant and equipment builder’s plant and equipment tradesmen’s plant and equipment Intellectual Property cattle horses thoroughbred horses (has been an infamous case in New Zealand with over $2M lost by the legitimate owners to a liquidator acting on behalf of a secured creditor) aeroplanes boats cars   Everything, except land and attachments to land, is caught up under this legislation.   The ESS Small Business and ESS BIZTOOLS’ system, produced to assist accountants/advisors and small/medium enterprises is the only one of its kind in Australia, to specifically assist businesses to alert on the areas where you’re subject to problems under this legislation.   For example, where did you store your stock last night?  If you had stock stored in someone else’s premises and, in an unfortunate circumstance that a liquidator was appointed to that business, you will probably lose it.   The other big risk that businesses are running relates to preferential payment claims being received from liquidators.  Have you already received one of those?  I can assure you that thousands of businesses have.  The vast majority of those businesses could’ve avoided all of the stress, the worry and the costs of the preferential payment claim if they had registered that particular debtor on the PPSR.   Do something about it.  In the first instance, we invite you to visit www.esssmallbusiness.com.au and obtain the articles we’ve developed on the PPSR.   Accountants/Advisors Can Help If you would like to talk to an accountant/advisor who is keen to provide you with advice on a PPSR due diligence system, to help protect your assets, 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.   ESS Small Business also includes a number of free articles and articles for sale, including a complimentary copy of the article “PPSR – Operational Issues in Risk Management”, which is attached with this transcript.   We will be presenting a webinar, featuring “Personal Property Securities Register”, on Wednesday 20th July 2016 at 4pm AEST.  Click here to register to attend this webinar, free of charge.   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.         Peter Towers Managing Director  

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  

The Australian government has finalised the legislation for the Early Stage Innovation Companies (ESICs) prior to the Parliament being adjourned for the Federal election.  Unfortunately, the legislation for Crowd Funding Equity Raising entities was still being debated in the Senate when the Senate adjourned.  Hopefully, this legislation will be finalised after the election when the Senate reconvenes.   The ESIC legislation has benefits for small/medium enterprises, sole traders, entrepreneurs and inventors who have some new innovation products, processes, services, organisational or marketing methods that wish to raise capital.  There are also significant benefits for investors via a tax rebate, based on an investor’s investment and potential CGT exemption on that investment in an ESIC.   To be an eligible ESIC, the company must have been incorporated in the last 3 years, although there are some ways that a company incorporated 6 years ago could be eligible.  The company must have incurred total expenses of less than $1M in the income year before the current income year.  The company must have earned total assessable income of less than $200,000, excluding any grant income from an Accelerating Commercialisation grant in the income year before the current income year.  The company must not be listed on a stock exchange anywhere in the world.   After the company has passed this preliminary test, the company then has to satisfy one of two further tests:   The Gateway Test The company must earn over 100 points from a series of questions relating to: Research and Development expenditure. Whether the company has received an Accelerating Commercialisation grant. Whether the company has participated in an approved Accelerator Program conducted by an appropriate organisation. Whether the company has already received $50,000 or more investment from arms-length investors. Whether the company has already registered some Intellectual Property such as patents, plant patents, innovation patents or registered designs. Whether the company has agreements with certain organisations to co-develop and commercialise a product, process or service.   The Principles Based Test This test is only needed if the company was unable to pass the Gateway Test.   The Gateway Test and the Principles Based Test are self-assessment tests.  Companies would be wise to obtain independent verification of eligibility as an ESIC to satisfy investor due diligence requirements.  Most investors will require some independent verification that the company is going to be accepted by the ATO as being an ESIC because of the importance for most investors for the tax offset and the CGT avoidance.   The company must be able to positively answer 5 questions relating to the potential to commercialise a new product, process, service, marketing or organisational method.   Companies will need to develop an outstanding investment ready presentation for investors, which would include details of: Market Research Marketing Plan Management Team Board of Directors Business Plans for the next 2-3 years Budgets/Cashflow Forecasts for the next 2-3 years Share Pricing Report showing how the share pricing was calculated Information Memorandum Investment Pitch Presentation   Investors can obtain a tax offset calculated at 20% on their investment, up to a maximum of $200,000 per annum for sophisticated investors and $10,000 per annum for retail investors.  The maximum investment for a retail investor is $50,000 per annum.   An investor can also obtain a CGT exemption if shares are held for more than one year and less than 10 years.   A sophisticated investor is outlined in the Corporations Code basically states that to an investor who has earned more than $250,000 in assessable income in the last two year or has assets a value of a net amount in excess of $2.5M.  A sophisticated investor who is able to produce a letter confirming those items from a practicing accountant will be deemed as such.   ESS Small Business and ESS BIZTOOLS have developed a range of products to assist accountants and business advisers to be able to advise small/medium enterprises on their eligibility for the ESIC status.   If you would like to have a discussion with an accountant who is utilising our special ESIC Product Package, 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.   We’re presenting a special webinar, featuring “Early Stage Innovation Companies”, on Wednesday 6th July 2016 at 4pm AEST.  If you would like to register, free of charge, please click here.   A copy of a complimentary article, “Early Stage Innovation Companies”, is attached with this transcript.   If you have any questions in relation to ESIC, or 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.     Peter Towers Managing Director

Virtually every accountancy business in Australia does income tax returns.  Some accountancy businesses claim to be “famous” for tax, however, how do you differentiate accountants in a crowded market place?   The beginning of a new financial year is an appropriate time for a small/medium enterprise business to stop, reflect and take stock of where your business is going.  Are you receiving the right advice to help you add-value to your business?   There are a lot of changes occurring in the business world, including “digital disruption” which is affecting many businesses such as banks, accountants, lawyers, retail, property management, etc.   One of the concerns about which you should be thinking is this: Is your accountant assisting you to add-value to your business?   Taxation return preparation doesn’t add any value to your business.   One way some accountants are trying to develop a range of services that will add-value to their small/medium enterprise clients is by adding products known as “business advisory services”.   What does “business advisory services” include? ·           Cashflow Management ·           Business Planning ·           Succession Planning   “Business advisory services” also include:   Debtors’ Management Helping businesses to better manage debtors so that the money that’s tied up in the debtors’ system can be released to use in the business.   According to Dun & Bradstreet, the average debtors’ days outstanding in Australia is currently 51.8 days.  That’s over 80% longer than the traditional 30-day trading period.   Your accountant should be able to assist you to introduce strategies to reduce debtors’ days outstanding.   Chief Financial Officer Services Some accountants are now becoming a virtual Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for their small/medium enterprise clients.   Large businesses have CFOs working on a full-time basis, so do some small businesses, who are finding that this type of service could considerably add to their business’ performance.   The reason for this is that the same problems that affect large businesses also apply to small businesses.  This is the reason large businesses have CFOs.  In your probability, you won’t need a CFO on a full-time basis, however, there’s some time each week which I’m certain you can utilise the services of a skilled accountant working as your CFO.  Perhaps you should have a discussion with your accountant relative to this, to see whether they’re able to supply that service.   Cost Management In the CCH survey[1] of small businesses conducted a couple of years ago, your peers within the small business community identified that assistance with cost control is one of the major issues confronting small/medium enterprise operators.   Is your accountant assisting you in analysis of your operation of costs?   Personal Property Securities Register Due Diligence System Do you realise that every business in Australia could be caught up with a major problem through the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR)?   If you’re dealing with another business and that business goes into a liquidation event, then you could be caught up.  You will have to either repay money that’s deemed to be a preferential payment to you or lose assets you’ve stored at someone else’s premises or rented to someone.   For a very small charge, you can protect yourself from the PPSR.  Has your accountant discussed this with you?  Have you had a due diligence review within your business to see what changes you will need to implement within your systems, so you will not have to worry unduly about this problem?   Identification of Grants Do you know that the Australian Federal, State and Territory governments combined make available about $5B per annum worth of grants, incentives and special loans for businesses, primarily small/medium enterprise businesses?   Is your accountant assisting you to obtain some of this funding?   After all, you’re paying your share of it, because all taxpayers are contributing to this pool of money to be made available to some businesses.   Strategic Management Advice Are you concerned about corporate governance or how your business is going in the future?  Are you considering appointing an external director or person to your Board of Directors or Board of Advice?  Are you thinking about appointing an external, independent person as Chair of your company?   These are all areas an accountant, offering business advisory services, can discuss with you.   Assistance in Raising Capital Another important area for many businesses is that, as they grow, they get sick of having to borrow money from the bank and mortgage a house yet again.   There’s an opportunity to raise capital from Business Angels and, whilst this involves selling shares in your business to external people, it can be very beneficial in the overall scheme of things and help you to avoid going to more personal debt.  Your accountant should be able to assist you in getting prepared to raise capital from Business Angel investors.   These are some of the issues that confront businesses in 2015/16.   Accountants can assist These are issues that we believe your accountant should be discussing with you and offering you a service, to assist you to grow and add-value to your business.   Accountants who subscribe to ESS BIZTOOLS receive material, papers, templates and articles on all of these subjects and much more, so they can then assist their small/medium enterprise clients to add-value.   In the first instance, our suggestion is you discuss these issues with your accountant and see whether your current accountant is able to supply these types of services for you.   If your accountant is unable to supply those services and you would like to receive details of accountants, in your location, who are able to supply those services, please send an email to peter@essbiztools.com.au with your name and postcode and we will send you details of accountants in or near your postcode whom we know can supply business advisory services to you.   A complimentary copy of paper on the types of services that accountants can provide as CFOs is available.  If you wish to access this free material, please click here to sign up.   If you wish to receive future editions of Survival Hints for Small Business series, you can visit our iTunes – Podcasts - Survival Hints for Small Business page and subscribe to our podcasts.   If you have any questions or suggestions on future items to be covered in Survival Hints for Small Business, please don’t hesitate to contact us.   Best wishes for 2015/16.       Peter Towers Managing Director 1800 232 088 peter@essbiztools.com.au www.esssmallbusiness.com.au [1]SMEs - the fine line between failure and success, CCH, April 2013

Accountants can assist businesses navigate the challenges 2015 is presenting. As a preview to the type of services an accountant/adviser, utilising services made available by ESS BIZTOOLS, a complimentary copy of ‘Debtors’ Management System – Introduction Checklist’ can be downloaded with this transcript. If you are interested in any of the work discussed in this article being undertaken, we urge you to have a discussion with your accountant. However, if your accountant is unable to provide you with this type of service, please don’t hesitate to send an email to peter@essbiztools.com.au, with your location and postcode, and we will send you an introduction to an accountant/adviser whom we know will be able to deliver this service for you. If you wish to receive future editions of Survival Hints for Small Business series, you can visit our iTunes – Podcasts - Survival Hints for Small Business page and subscribe to our podcasts. If you have any questions or suggestions on future items to be covered in Survival Hints for Small Business, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Business plans are like ‘maps for tourists’.  If you don’t know where you’re going to go, how are you going to know when you get there?   Virtually every business, large or small, requires a business plan, including sporting organisations, councils, charities and churches.   Within the small/medium enterprise, the CEO, directors (if any) and the management team should be utilising a business plan to help them direct the business towards achieving its overall objectives.  Other people are also interested in business plans as a means of determining whether they’re prepared to be involved in the business in some way.   These organisations include: ·           Banks – for determining whether to make financial facilities available to the business. ·           Other lenders including debtors discounting and factoring organisations. ·           Government departments may require a business plan if the small/medium enterprise is seeking a government grant or assistance. ·           Investors, whether they are business angels or venture capitalists, require business plans to be prepared, so they can understand the business owner’s vision for the business.   The business plan shouldn’t just be prepared and then filed away and forgotten until a bank, lender or a potential investor asks to see the organisation’s business plan.  A business plan should be a ‘living’ document that is adjusted regularly to reflect the changing circumstances within the business.  The key factor is to ensure all stakeholders and team members in the business have a say in the preparation of the business plan.  The task of the business plan's author is then to ensure the plan is drafted to reflect the general goals of all the stakeholders.   In the planning process, individual team members and stakeholders should be honest in their statements on the current status of the business and their aspirations for the business in the future.  It’s important to try to align the various views.   One of the key requirements for the business plan authors is to try to align the various inputs from stakeholders.  All team members should be involved in the preparation of the business plan.  It shouldn’t be a plan that is developed by the owners or the CEO and then pushed down to the team members.  Team members should be encouraged to have their say, especially in the preparation of the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis for the business.  It’s a good idea to start with a think tank meeting, where the team members involved in a business unit are encouraged to express their opinion on the current state of the business.   Questions such as: ·           What services are being supplied that please customers? ·           What services are lacking? ·           Can the team members honestly answer the question: “Why should I buy from you?”  There needs to be a clear and powerful answer to that question which has been developed by management.   Team members should be able to proudly state why a prospective customer should buy from their business.  If the question is asked, “Why shouldn’t I buy from somewhere else?” team members need to be able to give an answer with conviction to that question.   Part of the planning process is to ensure team members are able to give a hard, fast and powerful answer to that question.   Benchmarking Benchmarking is very important for business operations throughout the year.  It’s a very important part of the business planning process.   It’s essential that businesses are able to compare their performance to other businesses operating in similar markets and industries, just like sport persons and sporting teams do all the time.  They know their personal best.  They know what their competitors are doing.  Business is just the same.   The benchmarking analysis will probably reveal statistics, which indicate that the business is behind their competitors.  That can be a great start to develop strategies to overcome those problems.   The business planning process needs to develop a clear description of what the business is.   ·           Who are the people in the business? ·           What do they do? ·           Why do they do it? ·           What is the end game or the vision for the business? ·           What do the stakeholders expect the business to look like in 12 months, two years and three years’ time?   The business plan should set measurable objectives to be achieved along the way.  It’s no use setting objectives that cannot be measured on a month-by-month basis, because, if they cannot be measured, they cannot be managed and, invariably, they will not be achieved.   The business needs key directions for where it’s headed.   ·           What types of products are going to be offered? ·           What types of customers are being targeted? ·           Preferred locations for the business to operate? ·           What are the key strategies the business has established?  This can relate to development of its team members, its people, its technology, its intellectual property and its market at present.   Action Plan One of the key components of a business plan is the action plan.   ·           Who is responsible for the various tasks that are going to be listed in the business plan? ·           Who owns the responsibility for ensuring the work is completed? ·           What is the timetable for by when various tasks are to be completed?   It’s no use just preparing a business plan, putting it in a ‘nice cover’ and sending copies to the banks and other organisations to which you need to supply copies.  Business plans need to be made a ‘living’ document.  This involves a month-by-month review to see how the business is travelling as compared to the targets that were set in the business plan.   To do this properly, the business will probably need to set aside, at least, two hours a month to review: ·           What has been achieved? ·           What is the current position? ·           What was the targeted position? ·           Is the business in front or behind the target?  If behind, what can be done to catch up? ·           Are there any changes that are needed to the business plan, to adapt to current conditions?   Accountants Can Assist The development of business plans is a logical way for an accountancy business to assist a small business client.   ESS BIZTOOLS has developed detailed modules on business planning, which are available for the accountancy firms around Australia that are subscribers to ESS BIZTOOLS.   If you would like a business plan prepared for your business, in the first instance, we suggest you approach your accountant to see whether they are able to prepare a business plan for you.   If they aren’t able to do so, we are able to assist you by giving an introduction to an accountant within your area who can help.  Please don’t hesitate to send an email to peter@essbiztools.com.au, with your location and postcode, and we will send you the names of accountants, within your area, who are able to provide you with this service.   If you have any questions relative to business plans in general, please don’t hesitate to contact us.   To give you an idea of the headings contained within the business plan, we believe there are at least 45 key headings and, within ESS BIZTOOLS, we’ve developed questionnaires for each of these 45 items.  These are: ·           Review of Business ·           Financial Analysis – Where Is The Business Now ·           Business Objectives Resources ·           Uncontrollable Factors – Technology, Products/Services ·           Industry and Market Analysis ·           Experienced Customers/Clients ·           Location ·           Competitors ·           Marketing ·           Advertising ·           Production Process ·           Suppliers/Quotes/Proposals/Orders ·           Costings ·           Pricing ·           Packaging ·           Sales ·           Distribution ·           Operating the Business ·           Export ·           Staff Development ·           Staff Training ·           Imports ·           Human Resources ·           Debtors ·           Stock ·           Work in Progress ·           Inter-Firm Comparison/Benchmarking ·           Budgets/Cashflow Forecasts ·           Taxation ·           Periodic Financial Accounts ·           Budgets/Cashflow Forecasts Monitoring ·           Bank Relationships ·           Business Funding ·           Organisational Matters ·           Research and Development ·           Insurance ·           Quality Assurance ·           Business Structures ·           Board of Directors/Advice ·           Advisors ·           Legal ·           Public Relations   To give you an idea of the approach we take to the business planning process, you can utilise the attached article, ‘How Do You Start A Business Plan Assignment’.   If you wish to receive future editions in the Survival Hints for Small Business series, you can visit our iTunes – Podcasts - Survival Hints for Small Business page and subscribe to our podcasts.   If you have any questions or suggestions on future items to be covered in Survival Hints for Small Business, please don’t hesitate to contact us.