A discussion in the the whirlpool forum about Telstra resulted in a major panic at Bigpond:

…… I rang 1800 330 192 and after some humming and hawing the guy there gave me the $13 credit on my bill for this month ($10 plus the discount for the pro-rata initial period), but said that they don’t in fact know anything about the $78 deal, and that I would have to ring the ‘Bundles’ department at 1800 008 851. Incidentally, if you do a Google search for that number, you get a very interesting result. Um, Telstra, that’s customer information just sitting out on the open Web… That page also seems to suggest that he shouldn’t have given me the number, but should have put me through.

Then companies wonder why we are so reluctant to give them any information about ourselves.

In the good old days, you knew who you were giving your personal information too – now it’s open slather

In the new Woolies hardware store we were asked to sign for a credit card purchase on a glass screen, and suddenly the signature shows up on the cashiers display screen

“Oh, it only lasts three seconds …” we are told. Yes, and then what happens to it? So you have an electronic version of our signature together with all that other information that’s encrypted inside the credit card chip

When the ATO called the other day, the caller got upset and quite defensive when we asked her for her full name and date of birth

“Why do you want that?”, she asked. Because you’re going to ask us the same question!

Why would we want to talk to someone with an Indian accent calling from an unlisted number claiming to be from the ATO?

“Oh, I’ll give you a number to call me back”. – Yes? And what does that prove, exactly? That you’re on the other end of the phone and you’re going to tell us that you’re from the ATO?

If large companies focused more on what’s really happening in the community maybe we wouldn’t see a repeat of the Whirlpool forum sending ripples into Big Pond

Financial window dressing is where financial managers do certain things to increase or decrease net income that’s recorded in the year. They shuffle figures around to change the true picture of what is going on with the financials.

In the corporate world this sort of activity is known as profit smoothing, income smoothing or just plain old window dressing. This isn’t the same as fraud, or cooking the books. When the government does it, it’s called politics.

Just as Canberra is telling Australians that the economy is strong, and everything is going well. It’s a very different story when you speak to many business owners and operators on the Gold Coast. With the ATO getting more and more ruthless in their efforts to extract every possible dollar from hard working Australians, we’re seen an almost unprecedented number of small businesses closing down.

Banks are getting concerned at the rising number of foreclosures of home loans, and the alarming number of mortgage holders who are over one month behind on their repayments.

We’re seeing two different economies in Australi – the boom triggered by mining is offsetting the disaster that’s happening in the rest of the economy – is this another example of financial window dressing.

As the ATO continues to crackdown on companies, trusts, partnerships, employees and subcontractors, smart business operators are looking at whatever legal options are available to show reduced profits and save on tax liabilities.

Most profit smoothing involves pushing some amount of revenue and/or expenses into other years than they would normally be recorded. A common technique for profit smoothing is to delay normal maintenance and repairs.

This is referred to as deferred maintenance. Many routine and recurring maintenance costs required for autos, trucks, machines, equipment and buildings can be delayed, or deferred until later.

A business that spends a significant amount of money for employee training and development may delay these programs until the next year so the expense in the current year is lower.

A company can cut back on its current year’s outlays for market research and product development.

A business can ease up on its rules regarding when slow-paying customers are written off to expense as bad debts or uncollectible accounts receivable. The business can put off recording some of its bad debts expense until the next reporting year.

A fixed asset that is not being actively used may have very little current or future value to a business. Instead of writing off the un-depreciated cost of the impaired asset as a loss in the current year, the business might delay the write-off until the next year.

You can see how manipulating the timing of certain expenses can make an impact on net income. This isn’t illegal although companies can go too far in massaging the numbers so that its financial statements are misleading.

For the most part though, profit smoothing isn’t much more than robbing Peter to pay Paul. Accountants refer to these as compensatory effects. The effects next year offset and cancel out the effects in the current year. Less expense this year is balanced by more expense the next year.

Photo source- www.accountingcelebrity.com

Many Gold Coast business owners struggle with getting their bookkeeping in order to fill out the Business Activity Statements. That’s why so many of them have decided to outsource their bookkeeping. Some of our clients simply ask our Gold Coast mobile bookkeeping service to come in once a month, or once a quarter to review their bookwork and make any necessary adjustments before lodging the BAS

Why Outsource Your Bookkeeping?
It could cost you a heap of money, and time, by choosing to “save a few dollars” and do the bookkeeping yourself. We recently saved a client a few thousand dollars because he’d incorrectly allocated some funds and was not aware that he was going to pay the ATO more than was required.

CONTACT US TODAY for help with your BAS. Whether you use MYOB, Quickbooks or maybe you don’t have an accounting system in place, our Gold Coast mobile bookkeeping service can help get your bookeeping in order for the Q1 BAS that’s due 28 October 2010

Here’s the bad news: If you think that the ATO are going to send you an email telling you what your tax refund is, and then sending you to a link on a totally different website, then think again

Here’s the good news: The ATO do not send out emails advising of tax refunds. If they do, generally they already have your bank account details and have already credited your account

Here’s an email we received yesterday

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $ 1108.83 AUD .
Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 48 hours in order to process it.
A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons.
For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.
To access the form for your tax refund, please the link bellow:

http://www.fetishfalls.com/ etc ……

Regards,
Australian Taxation Office

Copyright 2010, Australian Taxation Office AU

So how do we know it’s a hoax?
Well, the first thing is the spelling. Whilst we know that the ATO seems to be employing a heap of “New Australians” who can hardly speak the English language and are really difficult to communicate with – we feel certain (at this stage) that someone that can speak the Australian official national language still knows how to use spellcheck on their computer

The second clue is the “LINK” that they would like us to go to. After spending over $800 million on a new computer system, we feel sure that the ATO still has enough funds to pay for their own website hosting, rather than using someone else’s website to host their documentation.

We are not aware that http://www.fetishfalls.com/ is a website owned and operated by the ATO.

These are some simple points to check when anyone sends you an email asking you to give your details on “the next page”:

• Have a look at the URL (i.e the www.address) that you are directed to before giving ANYONE any details on the internet
• Check the spelling
• Look at the logos on the email
• Other tell-tale signs include the content of the email

BTW The ATO use data matching and cross checking of records against Medicare, CentreLink etc, so they probably know all about your financial details, where you spend your money, where you earn your money, how much you earn, and even where you keep any money that you have – so they really don’t need to waste their time sending out emails asking to confim your refund.

Having said that, we are aware that some of the staff at the ATO use this website to ascertain when the next BAS due dates are. Maybe that’s becuase the ATO website is so confusing to navigate around even for ATO staff

We’ve been getting a number of enquiries from people asking us to lodge their tax returns. As bookkeepers on the Gold Coast, we are not registered tax agents and so we are not authorised to lodge tax returns. What we can do is to help you with your paperwork, and get everything ready so that you can submit all the documentation to your accountant or registered tax agent

Check out this free accounting software system that may suit your needs

So where does that leave small business owners?

Many of our bookkeeping clients around Nerang, Broadbeach, Carrara and Merrimac do not have accounting software, they simply hand us the paperwork and we prepare the bookkeeping on their behalf. Companies like MYOB and Quickbooks offer a basic software packing starting at around $50 and there are other options of free accounting software on the internet.

• Have a look at this online free accounting system
• You can browse through the range of Quickbooks and MYOB software HERE
• Need MYOB or Quickbooks Training? Contact Us HERE
• Want to know if Quickbooks or MYOB is the best for your business?
  Contact Us HERE

As we all know, there ain’t such thing as a free lunch, so before you rush into a new accounting software program, have a chat with us and we’ll offer some economic solutions for your business.

Whilst the staff at Hardly Normal and similar electrical stores sell software, they know little about accounting or bookkeeping and will endeavour to sell you the most expensive package they can!

You can browse through the range of Quickbooks and MYOB software HERE or Contact Us HERE and we’ll help you determine which accounting software may be most suitable for you, to replace ATO E-Record.

According to tax expert Tony Anamourlis, who’s a lecturer at Latrobe University’s faculty of Law and Management. He reckons that the ATO is using such resources to investigate investors using offshore havens. Whilst there’s been pressure on international banks to supply information, Swiss bank UBS has not been so forthcoming.

Why do people tell their whole story on the internet anyway? Apparently insurance companies in the UK charge a higher premium for Facebook account holders because people are so open. Individuals have been known to tell other Facebook fans that exact dates that they will be going on holiday, only to return to find their house burgled.

Why would high-net wealth tax payers reveal so much information in cyber-space? Who knows! At the same time, it seems that staff at the ATO have nothing better to do thatn to surf the internet. How much is that costing the Australian Tax payer?

The ATO website advised that:

“Lodgment and/or payment will be due on the next business day for all taxpayers regardless of where the taxpayer is located.

If the due date falls on a public holiday which is a public holiday for the whole of a state or territory, taxpayers in all states and territories may lodge and/or pay on the first business day regardless of whether they celebrate that public holiday.”

Since 28 February 2010 is a Sunday, and there’s a public holiday in Western Australia on 1st March, the first business day is Tuesday 2 March 2010

Have a look for yourself on the Australian Taxation Office website, that explains: “Due date for lodgment or payment falling on a weekend or a public holiday”

http://www.ato.gov.au/taxprofessionals/content.asp?doc=/content/12510.htm&page=2&H2

You can save much stress and heartache by outsourced bookkeeping

No matter what accounting software system you use (commonly Quickbooks or MYOB) the preparation of a BAS form can be challenging. MYOB or Quickbooks will only give the answers based on the information that’s entered into your software package.

ATO states that 80% BAS forms lodged incorrectly

If the data is incorrectly entered, or the allocations and codes are not correct, then the information that MYOB or Quickbooks spits out for your Business Activity Statement BAS will not be correct.

That actual process of filling in the form is not that difficult once you know how. Unfortunately most small business owners or their in-house bookkeepers do not complete a BAS form correctly. According to the Australian Taxation Office ATO 80% of Business Activity Statements are incorrectly completed.

ATO say only 8% BAS forms lodged by Contract Bookkeepers

That means the majority of BAS forms completed by business owners and in-house bookkeepers are wrong.

Yet many small busines owners on the Gold Coast insist on trying to save a few dollars by doing it themselves.

As professional bookkeepers that are lodging 100′s of BAS forms each year, we’ve had plenty of practice – compare that to most small businesses that do this kind of work for a few hours each quarter.

We offer a service where we can help small business owners with the BAS prpearation and lodgement. For a small investment you can save much stress and heartache

Your Business Activity Statement BAS should be submitted by 11 January 2010 **

The Australian Taxation Office are looking at a new income tax processing system from 1 February 2010.

To get things moving, they’ll be shutting down their systems 22-27 January 2010.

** If you’re a small business owner that’s expecting a refund, you should be asking your bookkeeper to lodge your Business Activity Statement BAS as early as possible.

The ATO are suggesting that your Business Activity Statement BAS should be submitted by 11 January 2010 to minimise the chance of any delays.