Reading the December/January issue of Dynamic Business I couldn’t help being drawn to the article on the New Year resolutions of the featured businesses.
It made me reflect on the clients Azure Group has enjoyed working with in 2010, both for their challenges and innovation, but and also got me thinking about what 2011 has in store for small business.
As an accountant and a virtual CFO, I work with a lot of small business owners and one of the most common mistakes they are often guilty of is micromanaging their team and working ‘in’ the business rather than ‘on’ the business.
When it comes to interest rates, small businesses have had a rough time lately. They’ve had to cope with tough lending conditions from the big banks and now another interest rate rise.
There has been much talk and speculation recently with the Australian dollar hitting parity twice with the US dollar in the last month alone (the last time parity occurred was in July 1982).
It was announced last week that Azure Group made the BRW list of the top 100 fastest growing businesses in Australia.
I have been asked by a Dynamic Business reader (thanks to @djcoombes74) to discuss the costs associated with debt recovery. The collection of debt is an important topic for businesses and an area that is often poorly managed.
One of my favourite shows lately is Dragons’ Den on BBC which sees entrepreneurs pitching their ideas to a group of savvy investors in order to obtain financial backing to get their innovation off the ground.
As someone who works with small and medium sized businesses I frequently get asked, “How are SMEs faring?” At the moment my answer would be they are operating amid a great deal of uncertainty. However, despite this many small businesses are focused on growth.
Wednesday, 15 September evening saw nearly 20 CFOs and high level finance professionals attend Azure Group’s CFO Networking evening held in conjunction with the Institute of Chartered Accountants at their office on Erskine Street in Sydney’s CBD.
The topic of the event was debt raising and the interest rate outlook in today’s market and the event featured two highly esteemed speakers, Grant Turley from ANZ and John Munton from Corrs Chambers Westgarth Lawyers.
As a virtual CFO I’ve seen quite a few businesses undervalue the importance their team plays in having input in the strategic growth and direction of a business. Employees strive for more than just a pay check at the end of the month.
Businesses that don’t engage their team are usually the ones that suffer from high staff turnover, low productivity and a lack of staff morale, making it more difficult for that business to operate effectively and profitably.
It’s been a busy few weeks in the Azure Group offices. Unusual for most accountants, but for us, it’s a time when our tax team and accounts teams combine to work on reconciling our client’s accounts, record year-end tax journals as well as collecting and collating compliance files for our clients.
By Umar Flynn, Azure Group accountant
Typically, many people stereotype accountants as boring who don’t like their job. However here at Azure Group, I can confidently say that this is not the case.
Now you might say that being an accountant is boring, well I would argue otherwise. As an accountant I get to work with some of the brightest and innovative entrepreneurs and trust me, it is very inspiring and exciting.
The other day I was asked why some small businesses fail and others succeed and it got me thinking about the defining characteristics of Australian small businesses.
In my role as accountant, CFO and business advisor, I come across many small businesses and I’m continually inspired. Overall, small businesses are innovative, creative and dynamic and they are a major driving force behind our economy (representing a quarter of our GDP).
Attending the COSBOA National Small Business Summit earlier this month, I had the opportunity to hear both major political parties address small business owners and supporters.
The opposition leader Tony Abbott used his trademark ‘personality’ to get traction with the audience and on the other hand the Deputy Prime Minister, Wayne Swann, presented with his usual ‘absence of personality’, leaving us staring into our wine glasses.
What it left me with was the question, will either party really deliver for our 1.93 million small businesses and put their issues on the agenda?
It’s been tough going recently for small businesses in terms of initiatives introduced by the Government. While it may seem the Government is acting for the greater good, small business will bear the brunt of many of these changes.
Despite the chilly weather, last night the Azure Group team and 50 or so of their clients and associates celebrated the end of another financial year.
Held on Azure Group’s office balcony set amid the high rises of Sydney city guests enjoyed a selection of delicious wines from Hunter Valley winery, Brokenwood, while they relaxed to the laid back sounds of the Casey Golden Trio jazz band.
By Hamsini Renugadevan, Financial Accountant
The legal conditions and obligations of employing staff are quite intricate and it is imperative that businesses stay up to date with changes to workplace relations legislation.
Last week I attended a workplace relations training course provided by the Australian Federation of Employers and Industries. The course covered the legal basis of employment with a great emphasis on new industrial relations law, contracts pertaining to employment and the subsequent entitlements that employees are prescribed in line with the National Employment Standards and Fair Work Act 2009.
By David Lamb, Azure Group wealth specialist
The recent television campaign by BT once again raises the question whether shares out perform property.
This is a perennial question. So, what is the question and the claims.
Roughly it goes like this:
Done like this shares win every time.
But hear are a few things to think about.
Last night, was Azure Group’s second CFO Networking event, held in conjunction with the Institute of Chartered Accountants, and by all accounts it was a success.
Nearly 40 CFOs and high level finance professionals attended the Institute’s offices on Erskine Street in Sydney. The topic for the evening was capital raising.
The two speakers of the evening were very well received.
Firstly Craig Cartner from Archer Capital[i] spoke on private equity in Australia since the GFC and what Archer Capital particularly looked for when investing in businesses. Craig shared some interesting insights, like over the last five years in Australia there was a total Private Equity investment of $5.7 billion into 570 Australian companies and also in the last five years the amount of Private Equity monies raised amounted to $18.5 billion compared to $8.7 billion invested.
Next to present was Paul Miller from Deutsch Miller[ii] who spoke about the legalities of capital raising for both private and public companies. Paul shared his knowledge of whether a business should produce disclosure documents, including the current exemptions, types of disclosure documents and content requirements (see below for Paul's presentation).
Initiated by Azure Group, the purpose of the CFO Network events is to provide CFOs working with small and medium sized enterprises the opportunity to network with fellow colleagues and draw on each other’s knowledge and expertise.
Being a CFO of a SME brings its own set of challenges. More often than not they operate independently with limited interaction with other CFOs and at times they lack the opportunity to access ideas, feedback and advice from their peers.
The next CFO Network event will be held on 7 September, once again at the Institute. The topic will focus on debt raising and bank loans and we’ll have two great speakers from ANZ Bank, a business lending specialist and an economist.
Once more we’d like to express our appreciation to the Institute of Chartered Accountants for their support and cooperation in bringing the CFO Network to life.
[i] Archer Capital is one of Australia’s biggest private equity groups. As a partner, Craig Cartner targets buyouts and acquisitions of businesses worth between $20 and $100 million. He is a former director of AMP Capital Investors, responsible for deal sourcing, deal execution and the management and realization of investments, with a particular focus on small to mid-sized buyouts.
[ii] Paul Miller is a founding partner of Deutsch Miller, a boutique corporate and commercial law firm. Paul Miller has over 10 years experience at top law firms in both Australia and the UK advising listed and unlisted companies on various fundraising transactions. His areas of specialization include capital raisings, floatations, joint ventures, mergers & acquisitions, MBOs, venture capital/private equity and a variety of commercial contracts.
The all important end of financial year is approaching and with it another tax year will be over.
Now is the time that you should be considering your tax position to ensure that you don’t end up paying more tax than you should.
On Monday, 17 May, our QLD team held their successful breakfast seminar for 25 Gold Coast small and medium sized business owners. The seminar was held at the Gold Coast International Hotel and featured two guest speakers.
By Mark Causer, senior advisor at Perspective Group
As you are all aware, post 30 June 2007, contributions to superannuation funds are now subject to annual contribution caps and strict penalties apply if these limits are exceeded. As a result, a greater level of care has now been applied to the annual superannuation contribution strategies with particular focus on concessional contributions (tax deductible contributions / salary sacrifice).
You may have noticed that Azure Group’s website looks a little different – or a lot different.
At Azure Group we like to do things a little differently and not stick to the typical mould that defines our industry and we wanted this to be reflected in our website. We wanted to showcase that we are a boutique yet experienced accounting firm, that we are passionate about helping our clients and that we excel at what we do.
By David Lamb, Azure Group Associate Director
Following the recent release of Self-Managed Super Solutions we now have the Panel's preliminary recommendations on self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs).
These proposed changes to SMSFs will not affect many funds. The significant amount of money being managed by SMSFs means that this kind of review will occur again in the future. However, Trustees who satisfy the Sole Purpose Test(1.) and support and assist with the compliance of their fund will have nothing to fear.
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