When an employee resigns, it can feel a bit like being dumped. One minute everything seems fine, the next minute you are staring at an email that begins with, “Please accept this as my formal resignation…” Cue the questions. What do I say? What do I need to do next? How much notice do they have to give? When do I pay them and what the heck do I pay… Read more
Recently Stacey had the opportunity to attend a meeting hosted by Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand with the Taxation Ombudsman, Ruth Owen, along with a group of professionals from across the tax and accounting industry. To be honest, she walked into that room feeling like the smallest fish there. In her purple flowy dress and totally inappropriate shoes, she possibly looked like she had gotten off the elevator on… Read more
Daylight saving doesn’t just mess with your sleep. It can also mess with your payroll. Twice a year the clocks change, and most people just reset the microwave and move on (if you can remember how to change the stupid clock ha). But if you employ staff, especially hourly staff or shift workers, the change in time can play havoc with pay calculations, overtime, and award compliance. It’s one of… Read more
Technology is no longer optional for small businesses. The right systems reduce manual work, improve decision-making and create scalable growth. If your business is still relying on spreadsheets, manual data entry and disconnected tools, you are likely losing time and money. The goal is not more technology. The goal is better systems. Or using the technology you currently have better. To its fullest potential. Here’s how to use technology for small… Read more
Let’s have a little heart to heart – is your business Financially Fit? You wouldn’t expect to run a marathon without training. You wouldn’t sign up for a reformer pilates class and assume your core will magically engage itself. Yet somehow, many business owners expect their finances to just… behave. “Hot tip. They will not.” Financial fitness is a lot like physical fitness. It takes consistency, intention, and a willingness… Read more
Let’s get one thing straight… An engagement letter (or service proposal #samesame) isn’t just a boring document to tick a box, and it’s definitely not legal mumbo-jumbo designed to make anyone’s eyes glaze over. Instead, an engagement letter acts as a superpower – a tool that gets everyone aligned before work even begins. Not only does it help clients understand exactly what to expect, but it also helps the business… Read more
Client + Bookkeeper Edition (A Valentine’s Day Special) Ah, Valentine’s Day. The season of roses, chocolates, and wildly unrealistic expectations. While everyone else debates red flags on dating apps and fills out applications for the next round of MAFS, we thought we would talk about another important relationship in your life. You and your bookkeeper. A strong client and bookkeeper relationship looks a lot like a great romantic partnership. It… Read more
Mixing personal and business transactions in Xero is one of the most common issues we see when reviewing client files. It usually starts innocently. You are short on time, the business card is handy, and you plan to fix it later. Unfortunately, later rarely happens, and the clean-up always takes longer than expected. Keeping your Xero file clean is not about being pedantic (ok so maybe a little). It is… Read more
Running a business is hard. You are juggling customers, suppliers, staff, marketing, and operations, and on top of all that, the financial side never sleeps. That is where an accounting team comes in, not just to crunch numbers, but to give you clarity, confidence, and maybe even a little sanity. Many business owners think accountants only show up at tax time. Sure, we can do that too, but the truth… Read more
Why public holidays catch businesses out Australia packs a punch in the public holiday department, especially in the first half of the year. Easter, ANZAC Day, King’s Birthday and state-based days arrive before the year really finds its rhythm. For small business owners, these dates affect more than trading hours. They shape payroll costs, rostering decisions and legal obligations. Getting it wrong can create expensive headaches that last long after… Read more
Happy New Year, business owners. You survived the Christmas rush, you made a few optimistic resolutions, and now the rules have changed. Again. As soon as January arrives, a fresh batch of legislative updates, compliance tweaks and policy changes land on the desks of Australian businesses. Some are minor, some are significant, and a few have the potential to ruin your week if you miss them. Before we dive in,… Read more
Some business books age badly. Others quietly earn their place on the shelf forever.Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People firmly falls into the second camp. Add this one to your Christmas holiday reading list stat. Below, we will break down some of Covey’s key habits and explore how you can bring them to life in your business today. Think of this as your blueprint for thriving in… Read more
Hiring your first employee is a huge milestone. It is the moment your business starts to move beyond just you. You are not only adding another pair of hands, you are buying back your time, creating space to grow, and setting your business up for its next phase. The right hire can bring fresh skills, new perspectives, and capabilities you simply don’t have when you’re doing everything yourself. But let’s… Read more
Bottlenecks are the sneaky little blockers in your business that slow everything down. They show up as delays, backlogs, frustration, and that constant feeling of “we’re busy… but not actually getting ahead.” Left unchecked, bottlenecks quietly choke growth. But when you take a deliberate, step-by-step approach to finding and fixing them, you free up time, money, and mental space — and suddenly your business starts to feel lighter, smoother, and… Read more
A business can survive a lot of things — slow sales, a quiet month, even the occasional “what on earth happened here?” moment. But running out of cash? That’s the fastest way to bring everything to a screeching halt. Cash is what pays the bills, keeps the lights on, and lets your business actually function. And if you’re growing (congrats!), you usually need even more of it because you are… Read more
For small businesses, customer service is not just a “nice to have” — it is the difference between customers becoming raving fans… or running for the hills (while muttering unkind things under their breath). And in the space of one wild week, I experienced both ends of the spectrum: one business that got it gloriously right, and another that managed to turn something simple into a logistical obstacle course. Let’s… Read more
When Xero Goes Down: An Accountant’s Guide to Surviving the Great Cloud Crash of 2025 You log into Xero, morning coffee in hand, ready to work on the 87 Xero tasks that have been giving you side-eye all week. You click… and wait. Then wait some more. The spinning circle of doom appears, that is if you can even get into the software. Suddenly, your once-trusty accounting software has gone… Read more
AKA: How to adult like a boss when all you want is soup and Netflix. Let’s be honest — when you’re a small business owner, taking a sick day can feel like trying to take a holiday on Mars. You’re the CEO, customer service team, bookkeeper, IT support, and coffee runner all in one. So when your body waves the white flag and says “nope, we’re out”, panic sets… Read more
When to Know It’s Time to Pull the Pin on Your Business (and How Your Financial Reports Can Spill The Tea) Let’s be honest, no one starts a business thinking, “Can’t wait to shut this baby down one day!” But sometimes, the smartest move isn’t pushing harder… it’s knowing when to stop pushing altogether. Before you panic (or pour yourself something stronger than coffee), take a deep breath — because… Read more
Let’s talk about one of the sneakiest traps small business owners fall into… Assuming they know what the heck they are talking about. I was chatting with a small business owner this week who said, “I know I’m making good money — there’s still cash in the bank!” Cue the classic accountant eyebrow raise. When we dug a little deeper, we discovered that the “profit” in the bank actually included… Read more