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There are going to be a lot of practices under even more pressure because clients are going to come in early and want their tax return completed.

06 Aug 2020 Taxation

Heavy lifting: Why tax time this year is more taxing

After the most turbulent year in recent history, a bushfire crisis and COVID-19 have complicated tax claims this financial year. Accountants can expect the unexpected.

Clear documentation related to the nature of payments to directors and the commercial basis of any changes is important in the event of ATO enquiries.

Time to review long-held practices for directors’ fees

The changing requirements for reporting directors’ fees have intersected with COVID-19 economic stimulus measures, activity statement reporting and Services Australia increasing potential compliance risks. Several issues have arisen which demand attention.

04 Aug 2020 Taxation

Because Hot Toast’s business model is centred on offering outsourced CFO services, Sarah Lawrance has been able to develop deeper relationships with her clients.

Thriving accounting practice credits close client relationships

Sarah Lawrance CPA credits leaning into challenges and having close relationships with clients to not just surviving, but thriving through difficult times.

01 Aug 2020 Leadership Strategy

By early June, more than 2.1 million Australians had applied to the ATO to draw on their superannuation, representing an average payout amount of A$7,500.

What is the purpose of superannuation in Australia?

Drastic times have called for drastic measures in terms of access to superannuation. At the heart of it all is the repeated question: what is the purpose of super, and how will that change in the future?

01 Aug 2020 Superannuation Strategy

Putting faith in your team can make a huge difference to the outcome.

01 Aug 2020 Leadership

Risk and trust: How to effectively manage a remote team

How much does a senior manager need to know about what their team is doing?

Now that we can work remotely, the whole purpose of an office might change.

How COVID-19 will impact future trends in office design

The way we work – and where we work from – has changed. Does this mean office design will change as well? Three experts weight in.

01 Aug 2020 Workplace

Your brain continues to work while you’re asleep, so if you have decided what you need to do the next day, you can wake up ready to hit the ground running.

Return on investment: 9 effective time management techniques

For many of us, one of the key lessons from the past few months has been a new appreciation of time.

01 Aug 2020 Workplace

People in business need to consciously maintain their mental wellbeing and the usual commonsense approaches still apply.

Stress management: COVID-19, tax time and the sum of our fears

From a client’s perspective, CPAs are the antidote to complex – and occasionally overwhelming – financial stress. This year, with the coronavirus pandemic and growing global uncertainty, the job is more difficult than ever. When it comes to severe stress, who helps the accountants?

20 Jul 2020 Workplace Taxation

THE ECONOMY

Research by the OECD reveals that zombies hamper productivity growth, diverting credit, investment and skills from flowing to more productive and successful firms.

01 Aug 2020 Economics

The economic impact of keeping zombie companies afloat

Sustaining the unsustainable is now an inflection point for an economy hell-bent on saving jobs.

Government COVID-19 stimulus packages have created great uncertainty for tech start-ups in Australia.

Support for tech start-ups to accelerate Australia's recovery

Support for Australia's tech sector will help it evolve to respond to new challenges.

01 Aug 2020 Economics Technology

Although Australia is not without innovators, the statistics appear to tell a tale of reluctance to invest in the R&D that is vital to innovation.

Research and development tax incentives on the agenda

Industry experts make the case for a reform of Australia's research and development tax incentives as the next step in preventing an exodus of local innovators to offshore technology hubs.

01 Aug 2020 Strategy Economics

This Tesla Roadster, with a dummy named Starman, was launched from SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket in 2018, and is known to have made it beyond the orbit of Mars. A little over two years on, in May 2020, SpaceX successfully launched a manned rocket into orbit.

Full speed ahead for electric vehicles

There are still bumps in the road, but the transition to battery-powered vehicles is gaining speed.

01 Aug 2020 Leadership Technology

August 2020

READ FLIPBOOK

Stephannie Jonovska FCPA (left) and Dionne Jones CPA. Photo: Anthony Geernaert.

01 Aug 2020 Careers

Upskilling to transform the finance function at Bluescope

Stephannie Jonovska FCPA and Dionne Jones CPA of BlueScope Australian Steel Products are making use of every possible opportunity to upskill. The goal: a transformation of the company’s finance function, and the hope of emerging from the pandemic better than ever before.

The introduction of a safe harbour defence had already helped to shift the balance of risk away from directors, providing a defence to insolvent trading if they are meeting certain criteria.

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