Blog
to review, rethink and revise without regret! And rejoice in your achievements!
Where has the year gone! Most likely something you have exclaimed at this time of the year.
And followed by critically asking, what have I done, accomplished, and achieved or not!
Don't stop there, take the time, without regret, to reflect. There are benefits!
It takes courage but reflection is a great opportunity to learn, grow and set new goals for going forward. Simply put, reflecting, auditing, planning and preparing based on the past year will set you up to find and enjoy fulfilment and success in the coming year.
Reflection is looking back to learn from past experiences, to review without regret, celebrating, preparing and going forward.
7 Questions of Reflection
Ask and be honest with your answers:
- What is my best memory of the year
- How would I describe the year
- What were my highs and lows. Achievements and unmet challenges
- What worked, what didn’t
Heed the warnings, watch for signs of deceptive behaviour and importantly do what you can to avoid becoming a 'scam' victim!
Scammers are busy ramping up their criminal activities as we lead into the Christmas festive season. Their fraudulent repertoire includes various tactics and tricks and teasers, invitations to entice the unsuspecting and innocent. Sounds too good to be true, best avoid it!
Currently, the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are in their sights using scam websites impersonating high-profile Retailers. Shoppers' favourite and well known footwear and fashion labels are the focus in this scam. And look out for bogus stores set up on social media platforms to advertise these fake websites.
Impersonation scams accounted for more that 70% of the 234,672 reports to Scamwatch in 2023 according to National Anti-Scam Centre.
The experts have spoken.
- Online scams are amongst the fastest growing crime types in Australia!
- Our personal data in this digital age has become highly valuable and sought after by cyber criminals who use it as information they can exploit for financial gain.
- The Australian communications Consumer Action Network anticipates more scamming through the Christmas period and the ACCC revealed Australians lost a record $3.1 billion to scams last year!
- Australians via Scamwatch have reported losing nearly $400m to September this year. Not very jolly news!
Tips for avoiding scams:
Stop and Think before you proceed. Don’t feel pressured to make quick decisions, to rush in and throw caution to the wind. Scammers will make you feel like you have to act quickly, using special short time deals to trick you.
Don’t give your personal details to anyone unless you have verified and are satisfied they are legitimate and the purpose is legitimate. Copies of passports, birth certificates, and bank account details are highly sought after by scammers for their criminal activities.
Protect yourself. Act quickly if something feels wrong. Take action and contact your bank immediately if you have lost money to a scammer.
Here are my 3 things to look out for at this time of year!
1. Online shopping scams: Fraudsters are creating Online stores that are replica, look-alikes of major retailers websites. They use sophisticated designs and often stolen logos to look like the genuine thing. Well-known brands also feature in this scam. Big discounts and rewards are used as attractions. Consumers can easily be fooled.
At our last Staff Christmas Party, it looks like Cinderalla has lost her shoe!! Have you experienced a memorable Staff Party recently?
If you are an Employer as we embrace the fun festivities of Christmas celebrations are you ready, ready for what can be a very silly season for some.
8 Top Tips for Staff management during the ‘Silly' Season:
- Establish clear guidelines, codes of conduct, for what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in the workplace. Importantly ensure these are communicated directly to all employers so there is no misunderstanding or confusion about behaviour at both the workplace and work-related functions.
- HR Policies, Health & Safety. Now is a good to visit all your HR policies to ensure they are current. Update as needed and adopt and implement any gaps. For example, most of society are now engaged in social media activity that can come into the workplace. There needs to be a clear policy set around this.
- In advance, actively promote and communicate your HR policies to all employers, raising awareness of sick leave, drug and alcohol policies. Conduct Information sessions and refresher training courses.
- Social media policies need to be publicized. A reminder that ‘party-mood’ actions, comments, tweets and posts can be detrimental. What is thought funny by the ‘instigator’ may not be considered as such by those targeted. ‘Bad media’ can also reflect poorly on the organization.
- As an Employer support and join in the spirit of the Festive season. No-one likes a Christmas-gringe. Small things, such as decorations can add to the ‘spirit’.
- Lead by example. Set the standard with your own actions and behaviours. If organizing a function consider offering pre-paid taxi vouchers, have responsible drinking bar limits and adopt similar safety strategies.
- Understand not everyone celebrates Christmas and make sure those not joining in are not pressured by others to do so. Promote a workplace environment that is tolerant of all beliefs.
- Planning for leave. Support staff taking leave during this period as pre-organising can help with managing the workload and reduce ‘sickies’
Apply these simple strategies and you will help make this ‘silly’ season memorable for all the right reasons.
In 2023 a lesson for small Businesses is to be prepared. Were you impacted by the recent Optus outage?
You never know what challenge may present itself and you can’t predict 'unplanned' events. Natural disasters, hackers, technology failures, power outages, human error or a pandemic if you are a small Business you are vulnerable and exposed. No one is safe from such threats! 
Are you ready?
This isn’t about being a doomsday sayer or pessimistic thoughts, it's about adopting sound Business thinking, logic and practices.
Disasters do happen as we have just experienced with the cyber security breaches and technology breakdowns!
Are you one of the many Businesses affected, did you lose valuable business, time and money! And not to forget the essential emergency services out of action.
The learning from this disaster is that every Business needs to have a backup Plan, the go-to Plan B for when Business as usual’ isn’t that!
I don't need to tell you that when your Business ‘goes down’ so do your sales and revenue, your livelihood!
This is where your Back-up Plan kicks in! It allows you to continue to function with minimal disruption to look after your customers and to maintain relationships, reputation and brand image. Taking care of Business is taking care of you and your most valued asset, your clients.
If you are a Small Business owner it's critical you have a well-defined Backup and Recovery Plan in place, ready to access in times of ‘disasters’. When Plan A fails you have Plan B!
Why a Backup Plan
With todays reliance on technology as the means for doing most Business activities and transactions it is vital that systems are available at all times. Whether retail, hospitality, Industry, factory or administration most Businesses operate using electronics.
Image! What if there is an intense fire in your building, or extensive flooding, not to mention IT systems failure or malware attacks. Blackouts, systems are down causing confusion and likely chaos, not to mention lost business and unhappy customers and clients.
Smart Businesses have contingencies in place, a Plan B, Recovery and Backup systems that save data, protect it and make it readily available without extensive delay when a crisis occurs.
How - to Develop a Solutions Strategy
To develop a Backup Plan starts by identifying your Businesses requirements.
Boost your spouse's super and reduce your tax by making spouse contributions.
Tell me more!
How Does it work?
If you make an after-tax super contribution into your spouse’s super, you may be eligible for a tax offset of up to $540.
Consider this strategy if;
- Your spouse has an assessable income of less than $40,000 p.a.
What are the benefits?
- Grow your spouse's super
- Qualify for a tax offset of up to $540.
How is the spouse offset calculated?
- To qualify for the full offset of $540 in 2023/24 you need to contribute $3,000 or more into your spouse’s super. Your spouse must earn $37,000 p.a. or less.
- A lower tax offset may be available if you contribute less than $3,000 or your spouse earns more than $37,000 p.a. but less than $40,000 p.a.
Example Case study:
Bill and Mary are married and have two young children. Bill works full-time, earning $100,000 a year. Mary has reduced her workload and is now working two days a week and earns $32,000 a year.
The couple want to make sure Mary keeps growing her super while she is working part-time. Bill contributes $3,000 into Mary's super account. This entitles him to a tax offset of $540 which will reduce his income tax when he completes his 2023/24 tax return.
There are important things to consider when exploring the above and eligibility conditions apply. For more information check the ATO website
Need help, have questions and want answers and solutions?
Contact Blackburn Accounting we are your family Business Specialists offering a range of services including Superannuation and Retirement Planning.
Your Accounting Partner
Your Management Accounting Partner
Your Expansion Engineer
Your Special Projects Partner