Don’t miss this critical step if you are employing new staff
Employers are required to provide each new employee with a copy of the Fairwork Information Statement. Ideally, the new employee would receive this before they start in the job. Otherwise, it should be provided as soon as possible after they start.
The statement provides new employees with information about their conditions of employment.
Find the statement on the Fairwork Ombudsm
or on our Useful Info page
https://swagbookkeeping.com.au/useful-info/
Time is running out
Victorian Government’s Business Costs Assistance Program to Close Soon.
Did you incur costs due to the circuit breaker action announced on 12 February 2021?
You may have cancelled bookings, discarded perishable food or flowers, even incurred booking cancellation fees..
The Victorian government has provided a Business Cost Assistance Program for businesses in eligible sectors. The program offers grants of $2000 to small businesses.
But you do need to act quickly.
Applications for the program close at 11.59am on 16th March 2021.
Eligible sectors include Hospitality, Food Wholesaling, Tourism, Events and related services and Selected Retail.
Full details on eligibility and how to apply are set out on the Business Costs Assistance Program.
For further advice, please call the Business Victoria hotline at 13 22 15 before the closing date.
A shout out today for professional bookkeepers who do more than just keep the books.
Our professional bookkeepers pursue ongoing professional development, are members of recognized and established bookkeeper associations and as registered BAS Agents, are regulated and assessed by the Tax Practitioner Board.
If your bookkeeper is a Registered BAS Agent, you can be assured you are dealing with a professional bookkeeper.
If your bookkeeper has helped you with JobKeeper, JobSeeker or JobMaker, you can be confident that this has required a commitment from your bookkeeper to ongoing education and to providing professional support to you.
Thank you to all our professional bookkeepers!
As an employer, you have legal obligations to ensure your employees are paid correctly and receive the right entitlements. If you are employing staff for the first time, consider:
Worker Terminations – Employment can end for many reasons such as resignation, dismissal, redundancy, retirement, permanent disability or death. Employers must apply the appropriate process and rules of dismissal, notice and final pay.
If you are hiring new staff or have hired new staff since 7th October 2020, you may be eligible for the government’s JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme.
The scheme targets new employees aged from 16 – 35 years of age. There are two tiers of payments, depending on age.
Registration for eligible employers commenced 6th December 2020, but you can register at any time before the end of the claim period.
You do not need to be registered before you hire eligible employees.
If eligible and registered, you can make a claim for the first JobMaker period from 1st February 2021.
Payments are made in arrears.
Note: You cannot receive JobMaker Hiring Credits if you also receive a JobKeeper payment for a fortnight which started during the JobMaker period.
https://www.ato.gov.au/general/JobMaker-Hiring-Credit/Employers/Eligible-employers/
https://www.ato.gov.au/general/JobMaker-Hiring-Credit/JobMaker-Hiring-Credit-key-dates/
Was your holiday reading plan derailed by
For those of you frustrated by your attempts to bring about positive change in your life, this book could be the answer.
Tiny Habits. The Small Changes That Change Everything
BJ Fogg PhD
Founder of the Behaviour Design Lab at Stanford
Fogg argues that will power is not the answer; that we achieve the best results by making change easy for ourselves and then goes on to provide a process for this.
Instead of setting ourselves up for failure, he provides a method for setting ourselves up for success.
The theory has application not just to our personal lives, but also to business if you are trying to encourage particular behaviours from your team.
It’s an easy read. Thought provoking. Sensible and practical.
Will you qualify for JobKeeper in January, February and March 2021?
Just a reminder that we will be re-testing eligibility for the next round of JobKeeper in January. We will be comparing Oct-Dec20 BAS with Oct-Dec19 BAS for the required decline in turnover of 30% (for businesses with an aggregated turnover of $1billion or less).
This round of JobKeeper is open to new recipients, so even if you didn’t qualify for this support in the current quarter, you may still be eligible in the next.
There are additional turnover tests
Note that the payment rate will be further reduced.
From 4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021, the payment rate will be $1,000 per fortnight for all eligible employees who in the four weekly pay periods before the reference period, were working for 20 hours or more a week on average and for business participants who were actively engaged in the business for 20 hours or more per week,
and $650 per fortnight for employees who were working for less than 20 hours a week on average and business participants who were actively engaged in the business for less than 20 hours per week in the reference period.
Only one employer can claim the JobKeeper Payment in respect of an employee and this must be considered when assessing employee eligibility.
For more information
https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-10/Fact_sheet-JobKeeper_Payment_extension_0.pdf
Wishing you all the best for the festive season and 2021.
MYOB have introduced an upgrade that allows you to access MYOB in the cloud via a browser. You should now be able to work on your AccountRight file from an internet-enabled device eg. Your phone, tablet or any computer …. even a Mac!
There is one proviso for Mac users. You will still need to update your file via the desktop app which can only be installed on a Windows operating system.
Also, note that some features are still to be delivered:
Multi-currency
Time billing
Recurring transactions
Purchase and sales orders
Inventory
ARL invoice types: Professional, Miscellaneous, Time billing
New features include a powerful, new online reporting suite and customised branded report packs.
For more information and to see the list of new features
https://www.myob.com/au/comms/business/accountright-upgrade/faq
Did you pay the too much for your PAYG Income tax instalment this quarter?
The ATO have advised that a mistake was made where some businesses received an instalment rate for the 2020-21 financial year based on the former company tax rate of 27.5% instead of the new rate of 26%.
If you have lodged and paid your Jul-Sep20 BAS which included a PAYG Instalment, it may have been calculated on the old rate. If this is the case, the ATO will refund the overpaid amount shortly.
If you have lodged, but not paid that quarterly BAS, you should see the amount payable has been corrected.
If you varied the instalment rate amount or rate on this BAS, the variation will continue until the start of the next income year.
Future activity statements will have the correct rate applied.
The government has implemented a new business support package that provides incentives for businesses to take on additional young job seekers aged between 16 and 35 years of age.
The JobMaker Hiring Credit will be claimed quarterly in arrears from the ATO from 1 February 2021, similar to JobKeeper. However, employers do not need to satisfy a fall in turnover test.
For an overview of the program and eligibility requirements, and some frequently asked questions
https://budget.gov.au/2020-21/content/factsheets/download/jobmaker_hiring_credit_factsheet.pdf