The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) is warning the public to be extra cautious this tax time and to be on the lookout for fake tax agents, also called unregistered preparers, trying to lure taxpayers into using their tax services.

Unregistered preparers operate outside of the law. They are often unqualified, poorly trained, and uninsured. Many are scammers who expose honest taxpayers to risk and potential penalties from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Taxpayers are being warned they are accountable for and will need to pay ATO penalties.

Unregistered preparers will often try to convince a client they can obtain unrealistically large tax refunds. Some will encourage the lodgement of fraudulent claims for refunds their clients are not entitled to. Others try to obtain your myGov sign in details, putting your personal information at risk. 

The TPB is continuing to be vigilant in combating this illegal behaviour and has recently brought a case to the Federal Court of Australia. TPB enquiries found that Anthony Dean Buckland, a previously registered tax agent, had provided tax agent services for a fee while not registered to do so. The Federal Court ordered Mr Buckland and his company, Apat Na Seasons Pilipinas Corporation to stop preparing and lodging income tax returns for a fee.

If Mr Buckland or the company breach this order, they may be in contempt of court and face penalties, including imprisonment for Mr Buckland. This order will remain in place until the Court hears the TPB’s civil penalty application against Mr Buckland and the company.

TPB Chair, Peter de Cure AM, warned, ‘if you see an unregistered preparer offering tax services, it pays to be alert and sceptical, especially when they are contacting you through social media. Taxpayers obtaining professional tax advice should engage a tax practitioner registered with the TPB. This can be done by checking this Register.

He continued, ‘anyone who has used the services of Mr Buckland or Apat Na Seasons Pilipinas Corporation should contact the TPB, urgently review their tax affairs and ensure their personal information is secure. Remember – never share your myGov password with anyone as it puts your personal and financial information at risk. You could easily become a victim of identity theft.’

Scams are one of the most pervasive Cyber Safety threats of our time. The sheer volume is staggering – people are collectively wading through 3.4 billion phishing emails on a daily basis – and scams are becoming more sophisticated and harder to spot without help. Norton, a leader in Cyber Safety, is inviting people to join in the fight against scams by offering early access to Norton Genie, a real-time AI powered scam detector, to provide an easy, fast and free way to check if texts, emails, websites and social media posts are a scam.

“Every day, we’re inundated with messages and scams that have become so believable that anyone, even the savviest of us, is just one wrong tap from becoming a scammer’s next victim,” said Ondrej Vlcek, President at Gen.

“We want to give people Digital Freedom – the freedom that can only be achieved when you’re safe and empowered online. Genie is an always on, easy-to-use, trusted advisor that helps you stay ahead of highly convincing scams. By bringing together best-in-class scam intel from Norton with advanced AI, we can empower people to take full advantage of the digital world safely, privately and confidently.”

Norton Genie is a brand new innovation from Norton designed to be as simple as asking for advice from a friend that’s available 24/7. With just a few clicks or taps, Genie will give immediate guidance on whether the message, email, link or post is potentially a scam and what to do next. Genie is powered by a unique combination of Norton expertise and advanced AI that’s trained on millions of scam messages and the red flags to watch for. As scammers adapt to new technology to make their attacks more convincing, now more than ever, people need AI on their side to help stay ahead of today’s ever-evolving scams. Norton Genie is constantly improving to help stop scammers in their tracks and help fight today’s scams and tomorrow’s.

Norton Genie is a comprehensive mobile app and web-based AI scam detector with the following key features:

• Fast, free and easy: You can upload a screenshot or copy and paste the text of a suspicious message and Genie will instantly tell you if a message or site appears to be a scam.
• Norton technology: Genie combines advanced AI with best-in-class cybersecurity data and technology to help identify scams before you engage. As part of Gen, Norton tapped into the company’s investment and application of AI research and innovation, decades of experience uncovering and remediating scams, phishing attacks, sketchy websites, and extensive library of known threats to create Genie.
• Protection that evolves: The more people use Genie, the smarter it gets. Our AI powering Genie will continue to learn and adapt to detect new scams and help protect against emerging threats. While Genie gets better and better with scam detection in messages, emails and social media posts, we will be hard at work developing additional ways Genie can protect people from other types of scams they could fall victim to.
• Trusted advice: Beyond telling you if a message is likely a scam, Genie takes it one step further by answering your most pressing follow-up questions. How did it know the message was a scam? What should you do next? Like a trusted advisor, Genie empowers you with the information you need to be safer in your digital life.

Norton Genie is still learning and in an early access phase. Genie is available now in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States, for free at Norton.com and the Apple App Store. Norton Genie is compatible with iOS 14.0 or greater, Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge and Firefox. Norton Genie is expected to become generally available, expand platform availability to Android, and enter additional markets later this year. To learn more, visit genie.norton.com.

It’s no secret that digitalisation has revolutionised the way we do business. From automating tedious administrative tasks to improving customer experience, it’s a powerful tool that can help to drive success on both a small and large scale.

Now more than ever, businesses are streamlining their operations with affordable technology that allows them to free up resources, save on costs, and improve their service overall. This is especially beneficial for smaller businesses with less than five employees. Most importantly, for small businesses the process of digitalising doesn’t have to break the bank if you follow the right approach. 

Make a clear, realistic plan

Digitalisation is a major change for most businesses, so it’s crucial that you have a clear plan of attack to ensure the process is as efficient and effective as possible. The first step is to consider your current operations and determine the specific pain points that you want to address. For example, you may decide that automating your sales processes is essential as it will eliminate the need to manually create sales orders and invoices, saving you time and money.

As you plan your digitalisation journey, it’s essential to consider what will be realistic for your business in both the short and long term. Implementing several big changes at once can be expensive and the rapid change can quickly become overwhelming and confusing for employees. Instead, start by prioritising the areas where technology will have the most significant impact and continue to innovate from there.

Prepare for organisational changes

One of the biggest advantages of digitalisation is its ability to improve and streamline tasks that were once performed solely by employees. While this can save you and your team valuable time and money, it also means that job roles within your business are bound to change.

Planning for change management as part of your digitalisation process will help you to better manage the transition and keep your employees engaged and motivated as their roles evolve. For example, if implementing new sales technology will save your team multiple hours per week, you may want employees to start using this time to explore new business opportunities or nurture customer relationships. By identifying these organisational changes and providing a clear plan, stakeholders will be more likely to see how digitalisation will improve their roles and the wider business.

Invest in the right digitalisation technology

Taking the time to research and consider the best technology options for your business is essential, as the best solution will vary depending on your budget, size, and goals. As a small business, it’s important to invest in technology that can scale with you as you grow. Keeping your goals in mind as you decide which option is best for your long-term needs is essential, as changing systems down the track will only be a waste of time, money, and resources.

It’s also important to avoid investing in isolated solutions that don’t integrate well with your existing or planned future technology. Isolated systems can quickly become outdated and can be difficult to implement seamlessly into your day-to-day processes. Making the digitalisation of your business as seamless as possible for your employees and stakeholders is crucial to ensuring it’s a worthwhile investment.

Prioritise cyber-security 

Investing in a good cybersecurity process should go hand-in-hand with your digitalisation plan. This is essential as digitising your operations often means that important information and sensitive data will be stored on cloud-based systems, which can increase exposure to cyber hacks.

A great cybersecurity system should include reliable software as well as employee education and training on how to keep data safe from cyber-attacks. Every employee plays a role in safeguarding your business from cyber threats, so it’s essential that you cover all bases to protect your business as much as possible. 

Provided by Craig Matthews, Chief Merchandise Officer at Office Brands. Australia’s largest independent business supplies dealer group, providing B2B and B2C retail, wholesale, and logistics solutions.

Plunging steel prices have helped bring building product price inflation to its lowest in almost three years but a bumpy road remains with accelerating inflation of other materials and labour shortages continuing to drive up the cost of building says Master Builders Australia chief economist Shane Garrett.

“During the June 2023 quarter, the cost of building materials increased by another 0.6 per cent, the smallest quarterly increase since the end of 2020.”

“While the slowdown in the overall cost of home building materials is welcome, there has still been a sizeable increase of 7.4 per cent over the past 12 months.

“The past year has seen sizeable drops in the cost of several crucial building materials. The 10.0 per cent drop in steel product prices over the past year was the most significant change, with a welcome reduction of 4.4 per cent in the cost of structural timber also occurring.

“Steel and timber were the source of the biggest cost headaches over recent years – the fact that prices here are now in reverse is something of a relief.

“However, the outlook is bumpy as even though the general trend in building materials prices is a favourable one, there has been a worrying acceleration in the cost of concrete, cement and sand products, a category where prices are now 16.2 per cent higher than a year ago.

“Total building construction prices rose 1.0 per cent in the June quarter and 6.5 per cent over the past twelve months predominately driven by labour shortages,” Mr Garrett said.

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said the surge in building costs over recent years has taken a heavy toll on the cost of newly built homes and infrastructure across Australia.

“Latest inflation figures show that new dwelling costs rose by 7.8 per cent over the past year, exacerbating the housing affordability crisis.”

“The rental market has also been hit hard by the surge in new home building costs. During the June 2023 quarter, rental inflation hit its fastest pace since 1988.

“With building and construction costs skyrocketing since the pandemic, it is important that government policies prioritise productivity improvements, reduce supply constraints and maintain flexibility.

“The Federal Government’s proposed industrial relations reforms will have damaging consequences for the industry and further impact the increasing costs of construction,” Ms Wawn said.

Shopify has announced its 2023 Summer Editions, with a host of new Shopify features and products to help businesses get ahead of the curve so they can tackle today’s biggest challenges. This entails other brand-new AI capabilities, as well as several other products and features across the Shopify platform that help merchants easily run and grow their business. 

Here are the new Shopify features that will be available for Australian retailers:

More AI tools within Shopify Magic:  Shopify Magic is a suite of AI-enabled features that are integrated across Shopify’s products and workflows to make it easier for businesses to start, run, and grow their business. Now, Shopify Magic will now include:

• Sidekick – a first-of-its-kind AI-powered, purpose built for commerce assistant that will answer questions about business operations. Shopify’s founder and CEO Tobi Lütke gave a preview of what Sidekick can do from administrative tasks such as responding to customer inquiries to tackling creative challenges.
  • Merchants simply ask Sidekick questions ranging from, “how to set up a discount for a holiday sale,” to “help me segment my customers so I can better engage them in my marketing.”  
• AI-driven email campaigns – Make customer emails smarter and easier. All Shopify Magic needs is just a few words to produce engaging, tailored email newsletters, announcements, and more. It also powers intelligent recommendations for email sent time in order to drive higher click-through rates to a merchant’s store, automatically.

In addition to AI products, new Shopify features include: 

• Marketplace Connect: To integrate with major marketplaces, including Amazon, Walmart, eBay and Etsy, to reach even more customers wherever they shop 
• An even better Checkout: Featuring over a dozen new APIs to create customizable checkout experiences, making the best checkout in the world even better. 

Moneytech, a leading non-bank business lender, has identified delayed invoice payment as one of the biggest issues facing Australian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) this new financial year.

Uncertainty about economic conditions, supply chain issues, cost of materials, and lack of access to additional funds are just some of the factors hampering general business activity according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.[1]

These factors are slowing invoice payments, with delayed payments impacting cash flow for small businesses at a higher rate than larger operations. SME operators, who are generally accepting of already lengthy 90 and 120-day payment terms, are now waiting even longer if invoice payments are delayed.

“These conditions are strangling SMEs,” said Moneytech CEO Nick McGrath.  “Our internal research shows SME customers chasing invoice payments to maintain cash flow as their main business concern prior to seeking finance products.”

To combat slow invoice payment and improve cashflow, SMEs can tighten their own internal processes and also seek external assistance to ensure their business activity is not negatively impacted in FY23-24.

15% of businesses reported having sought debt or equity finance[2] and debtor finance is one financial product which can alleviate small and medium businesses cash flow issues.

“If a business’ cash is tied up in outstanding invoices, debtor finance helps free up cash by supplying up to 100% of invoices as soon as they are raised, instead of waiting 90 or 120 days, or more, for payment,” said McGrath. “Debtor finance can be used for better cash flow management, realising the full value of customer invoices, paying salaries, paying suppliers, and investing in growth opportunities. Moneytech’s straightforward, simplified approach to business lending ensures customers can invest in their businesses’ growth and development.”

With poor cash flow and insufficient collateral or security being two of the top three barriers to accessing finance[3], many SME operators are dipping into their personal savings or mortgage to cover business costs.  Moneytech’s products generally take no security against primary places of residence giving business owners the ability to separate business and personal assets.

For businesses facing slow invoice payment, Nick McGrath, CEO of Moneytech, shares his top tips for businesses owners to consider for effective planning around the new financial year and identifying any potential cash flow hurdles.

Assess finance

“By outsourcing an independent accountant to do an in-depth analysis of the business’ finance, business owners can gain a fresh perspective of their finances. Using a strategic budget can also help predict the financial implications for the upcoming year and may identify new opportunities for business growth. The budget should include financial forecasts including profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow statements.”

Reassess strategic plan

“Reviewing the business’ short-term and long-term goals can help evaluate the current strategy in place and ensure they are aligned. Undertaking a situational and SWOT analysis can be of use, especially if you leverage customer’s feedback as a starting point for developing solutions to meet customer feedback. The key is to keep any plan flexible so your business can adapt to any changes in the environment and make the most of potential opportunities.”

Utilise a sustainable cash flow option

“SMEs struggling with cash flow, should consider both immediate and long-term support. Moneytech’s trade and debtor finance solution frees up a business’ cash flow tied up in outstanding invoices to be redirected towards staff wages, equipment or stock. 

Drive Personnel, a specialist labour hire company providing recruitment and labour solutions in the construction industry, has primarily used debtor finance from Moneytech to cover weekly wages while awaiting salary invoice payment from larger, multinational corporations. Josh Fowler, Drive Personnel’s CEO, notes using debtor finance has improved cash flow and given Drive Personnel more opportunity for business growth.

“Since starting, Drive Personnel has experienced consecutive years of 50% growth,” said Josh. “In our first year, our existing lending facility wasn’t equipped to deliver what we needed. Moneytech has helped our business grow significantly, specifically in our time management, payroll compliance and hired staff’s salary payment.”

Josh, who otherwise can be waiting up to 120 days for invoice payment, is at the mercy of good cash flow to ensure his direct labour hires are paid on time every week. Rather than dip into his personal savings and mortgage to cover the shortfall, Josh’s debtor finance can be accessed as and when he needs it and paid-down as he goes rather an paying a lump sum at the end of each month.

[1]-3 https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/technology-and-innovation/characteristics-australian-business/latest-release

[2] https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/technology-and-innovation/characteristics-australian-business/latest-release

[3] https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/technology-and-innovation/characteristics-australian-business/latest-release

Synology has announced the DiskStation DS224+ and DS124, the two newest additions to Synology’s range of data solutions for professionals, small teams, and edge deployments.

Powered by the versatile Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system, these storage devices offer comprehensive tools to protect and manage important data, access files remotely, and monitor physical properties, all within a compact desktop format.

Streamlined file management with anywhere access

The Diskstation DS224+ and DS124 deliver intuitive file management and sharing with Synology Drive, a private cloud solution combining cross-platform access with advanced privacy controls. Professionals in all fields can be more productive with the convenience of working from anywhere and the simplicity of centralized data.

Learn more about file management

Versatile backups for better business continuity

Synology’s new devices offer a multitude of ways to back up data. Users can leverage them to continuously or manually back up workstations, laptops, and mobile devices, or by following a user-created backup schedule on Windows and macOS systems.

For an increased level of protection, users can create backups of the folders, system settings, and software packages stored on their Synology device, storing them in the cloud, on secondary Synology systems, and on external devices. Additionally users can create point-in-time snapshots of their device’s data for rapid restoration, which in turn can be stored locally or remotely.

Learn more about data protection

Private video surveillance management

With support for more than 8,300 validated IP cameras and ONVIF devices, Synology Surveillance Station video management system (VMS) transforms the DS224+ and DS124 into a powerful surveillance management and recording platform. Users can quickly set up and manage cameras through a highly configurable interface, making it easy to encrypt, back up, and archive recordings.

Adding optional dual recording to Synology C2 Surveillance enables storing footage in the cloud for improved remote access and as an added backup. End-to-end encryption protects streams from unauthorized access and low-latency recording ensures footage is recorded up to the last seconds before a camera stream becomes unavailable.

Learn more about Surveillance Station

DiskStation DS224+: Edge deployments for teams

The DS224+ is designed to be a versatile edge deployment solution for small to moderate-sized teams, offering one drive of data redundancy in a RAID configuration or two drive bays for storage. From system-to-system syncing solutions, to hybrid storage and public cloud services, the DS224+ enables multi-site data synchronization using a variety of methods that support diverse, global deployments.

“The DS224+ is ideal for teams and branch offices looking to sync up with their central office,“ said Michael Wang, Product Manager at Synology Inc. “The range of synchronization features it supports right out of the box makes it ready to slot in to just about any existing deployment.”

DS124: Streamlined workflows for professionals

The DS124 is purpose-built to help small business owners and professionals boost their productivity by consolidating their data. Whether at the office or on the go, mobile apps for Synology Photos and Synology Drive enable hassle-free backups and file synchronization. On-demand sync gives users the ability to offload much of their locally-stored data to the DS124, minimizing the need for costly storage upgrades on laptops and workstations.

Julien Chen, Product Manager at Synology Inc, said: “The DS124’s small desktop form factor and low power consumption make it especially well-suited for entrepreneurs, business owners, and freelance creative professionals, who can get more done with less overhead after streamlining their workflows with the DS124.“

Availability

The Synology DiskStation DS224+ and DS124 are available from Synology resellers.

New research reveals that 90 per cent of Australian online retailers expect zero growth in 2023 as a litany of challenges including rampant inflation, surging interest rates and wage pressures weigh on consumer spending and demand.  

The findings were derived from a survey of 200 online retailers and conducted by leading parcel delivery service CouriersPlease.The results highlight the ongoing pessimism across Australia with respondents flagging cashflow availability as their primary concern, followed by customer retention and overhead costs. The full survey results, including age and State breakdowns, can be found here: E-Commerce Under Pressure: A Survey of the Biggest Challenges Facing Online Retailers Today 

Commenting on the survey results, Richard Thame, CEO at CouriersPlease said the findings were a stark reminder of the challenges faced by online retailers of all sizes and regardless of jurisdiction, but that he wasn’t concerned, given the strength and resilience of online retailers. 

“While the economic outlook is uncertain, I have no doubt that the E-Commerce sector will overcome the challenging environment and emerge ever stronger on the other side. As one of Australia’s leading parcel delivery services, we ship and deliver every day from across a network of over 1200 franchisees and contractors. In 2022 we delivered more than 30 million parcels, an increase of two million when compared with 2021. Both years were fraught with their own economic challenges, but as our records show, online retailers managed to adapt and strategise to secure sales.” 

State-based segmentation of the data provides unique insights and a valuable temperature check into the varying outlooks held across the country. When asked about sales revenue estimates, online retailers in Victoria were most pessimistic with 57 per cent expecting sales revenue to decrease in 2023. This was followed by South Australian online retailers (55%) and Queensland online retailers (52%).  

Conversely, West Australian online retailers were resoundingly optimistic with 60 per cent of businesses surveyed not expecting to see any drop in sales revenue for the calendar year and 13 per cent stating they expected to see sales revenue increase.  

Regarding organisational size, the mood of smaller SMEs with 16-50 employees was most bleak (57%) followed by microbusiness with 1-15 employees (50%), larger businesses with more than 200 employees (46%), and larger SMEs with 51- 200 employees (42%) saying they expect to see a drop in sales revenue this year. While cash flow availability was the dominant concern for microbusinesses (40%), SMEs employing 16-50 employees were most concerned about customer retention (37%) followed by staff shortages (35%). 

For larger SMEs employing 51-200 people, the dominant concerns were equally weighted between cash flow availability and overhead costs (36%). This contrasted with larger businesses employing more than 200 employees who flagged their most acute concerns were equally weighted across staff shortages, staff retention, competitor activity, cashflow availability and overhead costs.  

On a state-by-state basis, the findings also revealed the diverging views of online retailers regarding which challenges they were most concerned about. Whilst cash flow availability and customer retention were flagged equally as the biggest issues for West Australian businesses (47%), in South Australia only 28 per cent raised these as major concerns, with staff retention and overhead costs taking precedence (46%). In New South Wales, customer retention was the most acute concern (35%) followed by cash flow availability (34%). Cash flow availability was also the number one concern in Victoria (34%) and Queensland (45%). 

Richard explains: “The data reveals online retailers are facing a varying number of significant challenges and that there isn’t one universal issue affecting all businesses. Concerns such as cash flow constraints and the ultra-competitive labour market can’t be resolved overnight, but by keeping the customer experience at the heart of their business journey, such as providing convenient delivery options or offering loyalty incentives, online retailers can mitigate avoidable revenue loss.”  

The full survey results, including age and State breakdowns, can be found here: E-Commerce Under Pressure: A Survey of the Biggest Challenges Facing Online Retailers Today 

Dual cab utes may attract FBT.

There is an FBT exemption for eligible commercial vehicles, including dual cab utes, but this only applies if private use is limited.

If you’re unsure what is considered limited private use, here are some examples:

• travel between home and work

• travel that’s incidental to the work you do

• non-work travel that’s minor, infrequent and irregular.

If you or your employees drive the work ute to weekend footy matches, towing the boat to go fishing on Sundays, or going on camping trips, it’s likely you’ll go above and beyond the definition of limited private use.

In short, the FBT exemption applies only to vehicles that are predominantly used for work purposes.

If an employee’s use of a dual cab ute doesn’t meet the conditions of limited private use, it’s a car fringe benefit, or residual benefit and FBT applies.

The ATO recommends employers have policies in place to limit the private use of these vehicles.

The ATO uses third party data sources, including motor vehicle registry information to identify FBT non-compliance and penalties may apply.

Remember to check the facts to ensure you don’t end up with an FBT liability you are not expecting.

Find out more at www.ato.gov.au/CarFringeBenefits or talk to a registered tax professional.