Brother International Australia has announced the launch of five new A3 multi-function inkjet printers designed for modern businesses.

As Australian workers’ preference for hybrid working continues¹ and with the cost of doing business set to increase², investing in the right tools and technology has never been more important, especially as we enter a new financial year.

Built for the hybrid workplace, the new range allows users to print and scan from wherever they work via the Brother Mobile Connect app. Users both at home, and in the office, can collaborate effectively and work confidently thanks to a rich feature set including scan to email³, cloud storage³, and Optical Character Recognition (OCR).

To help boost productivity and keep your business moving, each printer in the range boasts a fastest-in-class first page out time of 4.4 seconds⁴, print speeds of up to 28 pages per minute (ppm)⁵ and single-pass, 2-sided (duplex) scanning on selected models. With both single and dual paper trays supporting versatile print handling up to A3, all five printers deliver a fast, smooth, consistent user experience and professional-quality colour documents.

Providing great value for businesses and helping to reduce the cost of overheads, the new range utilises high-yield print cartridges, providing up to 3,000 pages of black ink and 1,500 pages of colour⁶. What’s more, a one-year return-to-base warranty*and free Australian-based customer support for the lifetime of the product means business owners can be confident that their printer will always deliver when needed.

On the new range, Stefanie Matthews, Marketing Manager (Printing, Labelling & Mobile Solutions) at Brother International Australia said:

“In our research into the practices of Australian hybrid workers, we found that nearly a third (29%) of respondents said their employers could have been more supportive in the transition to working from home. Additionally, one in five workers said that not having all of the necessary equipment was one of the biggest challenges when working from home.⁷

“These new Multi-Function Inkjet printers help to alleviate these concerns and more, providing the perfect printing and digitisation solution for the modern workplace.” 

Key features of the new Professional A3 Multi-Function Inkjet printers include:

• Designed for mobile: Experience the cleverly designed Brother Mobile Connect app, designed to connect to your Brother device so printing, scanning and managing documents on your smartphone is at your fingertips

• Made for business: New ‘MaxiDrive’ Inkjet technology provides a premium long-life print head, fastest-in-class first page out time of 4.4 seconds⁴ and print speeds of up to 28 ppm⁵. Combined with versatile paper handling up to A3, it provides a fast, smooth and consistent user experience that every business needs

• Large page yields and low-cost printing: When it’s time to replace your ink supply, keep running costs low with high-yield replacement ink cartridges that provide up to 3,000 pages black and up to 1,500 pages colour⁶

• Intuitive one-touch cloud connect: Print-from and scan-to popular cloud apps³ directly, including Dropbox™, Google Drive™, OneDrive and more. Help save time by creating custom shortcuts directly on the LCD touchscreen for your 
  most-used features

• Print with confidence: Help take the guesswork out of when to replace ink with Page Gauge technology – see the amount of ink you’ve used and the amount of ink you have remaining

• Simple to connect your way: Versatile connectivity options with dual-band (2.4 GHz/5 GHz) Wireless Network support, Ethernet, Wi-Fi Direct or connect locally to a single computer via USB interface

• Brother at your side support: Free Australia-based support for the lifetime of your Brother device

Product overview Brothers A3 Multi-Function Inkjet printers :

MFC-J6940DW

Available: July 2022

RRP: $549

Retailers: Available via B2B channels, Harvey Norman, Amazon and Officeworks (October launch for Officeworks)

Product features:

• Up to 28 ppm print speed⁵
• Automatic 2-sided (duplex) A3 print, scan, copy and fax
• 8.8cm colour touchscreen
• Wired and wireless connectivity
• 2 x 250 sheet paper trays⁸
• 100 sheet multi-purpose tray⁸
• 50 sheet 2-sided (duplex) A3 Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)⁸
• NFC (Near-Field Communication) mobile print
• High-yield replacement ink cartridges that provide up to 3,000 pages black and up to 1,500 pages colour⁶

Website: visit here

MFC-J6740DW

Available: July 2022

RRP: $419

Retailers: Exclusively available from Officeworks

Product features:

• Up to 28 ppm print speed⁵
• Automatic 2-sided (duplex) A3 print
• A3 scan, copy and fax
• 6.8cm colour touchscreen
• Wired and wireless connectivity
• 2 x 250 sheet paper trays up to A3⁸
• 1 sheet manual feed slot up to A3⁸
• 50 sheet A4 Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)⁸
• High-yield replacement ink cartridges that provide up to 3,000 pages black and up to 1,500 pages colour⁶

Website: visit here

MFC-J6540DW

Available: July 2022

RRP: $399

Retailers: Available via Officeworks, The Good Guys, B2B channels and Amazon (October launch for B2B channels)

Product features:

• Up to 28 ppm print speed⁵
• Automatic 2-sided (duplex) A3 print
• 1-sided (simplex) A3 scan, copy and fax
• 6.8cm colour touchscreen
• Wired and wireless connectivity
• 1 x 250 paper tray up to A3⁸
• 1 sheet manual feed slot up to A3⁸
• 50 sheet A3 Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)⁸
• High-yield replacement ink cartridges that provide up to 3,000 pages of black and up to 1,500 pages colour⁶

Website: visit here

MFC-J5740DW

Available: July 2022

RRP: $419

Retailers: Available via B2B channels, Amazon and Officeworks (October launch for Officeworks)

Product features:

• Up to 28 ppm print speed⁵
• Automatic 2-sided (duplex) A4 print, scan, copy and fax
• 8.8cm colour touchscreen
• Wired and wireless connectivity
• 2 x 250 paper trays up to A3⁸
• 100 sheet multi-purpose tray up to A3⁸
• 50 sheet 2-sided (duplex) A4 Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)⁸
• High-yield replacement ink cartridges that provide up to 3,000 pages black and up to 1,500 pages colour⁶

Website: visit here

MFC-J5340DW 

RRP: $299

Retailers: Exclusively available from Officeworks

Product features:

• Up to 28 ppm print speed⁵
• Automatic 2-sided (duplex) A4 print
• A4 scan, copy and fax
• 6.8cm colour touchscreen
• Wired and wireless connectivity
• 1 x 250 paper tray up to A3⁸
• 1 sheet manual feed slot up to A3⁸
• 50 sheet A4 Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)⁸
• High-yield replacement ink cartridges that provide up to 3,000 pages black and up to 1,500 pages colour⁶

Website: visit here

Global real estate communications platform, Home Live, has announced it has teamed up with leading technology company Zoom Video Communications, Inc, leveraging Zoom’s underlying infrastructure to power its live-streamed property inspections, auctions and market updates.

Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Luke Watson, said: “Zoom’s Developer Platform provides the immense scale and stability we need to continue delivering the next evolution in global real estate.

“Real estate is a fundamentally human-powered industry. It is critical we are able to offer a remote communication solution that spans marketing, inspections and transactions without sidelining the agent or sacrificing human connection. While Home Live has had a robust live streaming solution in place for a number of years, this is a game-changer.

“The alliance will really accelerate Home Live’s growth, allowing us to focus on meeting the unique needs of the world’s real estate professionals and providing an unforgettable experience to the real estate buying public,” he said.

Zoom Head of Australia & New Zealand (ANZ), Michael Chetner, said: “This collaboration with Home Live presents a real opportunity for Zoom to continue to bring rich and seamless video-based experiences for Home Live’s customers, who use the interactive platform to connect with agents and properties anywhere in the world.”

“Home Live is a leading real estate-specific live-streaming platform, with an exciting view for the future of the space and a real understanding of the added value remote communications can deliver for both agents and prospective buyers. We’re delighted to work with Home Live and look forward to seeing this collaboration grow further in the coming months.”

Home Live is the world’s leading video-first property discovery experience, offering a purpose-built live-streaming solution to attend cinematic live and interactive open inspections, auctions, market updates and more. Streams are viewable across Home Live’s global network of websites, agencies, portal listings and social media, with integrations into leading CRMs to provide seamless data capture and reporting for agents. Home Live currently lists 583,000 residential and 17,160 commercial properties globally.

The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) has paid tribute to Australia’s retirement savings system as compulsory universal superannuation turns 30 tomorrow.

AIST CEO Eva Scheerlinck said the introduction of the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) in 1992 had resulted in a world-class system entrusted with $3.4 trillion in savings on behalf of millions of Australians.

“We should be very proud of what we have achieved as a progressive nation, building a superannuation system with almost universal worker coverage. The industry too can be proud of what it has delivered for super fund members over the last three decades, ensuring many Australians no longer have to rely solely on the age pension when they leave the workforce,” Ms Scheerlinck said.

“It’s appropriate at this time to pause and reflect on the prime role played by unions in fighting for a retirement savings system that covered all workers rather than the corporate executives and senior public servants – mainly men – that super had been restricted to until then.

“Initially the proposal for a universal system was resisted by some, but a mark of how far we have come is the bipartisan support it now enjoys across the industrial divide with the employer and employee representatives sitting side by side in boardrooms as trustee directors of profit-to-member funds.

“I want to recognise the contribution of pioneers such as Mavis Robertson, who played a major role in promoting equality for women in retirement savings, Tom McDonald who spearheaded union campaigns for industry-based super, and Gary Weaven, Chair of IFM Investors, founding Chair of Industry Fund Services and founding Chair of a number of funds.

“It’s appropriate to also recognise the role of the Hawke and Keating Governments in the development of universal super and the passing of the legislation which created the SG.

“That we have the fifth largest pool of retirement savings in the world in the 14th largest economy, and stand as an example that other countries seek to emulate, is testimony to the success of our retirement savings model and the growth of the industry.

“Notwithstanding this, as the peak body for the $1.8 billion profit-to-member sector, AIST will continue to advocate to improve the fairness, equity, adequacy, and transparency of the retirement savings system so that it provides Australians with the long-term financial stability and dignified retirement they deserve, regardless of gender, culture, education or socio-economic background.

“This includes closing the gender gap that sees women retire, on average,  with significantly lower super balances than men, and improving retirement outcomes for other lower-paid workers and vulnerable people. We’re also pleased the removal of the $450 monthly salary payments threshold tomorrow delivers super to about 300,000 lower-paid Australians for the first time.”

Learn more about superannuation in the Small business Answers guide.

The Xero Small Business Index fell just one point in May 2022 to 124 points, as wage growth and
payment times slow

Xero, the global small business platform, today released its latest data on the health of Australia’s small business economy during May from the Xero Small Business Index. Based on aggregated and anonymised transactions from hundreds of thousands of small businesses, the Index, developed in collaboration with Accenture, is part of the Xero Small Business insights program.

Xero’s Small Business Index fell only one point in May 2022 to 124 points. While small business jobs increased 0.3 percent year-on-year (y/y) and sales growth rose to double digits (10.8% y/y) these results were offset by slower wage growth and longer payment times. However, even after a challenging start to the year, small businesses have recorded four months of above-average performance.

Joseph Lyons, Managing Director Australia and Asia, Xero, said: “It’s promising to see an increase in jobs. While the data indicate only small growth, we know that any and all support for small businesses is important. It’s been an ongoing challenge for many to find talent, hampering their ability to fully recover – we all know a restaurant or cafe that’s struggled to open its doors due to a lack of staff. We hope to see this growing jobs trend continue as Australia gradually welcomes new talent from overseas and expands the labour pool.”

Small business records moderate jobs growth

Small business jobs grew 0.3 percent y/y, a small but positive result after two months of declines. The largest job growth was recorded in the administrative and support service industry (4.5% y/y), while education and training continued declining for the ninth consecutive month at 5.0 percent y/y. “While jobs remain soft, this is a welcome break following a trend of slower and falling job growth over the past seven months. Ongoing high levels of job advertisements indicate supply remains the issue, with demand for more workers clearly there as small businesses continue to compete for staff,” says Louise Southall, Economist, Xero.

Cost of living impacting discretionary spending industries

Sales rebounded in May increasing to 10.8 percent y/y, up from 8.3 percent y/y in April, due to a combination of rising prices and higher sales. Along with the largest jobs growth, the administrative and support service industry also recorded the highest sales result at 20.4 percent y/y.

However, with the cost of living pressures rising, discretionary spending-based industries including hospitality (2.8% y/y) and information media and telecommunications (6.4% y/y) saw softer results.

“With inflation continuing to rise, this result was expected as Australians reduce discretionary spending and focus on necessary purchases. Consumers are becoming more pragmatic due to the combination of increasing prices and only modest wage growth. This can be seen in the weaker sales results for the hospitality, information media and telecommunication industries,” said Southall.

Wage growth slows, impacting all industries

Wages slowed in May to 3.7 percent y/y from 4.3 percent y/y in April, impacting all industries and regions. Transport recorded the slowest growth at just 2.9 percent y/y, followed by arts and recreation at 3.0 percent y/y. This result comes as a surprise, given that the tight labour market should be pushing wages higher.

“The surprise decline in wages in May, coupled with the soft jobs results in recent months, suggests small businesses might be struggling to compete with larger businesses to find the staff they need to keep growing,” said Southall.

To download the full May results, including industry and regional breakdowns, go to the website here.

In a world where speed of checkout is king, IPSI has partnered with Mastercard to provide customers with a smart and secure way to make online payments with the adoption of the payment company’s Click to Pay solution available to merchants from the end of Q3.

With consumer payment behaviour continuing to evolve with the growing e-commerce market, securing and streamlining online transactions has never been more important for businesses operating online. Mastercard Click to Pay simplifies online transactions, using multiple layers of intelligent security to remove the need for passwords at checkout while replacing sensitive payment data with encrypted tokens. These tokens can even be updated with new payment details by the customer’s bank when a card is reissued after being reported lost, stolen or expired.

Easily integrated into existing eCommerce platforms, Click to Pay offers organisations higher approval rates with online transactions, reducing fraud and cart abandonment, and increased sales. This enhanced checkout experience can help drive customer retention and repeat purchases with a single integration.

The new option will be enabled through IPSI who plays the role of Secure Remote Commerce Initiator (SRCi). This capability sets the path for how the checkout is evolving from a guest checkout to a constant authenticated experience. It also helps the retailers, marketplaces and merchants own and have control of their checkout.

“As enthusiasm for new payment technologies continues to grow, we are delighted to be partnering with Mastercard to launch this revolutionary, new integrated payment solution that will simplify the checkout process for customers and deliver an exceptional checkout experience for merchants and their customers,” said Eric Maya, Co-founder of IPSI.

“It’s more important than ever that the online checkout experience is simple, smart and secure. With Click to Pay, IPSI and its customers will leverage the very latest version of this technology, eliminating the need to manually enter card details and offering instant access to preferred cards across devices, while still applying the highest levels of security to merchants’ checkout,” said Surin Fernando, Vice President and Head of Customer Solution Centre, Australasia

A recent survey conducted by the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) in the lead up to tax time, indicated that consumers place an exceptionally high level of confidence in their registered tax practitioner. The results showed 89% of consumers have trust in the tax practitioner and 66% of consumers rate the experience they receive from their tax practitioner as excellent.

While this is great news for both the tax profession and taxpayers, the TPB is warning the public to be extra vigilant of scams aiming to lure unsuspecting honest consumers into using the tax services of unregistered preparers.

Unregistered preparers operate outside of the law, often making money by skimming a portion of their clients’ refunds and charging inflated fees for return preparation services. They attract new clients by promising large refunds. Some will encourage filing fraudulent claims for refunds on items that their clients aren’t entitled to, while others will obtain myGov sign-in details from clients, putting their personal information at risk.

TPB Chair, Ian Klug AM, warned, ‘Since the clear majority of tax practitioners act in the best interests of their clients and earn their trust, unregistered preparers can take advantage of uninformed consumers. We’ve put together a list of tips for taxpayers to follow this tax time to make sure they don’t become victims of bad advice. If you see a tax practitioner making unexpected promises or an unregistered preparer offering tax services, it pays to be alert and a bit sceptical.’

In a recent case investigated by the TPB an unregistered preparer, Jessa Van Stroe (also called Jessa Layola) was banned by the Federal Court from charging clients a fee or receiving a reward to lodge their income tax returns. During the 2020-21 tax season, Ms Stroe illegally prepared thousands of tax returns leaving her clients exposed to penalties and unpaid taxes which they would be liable to repay.

Tips for taxpayers: Tax Time 2022:

• Check out the TPB’s handy online guide.
• Check your tax practitioner is registered on the public register at tpb.gov.au/onlineregister. Only registered tax practitioners can charge a fee for tax agent services.
• Be sceptical if an agent offers to secure you unexpected or unexplained payments.
• Never share your myGov password with anyone, even your registered tax agent – doing so puts your personal information at risk.
• You should not allow anyone else to lodge or prepare your tax return through your myGov account.

It’s that time of the year when keen business owners start to think about how to best position themselves for the financial year ahead. Getting the books up to date, engaging with your tax accountant early and being proactive around your finances and technology strategy are good starting places, but let’s dig into some practical tips to get your accounts ready for the financial year ahead and ultimately make the most of your returns.

1. Good foundation and clean data

Start with a good foundation and clean data. It makes your (and your advisor’s) life easier. Keeping on top of reconciliations and having the books up to date serves a few purposes. It allows you to see where you are from a financial position and assists your accountant when they are digging into the numbers around tax planning time. Introducing technology into this process, it can make your life easier and further drive efficiencies. Our favourite software to use in this space is Xero, as it has loads of functionality and has the ability to bolt-on external applications to level up its capabilities. If you are a bit stuck on your technology stack, a good place to start this journey is at the Xero App Store.

2. Don’t buy just to get a deduction

Don’t buy something just to get the deduction, it is important that any business expenditure is in line with your strategy and forecast. I know, every advertisement at this time of the year as a small business owner is telling you to buy now to get the deduction pre 30th June. But remember the additional benefit is only 25-30%, dependent on your structure. If you do, however, have business expenses you need to purchase, then talk to an advisor about bringing these forward to claim the deduction this financial year.

3. Understand your financial position

Know your numbers and make sure you bring your advisor along with you. Pricing and margin review work is top of mind for most businesses at the moment. With labour shortages, rising inflation and supply chain issues, there is an opportunity now to connect with your accountant pre-year end so that you can plan for the coming financial year and beyond.

Set realistic budgets and forecasts that build in reserves and buffers during uncertain times. Cash is king, so make sure you have a keen focus on your cash conversion cycle and ensure you build our scenarios based on different variables so you know when the business hits certain trigger points what actions then need to be taken by the business.

It’s a busy time of the year, but with a little planning, discipline and working on the business, small business owners are in the best position possible to reset, reflect and start the new financial year off with a strong financial foundation.

Contributed by Sarah Lawrance, Founder & CEO of Hot Toast and member of the Xero Partner Advisory Council

This article is not financial, legal, or tax advice, we have not considered your personal circumstances and strongly advise you to seek your own professional advice.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has been writing to employers to let them know that Single Touch Payroll (STP) Phase 2 is here. Employers that can switch but have not yet done so are urged to start reporting as soon as possible.

As of 14 June, there are over 144,000 employers reporting STP Phase 2 information for over 1.7 million individuals.

ATO Deputy Commissioner Emma Rosenzweig explained that the 2019-20 budget expanded the data collected by the ATO through STP. This expansion of data collected is also known as STP Phase 2 and began on 1 January 2022.

“For employees, STP and STP2 mean that pay, tax, and super information is reported to us each time they are paid. They can easily view their year-to-date tax and super information in ATO online services, or through their registered tax agent, whenever they want to check.”

“For employers, STP2 will streamline reporting about their employees to multiple government agencies, saving time, money and red-tape, letting employers focus on their business.

“For those who receive Centrelink payments, reporting will be simpler and easier,” Ms Rosenzweig said.

“Payslip details will be pre-filled into Centrelink’s online account and app, so people will simply need to check, confirm or change this information before submitting, saving time, money and stress.”

Digital service providers that need more time to update their products have applied for deferrals, which cover their customers. Employers using these digital service providers should transition to STP2 when their payroll product is ready.

The ATO has consulted widely with the industry and is taking a flexible approach to transition, which mirrors the approach to STP Phase 1 implementation. Employers and their registered agents can apply to the ATO if they need more time.

Ms Rosenzweig said there are a few things that employers setting up STP Phase 2 for the first time need to do to ensure a smooth transition:

• check when your payroll product will be ready for STP Phase 2 reporting. Many products are ready now, with more becoming available over the coming months
• review pay codes – do you already have pay codes set up for amounts that now need to be itemised separately such as bonuses, commissions, Director’s fees, and overtime?
• review allowances as they will be reported differently
• understand changes to salary sacrifice reporting
• check if you have all the relevant information stored in your payroll system
• talk to your tax or BAS professional or payroll provider if you need a helping hand.

To help employers better understand the changes, the ATO has developed a range of handy fact sheets, checklists and other resources. These are available on ato.gov.au/stpresources

We’re getting close to the end of financial year (EOFY), and as a small business, this can be an overwhelming time to manage, on top of the day-to-day responsibilities of running a successful business. one thing we can do is make tech work for you this EOFY

Research commissioned by Dropbox revealed 38% of Aussies admit their digital documents are a “hot mess” meaning they usually have to hunt for what they are after – and at this time of year, small business owners and sole traders begin to scramble towards the end of June. There’s no better time than right now to invest in technology that can make tax time a breeze.  

Make tech work

1. Digitise to free your mind

Do you and your employees always have access to important documents and files? If not, you’re not alone – more than seven in ten (72%) Australians admit to not having digital backups of all their important documents. To make sure all files and documents are always available and secure, digitise them and store them on a trusted cloud platform. 

2. Automated features and functions 

Pick a tech platform with features that can be a help, not a hindrance so you can save yourself the hassle and leave all the ‘busy’ work to the tech. For example, the Dropbox platform automatically syncs files from devices straight to the cloud, so you can ‘set and forget’. Becoming familiar with all the features and functions will allow you to focus more on growing your business and less on admin. 

3. Organise, organise, organise

Once you’ve digitised, it’s time to organise! Use your chosen platform’s key functions to create folders and subfolders separating out key files and documents required for tax time for your small business. Dropbox has an automatic filing function which can be a real-time-saver, as well as an awesome search function so you can easily find what you need. 

4. Transfer files with ease

Now the fun part – sending off your documents to the accountant. Dropbox Transfer can send your consolidated files at the click of the button, and your tax agent won’t even need a Dropbox account to receive them. 

5. Electronic signatures 

Ditch the old hard copy of your tax return for a digital copy instead. In addition, ask your tax agent if they offer electronic signatures so you can sign your tax documents virtually. Dropbox has a HelloSign integration which allows you to get your taxes signed off with a couple of clicks. 

Taking these simple steps and investing in technology to make tax time easier for yourself and your team, allows you to focus on taking your business to the next level.

This article was written and provided by Dropbox