Hello and welcome to your October newsletter from all of us here at Bee Group Accountants. Can you believe it is October! It will be Christmas before we know it.
Here’s what we’re going to cover in this newsletter:
- Our new approach
- Changes to the Fair Work Act
- Changes to the Fuel Tax Credit Rates
- Calendar Dates
- Super News
- Our New Blog Post – Accountants Letters
With so many changes it can be hard to keep up. We didn’t want our newsletter getting too long, so we’ve decided to become more social!
We’ll be sharing news, content, tips and how-to’s on our social channels so we’d love to connect on your favourite app.
Our New Approach to the Upcoming Financial Year
We are going to be doing things a little bit differently this year. In the past 12 months there have been a number of ATO and Tax Agent Board changes and refinements of their rules regarding appointment, engagement and privacy. This has meant that we’ve had to make a few decisions about how we’re going to approach it.
You might already be familiar with our engagement letters now that we are sending out through Ignition.
You might not know that we are using Karbon to securely request information and transmit sensitive documents and information as well. This is a great little browser-based software that means that we now keep your private info out of email. The email that you receive will to let you know that we need your help, and it will include a checklist of the things that we need.
We have also created a number of different service packages depending upon what you need from us as your accountant. We’ve tried to keep things pretty simple with this and are offering three different versions of a Just the Tax program, where your annual accounts and tax returns are what we deliver. The premium level of this program includes additional support and regular monthly group catch ups.
To keep things just the way they are, this will be covered under our Just the Tax Bronze. You can learn more about that in the video we’ve made to share all of these changes.
The Australian Government has made some further changes to the Fair Work Act as part of their new Protecting Worker Entitlements laws. These changes have different starting dates. Some are happening now, while others will start either later this year or in 2024.
These are the things that are already in effect:
Changes to Unpaid Parental Leave – Starting from 1 July 2023:
1. More Flexible Parental Leave: If you’re an employee taking unpaid parental leave, you’ll now be allowed to use up to 100 days of your 12-month leave in a flexible way during the 24 months after your child is born or placed with you. Before, you could only use 30 days.
2. Starting Earlier: If you’re pregnant, you can now start using your flexible unpaid parental leave up to 6 weeks before your expected due date.
3. Both Parents Can Take More Leave Together: Before, there was a limit on how much unpaid parental leave both parents could take at the same time. Now, this restriction is gone. Both parents can take up to 12 months of unpaid leave within 24 months of their child’s birth or placement. They can even ask for up to 12 more months of leave if needed.
Interaction between Enterprise Agreements and Work Decisions – Starting from 1 July 2023:
The Fair Work Commission has the power to create work decisions that set the rules for employment conditions. In some situations, these work decisions can replace the rules in an enterprise agreement.
When these work decisions cover an employee, the old enterprise agreement rules no longer apply to that employee.
Protection for Migrant Workers – Starting from 1 July 2023:
Migrant workers in Australia have always had the same rights and entitlements as other employees under workplace laws. This means migrant workers get fair treatment, regardless of their migration status according to the Migration Act 1958.
Even if a migrant worker has issues with their visa or their right to work in Australia, their work contract is still valid. In other words, their work agreement remains unchanged even if there are problems with their visa or their right to be in Australia.
More information can be found on the Fair Work Ombudsman site here.
You can tell that these laws have been written by someone who has never owned a business before – tell us what you think!
There are more changes coming too so we’ll let you know about these when they come up.
Instant Asset Write Off to get One Year Extension
In May 2024, the Federal Budget handed down by the Government included a further temporary increase to the instant asset write off threshold for small businesses to $20,000 up to 30 June 2024.
The law to support this was finally introduced to Parliament in mid-September. In terms of mechanics, there is no real change to the previous rules.
To use this concession the small business will need to have turnover under $10 million. The asset itself must be under $20K and apply on a per asset basis. Assets valued at $20,000 or more can continue to be placed in the small business simplified depreciation pool.
Changes to Fuel Tax Credit Rates
The rates for this refund change often, so it’s important to use the right rates for the dates when you bought the fuel. On July 1st, the refund rate for heavy vehicles (such as buses, coaches and trucks) driving on public roads went down because of the increase in the road user charge.
On 1 August, fuel tax credit rates increased in line with the fuel excise indexation. All fuel tax credit claimants need to apply the new rates for fuel acquired from 1 August.
If your business doesn’t claim more than $10,000 in a year, you can use the rate that’s in effect at the end of your BAS period to work out your claim.
To get your refunds right and avoid mistakes on your tax forms:
- use the fuel tax credit calculator as it has the latest rates included
- remember the records you need to keep
- consider time limits on correcting errors and mistakes.
The Fuel Tax Credit Calculator from the ATO can be found here.
Upcoming Dates for October
21 – Lodge and pay September BAS (if you lodge monthly)
28 – Quarterly Superannuation for July 23 – September 23 must be paid
31 – Tax Return Due Dates for anyone not represented by a Tax Agent. If you know a small business owner that needs help with their annual returns, just let them know about us.
2022 Annual Returns
Have you lodged your 2022 SMSF Annual Return? (That’s not a typo – your 2022 FY)
If you have not yet lodged your 2022 SMSF Annual Return, please reach out to us to either check on what is outstanding in order for us to lodge it, or provide the documentation that is required to prepare the return.
It is essential that this is prepared ASAP to ensure that it keeps compliant!
If your SMSF annual return is more than 2 weeks overdue, the compliance status of the fund may be changed to ‘Regulation Details Removed’ on the Super Fund Lookup website. If this happens your SMSF will not be able to receive superannuation guarantee payments from employers and rollovers from other superannuation funds.
We’ve scheduled all of the work for the 2023 financial year now based upon completion times for last year. This means that we’ll be in touch at the start of each month.
We’ll also be sending out the new 2024 Financial Year engagement letters. This service period will run from 1 October 2023 – 30 June 2025 – covering the 2024 Financial Year.
We are now offering monthly payments as well for these programs that will mean you can pay for your accounting fees either upfront, or in convenient monthly payments.
If you want to know more about this, you can watch our video from earlier in the newsletter – here’s the link again.
New Blog Available! Accountants Letters
An ‘Accountant’s Letter’ is a document prepared by an accountant at the request of their client for a bank, lender, or another party for the purposes of approving a loan, lease or rental agreement for a client. Accountant’s letters are also commonly referred to as ’accountant’s declarations’ or ’capacity to repay’ certificates.
So, what can Bee Group Accountants do to assist? We are always happy to help, however there are limitations that you need to know about. Read more here.
Need to update your contact details?
Visit our knowledge base here for help on how to do this.
Need Help?
The Bee Group Knowledge Base is filled with articles to help you with everyday frequently asked questions.
Alternatively, you can submit a help request online here.
As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions or queries. We look forward to hearing from you.
Have a fabulous October!
Sheree & the Team at Bee Group Accountants
We have been working hard at improving our systems and building up our team. This means that we are now able to start accepting new clients. If you have someone that you know who is looking for an accountant – please ask them to get in contact with our office via phone, email or through our website.
If there is anything that you think we can improve on too, please be sure to let us know. We are working hard to improve your experience in working with us as well!
We truly appreciate the opportunity to help and welcome any recommendations.
