Can you log into your accounting system right now and answer the following questions: What was your profit last month/last quarter/last year? How much cash do you have available, and how much is tied up in accounts receivable? Who do you need to pay this month, by when and how much? Can you effectively manage your cashflow ? Cashflow advice for small businesses Do your assets exceed your liabilities? If not,… Read more
Using Microsoft’s visualisation tool PowerBi, 118 have built a financial story telling tool that integrates seamlessly with Xero to help you make sense of your numbers in double quick time. They say that pictures tell a 1000 words! Have a look at some of the cool visualisations that we have built for some of our clients so far using the financial story telling tool. If you would like to… Read more
What does it mean to you? It could mean the freedom to follow your passion in your career daily, while being paid a fair market related salary. For our clients, it could mean freedom from the daily grind of having to do finance or admin tasks, whilst having the peace of mind that their accountant has got this! To me financial freedom means the point at which I am financially… Read more
Why should you invest in proper accounting systems? If the #1 weakness of growth firms is marketing, the #2 problem is accounting. Accounting is often underappreciated and if not done correctly can lead to poor decision-making. Why should you invest in proper accounting systems? Clear the distortions As businesses get bigger, so do the nature of the day-to-day and week-to-week transactions. For a small business, basic bookkeeping,… Read more
Why do I pay Workman’s Compensation – a story that will open your eyes? Most of us get caught up in the mechanics of submitting workman’s compensation returns and meeting deadlines. It is only when disaster strikes, and a staff member gets injured that you stop and really understand why you submit your return and make the payments. Just over a month ago, one of our clients had a… Read more
Cryptocurrency tax principles for South Africans SARS applies the normal income tax rules when it comes to Cryptocurrencies, in fact, the term Cryptocurrency is not even defined in the Income Tax Act. So, if you have bought and sold Cryptocurrency in the recent past what does that mean for you as far as your tax is concerned? Here is a short summary: The tax treatment of crypto assets would essentially… Read more
App review – Quotient Overview With Quotient, you can create professional-looking quotes that will delight and impress your customers. Specify quote items to be optional – so that your customer can pick and choose, and their quote total will automatically update. You can also add images to really enhance your offer. Your customer can ask questions directly on the quote, keeping all correspondence in one place. Keep track of everything… Read more
Feature highlights of Xero Projects Gain greater control, flexibility, and financial visibility of your projects Project profitability – make sure that you are making your target profit on projects View how much you have invoiced by project; Manage your total expenses at a line item level ensuring that you are making a profit on the project by matching all project costs to the amounts invoiced; Create purchase orders (PO)… Read more
The month of May involves two important payroll related deadlines. Return of Earnings (ROE or COIDA) submissions and EMP501 submissions are both due by the 31st of May 2022. Our blog explains who needs to submit them and why they need to be done. ROE The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) requires all employers to submit a declaration, known as a Return of Earnings (ROE). The return… Read more
Business dashboards are a valuable business intelligence tool, offering an “at-a-glance” big picture view of a company’s performance. Some business owners use a dashboard to track KPIs relevant to just one aspect of their business, such as sales growth, marketing, or financial data. Others rely on an executive dashboard for an overview of data culled from various sources (e.g. their accounting software, CRM tools, and website analytics). The great advantage… Read more
If putting together your estate plan isn’t at the top of your priority list, you’re not alone. It’s something that people typically don’t want to do–for a variety of reasons. It’s not fun to think about what happens after we’re gone, and we often believe we have a lot of time to get our affairs in order. No matter how large or small your estate is, you need a plan… Read more
With the potential for business life to return to something resembling normal, it’s a good idea to take a look at your budget and see where you may need to shift some of your priorities. Pay attention to how your spending over the past few years affected your business and either helped you achieve, or took you away from, your overall goals. Considering how your business and your employees functioned… Read more
Nobody wants their business to fail. Although it’s impossible to predict the future with 100% accuracy, a cash flow forecast is a tool that will help you prepare for different possible scenarios in the future. In a nutshell, cash flow forecasting involves estimating how much cash will be coming in and out of your business within a certain period and gives you a clearer picture of your business’ financial health… Read more
The turn of the year usually prompts most people to think about some business planning for the year ahead. Here are some tips to make the planning more productive. Get your team involved Business planning works best when it’s a team effort. Involve your key staff and your advisors, such as your accountant, your mentor (if you have one), and others who can contribute meaningfully to the planning, such as… Read more
Your business needs cash. Cash is what keeps your company in operation and enables it to grow, so you should know how much cash your business needs to survive. Although many people think the answer is linked solely to operating expenses, this isn’t the case. There is no single factor that determines how much cash every business needs to have on hand. Somewhere between 3-6 months of operating expenses is… Read more
EVERYDAY IS MONTH END |YEAR END With another tax year-end rolling over, every accountant and business owner will be thinking of year-end, and what that means to them. We thought it would be a good idea, to explain what it means to us. If things are done correctly, year end should be just another day, and nothing to be feared. Sure, there is provisional tax to pay, and an… Read more
Cash acceleration strategies Because cash is king, we thought we would start off the new year by setting out some useful tips on how to accelerate the flow of cash through your business. Understand your cash conversion cycle (CCC) Being able to improve how cash flows through your business requires an understanding of your cash conversion cycle. Your cash conversion cycle measures how long it takes for a Rand spent… Read more
If you’ve been considering making the move to a cloud-based accounting system, you’re not alone. Cloud technology has impacted many business functions, including making managing financial aspects of your business easier and more efficient. Cloud-based accounting moves your accounting from being hosted on your computer’s harddrive to an online platform. Cloud-based platforms like QuickBooks and Xero offer important features that save you time and money, freeing you up to focus… Read more
4 Reasons Your Business Should Consider Digital Receipts, With a Smart Cloud Accounting solution like Xero Receipts are vital to successfully running a business. You need receipts to track your purchases and expenses. Your clients need receipts for their tax purposes and to manage their finances. Paper receipts have been around a long time, so many people are used to them and may even be resistant to moving away from them.… Read more
Some small business owners find themselves in the difficult position of running a business that appears to be profitable but still has no money in the bank. It’s an important situation to address. After all, a lack of adequate cash flow is one of the main causes of small business failure. Here are three reasons profitable businesses have little money in the bank, and what business owners can do to… Read more