Spending extra time and the office doing paperwork often leads to working late nights and sometimes weekends. How would it be if you could regain your life again and spend more time with your friends and family?
How about an Afternoon for Tradies?
On the 20th of October, Shuriken’s CEO Andrew Jeffers presented a session tailored just for Tradies to cover important financial management information. Having worked with hundreds of Tradies over the past 20 years, Andrew has noticed common concerns amongst them when it comes to understanding tax and compliance.
For this reason, Andrew put on an event afternoon for tradies. They met, had a good time, ate and drank at Glenorie Bakery – all while learning how to stay on top of their business!
We shared problems…
Having your own business can sometimes feel overwhelming and complicated. It requires a lot of responsibilities and attention to detail.
One of the hot topics of the afternoon was the age-old problem of business receipts. It’s very easy when you’re busy to lose receipts, which means you’re not able to take advantage of taxable deductions. As a result, you don’t end up getting the maximum tax refund you were entitled to.
Another pain point many Tradies shared was the long hours and late nights and weekends trying to catch up bookkeeping tasks. All agreed that it’s not fun having to miss a birthday party or a family weekend, because you had to finish loads of paperwork?
Many Tradies who attended use sub-contractors to get bigger jobs done, but there was confusion as to when a contractor is seen by the ATO as an employee. Over the years, Andrew has seen this happen because of a lack of understanding in employment compliance.
We shared solutions…
People who run their own business need simple solutions to resolve everyday issues. For example, you may keep all your receipts in your wallet and sometimes you happen to lose them.
Shuriken is dedicated to giving trusted advice you can rely on when it comes to managing your tax affairs. One of the tips Andrew shared on the afternoon is a simple solution to keep track of all your receipts – scan them on your phone and keep them all together in a folder. Therefore at the end of the month, you could send them to your accountant get full refunds. There are other web and app-based programs you can use which make life easier, such as:
Andrew also shared how to ensure you are complying when it comes to using contractors/sub-contractors and stay out of sight of Fair Work. Little things like looking up the contractor’s ABN or GST registration is the first step.
Did you know? There’s a certain point in the amount of work a contractor does for you they are seen as an employee? Yep. That’s right. And when a contractor is deemed an ‘employee’, you are then liable to pay superannuation, workers compensation and withhold tax.
Want to know more?
Due to the success of the Afternoon for Tradies, Andrew Jeffers will be holding a webinar “Understanding Tax & Compliance In Your Tradie Business” on Thursday, November 17th at 7pm.
Registration is FREE and there will be a Q&A session, so you can come armed with questions specific to your business and have them answered.
