Ontrack: SMSF Facts - TheProductivity Challenge - Accountancy Audit Insurance and more..

1 May 2012

In this Issue:

Purchasing Residential Investment Property
Interesting Facts about SMSF
The Productivity Challenge
Aged Care
Events
Spark
A Little App Relief

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

~Will Rogers~

Next Issue

Aged Care - planning for and managing the aged care minefield
Cloud Accounting Software - why you should consider this option

Greetings!,

It's comments like this that definitely help make our day, month and year!

We are made to feel like a member of a family - when we call people know who we are - we aren't just a number. - Deborah M.

Thank you to all those who took part in our 2012 Client Survey. Your feedback is invaluable, and with feedback like the above, we know we are ontrack.

Now that we know what many of you want, and think about us and our services, here are a few of the things we will be working on for 2012.

'keep me accountable' - people like to be followed up, and even chased, to complete tasks and finalise plans
offer more workshops: Aged Care and Cloud Accounting workshops are on their way as well as Business Succession Planning later in the year
tell me what other services might be useful to me: our NEW CRM system will allow us to send out very targeted information to every client at appropriate times

A very pleasing 91% of respondents said they would be happy to recommend us to their family, friends and colleague. Visit our "Recommend Our Team" page for a few easy ideas.

As much as the annual survey is an important tool for us to assess our procedures and service offerings, we are always available to discuss any issues or ideas you may have so feel free to give us a call.

Read more about our survey

On a final note, ThePrimeAdvisoryGroup is honoured to have been selected in the BRW Fast Starter's List 2012. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank all our clients for their support. We will continue to work hard in providing the best possible service as your trusted accountants and financial advisors.

Christian Borkowski
CA

Purchasing Residential Investment Property with Borrowed Funds

Strategies for Self Managed Super Funds (SMSFs)

Changes to superannuation legislation now allow self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) to borrow to invest, providing certain conditions are met. If you have a SMSF, you may now be able to use these arrangements to help you buy a residential investment property through your fund.

Interesting facts about SMSFs

For many individuals, managing your own super is often pushed aside as an option because of a misunderstanding around what it actually is. Here are a few points that might just spike your interest.

running a Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF) doesn't mean you actually have to do it yourself
your SMSF must file a tax return every year
SMSF's are not just for the wealthy, 49.4% of new SMSF trustees in the September quarter of 2011 had an annual income of $60,000 or less and only 1.1% had income higher than $500,000
every SMSF needs a trust deed - it's the DIY fund's most IMPORTANT document
$197 million dollars of insurance policies were held inside SMSF's
With a pool of Super Funds in excess of $1.3 trillion, SMSF's make up over one third of that amount
SMSF's may borrow to invest
SMSF's may invest in art, wine and jewellery BUT special rules apply to those assets and it is not something we recommend
Our PrimeWrap Service can free up your time by managing all the administrative duties of a SMSF - help is at hand
62.5 % of DIY super trustees who established a fund in the September quarter of 2011 were aged 45 or over

Read our SMSF FAQs

If you would like to find out about having your own SMSF and how you could take control, come to our next workshop - Events Calendar

The Productivity Challenge - What you need to do
Productivity priorities for business

Review processes, eliminate unnecessary systems and benchmark performance; simplify your business
Develop a culture that encourages innovation and creativity. Involve employees in generating ideas for improving products, services, systems and processes
Build your skill base; retain and retrain older workers; improve the skills of managers and leaders
Align employee learning and development to the vision and the goals of the organisation
Minimise employee turnover with flexible workplaces, inclusive culture and focus on well-being and professional development
Use Technology

If we can be of service to help assess and improve your business productivity, contact us today.

By keeping you ontrack, you can achieve your goals

brw.com.au

Aged Care - where to start?

Are you trying to understand the complexities of the Aged Care system on behalf of a parent, relative or yourself? Have you come to grips with the associated costs involved in the variety of care available and where that care can be offered? With the media focus currently in this area and the federal government recently advising the community of a new reform package, we have been exploring the options within the existing system, debugging the myths, and finding out what impact the proposed new reforms will have. We are ready to offer you assistance.

For those in the planning and implementation stages, our aim is to offer expert guidance and assessment of your plans. There are a number of areas that will require financial analysis and need to be worked through together to ensure you or your loved ones are well looked aft Happy older couple ready for aged care er financially both now and into the future.

For the people this directly affects, aged care is a major step in life's journey and one that can be extremely emotional and unsettling.
Peace of mind at this stage in one's life is paramount.

For those with an interest, over the coming months we will be running several workshops to explain the process, the do's and don'ts and the options available, all to ensure your finances are utilised in the very best way. We will also be developing some collateral, including some case studies, for your reference, with the aim of arming you with relevant and practical information to make the decision making process a little easier.

Contact us if you would like to discuss this further.

Spouse Super Contributions

Increase their super and reduce your tax

Does your spouse earn less than $13,800?
Do you wish to increase your combined super savings?
Do you wish to reduce your income tax liability?

How does it work?

If your spouse is on a low income, you can make contributions into their super account and claim a tax offset. This contribution is a non-concessional contribution, and will form part of your spouse's tax free component in their super account. This amount is drawn tax free at retirement. Super funds are concessionally taxed, with complying super funds taxed on their earnings at a maximum rate of 15%.

Haven't come to one of our events before? We hold different events monthly in-house to help keep you ontrack. Our workshop style events offer individuals and business owners the opportunity to learn and improve their knowledge in specific areas. Our upcoming workshops are listed below.

We are also running a special 2012 Budget Discussion and Tax Tips Evening. At this event find out how this year's budget impacts you as an individual as well as your business, if you have one and get some tax tips that may assist in enhancing your tax return.

What makes our workshops different?

you get to ask questions throughout the workshop
we limit the numbers of attendees so we can answer those questions in full
you leave with confidence that you know a little more and can make better financial decisions.

We look forward to seeing you at our next event, just be sure to register!

Date: 9 May Time: 8 - 9.30am	PrimeAdvisory Bookkeepers Network
Date: 9 May Time: 4 - 5.30pm	Trustee Workshop - Don't let the ATO tax your discretionary trust income at 46.5%!
Date: 10 May Time: 5 - 6.30pm	Budget Discussion and Tax Tips
Date: 16 May Time: 4 - 5.30pm	Trustee Workshop - Don't let the ATO tax your discretionary trust income at 46.5%!
Date: 22 May Time: 5 - 6.30pm	All you need to know about Self Managed Super
Date: 6 June Time: 5 - 6.30pm	How to use your Super to Invest in Property

Accountancy Audit Insurance

Now more than ever individuals, businesses and Self Managed Super Funds are at risk of being selected for a random audit and it's not only the Tax Office who are investigating. You can come under investigation from any Federal or State revenue agency such as WorkCover and Payroll Tax.

Having Audit Insurance covers you from the potential professional fees incurred in preparing relevant documentation and responses to any audit or investigation. Our policy is underwritten by Vero Insurance Ltd and covers the current years returns and all previous years.

For more information on how you can be protected for future claims please contact us.

The April edition of spark is out! It's full of great articles, tips and ideas for small business.

This issue:

Johnathan Brown speaks about 24-7 fitness and life after football
How to get Cashed Up - tips on grants available to businesses
Creativity is the strategies tool of the 21st Century
The sassy guide to building you business list
and much more...

A little light App relief

This is a quiz game full of fun that consists of guessing the names of hundreds of logos from different companies. To achieve this you have a lot of clues which you can use to help you complete the game. You can also ask your friends if you don't know the answer! Challenge them to see who knows more logos! Beware - this can be addictive

Find here

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