small business

[Calm]

Gst rego, i was just told is calculated on your turnover- not your profit.

GST Registration is on your Turnover - over $75,000 per year and you must register for GST. Under $75,000 and you should get a ABN so that customers dont withhold nearly half of there payment.

I would register fro GSt anyay because you get to claim the GST back on all your purchases. It means you need to add 10% onto your sales to forward to the ATO but most of your competitors are doing that so that shouldnt make you uncompetitive.

BAS Statements are easy to do. Keep a spreadsheet or "cshbook" with a column at least 4 columns, 1st Description, 2nd Bank (total of purchase), 3rd GST on purchase, 4th Ex GST figure.

Use a seperate page for expences and Income.

Every 3 months add up the GST column multiply by 11 and put the GST figure (no cents) at 1A income and 1B expenditure and the grossed up (multiplied by 11 figure) in there respective boxes.

If you dont register for GST 10% of all your purchases is wasted because you cant get that back from the ATO, and you dont have a choice about paying it when you buy something.

[weisyboy]

GST Registration is on your Turnover - over $75,000 per year and you must register for GST. Under $75,000 and you should get a ABN so that customers dont withhold nearly half of there payment.

I would register fro GSt anyay because you get to claim the GST back on all your purchases. It means you need to add 10% onto your sales to forward to the ATO but most of your competitors are doing that so that shouldnt make you uncompetitive.

BAS Statements are easy to do. Keep a spreadsheet or "cshbook" with a column at least 4 columns, 1st Description, 2nd Bank (total of purchase), 3rd GST on purchase, 4th Ex GST figure.

Use a seperate page for expences and Income.

Every 3 months add up the GST column multiply by 11 and put the GST figure (no cents) at 1A income and 1B expenditure and the grossed up (multiplied by 11 figure) in there respective boxes.

If you dont register for GST 10% of all your purchases is wasted because you cant get that back from the ATO, and you dont have a choice about paying it when you buy something.

i have no idea what you just said but ok

i have done some working out and on average 75% of each job is materials.
so if i was to charge $2000 for a fence $1500 will be spent on materials and only $500 will be wages/profit. on average.

[dazzler]

When did that happen Dazz?

Hey Alex

I have no idea but was that way at least last November

[Rosie21]

Hi Carl
The initial stages have been covered in earlier posts (business name registration and book-keeping etc). I have setup a painting business with my husband 2 years ago and as I have an Accounting degree it was a little easier for us. You will need to look into license requirements and possible Association memberships (this will add to your credibility as a business owner). I know for painting we needed to get a BSA licence and we became a member of the Master Painters Association. Also, don’t underestimate the importance of the type of business structure you set up. This is one of the most critical at the initial stages and is hard and expensive to change later on. You need to have a long term view of where your business will be and assume that it will be highly successful with lots of money coming in. This is especially important if you have a family and assets (or plan to later on). The SECOND stage requires that you look into the most important thing for every single business – cashflow. This is the life blood of every business. The first 2 years of business are the hardest especially when you are trying to establish a name for yourself, get regular customers, and compete with the many other businesses out there doing the same thing you are. If you require a business loan, you will need to write a business plan (you can get someone to write this for you for a couple of hundred dollars). I would recommend you write it yourself (the banks will also favour this) as you can nut out exactly where you want to be and how you are going to do it. There is an abundance of business plan books that can help you (I got a book from QBD titled ‘Business Plans Made Easy’). The hardest part is dealing with the finances and your accountant may help you with this. The THIRD stage requires that you look into how you will run your business on a day-to-day basis (this is one of the expensive exercises and costs can accumulate really quickly). Will you have business premises or a home office? You will need to have a computer, printer, fax, email and phone line. You will also need computer software. You will need to get business cards made up as well as letterhead stationery. I would recommend a PO Box if you have a home office and never give your home address to the public. How you portray your business is especially important and a certain level of professionalism is required.

The FOURTH stage you will need to decide if you are going to have a website and how you will market to your target customers. There are a range of different marketing tactics out there that you will need to look into. There are also some good service businesses promoting trade businesses to the general public. See below for some handy websites. Finally, as a final note I mentioned earlier that Cashflow is the life blood of every business. The next critical component is the Record-keeping and Organisation of the business. It is crucial that you organise your work area in a way that you can find things easily. For example, keep all receipts for a particular quarter in the one place - an envelope folder (from OfficeWorks). Useful websites:
search.asic.gov.au
smartsmallbusiness.qld.gov.au
ato.gov.au
homeimprovementpages.com.au
Hope this helps.

[weisyboy]

getting regular customers and cashflow will be no problem as i said i have been doing this for a coule of years and have a good name and have many repeat customers and recomendations.

i have all the tools and equipment required so the only initial outlay will be for the fees and charges asociated with registration, accountant etc.

will have a look at those websites you gave me.

[HappyHammer]

if you dont fancy doing your finances use book keeper. We have one, visits us at home, does all the stuff the accountant wants emails it through to acc and hey presto, big saving in acc fees

SWMBO is a bookeeper (MYOB and Quick Books) and she is charged out by an accountant by the hour to thier existing customers (almost all small businesses) as a service to reduce cost and ensure it's done properly.

SWMBO visits many people who decide to do it for themselves and they either fall way behind and incur fines for late BAS returns or they stuff it up and it has to be done again.

My advice would be for the price it is well worth paying for this to be done properly by a bookeeper as it will reduce stress and highlight issues early. Just beware as there are plenty of people out there who say they are bookeepers but are really just winging it. SWMBO has had to sort out a couple of messes created by these people also.

HH.