Author: Adam_Admin

Transferring a business property into your SMSF

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Employers with a self-managed super fund (SMSF) looking to protect their business assets can consider transferring their business real property into their SMSF.

Transferring business property into your SMSF is useful to protect your assets in the event of your business failing or facing litigation. It is possible for SMSF members to transfer business real property (land and buildings used exclusively for the business) to their SMSF by using a combination of methods.

In-species transfer
An in-species transfer in the context of a business property refers to the ownership transfer of a property from one entity to another without the need to convert it into cash. During an in-species transfer, the value of the property is considered a contribution to your SMSF and is restricted by CGT regulations and contribution caps.

Cashing in your SMSF
You can use the cash available in your SMSF to buy your business property at market value as a normal cash purchase. The property must first be valued by an independent and qualified party before this is allowable. SMSFs that do not have enough sufficient capital to do this may consider using their non-concessional contributions cap to cover the outstanding balance.

Limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA)
In the event that you do not have enough cash in your SMSF to outright buy your business property, you can apply for a loan using an LRBA. An LRBA can be obtained through a third-party lender, including your own business. You can borrow funds for your SMSF under an LRBA from your own business. However, before applying for an LRBA, consider its legal complexities and whether your SMSF will be able to maintain loan repayment fees on top of existing fees you may have, such as member pensions and accounting and auditor fees.

CGT retirement concession
The CGT retirement concession allows business owners exemption from CGT on business assets up to $500, 000 over a lifetime. If you are over 55, there are no associated conditions, however, if you are under 55, then you must place the money into a superannuation fund to receive the exemption.

This means that if you are under 55 and wishing to transfer a business real property into your SMSF, you can potentially do so without incurring any CGT liability (up to $500, 000).

Tax implications for landlords through COVID-19

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Property investors may have a number of tenants that have temporarily paused their rent payments or are not paying the full amount of rent owed due to being impacted by COVID-19. Regardless of rental income changes, landlords are still entitled to claim deductions on rental property expenses if they are still incurring regular rental property expenses.

Landlords who receive a back-payment of rent, or an amount of insurance as a result of a decrease in rental income, will still need to include these amounts in their assessable income for the tax year that they receive the payment.

Additionally, landlords may be faced with deferred loan repayments as a result of COVID-19. In this case, if your loan accumulates interest it will be considered as an incurred expense, meaning that you will still be able to continue claiming a deduction on your loan interest.

It is likely that landlords of short-term rental properties have had their situation compromised by COVID-19 due to cancelled bookings and low demand. If your property is used both privately and for renting out short-term accommodation, you will be able to continue deducting property expenses in the same proportion as you were entitled to prior to COVID-19. If you had begun using the property differently in the period after your latest tax return and before COVID-19, the proportion of expenses you can claim may vary. This can include situations where:

  • You have increased the amount of private use of the property by you, your family, or your friends.
  • You have made the decision to permanently stop renting out your property once COVID-19 restrictions end.

How to interact with people at networking events

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Approaching strangers at networking events can seem intimidating, but shying away from interaction means you could be missing out on some great business opportunities. Here are some ways you can comfortably approach people and make a good first impression.

Prepare

It’s essential that you know the nature of the networking event you plan on attending. Make sure that you know the meeting agenda, workshops available, dress code, revent schedule, and the host, companies and people that will be attending. If particular participants stand out to you, do some background research on them to get an idea of what they do and who they are so that you can narrow down who to talk to and what to talk about when you see them.

Be approachable

People are more likely to want to talk to you if you look approachable. Try to avoid standing in the corner avoiding eye contact with people, and instead placing yourself somewhere others can see you. Studies have shown that people are 86 percent more likely to talk to strangers on the street if they’re smiling, so don’t be afraid to keep a smile on your face, especially when someone looks your way.

Ask open-ended questions

Open ended questions are more likely to sustain a longer conversation and help you build rapport with someone more quickly. Close-ended questions that require one or two word answers may be useful for establishing basic facts about the other person (e.g. what do you do? Where did you study?), but mixing in open-ended questions that allow you to talk descriptively and passionately can prevent the conversation from getting stagnant or dull.

Be an active listener

With so many conversations, events, and people, networking events are often full of distractions. However, when you engage with someone, it’s important that you don’t let what’s going on around you distract you from listening. Try to remember their basic details, such as their name and company, so that you can recall them later if you see each other again and demonstrate your interest and polite character. Make appropriate eye contact with the person you’re talking to and ask them relevant questions about what they’re saying to show your engagement.

Exit gracefully

Ending a conversation can be awkward for both parties, and you may fear that you’re being rude if you initiate the goodbye. Remember that parting ways is a normal part of a conversation, and the other person may be just as keen to go and explore the rest of the event as you are. The easiest time to end an interaction is when there is a lull in the conversation. When this happens, politely let the other party know that it was a pleasure to meet them and thank them for their time. If you would like to connect later on, you could suggest a future meeting, exchange details, give them your business card, or send them a message on LinkedIn.

Options to consider before declaring bankruptcy

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Businesses struggling with debt may feel like declaring bankruptcy is their only option. Premature bankruptcy is an unfortunately common scenario but there are ways businesses can deal with unmanageable debt before declaring bankruptcy.

Temporary Debt Protection (TDP)

Businesses with debt they can’t pay or are being taken action against by unsecured creditors can apply for TDP. TDP provides a six-month protection period where unsecured creditors can’t take enforcement action to recover the money businesses owe them. Businesses are encouraged to use this time to seek advice from the Government’s free financial counsellors, negotiate payment plans with creditors and consider other formal insolvency options which may work better for them.

Declaration of intention (DOI)

A DOI is a short-term option similar to TDP and protects businesses for 21 days from unsecured creditors. During this time, creditors can’t take further action to recover their debts.

Debt agreement

A debt agreement details how businesses will settle their debt and is a flexible way to help businesses come into an arrangement without becoming bankrupt. A debt agreement means either paying a lump sum that may be less than the original amount owed, or repaying debt in instalments. Businesses can apply for a debt agreement if they:

  • Are unable to pay debts when they are due.
  • Have not been bankrupt, had a debt agreement or personal insolvency agreement in the last 10 years.
  • Have unsecured debts and assets less than the set amount.
  • Estimate their after-tax income for the next 12 months to be less than the set amount.

Debt agreements can go for up to three years.

Personal insolvency agreement (PIA)

A PIA lets businesses pay off their debt in a way that suits their financial situation. It is similar to a debt agreement but a business’ debt, income and assets do not have to be under a certain limit.

Keep in mind that while these methods are effective in helping businesses avoid bankruptcy, there are still consequences. While usually producing positive results, be sure to weigh up these options and consider whether the long-term effects of implementing them are worth avoiding bankruptcy.

Divorce and splitting your SMSF assets

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Running an SMSF under regular circumstances comes with enough compliance obligations as it is. Adding divorce or separation into the equation can raise even more legal and tax issues that need to be addressed.

The breakdown of your relationship does not absolve you from your responsibilities as an SMSF trustee; you are still expected to continue acting in accordance with super laws and in the interests of all members. As a trustee, you must:

  • include another trustee in the decision-making process, and
  • acknowledge requests to redeem assets and rollover benefits to another super fund.

When it comes to dividing SMSF assets, separating couples can transfer assets, such as property, from one SMSF fund into another. During this process it is important to consider:

  • How they will decide to split their superannuation fund. They can choose to enter into a formal written agreement, seek consent orders, or if the separating couple cannot reach an agreement, they can seek a court order.
  • Whether they have the necessary documentation readily available, as it is essential in the event of an ATO audit. Due to there being beneficial tax consequences in splitting a superannuation fund, it is essential that the documentation, such as the notice for splitting the super, shows a genuine separation.
  • Where the new fund is to be a single member fund, it is advisable to incorporate a special purpose company to be the trustee. This avoids having a second person as a trustee.

Claiming self-education expense deductions

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Individuals upskilling and educating themselves during these down times may be eligible to claim a deduction for their self-education expenses. The deductions apply to self-education activities that are directly related to an individual’s work as an employee.

In the case that individuals are looking to claim self-education expenses based on a course’s relation to their work, the relation must mean:

  • maintaining or improving the specific skills or knowledge the individual requires in their current work activities;
  • resulting in, or likely to result in, an increase in the individual’s income from their current work activities.

There are many types of expenses you can claim as part of your self-education deduction, including:

  • General course expenses (e.g. tuition fees, stationary, textbook, student union fees)
  • Depreciating assets (e.g. computer, desk)
  • Repair costs to assets used for self-education purposes
  • Car assets (claimed using the cents per kilometre method)

Work-related self-education expenses cannot be claimed as part of a deduction. These expenses include travel expenses, child care costs related to attendance of courses and capital costs of items (e.g. computers, desk) acquired for self-education purposes.

Keep in mind that self-education courses which enable individuals to get new employment are not eligible for deduction claims. Some expenses also need to be apportioned between private purposes and use for self-education such as travel costs and depreciating assets. You will need to estimate your apportions and provide information on such expenses to be eligible to claim.

For more information on what you claim as self-education expenses, visit the ATO website or consult with a financial advisor.

Closely held payees exemption to be extended

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Employers with 19 or fewer employees are temporarily exempt from reporting ‘closely held (related) payees’ through Single Touch Payroll enabled software. The exemption deadline has been extended from 1 July 2020 to 1 July 2021 as part of the ATO’s response to the COVID-19 situation.

A closely held payee is an individual directly related to the business, company or trust that pays them. Commonly, these are:

  • Family relatives of a family business.
  • Directors or shareholders if a company.
  • Beneficiaries of a trust.

The closely held payees exemption is automatically applied, and employers do not need to report them to the ATO.

Employers still have the option to report their closely held payees’ payroll information through Single Touch Payroll if they wish to. This can be done each time a payment is made, following the same process that applies for regular employees.

Employers will need to provide payment summaries to their closely held employees and a payment summary annual report to the ATO at the end of the financial year unless they:

  • report through Single Touch Payroll for their closely held employees, and
  • lodge their finalisation declaration by the due date.

How to improve your SEO ranking

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Improving your SEO ranking is an important step to developing your business’ digital presence and increasing web traffic onto your website and social media pages.

SEO refers to search engine optimisation and improving it allows your business to top search results as the first link to come up, thereby ensuring credibility and attracting more relevant clients. To reliably improve your SEO ranking, here are a few key steps.

Optimise for mobile
Nowadays, clients are browsing the web from their phones so it is important to make sure all your web content is mobile friendly. Mobile optimisation also encourages search engines to link your websites first. To make mobile-friendly web content, consider:

  • Minimising loading time for mobile users (usually with slower connection than desktop) – search engines as big as Google are planning on using page speed as a mobile search ranking.
  • Organising your website objectives and planning the ideal mobile experience for page visitors.

Prioritise speed
Increasing your page speed (the rate at which your web pages open from search engines and within your website) improves user experience for potential clients. By making sure your website is up to speed with both mobile and desktop modes, clients will gladly sift through your website and information as it can be done conveniently. To optimise your page speed, you should:

  • Be wary of your image file sizes – use a compression tool to reduce file sizes.
  • Enable browser caching – so that clients do not have to load web resources again.
  • Minify your scripts – get rid of any extra augmentations that are slowing down your website.

Make sure your content is up to par
There is no use in a good SEO ranking if the content on your websites is not high-quality nor attractive enough to retain clients. Not only should your content be conversation-worthy, you should also be regularly releasing new content (such as blogs) and perform regular technical SEO audits to keep up to date with your position in the search rankings. Testing what kind of content bumps you up on search engines will also help you in improving your SEO ranking in the long term.

Creating a business cash flow forecast

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Small business owners are often faced with stressful financial decisions and periods of uncertainty. Having a cash flow forecast can help your business avoid cash shortages by allowing you to track whether your spending is on target, prepare for business expansion, plan for upcoming cash gaps and plan budgets. Here are some tips on cash flow forecasting to help your business be in control of its finances.

Prepare a sales forecast
Existing businesses can look at past years’ sales figures, taking note of busy and quiet periods, and prepare an income prediction based on historical trends. If you’re a new business, you can start by making cash outflow estimates. This can help you plan for what sales you should aim for to cover this and make estimates of predicted sales.

Knowing how much money you’ll have in a week or a month is central to being able to budget and know when to pay your expenses. Whether you receive customer payments at the time of sale, or you receive payments based on a subscription or service, you can schedule expenses and budget based on payment periods.

Account for other income forms
Your business may generate income from sources other than customers. Having an estimate of what income you’ll receive and when allows you to refine your budget and plan around payments. These income sources could include:

  • Grants (such as government grants).
  • Tax refunds.
  • Investments in the business.
  • Deposits.
  • Loans.

Estimate your expenses
Your cash flow forecast should include all your predicted expenses, giving you a detailed outline of the amount you’ll spend and when to help you determine a budgeting schedule and avoid cash shortages. Expenses to consider in your forecast include:

  • Bills such as electricity, water, rent, telephone and internet.
  • Staff wages, including taxes, superannuation or bonuses.
  • The cost of supplies and equipment.
  • Packaging and delivery services.
  • Software subscriptions, such as an office messaging system, accounting system, anti-virus protection, website developing etc.
  • Maintenance and repairs.
  • Business loan or credit card repayments.
  • Staff events.
  • Buying new assets.

Update and refine your forecasts
As your business grows and evolves, your financial situation may change. To keep your projections on track and as accurate as possible, update your cash flow forecast regularly to account for any miscalculations, unpredicted expenses or income and business changes. Taking a few moments every month or so will keep you prepared and prevent you from being caught off guard by a sudden cash-flow crisis.

How to improve your hiring process as a small business

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Small businesses coming out of COVID-19 may be looking to expand and grow as quickly as possible to prepare for a changing economy. One of the ways you can effectively grow your business is by improving your hiring strategy and making sure it is efficient.

Analyse and catalogue your needs
To make sure your hiring process is fit for your business, spend some time analysing your needs. For example, consider how quickly you are looking to expand, how many employees you are looking to and capable of hiring, the space you have available for additional employees, and other similar conditions. By being specific with your requirements, you are making this easier for yourself in the long run and trimming away unnecessary expenses before you even know it.

Consider hiring part-timers and contractors
Expanding your conditions for potential employees will widen the pool of talent available to you. Instead of being set on particular working conditions such as full-time working hours or in-office working, consider being more flexible with your working arrangements. Hiring part-timers and contractors will be more advantageous to businesses looking to grow quickly and substantially, as part-timers and contractors come with lower costs and you do not have to worry about employee retention for the long-term.

Invest in training your new recruits
Make sure to spend time training your new hires by providing them with the education and resources they need to be successful in your business. While it may not seem worthwhile to invest in part-timers and contractors, building a training procedure will be beneficial in the long run for future employees as you will establish a strong workplace culture while also developing a process that is most suited to your preferences.

Focus on hiring one at a time
It is understandable for you to have many positions open at one time, but to make sure you make accurate judgements on the best potential employees, try to focus on one position at a time. This way, you will avoid being overwhelmed with business decisions involving both ordinary business proceedings and new recruits. Use the same approach when you are hiring a team for a particular project or a new location as well.