Abacus Professional Services Pty Ltd

More Than Your Accountant Your Wealth Creation Partner

Abacus has been providing taxation, superannuation, wealth creation, business start-up services and advice for over 30 years.

Our goal is to help you build a better, more profitable and valuable business by combining the knowledge of your business with our consulting tools and expertise. While for our individual clients, we aim to grow your personal wealth and assist you with any of your financial or tax queries.

 

Abacus Professional Services, the accounting firm that does more then just your tax. At Abacus, we specialise in business start-ups of small to medium businesses including all related Taxation, Accountancy and Business Structure requirements:

We believe small business owners want more than just tax returns and compliance from their accountant. If you want to build your business, grow your revenue and profits and increase the value of your business then contact us today. We are passionate about the success of your business and helping our clients build their personal wealth.

As an accounting firm we can help you with taxation, accounting, marketing, cash flow requirements, financial planning, estate planning, wealth creation and much, much more. We are always looking for ways to improve ourselves, our knowledge and our skills so that we can cater for all your needs and ensure that all your questions are answered.

A number of our clients are family groups and we guarantee you personal service, confidentiality and exceptional value for money. We listen to your needs, speak your language and no job is too big or too small for the team at Abacus. We look after individuals and help our clients grow and build their wealth via negative gearing and property investment.

 

We Solve Real Problems

What Can We Do For You?

 

Our Services

Just Say The Word, We Can Do It All!

More Than Your Accountant Your Wealth Creation Partner

Abacus has been providing taxation, superannuation, wealth creation, business start-up services and advice for over 23 years.

Our goal is to help you build a better, more profitable and valuable business by combining the knowledge of your business with our consulting tools and expertise. While for our individual clients, we aim to grow your personal wealth and assist you with any of your financial or tax queries.

 

Accounting For Trades People

Being in the trades or building industry you need an accountant who understands your business.

Here at Abacus Professional Services we appreciate the unique nature of the trades including the importance of cash flow, quotes, invoicing, job costing and scheduling, progress payments, retention and variations, tracking project profits and paying sub-contractors. This is in addition to the usual small business compliance issues of GST, BAS, PAYG and Superannuation.

The long hours and physical demands associated with the trades often means accounting and taxation issues don’t receive the attention they deserve. While GST, BAS and tax payments often represent some of the largest financial obligations for a business, most tradespeople fail to manage their tax appropriately. As a result we find many tradespeople pay too much tax, miss legislative obligations and expose themselves to substantial fines or interest penalties. Failing to adequately prepare for tax obligations can also play havoc with your business cash flow that is so important in the trades.

 

Accounting, Taxation & GST

A significant part of our strategy is to provide clients with timely and accurate advice on tax matters including legitimate tax minimisation strategies.  We bring a personal approach to tax and are able to provide expert consulting advice as well as meet your compliance requirements. Our range of accounting and taxation services include:

• Income Tax – BAS, IAS, PAYG
• Goods and Services Tax (GST)
• Capital Gains Tax (CGT)
• Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT)
• Superannuation including Self Managed Super Funds
• Small Business Tax Concessions
• Salary Packaging
• Managing and Preparing for Taxation Audits
• Business Start Up Advice
• Business Restructuring
• WorkCover
• Estate Planning
• Obtaining ATO Rulings
• Payroll Tax

 

Benchmarking

Have you ever wondered how your business is performing compared to your competitors? Are you spending enough on advertising? Are you paying too much rent? Are your staff costs too high? What is the average bottom line of your competitors?

Survival in today’s business climate requires you to spend more time working ON your business rather than working IN the business.

What is Benchmarking?

Benchmarking is a way of assessing your business’ performance by comparison. Most businesses compare financial results with budgets and history – usually last month or last year. But all these comparisons are internal.

On the other hand benchmarking compares your performance with others in your industry or related industries, so that you can measure yourself against the best, average and poorer performers. Benchmarking also allows you to assess where other businesses are doing things differently which may help you to improve your own business practices and results. We generate comparative reports and graphs that are easy to understand and we spend time with you making sure that you understand your industry averages and analysis.

Benchmarking Characteristics

You can benchmark your business against a variety of characteristics including:

• sales and turnover
• profitability
• overheads
• key performance indicators such as Gross Profit, Wages to Turnover and Net Profit
• pricing structures and fees
• number of customers
• staff turnover

 

Loans & Mortgages

Our strategic alliance with a leading group of mortgage brokers provides our clients with access to over 30 lending institutions who offer hundreds of different loan products.

With around 40% of Australian loans now sourced through mortgage brokers, the service is designed to:

• Provide you with loan funds at interest rates lower than the ‘Major Lenders.’
• Show you the most effective way to cut years (and tens of thousands of dollars) off your debt.
• Ensure your loan is individually structured to meet your needs.
• Our specialist finance brokers offer an obligation-free assessment of any current mortgage you may have.

As a guide, the brokers can assist you with finance applications for:

• Home Loans
• Refinancing
• Commercial Loans
• Investment Loans
• Business Loans
• Non-Conforming Loans
• Lines of Credit
• Debt Consolidation

 

Negative Gearing

What is Negative Gearing?

Negative Gearing by definition is where you borrow to acquire an investment and the interest and other tax deductible costs you incur exceed the income you receive from the investment.

While Negative Gearing is commonly associated with rental properties, it can also be applied to other types of income-producing investments such as shares and managed funds using what is often called ‘margin loans’. In terms of property investment, negative gearing refers to a situation where your expenses to maintain the property (including mortgage interest) exceed the rental income.

Creating wealth through purchasing an investment property is a well established practice in this country.  The attraction of borrowing or gearing to invest is that it enables you to invest in shares or property that might otherwise have been unaffordable.  For individuals, the loss can also be offset against other assessable income and the tax benefit will depend on your marginal tax rate.

 

Recession Proof Your Business

Just as evolution in animals dictates that only the fittest survive, in a recession it is generally survival of the smartest.

In this country we seem to have a recession-like economy happening every seven to nine years and almost 75,000 Australian businesses were wiped out in the last downturn.  To survive business owners must find a way to plan their way past potential threats including higher interest rates and fuel prices plus declining consumer confidence.

In recessionary times business owners must strike a delicate balance between pessimism and optimism, ensuring expectations are realistic but not giving up on growth. Smart business owners know that a recession presents an opportunity and it’s time to spend more time working ON your business rather than IN it

In good times the weaknesses in a business can be hidden but when the going gets tough, both the strengths and weaknesses will surface. Problems emerge when bad financial management habits spill over into tougher economic times. As your accountant our role includes identifying those weaknesses and helping you amend the strategic direction of the business. We combine the knowledge of your business with our experience and some ‘intelligent’ forensic software tools to detect the early warning signs and then work with you to develop strategies to move forward

Don’t sit idle with a wait and see mindset in the event of a downturn. Be pro-active and try and recession proof your business by driving increased productivity and growth using these ideas. There is no magic bullet to recession proofing your business but we have compiled a list of 10 strategies in a bid to help grow and protect our clients because … Small Business is Our Passion.

 

Self Managed Super Funds

There are now more than 300,000 Self Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSF) in Australia and the number continues to grow.

A SMSF is basically a superannuation fund with one to four members who are also trustees responsible for the investment strategy and administration of the fund within strict Australian Taxation Office (ATO) guidelines.

In assessing whether an SMSF is suitable for you we prompt the following questions:

• Do you have a substantial amount in personal superannuation? (As a guide, a minimum of $200,000 would be required due to establishment costs and ongoing management fees.)
• Do you enjoy learning about your investments and have the time to regularly review their performance?
• Would you like increased flexibility in estate planning, more investment options and greater responsibility for your own retirement funds?

If you answered ‘yes’ to these questions, you may be suited to having your own SMSF.

Whilst there are potentially great benefits, having a Self Managed Super Fund requires time, effort and discipline plus they also attract extra ongoing fees including annual audit fees.

Call our office to discuss your superannuation options including establishment of your own SMSF.

 

Starting Or Buying A Business

Starting or buying a business necessitates risk, research, passion and planning.  Just like a game of chess, to succeed you need to make the right opening moves.

The harsh reality is that enthusiasm, money, talent or a great idea is not enough to guarantee success in business. There is an old saying, ‘people don’t plan to fail, they just fail to plan.’ This is both valuable advice and a warning for people intending to start a business.

The business evaluation and establishment phases can be periods of great anxiety due to a combination of excitement, uncertainty and financial risk. Make no mistake, the risks are real as the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggest that 42% of new businesses won’t be around in 3 years time. Even though franchising is considered to be the most successful form of small business, a 2008 study indicates:

• Only 81% of franchisees are profitable
• 58% of franchisees generate a profit of less than $50,000 per annum
• 3% of franchisees generate a loss of more than $50,000

The small business journey can be both challenging and rewarding and we are here to guide and support you. Having previously assisted so many clients in your situation we would like you to benefit from our experience and help you make the right opening moves. Too often people starting a business simply end up creating a ‘job’ that denies them the freedom and flexibility they set out to achieve.

Successful businesses have clear objectives, produce quality products or services, understand their market, manage their money properly and are good employers. They also keep quality records and have a close relationship with their accountant. When establishing your business it’s important to seek sound professional advice from qualified accounting and legal sources.

We are not your average accounting firm that just keeps the score. Our clients enjoy a ‘business coach’ relationship and we work on your business to develop strategies, systems and processes to ensure your marketing generates a better return and repeat business. We use tools and techniques to monitor sales, productivity and make your financials more meaningful.

Your business success is important to us because Small Business is Our Passion.

 

Vehicle & Equipment Finance

There are a number of different ways to finance the purchase of vehicles and equipment for your business. Leasing, chattel mortgage and commercial hire purchase each have different tax, accounting, GST and FBT implications.

As your accountants we are committed to saving you money and giving you the most tax effective advice regarding your asset purchases.

We utilise an on-line vehicle and equipment finance service that provides highly competitive quotes from a panel of major lenders.  Having all your financial information on hand and understanding your tax situation guarantees fast approval and the correct advice.