Jobkeeper 1.0 Comes To An End - Time For Phase 2

Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2020
With the first iteration of JobKeeper ending this Friday, it's time for business owners and managers to have open and honest conversations with their teams. We have never faced so much economic uncertainty, so the open conversations need to start now, as government support changes. One of those changes includes another round of Victorian state government grant funding. Applications are open for sole traders and small businesses to apply, with $3000 available for sole traders and a minimum of $10,000 for small businesses. The application process takes about 40 minutes and you may need your accountant's help with some of the financial questions. These grants are available only to employing businesses in the eligible sectors listed on the website (it includes most businesses), in recognition that these industries are the most affected by coronavirus restrictions. If your business is not in one of the listed sectors, you may be able to access other support programs from ... Read the rest of entry »

The country being used as a test case for the city

Posted on Thursday, September 17, 2020
Try to think back to March when the first wave of coronavirus was starting to sweep across the country, with businesses gradually having to close their doors or reduce their work and a raft of government stimulus measures announced. That included JobKeeper, which is now less than two weeks away from hitting the end of the initial six month run of the program. While there was some initial scepticism about how the program would succeed over this period, it’s heartening that we’ve almost made it through the first six months of the income support program and can start looking ahead to the next round of it. Just as a reminder for those small businesses that are planning to continue to access the program, you do not need to re-apply for JobKeeper 2.0. All that is required in October will be to explain to the government what has happened to their business earlier in the year and how many part-time and full-time employees you had on your books, as the rates of pay will change for this next round of th ... Read the rest of entry »

An idea for ScoMo: RentKeeper

Posted on Thursday, September 10, 2020
It has been another rough week for Victorian businesses, with lockdown restrictions set to continue in some form until at least late November, possibly longer.   It’s a cruel blow for a lot of the business owners I’ve spoken to this week, with many making the difficult decision to close their doors as the pressures of rent and keeping a business afloat become too much.   It made me think that there needs to be a new form of support from government, one I’m calling RentKeeper. It would help small businesses and sole traders who cannot afford their rent.   I would make it available from October 1 until the end of March for those businesses that are already on JobKeeper and have had another negative quarter in the September quarter.   Something like RentKeeper would keep businesses in their premises under a deal where they would share the cost of the rent with the state and federal government. For example, if you pay $1000 a week for your lease, the business would pa ... Read the rest of entry »

STATEMENT: HFM resigns from MLC amid sale to IOOF

Posted on Wednesday, September 2, 2020
As you might have seen reported yesterday in the Financial Standard and in the Australian Financial Review, Haywood Financial Management’s AFSL Licensee, GWM Adviser Services, has been sold to IOOF. As part of this transaction, each adviser under the GWM stable will have to make a decision as to whether to move to IOOF, or seek another licensee.   As we flagged back in 2018, this sale has been in the works for some time, which has given us time to reflect on what we might do. After long consideration, we have decided that IOOF is not for us, and we will instead move to InterPrac Financial Planning, which is owned by ASX listed Sequoia Financial Group Ltd.   We have made this decision because we feel IOOF is not a good fit for our business or our clients in the long term.   We made a similar decision in 2011 when we left AXA to join MLC and more than 80 AXA advisers joined us.   What does this mean for you, our clients? In practical terms, no ... Read the rest of entry »

Superannuation underpayments amnesty deadline is approaching

Posted on Wednesday, September 2, 2020
We’ve spoken a lot this year about business stimulus programs, JobKeeper, support for employers and ways of adapting your business for the future. But I’d like to talk about superannuation this week, and specifically an important deadline that is fast approaching for small business: the government amnesty on superannuation underpayments. The government has clearly recognised that business owners have a lot on their plate and things can slip through the cracks, one of which could be neglected superannuation responsibilities, and they have opened up this amnesty for businesses to go over their books and make things right without any punishment from the tax office. That means if you haven’t already, it is time to ensure that you are up to date with your super payments to your employees by September 7, 2020. If you are found to be in breach of your super responsibilities after this date the punishment will be significant fines as well as an audit, which will clearly affect the productivity of ... Read the rest of entry »