Cashflow
What are the attributes of an SME that is growing, and how do they differ from a business with static or declining revenue? [Related: SMEs trading banks for fintechs, poll suggests] Twice a year, when more than 1200 owners or leaders of SME businesses are interviewed for our SME Growth Index, one of the first questions […]
By the age of retirement, the average working woman will have lost $160,000 in superannuation due to career breaks, according to REST Industry Super. To determine the financial impacts of career breaks on working Australians, the superannuation fund commissioned research, including a survey of 1030 men and women who had taken a career break of […]
Much has been said about the benefits SMEs will see from new draft legislation recently proposed by the Federal Minister for Revenue and Financial Services authorising the Australian Taxation Office to disclose business tax debts to credit reporting bureaus. While the stated aim is to “help the SME sector”, in reality SMEs will be largely […]
The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) has called for the Federal Government to improve the financial outlook of SMEs by introducing a loan guarantee scheme and legislating maximum payment times for business-to-business transactions. In its 2018 pre-Budget submission, the IPA – a professional accounting body representing 35,000 accountants, business advisers, academics and students – made […]
The current interest rate in Australia is 1.5%. It has been that way for 16 months +, as the Australian central bank pursues an accommodative monetary policy to facilitate growth and recovery. Unfortunately, the tough times post global crisis meant that Australian banks and financial institutions were a lot more stringent about who they approved […]
Due to the ‘gigantic profits’ banks derive from processing the ‘lion’s share’ of home loans in Australia, traditional lenders haven’t had a compelling case for servicing small businesses – rejecting around 50% of their loan requests, according to Simon Isaacs, founder and CEO of fintech startup ebroker. “Banks can lend $62.50 for every dollar* of their […]
Federal Government agencies are paying 96% of their small business contractors within thirty days of receiving an invoice, according to a new report. Minister for Small Business, Michael McCormack said the latest Pay On-Time report also found agencies were paying 60% of invoices up to $1 million within 20 days, and that the overall results […]
The Christmas Blackout period can bring Australian small businesses to a halt as wage bills take priority and payments begin to dry up. With everybody looking to preserve the cash they have available, business to business transactions begin to slow down from November through to February, leaving some business owners scrambling or tying themselves up […]
The Federal Government will begin paying small business suppliers ten calendar days sooner to improve their cashflow, it has been announced. Under the Government’s revised ‘pay on time’ policy, Small Business Minister Michael McCormack said federal agencies and entities will be required to pay invoices for contracts worth up to $1 million within 20 calendar […]
Every business owner understands that the rewards of running their own company are immeasurable, but the tradeoff is that you also bear the brunt of the consequences if things go wrong. This is why it’s important to have a risk management plan in place. Having a strategy for the common pain points that your business […]
For small and medium businesses (SMEs) that want to take on new export opportunities, understanding your business’ working capital position is critical. Working with the right financial partner can be the key to driving your export success. Accountants and financial advisors continue to be a key support channel for SMEs that are looking to build […]
Stating that small business subcontractors are vulnerable to delayed payments, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Kate Carnell has announced she is examining payment terms and conditions for “subbies” working on government projects. “Most government departments pay their invoices within 30 days, but when a prime contractor is appointed to manage a project […]
Research showing that SMEs are reducing capital expenditure due to rising energy prices has prompted criticism of the state governments by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. The Ombudsman, Kate Carnell, pointed to the latest East & Partners SME survey* of 1280 businesses, which showed that 39.5% of SMES plan to scale back […]
National Australia Bank’s decision to introduce shorter, plain English loan contracts for small business borrowers has been welcomed by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. According to the bank, more than 130,000 business owners will benefit from the complete overhaul of its existing business standard loan form contract, which involved simplifying contractual clauses, […]
Running a business of any kind — whether it’s a large or small, retail or service — follows the same steps to success. One of these steps involves managing your money by tracking and improving your free cash flow — that free flow of post-financial commitment cash and a key indicator of business success. But if business […]
Hard to believe but Toys “R” Us has sought bankruptcy protection. It’s interesting to hear the Australian operations remain unaffected, it’s hard to believe as we’ve heard and seen for so many years the success of Toys “R” Us. As the old adage goes…learn from failure. Here are five things every retailer needs to learn […]
SMEs are vulnerable to late payers in Australia, with Small Business Ombudsman Kate Carnell stating, in April, that larger organisations are using them as a “cheap form of finance”, restricting their growth and causing solvency issues. From calls for legislation to the introduction of a voluntary code to deter late payments, late payments have never […]
Small to medium-sized businesses will have an opportunity to access crowd-sourced funding to help them begin or grow their business when the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) releases its new crowd-sourced funding (CSF) regime on September 29, 2017. ASIC Commissioner John Price said: “Crowd-sourced funding provides an opportunity for small to medium-sized businesses to […]
All businesses across Australia are now banned from hitting customers with excessive surcharges for using certain types of EFTPOS, Mastercard, Visa and American Express cards to make payments. The excessive surcharging ban has applied to large businesses since September last year and now extends to all businesses that are either based in Australia or use […]
The Victorian Small Business Commissioner, Judy O’Connell, provided Dynamic Business with insights into the state’s small business sector, including barriers to growth and the need for owners to prioritise mental health, ahead of her appearance at the Vodafone National Small Business Summit on Friday (25 August). DB: What will you be speaking on at the summit? O’Connell: […]
