With the end of financial year on the horizon, small to medium business owners should start preparing now to avoid the headache that it can cause. Tax time can be a pain, particularly when it comes to the lingering burden of calculating Goods and Services Tax (GST). But it doesn’t have to be this way.
New technologies are helping businesses to streamline the entire process, allowing more time to focus on core business functions, rather than accounting during tax-time. By automating the expense claim process, owners and operators of small businesses can improve their time-efficiency and visibility as well as identify possible refund opportunities ahead of time.
Unlike their larger enterprise cousins – who have staffs of accountants well-versed in squeezing every last penny from GST – many small and medium businesses are unknowingly wasting valuable funds on unclaimed GST offsets that could be invested back into the business. While business owners are certainly aware of the importance of calculating their input tax credit, it can still be an overwhelming task to reclaim the GST paid during the financial year as part of the price of business resources and supplies. Time-consuming and resource intensive, the process can require considerable tax expertise. Consequently, many businesses are missing out on the full benefits available to them from these offsets.
Today, the majority of companies who try to recover GST encounter issues due to the obscurity surrounding how to calculate GST payable, and the challenge of tracking incoming and outgoing GST payments on an ongoing basis. A quagmire of information is available on the topic, however the opportunities presented to business owners in the form of the input tax credit remain unclear.
There is still ample opportunity for businesses to begin considering more efficient ways to maximise their GST recovery before tax time hits. With the right system in place, businesses can minimise their need for expensive tax expertise especially near tax time.
By making the shift to automated mobile solutions, businesses can benefit from a system that does all the hard work for them, ridding themselves of all those shoeboxes of receipts. Time efficiency can be improved through helpful tools that allow every employee of a business to quickly and easily submit their expenses using automated processes that automatically capture and accurately categorise GST, reducing the need for manual input. In doing so, businesses receive full visibility and control of GST paid ahead of tax-time. Access to helpful analytic tools can easily identify possible GST refund opportunities, ensuring that business owners don’t lose money through unclaimed GST.
Concur, a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management services automates the auditing and tracking of expenses. By implementing automated solutions, even small business owners can now take control of their GST reporting. Headaches will be reduced as businesses are confident that they are receiving the maximum claim available to them.
Discover how a cloud-based automated travel and expense management solution can help you at www.concur.com.au
