Tips for a productive office space

A well-designed office space is an effective yet inexpensive way to increase productivity levels and improve employee engagement.

Healthy office environments are centered around communication, interaction and flexibility between all staff. Here are a few ways to boost your office space to maximise productivity:

Lighting
Workplace daylight, outdoor views and a view of the surrounding area can all make a difference in improving productivity. Office spaces with plenty of windows and naturally lit common areas have been shown to impact on employee’s mood and general health. Where possible, consider using LED systems rather than fluorescent lighting as it allows adjustment to light intensity and colour throughout the day.

Ventilation
Offices with high air quality can significantly improve employee’s cognitive function and reduce illness. Healthy offices generally have low levels of indoor pollutants and effective ventilation. When choosing an office space, check paints and materials, such as carpets, are well maintained and do not emit toxins. Consider incorporating plants into the office to help filter out toxins and improve humidity.

Ergonomics
Employee comfort can be vastly improved with simple changes to furniture and equipment such as office chairs, desk height, dual-monitor set-ups, keyboard trays and mouse pads. Ergonomic office design can play a big role in improving employee’s overall health and productivity.

ATO launches Super Scheme Smart

The Australian Tax Office has launched a new initiative called Super Scheme Smart to help educate individuals about the pitfalls of certain retirement planning schemes and how to protect their retirement nest egg.

Each year the ATO discovers complex tax schemes and arrangements designed by promoters solely for the purpose of helping people avoid tax.

The office is currently seeing a number of schemes targeting Australians planning for their retirement. These schemes encourage individuals to channel money inappropriately through their self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF).

The penalties are substantial for those involved in deliberate tax avoidance schemes; an individual may well lose their right to be a trustee of their own super fund, or, in some cases, they could go to jail.

According to the ATO, individuals most at risk are those approaching retirement.

While the retirement planning schemes can vary, common features people should be aware of include schemes that:

– are artificially contrived with complex structures usually connecting with an existing or newly created SMSF

– involve a significant amount of paper shuffling

– are designed to give the taxpayer minimal or zero tax, or even a tax refund

– aim to give a present day tax benefit by adopting the arrangement

– invariably sound ‘too good to be true’, and as such they generally are

Meeting your employee obligations

Employees are arguably a business’s greatest asset and are vital to its growth and prosperity. But to make the most of this valuable resource, employers must ensure that they fulfil their legal responsibilities and moral obligations as an employer.

To help avoid having a call from the Fair Work Ombudsman, here are a few points to consider:

National Employment Standards (NES)
The NES are a set of standards set forward by the Fair Work Act 2009 and acts as a guide that underpins modern awards, enterprise agreements and employment contracts. The ten NES include:

• Maximum weekly hours of work

• Requests for flexible working arrangements

• Unpaid parental leave and related entitlements

• Annual leave

• Personal / carer’s leave and compassionate leave

• Community service leave

• Long service leave

• Public holidays

• Notice of termination of employment and redundancy pay

• Ensuring you provide the Fair work information statement

Superannuation Guarantee
When it comes to superannuation, your obligations as an employer are simple. All employers must contribute 9.5 per cent superannuation on behalf of their employees on a quarterly basis. Super contributions must now be processed through a registered clearing house to ensure compulsory and voluntary contributions are allocated accordingly.

Entitlements
It is important that pay templates are setup immaculately so that all leave types accrue correctly from the moment you hire each employee. Allocating entitlements correctly from day one ensures that you will not find yourself in trouble down the track. Ideally, businesses may benefit from opening up a separate account so that money can be put aside for obligations.

Attracting and retaining talented staff

For employers, the ability to hire and retain talented staff members involves providing opportunities that encourage engagement, enable learning and reward staff contributions.

Most talented individuals want to learn and grow in their current working position so they can improve their skills and therefore continue to advance in their careers.

Therefore, creating opportunities for staff to improve their career prospects is essential for businesses if they want to retain and also leverage the talent and energy people bring to their job.

One way businesses can engage staff is to provide meaning. People are more likely to thrive in their role when they feel connected to what they do. Those who know why their job is important are also more likely to achieve a sense of purpose or belief that inspires them to do their job. To give your employees more meaning, start sharing your business’s mission regularly, recognise employee contributions and reward achievements

Another way to engage staff is to provide direction. To enable people to add value to their job, they first need to understand their role and actually want to play it. Staff need to know not only what they must do today in the short term, but also how they contribute to the success of the business in the future. Just as important is encouraging an understanding of how they can grow and advance their careers within the business.

Self-employed money management tips

When you are self-employed or run a home-based business, it is vital that you have a business plan that outlines your goals and financial information.

Unfortunately, statistics show that many home-based businesses often fail due to poor financial planning. Therefore, for small business owners should not only develop a financial plan, but also consider developing a method for managing their personal financial situation as well.   

Here are some things to consider including in a business’s financial plan:

Don’t underestimate expenses
There are many costs associated with running a business, so it is important not to forget to include expenses like insurance or childcare (if you have children that may need babysitting while you work) in your spending plan.

Keep accurate records
Those who are self-employed should keep copies of all receipts for tax time and ensure they complete all of their paperwork on time, particularly if they are billing customers.

Manage your income
When your income varies each month, determine your average monthly income. Then if you happen to earn more than average, you can put the extra amount into a savings fund to supplement less profitable months.

Avoid relying on credit cards
Borrowing from a credit card is rarely a good idea. Instead, if you need to use a credit card for business expenses, open an account specifically for that purpose.

Keep tabs on your taxes
To avoid surprises at tax-time, regularly review your taxes throughout the year. Don’t forget to make necessary quarterly tax payments to avoid expensive penalties.

Claiming your business independence

Entrepreneurs are particularly independent. No matter how risky starting a business seems, for entrepreneurs, it is the route to the pursuit of happiness.However, while some started their companies to be independent, many may have lost that freedom along the way. If you allowed yourself to become subject to the petty demands of your business, it is time to come up with your own Declaration of Independence.

Here are some things to include:

• Independence from overly powerful customers

If you get most of your income from one or two major customers, they control your future, not you. They can dictate the amount of your income, the security of your business, indeed, the quality of your life. You don’t want to lose these customers, but make it a priority to expand your base.

• Independence from overly powerful channels

Successful entrepreneurs start their businesses by concentrating on one channel to reach their potential customers. They may target one specific industry or sell exclusively through one distributor. However, as your business grows, it is vital to diversify, so that if something unexpected happens, you can still survive.

• Independence from overly powerful vendors

Likewise, if you depend on only one or two sources for your critical supplies, then you’re at their mercy. Find other sources, and give them at least some of your business. Even if you’ve been using one source for years, ask from time to time for bids from other vendors. Stay flexible.

• Independence from overly dependent employees

If your employees come to you for every little decision, it’s time to give them their independence and free yourself at the same time. Create a working environment that gives them responsibility and authority, making certain that employees are also given the training and support to handle such authority.

• Independence from continual insecurity

Being in business is never completely secure, but once past the start-up years, you should be able to free yourself from constant worry. Build a base of continuing customers or product lines. Set aside a cash reserve. Diversify your personal assets so you have financial resources in addition to your business.

ATO outlines common FBT mistakes

Fringe benefits tax (FBT) is a tax an employer pays on certain benefits they provide to their employees, including their employees’ family or other associates. The benefit may be in addition to, or part of, their salary or wages package. Fringe benefits tax is separate to income tax and is calculated on the taxable value of the fringe benefits provided.

Recently, the Australian Tax Office has released information for business owners which outlines some of the most common FBT mistakes made over recent financial years, as there are some misconceptions surrounding FBT exemptions of certain benefits provided to employees.

A condition of an FBT exemption is that the benefit provided is primarily used to enable the employee to do their job. In determining a benefit’s primary use, the Tax Office considers the employee’s ‘intended use’ at the time the benefit is provided.

There are also benefits that an employer can provide that are already deemed FBT exempt, such as work-related items like laptops, computer software and mobile phones.  

Some of the circumstances the ATO has advised businesses to be wary of include:

• Garaging a business vehicle at an employee’s residence; this may be deemed a car fringe benefit

• Contributions an employee makes to reduce the taxable value of a fringe benefit are assessable income for income tax purposes and are also possibly taxable supplies for GST purposes

• If employees have incurred any fuel and oil expenses they must provide the employer with a declaration to substantiate these expenses

How to stop wasting time in meetings

While many can agree that the majority of business meetings are a waste of time, in some companies, meetings are inevitable.

But even though people working in these organisations cannot simply ‘quit’ having meetings, there are ways they can reduce the time-wasting drain that converts a short 15-minute meeting, into an hour of wasted productivity. Here are fives ways to do this:

Schedule shorter meetings
One of the simplest ways to have shorter meetings is to set a shorter time by outlining the strict start and finish time of a meeting. Try changing the settings in your work calendar so that you can edit the default meeting times to be shorter.

Have a clear agenda
Quite often, meetings lack agendas and those in attendance are left guessing what ‘Mr Smith presentation’ specifically entails. Clearing up this confusion at the meeting is also time-consuming. Good agendas use complete sentences that describe not only who is presenting, but also the precise topic they will present.

Start and finish on time
Don’t punish the prompt by waiting for someone who is late for the meeting. A simple trick to make people be on time for meetings is to set the starting time at an irregular time e.g. 9.07 am instead of 9.00 am, as most people arrive at the same time they would for the 9.00 am meeting, and the usual tardy staff arrive on time.

Circulate meeting material before the meeting
Provide material in advance for everyone to read so you can have a productive discussion and staff inputs on a topic.

Stick to the agenda
Don’t let others hijack the meeting. When someone questions an issue that is not on the meeting agenda, politely ask the person if they would like to organise their own meeting for the new topic. This informs people that you mean to accomplish the things for which you called the meeting in the first place.

Managing SMSF losses

Carrying forward significant capital losses can be a viable strategy for trustees wanting to offset gains and achieve tax savings in the near future.

This kind of strategy is suitable in circumstances where it is likely that younger members may join the fund or when members are considering switching back to the accumulation phase.

One way SMSF trustees can carry forward capital losses is to set up a small accumulation balance once their assets are realised at a loss.

Funds with assets which support pension and accumulation liabilities can use the unsegregated method to claim ECPI (exempt current pension income), as capital losses on unsegregated assets can be carried forward each year, even when a fund is completely in pension phase.

Trustees that realise losses may also want to consider whether having an unsegregated fund may be more beneficial than a segregated fund. Segregated funds hold separate asset pools specific to members or pension and accumulation balances. Unsegregated funds have one large asset pool and all members share the combined investment returns.

To claim ECPI in an unsegregated fund, an actuarial certificate is required each financial year. Since the fund will have a small accumulation balance, the income earned will not be entirely tax-free. However, the cost of paying a small amount of tax and obtaining an actuarial certificate may be offset by tax savings in the future which are obtained from carrying forward the capital loss.

Five expenses you can’t claim as a tax deduction

As the countdown begins to Australia’s tax return lodgment date, many individuals in the country may be hurrying to find a few extra possible tax deductions to claim.

However, in the rush before the deadline, it is important not to waste time claiming deductions for expenses or items that are commonly thought of as tax deductible, but are knocked back by the ATO.

Volunteer work
Individuals cannot claim tax-deductions for expenditures while volunteering for charities or other not-for-profit organisations e.g. petrol used when driving out to help community efforts.

Police clearance and record checks
While some checks are required as a prerequisite to secure certain types of employment, the cost of these checks are not allowable deductions (the reason being that the cost is incurred at a point that is too soon to be associated with the employment income).

Vaccinations
Individuals, even those who work for certain airlines, cannot claim deductions for the cost of vaccinations against diseases they may come in contact with during the course of earning an income.  

Driver’s licence
Even if it is a condition of a person’s employment, the cost of a driver’s licence is not an allowable deduction.

Eviction of a tenant
Expenses incurred by rental property owners when raising eviction proceedings against a tenant are not allowed as a tax deduction to the property owner.