The Power of a Performance Action Plan for your Business

In your business you may have a marketing plan, you may have a business plan, you may have a cash flow budget or financial plan but do you have a Performance Action Plan. You see for all of the decisions that are made when you prepare a marketing plan or business plan and for all of those expectations you may have when you prepare a cash flow, the reality is without action is little chance such plans will come to fruition.

If you are in business there is a good chance you would like to improve the performance.

Thats why I love the Performance Action Plan. It works like this:

1. Review business operations
2. Identify potential improvements
3. Whittle down to the activities that will drive the improvements
4. Document the action plan
5. Implement powerfully – provide both resources and accountability
6. Actions undertaken
7. Performance monitored
8. Next actions identified
9. Back to number 4.

Of course, not every action will provide the desired outcomes, which is why items 7 to 9 are the real power of the plan. And without 5, there is likely to be a difference between the actions documented at 4 and those undertaken at 6.

I have found that this method works brilliantly with a structured planning session where we sit down with our clients and go through their business and their goals and develop a clear view of the desired future. We have clients who have called it the best thing they have ever done for their business and for themselves. For me it is also a fantastic day, an opportunity to really help our business clients move powerfully towards their goals, supporting them and their future.

Thats why I love being an accountant. There is so much more we do that just numbers and tax.

So what do you think? Do you think a Performance Action Plan could help your business? Leave a comment below, and the best response will receive a coffee from me.

Did I not mention how much I love coffee?

Almost as much as Action!

Go on, take a little action, post your thoughts below.

Don’t be scammed by the Tax Office

Seriously, this is not a joking matter. If you are called by telephone or sent and email purporting to be from the ATO, you need to check that it is actually so.

If in doubt, call us immediately and we will help check it out.  Below is a summary of a current phone scam in operation, kindly provide by the (real) Australian Taxation Office:

Phone scams From time to time the ATO may contact you by phone but you should be wary of unsolicited phone calls claiming to be from the ATO and offering you a tax refund. Increasingly we are seeing these scams using names and addresses that have some correlation to actual ATO officers and buildings. We advise taxpayers to be highly vigilant when receiving phone calls of this nature. The following are examples of recent phone scams: 1. You are called on either your private home or mobile number by a person claiming to be from the ATO. They say that you have been chosen for a business grant of $7000 (could be any amount) from the federal Government. You are told you need to phone a specific number straight away to organise the process to collect the grant. Key indicators of this scam: cold calling (unsolicited calls) the caller advises that you have been chosen for a business grant you are asked to phone to organise the collection of the grant. When phoning, you will likely be to asked for personal information, including financial details or requested to pay an amount to have the money released. You may also be asked to provide other personal information that could be utilised to steal your identity the caller provides details which may be similar to actual ATO officer details or addresses. However the street name may be spelt incorrectly or the wrong postcode is provided with the address. 2. You are called on either your private home or mobile number by a person claiming to be from the ATO. They say that you are owed a tax refund of around $3000 (could be any amount) and that you need to make a money transfer to an Indian orphanage or other charity of around $150 in order to receive your refund. Generally they provide a NSW phone number to contact the ‘ATO’ once you have completed the transfer. The scammers sometimes quote personal information such as address and date of birth during the conversation to show authenticity and also often have several private contact numbers for you. Key indicators of this scam: cold calling (unsolicited calls) the caller advises that you have an unclaimed refund you are asked to pay a sum of money to a third party in order to receive the refund the payment must be made through a money transfer. 3. You receive a call from a person saying that they are from “The Tax Office’s Australian Government Grants Department”. The person asks to clarify your name and address and says you will receive a cheque for $5200, hand delivered the next day. In order to get this cheque, you need to call a phone number back to confirm eligibility. Key indicators of this scam: cold calling (unsolicited calls) the caller advises that you will receive this money as they have “unclaimed taxes” and/or they “pay tax frequently” all the call centre operatives refer to themselves as “Harry” you call the number provided and are asked to go to Australia Post and complete a “Yellow Form” (presumably an International Money order) and call them back to provide a 10 digit confirmation number from the form you must attach $99 and address the form to “Australian Government – Veerendra Kumar, Bareilly, India” the phone number provided is (02) 6100 3889.

 

EMAIL SCAMS TOO!

This is an example of an email received by one of our clients:

From: Australian Taxation Office
Sent: Thursday, 8 December 2011 6:56 AM
To: Admin
Subject: Urgent! You filled out your tax form NAT3799 incorrectly!

 

 

 

 

 

 

To whom it may concern.

We are sorry to inform you that you have made mistakes while filling out the last NAT3799 tax return (ID: 958595122165) .
Please read recommendations and hints from our tax specialists HERE

Please correct the mistakes and send the revised tax return to your tax agent as soon as possible.

Kind regards,
Stacy Barr

 

So again, if in doubt, call us now or email admin@mbrgroup.com.au and we will help you.

 

School Expenses – Claim your refund!

With the closing of one school year, many of you will already have the booklists for 2012, and might be planning to shop  over the holidays.

So we thought it would be worth reminding you about the Education Tax Refund.

What is the Education Tax Refund
The Education Tax Refund (ETR) helps with the cost of educating primary and secondary school children.

Eligible parents, carers, legal guardians and independent students are able to get money back on education expenses. These include items like computers, educational software, textbooks and stationery.

You may get 50% of your money back.If you get Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A, you probably are eligible for the ETR. There are also some payments that prevent you from receiving FTB Part A, but which still entitle you to receive the refund.

You can also claim the refund if you are an independent student. For more information, go to http://www.educationtaxrefund.gov.au/index.html

You need to keep your receipts as you need them to calculate your entitlement and you may need them as proof of purchase.

What items can I claim?

Eligible expenses include the cost of buying, establishing, repairing and maintaining any of the following items:

home computers and laptops

computer-related equipment such as printers, USB flash drives

disability aids to assist in the use of computer equipment for students with special needs

computer repairs

home internet connections

computer software for educational use

school textbooks and other printed learning material, including prescribed textbooks, associated learning materials, study guides and stationery

prescribed trade tools for secondary school trade courses

What items can’t I claim?

You cannot claim:

school fees

student attendance at school-based extra curricular activities such as excursions and camps

tutoring costs

sporting equipment

musical instruments

school subject levies – for example, payment for consumables for particular subjects such as woodwork, art or home science

building levies

library book fees

school photos

donations

tuck shop expenses

waiting list fees

transport

membership fees

computer games and consoles

So make sure you keep your receipts and let us know at tax time so we can maximise your refund.

If you have any queries, email admin@mbrgroup.com.au

 

Why I love Xero – perfect? or not?

Born and bred on a sheep farm in country Victoria, I came to Melbourne seeking knowledge and learning experiences.

I door-knocked the longest continuous shopping strip in the southern hemisphere (Sydney Road) to secure my first non-farm job.

19 years later I own that accounting business, and I can assure you, times have changed.

In 1993 after reconciling my fathers farm accounts on my custom macro driven Lotus 1,2,3 spreadsheet I discovered Quicken for DOS. Brilliant cashbook software, fast and efficient, I stuck with it through Windows 3.1 and beyond, before GST drove me to Quickbooks.

Now I have seen the future of business accounting software and, boy, does it have the “X Factor”!!

Xero is its name and I can happily describe it as Beautiful Accounting Software.

No updates for the user to install, no desktop software, no backups you or I have to do, mobile (iPhone/iPad/Android/laptop) access, and I can work with my clients on the same data hundreds or thousands of miles apart.

It is the way of the future, but best of all it is available today for Australian Business Owners.

For me, I love that one ledger means no data re-entry for Financial Statements, LIVE data feeds from banks so the information can always be up to date.

And did I mention platform independent! Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux… as long as you have a browser and an internet connection, you have Xero.

Great reporting, EASY to use, an open API (if you know what that means you will like it) so it can “talk nice” with other software. Saves you time, saves me time. What is not to love about that?

Perhaps it is not perfect. But it’s damn close for me!

I would love to hear what you think, or if you have any questions, just comment below and I will respond.

Xero breakfast briefing a great hit with our guests

We recently held our first Xero briefing for clients and local businesses, and the feedback was amazing.

At our breakfast briefing, clients and guests saw why everyone is talking about Xero. It really can make bookkeeping fun, save business owners time, and allows accountants to work with their clients in real time, not just with historical numbers.

We fully support the Xero product and love how it is easy to use, and this was always going to make for a great presentation.

And I am happy to say the feedback has been first class:

“Great session. Presenter provided information that was relevant and precise about the topic. Provided live examples on the software. Answered participants questions. Session was interactive.”

“Very efficiently and effectively done.”

“The presentation was a fantastic display of how MBR Group is being pro-active in aiming to deliver its clients better results.”

“Presentation was excellent. I can see a real use for this software in the market”

“I MAY need some help setting up abut am going OK so far.”

“I’ve rated it all 9 but there was really nothing that was unsatisfactory. I would also like to add that the time of the day was great for me and the effort to run on time was VERY much appreciated.  The session was ‘just right’ in length and information load- and formality.  Good to be able to ask questions as they popped into your head.  As discussed we will follow up on the Xero product.”

 

Customer Service Workshop

In conjunction with Business Victoria, and our 10X business, below is the email that has been circulated to business in Moreland.

If providing great customer service sounds like your business, or how you would like your business to operate, then join us for a session full of ideas you can use the very next day. (Simply click on the link below to register)

AS CIRCULATED BY THE BRUNSWICK BUSINESS INCUBATOR

Our final  learning event for 2011 is scheduled for 10.30am on Wednesday 30 November and the topic is “Giving Your Customers a “Wow” Experience.”

Successful organisations have a common focus:- CUSTOMERS… This is no secret. We all know that it’s our customers who keep our business going, pay our bills and even determine our fate!!  Having satisfied customers isn’t good enough anymore. Competition demands that if you want a booming business, you need to create ‘Raving Fans’, who will provide the ever important positive ‘word of mouth’ message in the market place. This comes from delivering the WOW factor… exceeding expectations consistently in every aspect of your business.

 

This is an opportunity for business owners to learn the latest skills and technology to increase market share through improved customer service techniques.

 

Interested!!!!!!!  Then, join presenter Catherine Gurr, Business Coach from 10X for an action packed 2 hours of strategizing and information sharing, where you are guaranteed to walk away with an action plan to implement your WOW strategies.

 

This workshop will be held at the Brunswick Business Incubator from 10.30am – 12.30pm on Wednesday 30 November.

 

The cost is $20 and includes the presentation, gifted resources, lunch and networking opportunities.

 

To book, click on this link:

 

https://services.business.vic.gov.au/ems/viewEventDetails.do?enterfrom=findandview&eventid=8107