Firm News

It’s been 18 years since  Jodi Bradley joined Porters Chartered Accountants in Albany in 2001. She has well and truly earned her stripes and this year joins us as a Partner of the firm. Jodi will take on a greater leadership role, the biggest of which is to re-open and expand our offices in Albany. The new partnership brings opportunity for business growth, employment of more staff in Albany and expansion of…  Read more

Every manager has habits that make them incredibly effective as well as issues that their employees wish they would change. The problem is that many employees won’t tell their manager what those weaknesses are, often out of fear of retaliation. So while managers conduct employee performance reviews pointing out areas for staff improvement, sometimes the manager’s own weaknesses go unaddressed. Porters Director Simon Terry recently acknowledged a staff member for…  Read more

No one wants to contemplate death, which makes writing or updating a will an unpleasant experience. Having an updated will is vital to ensure your wishes are followed after you die. It makes the process of sorting through your finances less stressful for your family and can prevent disagreements when settling your estate. Your will is a way of dictating who will arrange and settle your estate and how you…  Read more

To many people, financial planning sounds like something for the very rich. The wealthiest people take their piles of money to someone who tells them where to invest it so they can make even more money. The rest of us just focus on saving what we can while paying off debt and hoping we don’t lose our jobs before we’re financially stable. In fact, financial planning is about having long-term…  Read more

You’ve got a great idea for a business, and now you want to get it off the ground and take it to market. This is a very exciting time, but there’s quite a bit you need to think about before you can launch. We offer resources to help you get started. Follow our seven day program to:  Determine if you can make any money Prove you can beat the competition…  Read more

You would have been hearing a little about Labor’s proposed changes to negative gearing and CGT over the last couple of months. So with the election just a few short weeks away, here’s a summary of what the changes might look like. Currently… Negative gearing of an investment property occurs when the annual costs (interest, management fees, repairs and maintenance, depreciation, etc) are greater than the net rental income. Any…  Read more

Do you have employees? Then you need to be ready for Single Touch Payroll! By now you may have heard the buzz around Single Touch Payroll. It’s a pretty big deal for any business that has employees. So…what do you need to know and how does it affect you? Keep reading to find out. What is Single Touch Payroll? Single Touch Payroll (STP) is a new way to do your…  Read more

The annual Federal Budget is an event full of buying votes, new ideas, old ideas rehashed and new tax opportunities and pitfalls. In an election year, politicians’ imaginations run a little wild… so we’ve provided a summary blog and a longer assessment in case you want to know more. This year we are excited about two initiatives which in one form or another are likely to get bipartisan support.  These…  Read more

Like many small businesses, we’ve been through the process of defining our Mission (to identify opportunity, share passion and achieve prosperity) and our Vision (how our mission and values come together to an end goal), before engaging our team to define Porters’ Values (Care, Integrity, Passion, Team, Enjoyment). Our Values have some great thinking and team engagement behind them. As a business owner I use them to talk with staff…  Read more

In our last note, we had a quick review of how changes to the 2017-18 Budget might affect residential investment property owners and their Income Tax position.  While there was some bad news from the point of view of travel claims, and claiming depreciation on plant and material (at least in your Income Tax*), there are still plenty of things you CAN claim against managing your investment property. In this…  Read more

Want to know how the 2017-18 Budget affects your future tax position?   Here’s the rub… The ATO is interested ATO audits of over 300 rental property claims found errors in 90% of returns.  This means a huge potential loss of revenue for the ATO and fertile ground for tax reviews. This year, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will undertake 4,500 audits of taxpayers it considers are “high risk” because…  Read more

Taking steps to ensure your customers pay promptly should be a key priority for your business. When clients consistently pay on time, you are able to pay your vendors, suppliers, and employees on time and you’ll have an up to date view on the profitability of your business. This requires that you also implementing strategies to support prompt payment and make it easy for customers to pay as soon as the bill comes in. Provide…  Read more

Knowing how to price your services can be a real struggle. Charging an hourly rate can feel less scary than quoting a fixed rate package because you have confidence you’ll be compensated for every hour you spend on a project. But there are drawbacks to trading time for money – not the least of which is that it limits your earning potential. Charging by the hour can also lead to…  Read more

  New Year resolutions – we’ve all made them, and broken them − often before the end of January. There’s something about New Year celebrations that makes us yearn for a fresh start, but is there a way to make that desire for change more permanent? Here’s a twist that can make your resolutions more durable, more beneficial and less prone to that embarrassing quick fade. Align goals to your…  Read more

This is Simon’s first ever you tube clip. He’s pushed himself well out of his comfort zone to achieve our goal to be Accountants with a difference. Fifteen takes later (and some film editing by Gilbert) we have a result. Brilliant not perfect is a great place to start. We have even received our first you tube subscriber, which means there’ll be more to come. Enjoy    Read more

Having an online business presence with an effective website and social media pages is essential for today’s consumers. You won’t build a loyal customer base if you can’t earn your visitors’ trust, which is why companies value social proof so highly. Social proof isn’t a new concept, or one that only applies to social media. It’s a psychological phenomenon. In online terms social proof is how others view your business based on…  Read more

It takes time, energy, and continuous effort to build a brand that attracts loyal customers. This effort is  rewarded by word of mouth referrals and repeat business. Without a doubt, the good name you worked so hard to earn is one of your most valuable business assets. This solid customer base and positive employee relations is known in business as “goodwill.” Most small business owners understand that a company’s goodwill…  Read more

For business owners who want financial security now and freedom in retirement, having a financial planner on the team is a must. A close working relationship between your financial planner and your accountant, such as the link between Porters CA and Knight Financial Advisors, will accelerate your results. Many people view a financial planner as someone you invest lump sums of money with, however the role extends well beyond that.…  Read more

ATO data analysis and data matching means false tax claims are far more easily detected than ever before, according to Porters Chartered Accountants, Albany manager, Jodi Bradley

Planning and knowledge will help you achieve your business goals.  Business finances need insight to be under your control rather than controlling you.