December 2018 Newsletter.

A message from the director…

Christmas is coming in just over 2 weeks, how time flies and another year is gone!! The team from Milanese & Co are wishing all our clients and families a very Merry Christmas and we are looking forward to helping you achieve your goals in 2019.
 
The Christmas break provides the opportunity to spend additional time with our loved ones or remember those who have left this world, refresh from a big 2018 and assess where we want to be in the upcoming year. Goal setting is a simple way of seeing what we would like to accomplish for the next 12 months. Each year at Milanese & Co we gather goals from our team and then just before the Xmas breakup open up the envelopes to see what we were each looking to accomplish this year in our personal lives, careers and in the business. It is an interesting exercise to see what our thoughts were 12 months ago and to see what we achieved and what we might want to be focusing on going forward.

I put the challenge to everyone to consider doing a similar exercise not only for your businesses but with your families also. Even for families with younger kids it can be a great motivation task to see what they are looking to get out of the year ahead and putting up photos on the fridge and around the home to assist them in being focused to reach their goals. Please feel free to share any of your goals for the new year and we can assist in keeping you accountable in reaching them.
 
It has been a big year for our team at Milanese & Co with our new business opening almost 12 months ago. Our focus has been on delivering exceptional service to our clients and providing choices by way of seeing what our clients want to achieve and helping implement plans to get there. Accountability is something we can all do with in helping us reach these goals. We have found by meeting with our business clients more regularly there is a higher chance of success and satisfaction. With this also comes ways of us helping to implement strategies to minimise tax and help build your after tax wealth.
 
In 2018 we celebrated Lena working 15 years with us – amazing and loyal achievement Lena. Tom and Onnley clocking up 8 years with us to provide us the experience, knowledge and consistency for our clients and team. Ash joined our team at the start of the year and has become our front of house and marketing guru. And I would like to send Jo a big thank you for putting up with me and my many requests of ‘do you mind quickly doing this or that or can we have a quick chat on this’ throughout the year to ensure we can deliver the services we need. It has also been invaluable to have Raff Stomaci operate from our office and provide our business with the IT services and proactiveness we need to operate in an ever increasing technological world.
 
We are now offering services to more individuals and businesses within the Gawler, Barossa and surrounding areas in South Australia and Interstate. This growth has been predominately via referrals from existing clients or other businesses within our growing network. We would like to thank everyone who has assisted us in being able to assist more people and hope you have found what we do is different within the industry. It is disappointing that as an industry we hear that many businesses and individuals don’t get the advice they are looking for from their former accountants and many don’t even return their phone calls!! Ultimate customer service experience is something I am very passionate about and is something we have made to be a core part of the DNA of Milanese & Co.
 
We have some existing changes for our business in the new year which will ensure that we can continue to assist more individuals and businesses whilst ensuring our focus of customer service is maintained to the highly standard. Please stay tuned for this upcoming news.
 
If you have feedback on what we can be doing better please feel free to contact us as we always welcome feedback and if you have been satisfied with what we have achieved for you please provide  our details to family and friends who you feel could benefit from our services.

Tis the season to FBT

As we head into the festive season we all like to enjoy a few of the perks. Before we all enjoy a well-earned break you may wish to reward your staff, colleagues and clients with a nice Christmas show and/or gifts for putting in all that hard work.
Although there are consequences to the many Christmas catch-ups like a few extra unwanted KGs and a couple hangovers. We want to avoid the tax consequences that can arise at this time of year.
What we need to determine if fringe benefits tax (FBT) applies and avoid that if possible. Therefore, I just want to run through a few do and don’ts when it comes to Christmas shows and all the things that go along with it.    
Say what you want about the ATO, but they don’t wont to completely ruin the party. $300 (per each employee) is the minor benefit threshold for FBT, this is the important figure when it comes to the Christmas party and gifts staying FBT-free. Therefore, if you’re having a shin-dig we want to make sure the price is under $300 per head. This usually applies if an employee’s spouse attends the function.
This $300 limit applies to each benefit, so you can have a party and provide a gift each of those have the separate $300 limit. Unfortunately, a tax deduction or GST cannot be claimed on these benefits.
Location also holds some weight, A Christmas party provided to employees on your premises or worksite may be an exempt benefit however associates attending is not exempt (therefore the minor benefit of $300 per employee comes back into play). Parties held of site must be under the $300 per employee minor benefit.
Now like with most things involving the ATO this is not all black and white, so please run any questions past our staff if you are unsure.
Now go off be merry and enjoy yourselves that’s what the festive season is all about.

Facts you probably didn't need to know 

It is estimated the song "White Christmas" by Irving Berlin is the best selling single in history with ove 100 million copies sold

7 in 10 dogs will be given Christmas presents from their owners.

Almost 28 sets of lego are sold every second during the Christmas season.

Cloud Accounting

At Milanese & Co we are all about embracing the current trends in the accounting industry to be proactive with technology and the advantages it can provide our clients.
 
Our knowledge across the market leaders in the cloud accounting software extends to being a Gold Certified Partner for MYOB, Silver Certified Partner for Xero and proficient users of Quick Books.
 
The importance of cloud accounting is becoming more prevalent for businesses.  The main overall benefit is getting current reliable data to make timely and smarter business decisions.  These software packages tick all the boxes in relation to payroll requirements with being single touch payroll compliant, super stream compliant and all with multi user access.  Where you have internet access, your business can get these benefits.
 
We like to discuss your record keeping requirement to explore which software is best suited to your needs.  Our team are all skilled in using the latest cloud accounting products and are enthusiastic to assist you when your need arises.

The gift of giving this Christmas

Give out of love, not obligation.
Give when it's least expected.
Give without strings attached.
Give from your heart.
Give of yourself.
Give to show that you are.
Give help without causing helplessness.
Give something that takes personal sacrifice.
Give to make a difference.
Give without keeping score.
Give for no reason at all.
Give a little if you can't give a lot.
Give without attracting attention to yourself.
Give without being asked.
Give of your experience.
Give to those who need it most.