Growing a state-wide business with a focus on service and culture – the expansion of Fork Truck Specialists

Operating a successful family business is much more than just a job – it involves care, commitment and of course a lot of hard work! It’s also important to establish your goals early, and this shouldn’t be limited to just your financial goals. For real success, you need to consider the organisational culture you want to achieve and develop a shared understanding across the team of what you are all working towards.
For Virginia Chilcott, Managing Director of Fork Truck Specialists (FTS), these goals are clearly defined. “World domination isn’t on our list” says Vi…

New online resource for Tasmanian Not-for-Profit organisations

We’ve recently launched a new online resource to assist the Not-for-Profit sector in Tasmania.  The ‘NFP Series’ has been rolling out over the past month, through a combination of written and video articles covering everything from start-ups to compliance, accounting processes to governance, insurances and more.   
WLF Partner Marg Marshall, who leads our Specialist Taxation Advisory division says the series is a way of sharing our expertise in a format accessible to everyone.  
“Over the past few years our team has noticed a significant increase in the num…

WLF Accounting & Advisory office hours for Christmas

The WLF Accounting & Advisory office will be closed for the Christmas and New Year break from 12 PM Tuesday 24 December 2019 and will re-open on Thursday 2 January 2020.

The WLF Partners and team wish all our valued clients a Merry Christmas and a wonderful year ahead.  We look forward to working with you in 2020….

What home office expenses are tax deductible?

Home Office expenses fall into the following categories:

Running expenses relating to income earning activities
Telephone expenses
Depreciation on equipment
Occupancy expenses where the home is a place of business

 
RUNNING EXPENSES
A deduction can be claimed for home office running expenses comprising of electricity, gas and depreciation of office furniture (e.g. desk, tables, chairs, cabinets, shelves, professional library) in the amount of:

The actual expenses incurred; or
52 cents per hour

Like making a motor vehicle claim, diary/logbook evidence should be maintai…

Taxes and your charity

The board of a charity or not-for-profit is ultimately responsible for ensuring the organisation is meeting its tax obligations. This may not be as straight forward as you think, for instance, if your not-for-profit has employees, you need to consider Fringe Benefits Tax, PAYG withholding and superannuation obligations.
Also, if you’re a board member of a not-for-profit you have can be held personally responsible for ensuring PAYG withholding, super and GST obligations are met. So take some time to consider the below and contact us if you need help.
Income tax
Whilst al…

Accounting software and financial processes review

We emphasised the importance of the finance function in not for profit organisations in Article 2 of this series, which is why it is also critical to have the right accounting software and financial processes. These underpin the finance function and allow for meaningful data to be extracted for inclusion in reports for all stakeholders.
A review of both should be done at least every 3 years to ensure the finance function is being as effective and efficient as possible.
 
Accounting software:
At the very least you should be asking these questions of your accounting softwa…

Notifying agencies when your charity’s details change

The nature of charities, especially small ones, is that they are often run by volunteers who may not be aware of all necessary steps required to effectively handover control of a charity when board or committee members change.
In an ideal world, government agencies and systems would talk to each other, but unfortunately that is rarely the case. So even if you notify the ACNC of certain changes to your charity, you will probably also need to notify the ATO of the same information.  
For instance, if you don’t arrange for the departing Public Officer to personally notify…

The importance of the finance function and budgeting in Not-For-Profits

Not-for-profit organisations are a significant part of Australian society.  They provide essential services to the underprivileged, aged, disabled and other vulnerable people and animals in the country.  They also employ many people on a full-time, part-time and casual basis. 
They are funded in many ways including local, state or federal government grants, donations and fundraising activities.
These organisations have a huge responsibility to ensure the funds they receive are used appropriately and effectively in delivering the services they are funded to provide.
Und…

Establishing and managing a Not-for-Profit entity

Over the past few years our team at WLF has noticed an increase in the number of not-for-profit entities being set up in Tasmania.  We have a long history of supporting Tasmanians, and decided to do our bit to assist by sharing our expertise and commentary in this area. 
We are proud to present our Not-for-Profit series, a collection of video and written articles developed by Marg Marshall, Rachel Mendlik and Claire Thornett.  Throughout the series we will cover everything from start ups to compliance, accounting processes to governance, insurances and more.  Please t…

The success of our Undergraduate Cadetship Program continues

Since our establishment in 1890 WLF Accounting & Advisory has been providing career opportunities for Tasmanians.  In fact, our records dating back to 1928 show that over 760 Tasmanians have worked at our firm – and we know the number is substantially larger even though the earlier records are incomplete. 
In 2006 we introduced an Undergraduate Cadetship Program. The program is open to Tasmanian year 12 students who have an enrolment in pre-tertiary accounting.  Each year the successful applicant/s completes their TCE, enjoys some time off over summer and then com…