Virgin entrepreneur Richard Branson once said the secret to success is to “never take your eyes off the cash flow because it’s the life blood of business”. And one of Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki’s oft-quoted pieces of advice is: “Making more money will not solve your problems if cash flow management is your problem.”
Tax practitioners with small business clients will know that cash flow can be a perennial bugbear for many business owners out there. Every budding entrepreneur as well as the seasoned business professional will know that while the adage is “you’ve got to spend money to make money”, securing the cash flow to make that possible is not always a given.
A business’s inward and outward cash flow is what keeps that business going. Your small business clients need to make sure their business is likely to make money and will have enough cash available at the right time to pay its bills and to meet all of its tax and superannuation obligations.
There are some information resources available about improving cash flow, such as the government’s business.gov.au website page Improve your business’ financial position. However one key and recurring takeaway from this guidance is “talk to your accountant”.
📷For its part, the ATO knows that tax agents and accountants have an important role to play in helping small business owners understand what they need to know and do to effectively manage their cash flow and meet their financial commitments. Naturally, being better able to manage finances in turn allows small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to pay their taxes, keep their businesses viable, and help keep the general economy ticking over.
To this end the ATO is developing a Cash Flow Coaching Kit, which it says aims to be “a practical resource that complements the knowledge and expertise of key tax professionals in providing value-added business coaching conversations to their small business clients”.
The ATO is currently holding free 3-hour face-to-face workshops specifically tailored for:
registered tax agents in public practice with small business clients, andqualified accountants working under the supervision or control of a registered tax agent in public practice with small business clients.
Attendees will:
be shown the Cash Flow Coaching Kit resources, andgain an understanding of how the practical and flexible resources and tools can complement your knowledge and expertise to provide a value added coaching service to your small business clients.
More workshops are planned in the near future, which will also include sessions tailored to BAS agents. It is intended also to hold cash flow webinars, starting in July.
So far, confirmed cash flow workshop sessions are as follows (registration is required).
Workshop title:Date & Time:Location:Registration URL:Cash Flow Coaching Kit Workshop – Tax agents & AccountantsMonday 25 June 2018, 1.00pm – 4.00pm AESTUpper Mt GravattRegisterCash Flow Coaching Kit Workshop – Tax agents & AccountantsTuesday 26 June 2018, 1.30pm – 4.30pm AESTParramatta, NSWRegisterCash Flow Coaching Kit Workshop – Tax agents & AccountantsWednesday 27 June 2018, 1.30pm – 4.30pm AESTSydney CBDRegisterCash Flow Coaching Kit Workshop – Tax agents & AccountantsFriday 29 June 2018, 9.30am – 12.30pm AESTBrisbaneRegister
More sessions will be added in the near future. Keep an eye on this ATO webpage for updates.
Cash flow: It can be a make-or-break issue for small business owners Cash flow: It can be a make-or-break issue for small business owners Cash flow: It can be a make-or-break issue for small business owners Cash flow: It can be a make-or-break issue for small business owners Cash flow: It can be a make-or-break issue for small business owners
# [cash flow], [entrepreneurs], [small business], [SMEs]
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