Search Results for: business plan

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Business plan for your startup bookkeeping business

Free Business Plan Templates

Start a bookkeeping business plan

I recently wrote about the importance of writing a business plan if you want to start a bookkeeping business. I included a great business plan template that is made available by the Australian Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. You can find free Microsoft Word templates from within Microsoft Word or by doing a simple Google search. Today I’ve included a link to some free templates from Microsoft.

This website provides a template for a “business plan for a startup business” but you might notice there is also a business plan template for existing businesses.

Who Starts a Home Based Bookkeeping Business?

Many of our students are mums who are returning to work after many years of looking after young children. They may have had a professional careers, but their circumstances change and they now want to operate a business that allows them to drop children off and collect them from day care and school. If you are one of those people you’ll be thrilled to hear that there are several work-at-home-mums (or virtual assistants) as part of our EzyLearn Online Training Team 🙂

Small Business Management Course

You may also be interested to know that our Small Business Management course includes training on topics that enable you to work from home via the Internet. Cloud based services like Google, WordPress, Dropbox and even the new MYOB software now make it possible and we show you how to do it.

Best of all, the Australian Government provide a website full of resources for those people who want to start a home-based business and a bookkeeping business is one of the best (according to us) because:

  1. It allows you to work your own hours
  2. If you are smart you can earn good money
  3. Every business needs to do bookkeeping
  4. Very few business owners WANT to do bookkeeping
When you enrol in an EzyLearn online MYOB Training Course you receive access to the courses for LIFE so they are always available to you as a resource, with case studies of various different business scenarios used in our training workbooks.

Bookkeeping Business Plan Built By a Registered BAS Agent

National Bookkeeping Business Plan Template

Do you want to start a bookkeeping business? Want to work to a plan that was built by an experienced bookkeeper? Does it all seem a bit daunting?

[quote]Jacci, our Registered BAS Agent has worked through the Small Business Management Course to create a Bookkeeping Business Plan for those who want to start their own bookkeeping business.[/quote]

This course not only gives you a well rounded education of the requirements to start and build a small business, but you will receive a business plan that you can tweak to suit your own circumstances as part of the course! Read more..

NEW! Start a Bookkeeping Business Without Buying Into a Franchise

Maggie Richardson’s Small Business Management Course is now online at EzyLearn BUT better than that we’ve combined it with a bookkeeping business plan (written by Jacci) as well as some legal templates, agreements and other training to help you get started with a bookkeeping business you can operate from your own home quickly.

When most people think of startups they think of technical wiz kids who create mobile phone apps, but our startup academy helps ordinary people start their own business as independent virtual assistants working from home in industries that are growing and with companies that can provide the support to help them get up to speed quickly and get great clients.

Want to learn more about starting a bookkeeping business?

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Planday for Xero or Square Team Management: Which Should Your Business Use?

Physical timesheets and all the manual data entry of employee scheduling is a hassle.  Even with technology like email and text, it’s always a task to try and figure out who swapped shifts with who and coordinate a schedule that works for all your employees.

Workforce management software like Planday and Square Team Management have become popular alternatives.  Planday is now owned by Xero, and Square Team Management is a service offered by digital payment company Block Inc. (formerly known as Square Inc.)

But which one should your business use? Let’s go through some of the main features you’d expect of a workforce management software, and see how Planday and Square Team Management compare:

Continue reading Planday for Xero or Square Team Management: Which Should Your Business Use?
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Malcolm’s Business Innovation Plans Can Include You

Australian Federal Government Wants Business Innovation

Innovation package, bankruptcy changes, capital gains and raising equity funding
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

In December, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, unveiled a new $1.1b Innovation Plan, developed to encourage more Aussies to start their own businesses, specifically ones in the areas of science and technology and which are, well, “innovative”. With the announcement coming just a few weeks before Christmas, it seemed perfectly timed to give Australia’s would-be entrepreneurs the holidays to think about their plans innovation plans for 2016.

But with all this talk about scientific and technological innovation, you could be forgiven for thinking that only Australia’s Next Google can take advantage of the many new initiatives introduced by the government. So let’s be clear: this is fantastic news for anyone thinking of starting their own business, whether they’re bookkeeping or content marketing businesses. Just the very act of starting a business is, itself, an act of innovation – because more businesses means more employment opportunities for more Australians.  

There is more opportunity to start anew after going broke

As I’ve mentioned in the past, the climate at the moment is incredibly favourable toward anyone looking to start their own business, and these new measures just make it even more so. That’s because some of the big changes come in the form of changes to our bankruptcy laws, which have always been notoriously punitive, and have tended to discourage businesses to take risks or entrepreneurs to try again, if at first they did not succeed.

That’s going to change. From 2017, the bankruptcy period will be reduced from three years to one, and businesses will also be allowed to continue trading while insolvent, as long as the business appoints a restructuring advisor to work on a turnaround plan, a measure not dissimilar to one within America’s Chapter 11 laws.

Grow and expand your business with equity investments from angels

One of the more exciting new measures to be announced, however, is one that will help more start-ups find funding from investors. To be introduced in 2016, the government will now provide a 20 percent tax offset worth up to $200,000 for investors in start-up businesses, plus a 10-year exemption from capital gains tax if they hold shares in the company for three years.

Together with the already announced tax breaks for small businesses; the raft of new technologies – particularly the recent union of PayPal and QuickBooks – that allow small businesses to work faster and smarter; and the increasing number of shared workspaces, like the NSW State Government’s Smart Work Hubs and the WOTSO Workspaces, which give small business owners and teleworkers the opportunity to work remotely among other like-minded entrepreneurs, you can make 2016 the year that you start your own small business.

Want to learn more about business valuations and preparing your business for sale? Information is included in our Small Business Finance Courses with in depth interviews with Tony Arena from BCI Business Brokers. Read about the Valuations and Raising Equity Funding Course.

Get started with the Start-Up Academy

If you’re subscribed to this blog, then you’re probably familiar with our latest partnership with the StartUp Academy, which aims to help people to start their own home-based business easily and successfully, through proven business opportunities and plenty of guidance for prosperity.

There are currently a number of business opportunities, across a range of different industries, that you can register your interest in at the StartUp Academy website. Each opportunity allows you the freedom to operate as an independent contractor from your home, regardless of where in Australia you are located.

Get the FREE guide to becoming an independent contractor

If you’re interested in becoming an independent contractor in 2016, whether it’s with the StartUp Academy or with a business idea of your own, why not use the summer break to study up on what it takes to become a successful independent contractor by downloading our free guide off the StartUp Academy website, and make 2016 an innovative one!

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Starting a new MYOB bookkeeping business? Got a plan?

start a bookkeeping business as an MYOB bookkeeperWithout a plan, could you be planning to fail?

I AM REGULARLY SURPRISED at the number of our students who are learning how to use MYOB because they want to start their own bookkeeping business.

Many of them already have accounting or bookkeeping qualifications, but these are usually in larger accounting systems and so they learn to use MYOB to apply their accounting skills to help small business owners.

Start a MYOB Bookkeeping Business

I recently wrote about the Australian small business startup scene and have been working with like-minded, successful business owners to put together a series of bookkeeper business building webinars. Indeed, one of the critical parts of starting a new business is the business plan.

To some business owners this is the “art” part of starting a business, particularly if you are starting something from scratch! I’ve often heard people ask:

How can I possibly predict my future income?

How do I work out how much to spend on advertising?

What price should I charge?

What if I don’t get that many customers?

Business plan for your bookkeeping business

National Bookkeeping Business Plan Template
Get a bookkeeping business plan created by a registered BAS agent and get started fast

The best answer I can give is that a business plan is really just some solid information that you have collected from your research about the industry you want to work in.

It’s the best estimate that you can make at the time. But the best part of it is this:

  1. You can always modify your business plan
  2. Your next business plan will be more precise

[quote]The most commonly asked questions I hear about business plans is: Where do get one? Can I see yours?[/quote]

Where can I get a business plan?

The EzyLearn StartUp Course comes with a business plan template that will help you determine, not only the viability of your business, but also how to achieve your business aims. It will enable you to justify to your clients — and yourself — why you charge the fees you do. It is a dynamic blueprint that you can look back on and go over as you need to, in order to remind you of your goals, your business mission statement and keep you on the right path.

Oh, and please don’t underestimate the importance of a business plan. There is a famous quote from Benjamin Franklin:

[quote]“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”[/quote]

The Australian Government’s www.business.gov.au website also has a free business plan template you can modify. Watch their video below:

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Business Owners Learn MYOB & Xero with EzyLearn ANSWERS

Many accounts are affected when you pay an employee - Journal Entries - MYOB & Xero Bookkeeping Courses - EzyLearn

Business owners who need to learn how to use MYOB and Xero like the added support that is available if they have a question that relates to their own business.

Unlike Job Seekers who choose MYOB and Xero COMPLETE training courses to learn as much as they can about these bookkeeping programs, Business owners often have questions which relate to things they want to resolve in their business.

Most of the questions students have are solved as they progress through the logical order of the courses we’ve created but sometimes things get a little weird.

Continue reading Business Owners Learn MYOB & Xero with EzyLearn ANSWERS
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MYOB Touting Business (Essentials) Pro and Lite through Westpac – 12 months for FREE

MYOB Business Essentials (Lite and Pro) Training Course & Bookkeeping Certificate - 12 months FREE software with Westpac - EzyLearn Bookkeeping Academy

It’s Christmas season once more and you can even get a great deal on your MYOB Business Lite or Pro accounting software if you have an eligible Westpace account.

There are some exceptions, however, and these exceptions show where all the accounting software vendors are making their money: Payroll, Inventory and deeper functionality through integrations.

This is not the first time MYOB have partnered with a major corporation to get its software promotions sold. The last one I wrote about was when Telstra was pimping it last year. This offer is different..

Continue reading MYOB Touting Business (Essentials) Pro and Lite through Westpac – 12 months for FREE
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Square Afterpay or PayPal Pay in 4: Which BNPL Service Your Business Should Use

Buy now pay later (BNPL) services are growing in popularity for many retailers.  If you’ve been in store recently, or even online shopping as you go to click ‘proceed to checkout’, you might have noticed a poster or button that advertises how you can pay for your purchase in easy instalments.

Afterpay and PayPal are just two companies that provide BNPL options for customers.  We’ve started to make all our MYOB, Xero and Excel courses available on PayPal’s Buy Now Pay Later platform: PayPal Pay in 4

The best part is that you can use the discount coupons to reduce the price of each course and then pay it on instalments!

Continue reading Square Afterpay or PayPal Pay in 4: Which BNPL Service Your Business Should Use
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Here’s What Businesses Need to Know About eInvoicing in Xero

Invoices can be a hassle for both businesses and their clients.  There’s nothing fun about chasing up that client about their late payment, nor is it an efficient use of time to trawl through emails and  inboxes trying to find that invoice from however long ago.

The Commonwealth Government is pushing ahead with an alternative, that looks like it will make things a bit easier for everyone.

eInvoicing is on the rise!  And since software like Xero has jumped in on the change, it’s important for small businesses to know what eInvoicing is all about:

Continue reading Here’s What Businesses Need to Know About eInvoicing in Xero
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Xero’s Integration With DiviPay Can Help Small Businesses Manage Expenses

Expense management is an important thing to have control of in order to keep a business running smoothly.  But it can be a time-consuming process, full of paperwork, data entry, and chasing up staff members for receipts and invoices.

Xero’s integration with DiviPay promises to make the whole process easier, with seemingly half of it being done by staff members on their mobile phones!

But how does it all work?

Continue reading Xero’s Integration With DiviPay Can Help Small Businesses Manage Expenses
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How are Small Businesses Changing in 2022?

It’s not a stretch to say the last few years have been tough…especially for businesses.  Through lockdowns and restrictions we’ve seen businesses struggle, falter, adapt, and survive. 

Now that we’re in to 2022, and things are (fingers crossed) almost looking normal again, it’s exciting to see how businesses will recover and thrive.

Xero has released a guide to small business trends for 2022, based on surveys they conducted in 2021 of their subscribers in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Singapore, Canada, and the US. 

Here’s are 10 trends on the rise for small business this year:

Continue reading How are Small Businesses Changing in 2022?
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Pandemic Digitalised Small Businesses more than NBN, Xero Report Reveals Numbers?

The pandemic has seen huge changes to the way businesses run, with Zoom meetings and remote working becoming the new normal and working parents are loving it (if they have the space for it).

The common factor here, of course, is the move to digital solutions for businesses.  Whilst ICT expenditure has always formed part of a business’ expenses, the pandemic has contributed to an increase in this area of spending.

Businesses are becoming increasingly digital, and it’s actually improving their performance. One of the areas I’ve noticed is the use of website chat has increased and customer service work can be performed by anyone running a micro business from their own home.

Continue reading Pandemic Digitalised Small Businesses more than NBN, Xero Report Reveals Numbers?
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MYOB Business is AccountRight & Essentials but can it catch up to Xero?

MYOB has fallen behind in recent years to other accounting software like Xero.  With Xero’s cloud accounting-first strategy, it’s become a leading software in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Canada – by focusing on integrations and simple accounting solutions.

MYOB, on the other hand, has caused confusion over its multiple products and unexpected updates, which have since caused users to gravitate away from it.

Now, its repackaged MYOB Essentials and AccountRight under one cloud-based solution.  Will this solve its problems?

Continue reading MYOB Business is AccountRight & Essentials but can it catch up to Xero?
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Will Jim’s Pay Plans Cause an Aftershock for Afterpay?

quickfee-payment plan-jim's group-announcement-buy now pay later

‘Buy Now Pay Later’ (BNPL) services are becoming more and more popular with consumers and businesses across Australia. There are the big ones – like Afterpay and Zip Pay – but Australian company QuickFee is working to grow their presence and stand out in the market.

Since 2009, QuickFee has focused on providing financial services, such as BNPL schemes, to professional firms like lawyers and bookkeepers.  And they’ve been successful – boasting on their website that “more than 65% of the top 100 accounting firms and many legal firms” use QuickFee’s services.

Their recent partnership with Jim’s Financial Services is continuing this trend, and the institution of a Buy Now Pay Later service for Jim’s Group franchisees could mean that Jim’s Bookkeeping will have an Afterpay option for its clients.  But what will this look like?

Continue reading Will Jim’s Pay Plans Cause an Aftershock for Afterpay?
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Integrations turn Xero into a Powerful Business Administration System for Small Business

Popular HR, Time Management, Project Tracking Integrations, Apps and Addons for Xero - Learn Xero Online

HubSpot is better at marketing, Square at Point of Sale, Stripe at payments and QuickFee for Buy Now Pay Later for Accountants and Lawyers – and they all integrate with Xero.

Being online these software programs integrate and share data so you can manage many different parts of your business and have live, up-to-date information and reports.

Our new Accounting Software Integrations course is now available and included with selected Xero Online Training Courses.

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Digital Business Skills to Compliment Xero & MYOB Training

Xero-MYOB-Microsoft-Excel-Bookkeeping-Academy-freelance-or-contract-workers-for-your-business-online-business-training-course-EzyLearn

Digital Business Skills are important for everyone who works for a company or who owns one. Authentication for Xero Course students highlighted to me the importance of general digital business skills. Our Digital Business Course has been available for a while as a FREE student inclusion but we’ve recently added to it.

Electricians, tradies and real estate agents are communicating with prospects and customers digitally, even regarding their accounts, and I wrote about how we’ve started to see these skills come up in office admin job ads. If you have any doubts about how to do this you need to up-skill.

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Xero Me – the App That Prepares Xero Users for Planday Acquisition

Xero Me App Screens - Employees can request leave, submit expense claims and view payslips - Best Xero Online Training Courses - EzyLearn

In June 2021 I announced a new Workforce Management Cast Study in development. In their most recent annual report to shareholders Xero announced the acquisition of yet another “integration” that sets it up to become the Sage of Small Business Accounting.

Sage and other ERM’s work on the basis of modules that provide a specific functionality but until now it was only really relevant for the big end of town. Now Xero will capture revenue from several apps rather than charge one price that includes everything. It’s going back to the days of Attache!

Continue reading Xero Me – the App That Prepares Xero Users for Planday Acquisition