Steve Slisar has been training people how to use computers since 1994, opened a training centre in 1999 in Dee Why and by 2005 had 3 training centres and created over 35 individual courses that include Screen videos with audio commentary, training workbooks for those who prefer to read to learn, and exercise files that are used with the tasks in the workbooks so you get practical experience in the software you are trying to learn. Now the creator of 5 of the most popular online MYOB training courses in Australia.
As part of the research into our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program for MYOB training course students we are exploring different webinar platforms and we thought you’d be interested to learn about it. For existing EzyLearn students it will mean free MYOB Bookkeeping webinars in the coming months.
We’re proud of our online MYOB training courses and thousands of students are too, but we’ve found that students are interested in lots of other skills relating to earning money for themselves as either an employee or a contractor. Things like using Word to write a resume, using WordPress to manage their own website, how to use online CRM (Customer Relationship Management) programs to keep track of all their contacts etc. We mentioned in a early blog post about our plans to provide more training resources for working mums and we’re getting closer to our final goal.
The purpose of a webinar is to deliver educational content similar to what you would experience with a seminar except that you save on time, travel, money, petrol and you can even watch the presentation at a later date. Our team has been in contact with accountants, career professionals, online service providers and a host of other industry professionals who will be providing information, training and tips and tricks at our webinars and I hope you can join us in this journey.
If you are an existing student and have some idea or suggestions of topics that you would like us to cover, this is your chance. Send your suggestions to sales@ezylearn.com.au and we’ll discover the most popular and work on a schedule for the rest of the year. If you are not a student yet, this is the time to enrol. Stay tuned for more updates shortly.
Have you ever tried to use Google Maps to get directions to your next appointment? I had a recent experience that made me realise why Google Maps makes you street smart.
Many years ago when we had street directories we could see exactly where we needed to go. We could choose our own path based on our knowledge of the roads and of traffic patterns. Now Google gives you suggestions, but I am not sure they are always the best suggestions.
I’ve been using Google Maps to find local training companies around Sydney as well as computer shops, employment agencies, job network agencies and other companies in the career and recruitment fields so that I can tell them about our MYOB Bookkeeping Training Courses and bring them on board as partners. I know that many of us take it for granted these days, but I am reminded of how powerful our mobile phones and internet searching has become! I wrote about this for local business marketing back in 2010 in my personal blog.
I’ve gone to Google Maps on my Android Smartphone and searched for computer shops and up comes a map with a whole bunch of dots and placemarks (like in the image). If you click the place mark you get information about that business and can then call them directly from this information! Google users can also write reviews about your business so watch this space.
Click on the image to see it enlarged on your screen…
You also have the ability to get directions and this is the part that I always find interesting. Having grown up in Sydney I know how to get around and often I am presented with driving suggestions that I don’t agree with. When I use my gut instincts I end up getting to the destination on time and without frustration and I wanted to share this with you because I think it demonstrates that technology is only here to make our lives easier. We still have to make the right decisions regarding the information that technology gives us.
In the end your own experience will tell you which way to go and there is no better feeling than using and trusting in your own instincts. Google Maps makes you street smart because your own local knowledge is often better than that of a machine and it’s always good to trust your own instincts.
PS. It’s interesting to see a photo for JB Hi-Fi that appears to be from someone’s bedroom…
As part of our CPD program for bookkeepers we are discovering, compiling and happily sharing the results of our research. In this blog post we reveal a valuable link of essential tools for bookkeepers.
As a bookkeeper you help you clients with ABN information, Business Activity Statements, Payroll and PAYG Informtion and a host of other activities. It is also common for you to be more accessable than a business’s own accountant so you are often asked for official information relating to communications with the Australian Tax Office.
This link is an essential tool for bookkeepers because it contains a table of links and instructions about topics you may be asked about as a bookkeeper.
I’ve written a series of blog posts about various aspects of resume writing and other tips you can use to help secure the next great job and it’s fitting that we explore why Linkedin is a serious place for you to promote your MYOB Bookkeeping skills.
I was fortunate enough to attend a social media club (Sydney) education event that was presented by the managing director of Linkedin and he went to great lengths to explain just how deep the company wants to go into the recruitment and talent market. Upon visiting various parts of the LinkedIn website I found some links that might further encourage you to recognise the importance of Linkedin in your employment or business building journey.
Linkedin has a page for talent departments and case studies for companies that have used their services and employers can even place recruitment ads within the site to clearly target the right job applicants.
We found a great article written by Susan Heathfield about how Linkedin is being used as a recruitment tool for the HR team at many businesses. Do you need help in your job searching strategy? Stay tuned.
I recently wrote about resumes and social media that is being used by people to help them find employment and I touched on the topic of Linkedin. Of all the social media tools available to you, LinkedIn might be the best to focus on because it has all the tools available in social media (like recommendations, professional profile and education and more) and it is focussed on people and their professional connections and careers.
Michelle Hammond wrote an interesting article for SmartStartup way back in 2010 about “over-used” phrases in resumes and here’s the key phrases from that article:
According to LinkedIn, the three most overused terms are “extensive experience”, “innovative” and “motivated”, followed by “results oriented”, “dynamic” and “proven track record”. Rounding out the list are “team player”, “fast paced”, “problem solver” and “entrepreneurial”.
This view is backed up by our own resident resume writing expert Nicholas, former CEO of a UK based head-hunter who confirmed that “overselling stands out a mile when you are the person having to go through hundreds of resumes for each position. What really makes a difference is when you go into a little detail about what changes you contributed in your last position or some other specific information that the resume reader can delve into and explore a little more. It’s got to be real because a conversation can often evolve from what you write”
If you are compiling a resume for your own job seeking efforts make sure you demonstrate some sound information about the evolving legislation around BAS agents and information about Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for bookkeeping professionals.
Make sure you subscribe to our blog to receive other job seeking tips and tricks in your email inbox. If you are interested in our online MYOB training courses, remember that you receive LIFETIME student access.
I was reading an article in SmartStartup by Brad Lindenburg just the other day where he writes about the “death of the resume” and thought that this would be an excellent place to begin a topic for EzyLearn online training students.
We’ve written before about formatting resumes and how they are sometimes read by a machine, but the concept of them dying is a little silly. If you are a high-tech hirer you will be searching for potential employees blogs or Twitter conversations, but if you want to find someone to perform bookkeeping tasks for example you will most likely welcome a comprehensive resume demonstrating your training, skills and experience. Most students of our MYOB training courses have a written resume that they use to apply for positions.
What we have found is becoming more relevant to jobseekers is Linkedin. Although the major social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter are good tools to connect to people with, we’ve found that Linkedin is the place where professionals are often head-hunted because it shows you professional connections and gives high-level hirers a better idea of the circles you “connect with”.
Ultimately, which-ever medium you use the key skill you need is using the right keywords and this will remain the key ingredient until we all focus on the use of videos as resumes. The term resume is here to stay!
Change is a significant factor in everyones life whether we choose to accept it or not and I was curiously studying about Channel 10 and their recent tie-up with Zeebox from the UK. There is a lot of information available at the ASX website for anyone who want to find out more about any public companies you might be invested in with your superannuation fund, but here’s a handful of pertinent facts about Channel 10 that relates to all small business owners:
Channel 10’s share price is at their lowest point since the early 1990’s (which is normally a result of bad performance)
Channel 10’s shareholders include Lachlan Murdock, Gina Reinhart and James Packer (these people are savvy business people).
There was a recent rights issue (new shares made available to existing shareholders and usually at a discounted price) that all these investors participated in (they have faith that Channel 10 will be successful).
Channel 10 have a strategy for moving forward and into the TV and social media space (taking advantage of change in the market place)
I’ve written about this scenario because it is an excellent example of the issues that face every business. The major difference is that as a business owner you need to back yourself, which means you have to have faith and make strategic changes on regular basis to ensure that you get the results you want.
There have been some big tax changes this year and as part of our Bookkeepers Continuing Professional Development Program and our MYOB Training Courses we’re writing some short articles about key information that you can pass onto your customers or employers regarding their bookkeeping.
In conjunction with the recent announcements regarding the carbon tax, the ATO has made significant changes with regard to the Tax Free Threshold and Write-off for capital purchases.
Businesses with less than $2M turnover previously had to depreciate any assets which cost more than $1,000 over several years. From 1 July 2012 this has changed to a whopping $6,500. If you buy an asset valued at say, $5000, it can be “expensed” straight away, no need to include it in your depreciation schedule. It’s like an instant expense which reduces your taxable income .
The benefits are aimed towards smaller business owners as it affects their cash flow almost immediately, rather than being depreciated and split over a number of years. Want to receive these tips and tricks in your email inbox? Subscribe now and remain continually updated.
We’ve added new training content to our MYOB Reporting course about how to handle these tasks at the end of each financial year as part of our constant content updates. Make sure you subscribe to this blog to be abreast of all new training content as well as some free tips and tricks.
One of the great benefits of being a work at home mum is being able to watch your kids grow up while you take some time out to do work. Since we operated computer software training centres in 1999 many of our students have been either working mums or mums returning to the workface after spending many years in babyland and for many it has been a difficult change.
We’ve always noticed that many mums look to enter the workforce in the bookkeeping field because the work is not time critical yet requires a good skill level that ends up paying well. The great news is that bookkeeping is moving further and further into the cloud so you can now literally do the books from your home.
We’re proud to say that we have a team of work at home mums keeping the engines running at EzyLearn Online. Our MYOB training courses are some of the most popular MYOB courses in Australia and we are able to provide them at their current prices because of the work-from-home mums that are part of our team.
Our business utilizes some state-of-the-art software as a service (SaaS) tools available today and we’re committed to helping all work-at-home mums learn the skills they need to ensure that they can have the work-life balance they are looking for. Our Work-at-home mums use VIRION business grade voip telephone services, HighRiseHQ online CRM, our online learning platform and our online student support system that manages queries from students.
Where you live has never been less important than now. As long as you have a good broadband internet connection and the skills to use cloud based applications you can earn a living while bringing up your children.
To those work at home mums reading this blog post we want you to know that we have some exciting announcements between now and the end of this year about the plethora of online software applications that enable you to earn a living from home while looking after your kids. If you haven’t subscribed yet, feel free to do so and receive updates as they are announced.
Stay tuned for announcements of new courses planned in the coming 6 months…
We help people earn money as independent contractors as well as employees with our WordPress Website Design and Blogging Course and as a result we learn about internet issues that face our students and customers. We recently heard about something that would interest most people with their own website.
A customer was waiting to receive an order and was shocked to hear that emails being sent to their email address were being blocked. This began a long journey of discovery and if you have a heart for technical mumbo jumbo read on. If you know someone with their own website and domain name pass this onto them because they may experience the same problem.
What’s your IP address?
It all comes down to IP Addresses. An IP address identifies you via your connection to the Internet it also helps browsers locate a website that they’re looking for. Did you ever wonder how police are able to confirm that a criminal was looking at a specific websites? Remember the Collar Bomb Hoax in Sydney?
The modem in your home or office that connects you to your ISP has an IP address. Sometimes this IP address is fixed and sometimes it is temporary (also called dynamic) and it’s very easy to find out what your IP address is, just go to http://whatismyipaddress.com/ and your IP Address will be displayed on the website. Yep, that’s right, every website you visit can keep track of your IP address, even the training site for our online MYOB, Excel and WordPress courses keeps a record of the IP address you log into from!
What’s the IP Address of your website?
Every website you visit is really just a number of website files stored on a “host” computer somewhere in the world and most host computers also host other websites (unless you spend a couple hundred dollars per month for a dedicated server). This means that if another website is sending a lot of spam or even if their hosting has been hacked and spam is being sent illegally then the reputation of your website may also be affected. The good news is that these issues are often identified quickly and can be rectified quickly as well, but they are still a pain in the #$&web!
What can cause the problem?
Click on the image to see a larger version
The problem that we recently experienced was caused by a blacklisting at Barracuda Central, but rather than telling us exactly what the problem was, we were given a list of potential causes. See if one of these has ever happened to you? What you might notice as very strange is that the problem could even have been caused by a local PC that is infected with a virus!
As you might imagine there are services available that claim to “protect” you from this type of thing happening again, but they charge a fee. We like the comment made at the WhatisMyIPAddress.com website:
WhatIsMyIPAddress.com does not run, manage, or have any direct relationship with any blacklist. We provide a single location to check the status of an IP address on 3rd party blacklists. WhatIsMyIPAddress.com does not recommend the usage of any specific blacklist and does not condone blacklists that require payment for removal. Our inclusion of such blacklists are for the purposes of completeness and should not be consider to be in support of that blacklist’s usage.
Do you want to read some more?
This is a great explanation of what a blacklist is and how they work, and if you want to read more about a company that wants to help you not get blacklisted read the about us at EmailReg.org.
You’ll be thrilled to hear that the problem was resolved. We asked to have the blacklisting removed, we signed up to EmailReg.org and did some tests, but we never found out exactly what caused the blacklisting and what we did to get of that blacklist….
Conversations amongst business colleagues and business owners appear to suggest that many people are in a rush to spend before June 30. I spoke with someone who feverishly exclaimed that everyone should get private medical insurance! It’s all good and well to get in a panic before the end of the financial year but if you didn’t have the correct information before now and the decisions you make are not based on known facts then why make them?
It’s the time of year where all the data entry from Day-to-Day Transactions should be up to date, you should know the value of depreciation for your fixed assets and have a good idea of the value of your tax and GST liabilities. A profit and loss report and balance sheet will provide you with the information you need and if these figures are ready then spending decisions can be made. This is the time for reporting and reconciliation.
If you simply find yourself with money in the bank but don’t want it to go to the tax man think again, you might need it to pay your liabilities next month. For now, enjoy the bulging bank balance.
Remember. Compliance is the measure of success of your business plans so be compliant as soon as possible every month.
Image from Sydney Morning Herald article about difficult payers on September 14th 2011
I was reading an article about difficult payers and the steps that some companies need to take to chase money that is owing to them and thought that this is something that every MYOB Bookkeeper needs to be aware of.
There seems to be perception (and most of the bad news seems to come from the building and construction industry) that payment of debts is something that should be stretched out as far as possible. I was discussing this concept with a colleague and was interested to find that this person believes that payments should be stretched out as long as practical. The interesting part of this conversation is that this person is a very reasonable man. He believes in long term investments and dealing with every person in a fair and reasonable manner, so it was strange for me to hear this mentality.
If you commission someone to do some work for you, shouldn’t they be entitled to be paid on the same terms that an employee is entitled to? I think so and you’ll find some skills to find out who owes you money in our MYOB Day-to-Day training course.
Here are the steps that are recommended:
Charge in Advance if you can
Chase money owing early
Provide multiple payment options
Be as up-to-date as possible
Enforce your trading terms
Be honest about non-paying clients
Give customers an opportunity to complain
Be polite
Get heavy on time
A leading author of MYOB and Small Business “How to” books, Veechi Curtis says that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. So, chase money as soon as an account falls behind. Perhaps a more relevant saying is “work with the willing”. There are many people who value the work you do enough to pay you before the due date. There are customers who can afford what you do and want you to think positively of them so they pay as early as practical.
Find customers who want to be good to you!
This blog post is an introduction to articles that will be coming shortly for the continuing professional development of the bookkeeping academy so make sure you subscribe to receive updates via email.
References taken from an article in the Sydney Morning Herald on September 14th 2011.
I recently visited a warehouse/factory in Silverwater where they distribute 3D printers. I had heard a lot about them but was never quite sure how you could print a physical object using a printer and needed to explore this a little deeper. Come along and watch as Joe from Rapman demonstrates how these amazing machines work.
The products that can be created using these printers is most things you can design using a 3D Cumputer Aided Design program. The printer is fed with plastic and it melts the plastic and applies layer upon layer until a 3D product is produced.
You may not see the video if you are reading this via email so click on the heading to get to our blog site. Feel free to subscribe and have these blog posts delivered to your email inbox.
It will be interesting to see how far this technology goes as it evolves…
Are you still receiving your Business Activity Statements via mail? We receive our notification that the BAS is ready at the ATO’s Business Portal but the Business Portal is much more useful than just a way to deliver your BAS.
There are some great features of online tax lodgement:
You can lodge your BAS immediately online
You can see historical lodgements
You can change your contact details
The most complicated part of dealing direct with the ATO is the setting up of a digital certificate, but once that is sorted out you have all the convenience that you have come to expect from your internet banking and any other online service. All the information is there, you don’t have to rely on the mail to send or receive your BAS and you know exactly where you stand. If you have missed a lodgement you’ll also find that information at the portal.
The website address for the portal is https://bp.ato.gov.au/ so check it out and get through your compliance issues faster.
Our MYOB Reporting, GST and BAS course (which includes bank reconciliation) shows you how to get to the BASlink to produce a BAS using the data that you have already entered into MYOB. If you have entered everything correctly you will just need to complete your contact name and number and how long it took to complete. Then you can print that form out and keep it in your records. The information you see in the totals can then simply be entered in the Business Portal and submitted to lodge your BAS and get your compliance tasks out of the way so you can focus on running your business.
I’ve recently attended some business building and networking events and have been fascinated at the number of people who speak about the importance good first impressions and having a professional website. What’s most amazing is that many of these people have a website that hasn’t changed in 2 years!
The most important thing about a website though is that it is often the first time potential customers get to know something about you and how you operate your business. Your warehouse and office are things that they may never see, plus, you can use your website to give them some important information that makes them buy from you straight away.
Our WordPress course contains all the training you need to setup a professional website and start adding and modifying the images and words when and as you please. Plus, we have cheap student hosting through 123ezy online services. If you are an MYOB student that wants to start their own business, this is the next course you should take.
We’ve made a simple online MYOB quiz available for anyone who wants to test their MYOB bookkeeping skills. It’s a very simple test designed to show people how online knowledge tests work and also have some fun and see how much they know. We did an export of all the results (minus the students details of course) and you can see them in our Microsoft Excel Training Course.
These test results show how long it took students to complete the test, their results, overall score and more and the datafile is available in our Microsoft Excel Course 308 which includes:
Understand 3D formulas between worksheets, cleaning up data using advanced filter, create a pivot table and change the value field settings, create a pivot chart to visually show the stats, using advanced functions like CHOOSE, VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, MATCH and INDEX, look at advanced functions within functions (Nested Functions) and how to protect the worksheet and workbooks
The knowledge reviews in our online training courses are much bigger and more complicated and they provide us with a great tool to identify areas of difficulty for students and help us constantly update and improve our MYOB training courses.
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Xero is a great bookkeeping program for tradies who are on the go and using their phones (or a tablet) all the time. From receipts scanning to creating quotes and invoices, receiving payments and keeping track of project costs.
bookkeepercourse.com.au/produ…
As part of the research into our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program for MYOB training course students we are exploring different webinar platforms and we thought you’d be interested to learn about it. For existing EzyLearn students it will mean free MYOB Bookkeeping webinars in the coming months.
