Posted on 1 Comment

If ANZ Bank Buys MYOB will you EVER need to reconcile again?

One of the more time-consuming and tricky parts of catchup bookkeeping is reconciling your bank account and bank statement – which means going between your accounting software and bank.

In software like MYOB, even if you use bank feeds to import your transactions into your accounting software, you still need to make sure these match your bank’s records.

But what if your accounting software got the information directly from your bank daily?  With ANZ in talks to buy MYOB, here’s what you need to know about where banking and accounting software meet:

Continue reading If ANZ Bank Buys MYOB will you EVER need to reconcile again?
Posted on

ALERT: MYOB Essentials Shock New Credit Card Requirement to Trial is Unexpected and Unwanted

Who doesn’t love a free trial?  The great thing about some of the popular accounting software like Xero, QuickBooks, and MYOB is that they provide 30-day free trials where you can use the software at no cost.

It’s great for businesses and contractors wanting to find the right accounting software for them, or for students looking to get experience as they study. 

MYOB didn’t used to require any credit card details when signing up for the trial subscription…but now they do.  Whilst Xero and QuickBooks continue to offer trials with no credit card required, MYOB has diverted from the pack to deliver this unexpected and unwanted change.

Continue reading ALERT: MYOB Essentials Shock New Credit Card Requirement to Trial is Unexpected and Unwanted
Posted on

This is Why Businesses Love Cloud Accounting and not MYOB AccountRight so much

Network setup for multiple users on your network using MYOB AccountRight Multi-user - MasterClass in MYOB AccountRightand MYOB Essentials - EzyLearn

If you have worked in an office you know how frustrating IT issues are. If you are now working from home you know how frustrating IT support issues are. If you have ever experienced an IT support issue installing software (like MYOB AccountRight) you know how frustrating IT issues are.

We stumbled upon the technical support help page for MYOB AccountRight and all remembered why we LOVE online accounting programs like Xero, QuickBooks Online and MYOB Essentials!

Attn: We’ve just BUNDLED all the MYOB AccountRight BEGINNERS Certificate Courses together for those students looking for junior accounts and general office support and admin jobs.

Continue reading This is Why Businesses Love Cloud Accounting and not MYOB AccountRight so much
Posted on 2 Comments

NAB Slyps past Xero Hubdoc to integrate Smart Receipts for Merchants and Customers

NAB, CBA, ANZ and WBC Slyp under Xero to provide smart receipts before Hubdoc gets them - Learn MYOB, Xero, QuickBooks to find accounts jobs - EzyLearn

One of the most publicised recent acquisitions for Xero was Canadian Receipt Capture, Scan and Coding software HubDoc. Rather than send a “bank-like” email informing users that the monthly fee to use Xero was increasing, Xero “sold” the value of the pesky increase of $2 as a saving of $27.50 because they included the Receipt Capture features in the software! That’s smart marketing.

In the meantime, MYOB forged an alliance with Bunnings as every large fintech, accounting and banking organisation tries to get into the Smart Receipt marketing at the source. Here are some of the things that have happened.

Continue reading NAB Slyps past Xero Hubdoc to integrate Smart Receipts for Merchants and Customers
Posted on

Sorry Apple, but MYOB is opting out of AccountEdge because of Catalina

MYOB AccountEdge is currently unavailable - Apple Catalina made MYOB promote MYOB Essentials Online training courses

Fortnite publisher Epic Games is splitting their software into two versions because of a fight they’ve decided to pick with Apple over the fees that Apple earn from apps in their Appstore. MYOB recently made a decision to discontinue their Mac version of accounting software called MYOB AccountEdge because of a change in the iOS software that runs most Apple PC’s.

Accounting Edge has been the long time relative of MYOB AccountRight for Windows devices and if a feature was available in one version it was often quite similar in AccountingEdge, but Apple made a change and MYOB can no longer update their software to keep up – NO WONDER they’ve been pushing their “Xero competing” version, MYOB Essentials so hard! Here’s what they had to say. Continue reading Sorry Apple, but MYOB is opting out of AccountEdge because of Catalina

Posted on 1 Comment

APOLOGIES to students on behalf of MYOB Essentials Accounting Software. Attn: MASSIVE update coming for MYOB Essentials Course Materials

MYOB-Essentials-Training-Course-case-study-big upgrade from MYOB to complete with Xero Accounting Online

Creating training materials for cloud-based accounting software is a continuous process of improvement. In fact it is much like the process that the software goes through in their Continuous Innovation & Continuous Delivery process

Two of Australia’s newest billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar have become wealthy because they created software that enables companies like MYOB manage a team of developers, designers and analysts in the pursuit of continuously adding enhancements, updating the software, fixing bugs and providing support for their MYOB Tax software via their company Atlassian, but I digress. 

The reason for this post is because of obscure behaviour by MYOB regarding their essentials software and a recent upgrade they performed on the MYOB Essentials software.

Continue reading APOLOGIES to students on behalf of MYOB Essentials Accounting Software. Attn: MASSIVE update coming for MYOB Essentials Course Materials
Posted on

Lowest MYOB Training Course Price Guarantee

Compare-Online-Xero-MYOB-Bookkeeping-Training-Courses-1

EzyLearn is a lowest cost procedure of training courses and for March 2020 we’re offering a lowest course price guarantee on the MYOB AccountRight and MYOB Essentials training courses!

Continue reading Lowest MYOB Training Course Price Guarantee

Posted on

Announcement: NEW Training Video Libraries for Accounting Software (Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks)

MYOB Accountright & MYOB Essentials online training course video library logo 2

THE DEFINITION OF a training course has changed a lot over the last 20 years. With new online internet technologies comes new ways of learning. The concept of the “micro course” is gaining momentum as students look for information when they need it, known in the industry as “just in time learning”.

There are lots of time and cost pressures for students as they juggle part-time work, kids and mortgage payments. As a result, we’re launching a brand new Online Training Service for past EzyLearn students AND new students — EzyLearn’s Video Training Library Membership.

Continue reading Announcement: NEW Training Video Libraries for Accounting Software (Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks)

Posted on

MYOB Payroll Administration Essentials Training Courses

One thing is essential when you operate a small business with staff — that is your payroll obligations. I wrote about a hairdressing salon owner a few months ago who told me how easy payroll was to manage using a printed timesheet book. However, most tech-savvy people prefer to use software. 

MYOB Essentials is targeting payroll management. They provide a cheap and easy online software package that is preferable for most people to using a manual book or spreadsheet. However, MYOB Essentials is different to MYOB AccountRight. Continue reading MYOB Payroll Administration Essentials Training Courses

Posted on 1 Comment

Why is job tracking and project costing so hard using MYOB & Xero?

tradie pouring concrete for concrete slab for garden shed - project and job tracking in cloud accounting bookkeeping training courses (Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks)

In many industries, no two jobs are the same, making estimating job costs and resources tough. Job tracking is one of the best ways to develop an accurate budget and avoid blow outs.

But this can be hard work. Are the latest job costing and tracking functions in MYOB AccountRight, QuickBooks Online and Xero making life easier?

Continue reading Why is job tracking and project costing so hard using MYOB & Xero?

Posted on

MYOB Launches Single Touch Payroll Trial Product

LAST WEEK, MYOB LAUNCHED a beta trial of its single touch payroll (STP) product, as it gears up for the July 1, 2018 compliance deadline.

Businesses with 20 or more employees need to have transitioned to the ATO’s Single Touch Payroll initiative by July.

Businesses with fewer than 20 employees have until July 1, 2019 to be compliant but for these small business owners and contractors the ATO has a new free app.  Continue reading MYOB Launches Single Touch Payroll Trial Product

Posted on

Why Continuing Professional Education is Important for Bookkeepers

CPD for Bookkeepers is Becoming More Important

CPD CPE and ongoing education is very important to the Tax practitioners board TPB for Registered BAS AgentsEducation is obviously something we think is very important, whether you’re changing careers, starting a new business, or looking to upskill for a promotion. But what about education to keep your current job? The Australian Government thinks that’s equally important, especially for BAS and tax agents.

In March this year, the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) changed their renewal process to now include continuing professional education (CPE) as a mandatory for all registrations after July 1, 2016. Between now and June 30, 2016, it’s sufficient for BAS and tax agents to merely show they have read and understood the new CPE policy to renew their registration, but this arrangement can only be used once; moving forward those BAS and tax agents will still need to complete further education to register again as a BAS or tax agent the in the future.

Are You a Currently a BAS or Tax agent?

Over the last few years, the Government has introduced a lot of new measures that BAS and tax agents have had to comply with in order to continue to offer their services to clients, namely the changes in 2010 that made it mandatory for all BAS and tax agents to hold a minimum qualification of a Cert IV in bookkeeping.

The new CPE requirement could seem like just another measure that BAS and tax agents need to comply with just to be able to keep their jobs. It’s not. CPE has been introduced to ensure that BAS and tax agents continue to understand, not just their own industry – that of tax and finance – but also how other industries are changing too.

There are more people leaving their jobs as employees and starting to work for themselves as consultants and freelancers and contract workers, across a wide array of industries. Marketing professionals, for example, no longer simply come up with marketing hooks for companies; they also have to understand how to create websites and how SEO works and social media. In some cases, they even become unofficial spokespeople and sales reps for the companies they’re consulting with, leveraging their contacts on their clients’ behalf.

CPE makes BAS and tax agents more valuable, not less

This vastly complicates a marketing professional’s tax if that marketing professional’s job now encompasses the roles of several other professions within it. Similar changes have been observed in bookkeeping, with registered BAS and tax agents now providing more operational and administrative-type services, in addition to just bookkeeping.

The point, then, of CPE is not to make it more difficult for tax and BAS agents to renew their registration with the TPB, but to help tax and BAS agents to remain as highly skilled as they’ve ever been, in an ever-changing labour market. And the better skilled you are as a BAS and tax agent, particularly those self-employed BAS and tax agents, the more value you’ll be able to provide your clients, and the more work you’ll get from them in return.

To learn more about continuing professional education for bookkeepers, visit the TPB website. Otherwise, to read more about bookkeeping, particularly starting your own bookkeeping business, continue reading our blog.

Are you a Writer and Want to Work from Home Blogging for Businesses?

I write about marketing professionals because they are increasingly important in small businesses as businesses grapple with getting discovered online.  I recently wrote about Blogging for Business and our new training course to help businesses with their content marketing strategy and tasks because it’s something that my team are spending more and more time on. It’s also an area that is evolving every month and requires writers to learn about and adapt to new technology.

Enrol into the Blogging for Business Course now and take advantage of it’s current cheap price. We’ll soon be adding real life exercises where blogging students will be asked to create content and have it edited and published so they can participate in a real world business blogging project!

Posted on

Is Single Touch Payroll Really Dead?

For a while there it looked like the ATO would introduce single touch payroll for all Australian businesses by July 2016, but after feedback from the businesses community that original plan has been shelved – for now. With SuperStream simplifying the way businesses manage the superannuation contributions for their employees, it’s highly likely that we’ll be seeing some form of the single touch payroll model in the near future.

Single touch payroll was an initiative developed to simplify the payroll process for Australian businesses. Currently, most businesses are burdened with a number of tax and superannuation reporting obligations, which single touch payroll would have put an end to.

What exactly was single touch payroll?

Single touch payroll, like SuperStream, was a proposed interactive tool that would allow a business’s accounting software to automatically report payroll information for their employees to the the tax office, eliminating the need for businesses to report pay-as-you-go withholding (PAYGW) in their activity statements throughout the year, as well as end-of-year employee payment summaries.

There was also a proposed digital service that would have streamlined tax file number declarations and Super Choice forms, which would obviously reduce a lot of the red tape and paperwork associated with employing staff.

Single touch payroll would have integrated with nearly all accounting packages in Australia, including MYOB, Xero and Quickbooks, just as SuperStream does now, so why was it shelved by the ATO until further consultation with the business community?

Single touch could have caused cash flow problems

The main concern for many businesses was that single touch payroll would impact their cash flow by requiring employers to pay the tax withheld from wages and super guarantee payments at the same time they paid their employees’ wages. There were also concerns about whether compliance by July 2016 was realistically achievable for the majority of businesses, especially when the SuperStream changeover is still ongoing.

For businesses with a substantial number of employees, single touch payroll could have been a godsend. Unfortunately, the original proposal alienated smaller businesses by making it necessary to pay both tax and super guarantee payments at the same time as employee wages, when most employers currently make those payments to the ATO each quarter.

But that doesn’t mean the single touch payroll system has been scrapped altogether. The ATO, in consultation with industry groups and the Minister for Small Business, is working on developing another single touch payroll scheme that will make real-time payments for withholding and super guarantee payments voluntary, which will be tested with small business owners before it’s rolled out across the board.

There’s still life in single touch payroll yet

What single touch payroll really highlights is how important it is for small businesses to make sure that they’re using a current accounting software package – and there are many on the market, developed especially for small businesses – that supports SuperStream and will also support any other ATO initiatives, like single touch payroll.

If you’re not using an accounting package for your small business, it’s wise to choose one of the major accounting software providers, which Margaret Carey of Business EEz also suggested when we spoke to her not so long ago about SuperStream.

You can read more about SuperStream and the new measures the ATO has introduced to make payroll and superannuation compliance easier for small businesses by subscribing to our blog. Alternatively, if you’re a small business owner using either Xero or MYOB and you’d like to know how to properly setup and use payroll in your accounting software, enrol in one of our MYOB or Xero training courses today.

Posted on 2 Comments

What is SuperStream?

Does SuperStream streamline superannuation payments?

SuperStream Superannuation Start Dates for small businesses with under 19 employees and contractorsIf you’re a small business with nineteen or fewer employees, then come July 1 this year you’ll need to begin making superannuation contributions for your staff using SuperStream, the government reform introduced last year to improve the efficiency of Australia’s superannuation system.

The purpose of SuperStream is to ensure employer contributions are paid in a consistent and timely manner, while also setting a common standard for how super contributions should be managed, which had previously been lacking from legislation relating to superannuation contributions. Medium-large businesses with more than twenty employees have been able to use SuperStream since July 1 last year and have until June 30 this year to become compliant. From July 1 this year, small businesses with nineteen or fewer employees will until June 30 2016 to meet the SuperStream requirements for their business.

What’s the benefit to employers?

Prior to the reforms, there was no standard for making super contributions. This meant that employers could choose to make superannuation contributions as frequently or infrequently as they liked, providing they made them at some point over a the course of an employee’s employment with them. SuperStream now makes regular contributions mandatory and easy to comply with. Other benefits to employers include:

  • The opportunity to use a single channel when dealing with super funds, regardless of how many funds your employees contribute to
  • Reducing the time spent dealing with employee data issues and fund queries
  • Offering greater automation and reduced cost of processing contributions and payments
  • More timely flow of information and money in meeting your superannuation obligations.

What measures will businesses need to adopt to use SuperStream?

Businesses can use software that conforms to SuperStream requirements – MYOB released a software update for most of its products, which is SuperStream compliant, for instance – or a provider who can meet the SuperStream requirements on their behalf. The ATO recommends investigating the following options:

  • Upgrading payroll software
  • Using an outsourced payroll function or service provider
  • Using a commercial clearing house or the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (for businesses with fewer than twenty employees).

We haven’t made any updates in our MYOB Training Payroll Course for this, but we’re keeping a watchful eye.

What if your business mainly uses contractors?

If you employ contractors to work for you, either on a one-off or ongoing basis, you will still need to make super contributions on their behalf, which means you’ll also need to make sure you’re compliant with the SuperStream requirements. You’ll need to make superannuation contributions to a contractor if they have a contract with your business where:

  • The contract is wholly for labour and skills
  • They perform the work personally
  • They are paid for the number of hours worked

In this case, they’re considered an employee for the purposes of the superannuation guarantee, so you’ll need to ensure you’re also compliant with SuperStream, even if that contractor has an ABN and invoices you.

You won’t have to pay the superannuation guarantee for a contractor if the person is hired to complete a specific task for which they are paid to complete only, and they are responsible for fixing any defects to the work.

If you hire contractors to provide mainly labour services on a regular basis, where they are paid for the time they spend working, rather than on a project basis, for the purpose of SuperStream, they will be counted as employees. If you have more than twenty contractors that fit this description, you need to ensure you’re compliant wit SuperStream by June 30 this year; if you’ve fewer than twenty, you have until June 30 2016 to become SuperStream compliant.

It’s a good idea to review the SuperStream section of the ATO’s website for more information on SuperStream or visit the section on contractors if you’re unsure whether you should be making super contribution on your contractor’s behalf.

Posted on 1 Comment

Saasu, Westpac, St George Bank Can Help Reach Independent Contractor Clients

SAASU and the Big Four

SAASU online cloud accounting free trial and prices

Saasu recently announced a new partnership with Westpac bank to deliver direct bank feeds to Saasu and Westpac customers, including those with St George business accounts. Among the new features, the Westpac/Saasu partnership promises ‘real-time insight into cash-flow with online invoices, expenses, banking, budgets, payroll, inventory and financial reports.’

We’ve been following emerging trends in accounting software to ensure our training courses meet current market demands. It’s why, in addition to our flagship MYOB Training Courses, we offer training courses in Xero and are currently developing an Intuit Quickbooks Online Training Course.

As a St George customer, one of our team members was interested in what this new partnership would mean for Saasu customers, and even wondered whether it would be worthwhile making the switch from MYOB, given Saasu’s relatively cheap offering of cloud-accounting software.

SAASU could easily replace Reach Accounting

I recently wrote of the sad news of Reach Accounting software shutting down and there might be some good news for independent contractors who operate their own business. SAASU – a privately owned Australian company has a $15 per month plan aimed at helping small business manage their bookkeeping in the cloud with cheap accounting software.

Direct bank feeds without the use of third-party providers

What I discovered was promising. For Westpac customers, the partnership brings the ability for Saasu to provide direct bank feeds for free, without the use of a third-party provider, which so many other cloud-accounting platforms use – even MYOB utilises BankLink, for example. For non-Westpac customers, little will change in terms of bank feeds; Saasu will continue to utilise the services of Yodlee for bank feeds just like Xero and Zoho.

Bank feeds eliminate nearly all of the data entry associated with bookkeeping, and they’ve been a revolution for small business owners and bookkeepers alike. As the most time-consuming, yet crucial, part of the bookkeeping process, automatic bank feeds, which pull your bank transactions into your accounting software, allow BAS agents to get on with actually preparing a client’s BAS, while business owners have an up-to-date picture of what’s happening with their cash-flow as it’s happening.

Bank feeds are changing the role of the bookkeeper

Note that I’ve mentioned BAS agent, rather than bookkeeper. Technically, the BAS agent I’m talking about is a bookkeeper, but with bank feeds now pretty well commonplace among most cloud-accounting apps, there’s really no need for them to engage in that tedious data entry process, freeing them up to take on more clients and earn more money.

So will our team member be switching to Saasu? No, not just yet. The latest Westpac partnership is promising and our independent contractor certainly liked the pricing, but Saasu lacks one major feature that our independent contractor couldn’t live without: a mobile app, or at least a well-functioning one. The current Saasu app hasn’t been updated since 2011, and doesn’t work on an iPhone running IOS 5 or higher, so despite the volume of small businesses that invoice from the road (think: tradies), Saasu appears to have neglected it’s mobile properties.

Mobile is the future of cloud-accounting

MYOB has the MYOB OnTheGo app that businesses can use to check outstanding payments, create invoices, and even update customer records. The app allows users to manage their accounts when they have the time – like in the few minutes waiting to meet with a business associate for lunch, for instance – rather than forcing them to set aside large portions of their time to stay on top of their accounts, which is really why bank feeds and cloud-accounting have become so popular. Of course, MYOB isn’t the only company to offer a mobile app – Xero, Quickbooks, and Zoho all offer mobile apps to compliment their desktop offerings.

As for Saasu, they’re certainly the ones to watch. For what was once a nimble Aussie startup to have partnered with one of the big four banks, it shows that there’s a new frontier of cloud-account nearly upon us.

Posted on 1 Comment

MYOB AccountRight Live Looks like MYOB-of-old + Dropbox

MYOB AccountRight Live OR in the Cloud?

MYOB AccountRight Live Basics - is it really cloud-based accounting software or MYOB and Dropbox 2
This is where you can see the myMYOB login and the Live wording in the cloud

We were asked by one of our MYOB course students recently how you can manage user access to your MYOB accounting file and we did some looking around, spoke to our MYOB course creator and came up with the following useful information.

MYOB AccountRight Live Basics - is it really cloud-based accounting software or MYOB and Dropbox 5 - manage admin and users
Click on Image to Enlarge – How MYOB AccountRight Live enables you to manage users

You can go to the MYOB website and click on my.MYOB to get to the details of your “participation” with MYOB AccountRight –

[quote]sorry, NERD ALERT! I happened to be reading the MYOB Terms of Service and “Participate” is the term that the MYOB legal team use to describe how companies use the MYOB AccountRight service -[/quote]

which enables you to choose your administrators as well as who you want to be able to access your file (like your bookkeeper or accountant). But you can also manage users from within the software. Note the out of place word here? – Software – Yes, when you launch the software and Open your Online data file, you can setup users and be much more prescriptive as to what they can access or not, but also which areas they have read only access as opposed to full access (read and write).

MYOB AccountRight User Access Managed in the Software

MYOB AccountRight Live Basics - Modifying User Access 2 - Role Based User Access
MYOB AccountRight Live Basics – Modifying User Access 2 – Role Based User Access

The silly part of this is we would expect cloud-based software to enable you to do everything in the cloud! If you look at the current MYOB model for their AccountRight Live product you still need to download the software to use it and you still need to update the company file if you update the software version!? We thought that this day had passed when the concept of cloud based accounting arrived.

Is it Designed to Help Current MYOB Users?

When I look at the way that MYOB AccountRight Live is managed at first it looks like it was built for people who are used to having a software program on their computer. Then when you see the capability to Open company data files that are stored “Online” you get the feeling that it would be just as easy to use Dropbox to store your datafile. The worst news comes when you expect the MYOB AccountRight Live software (that has a little cloud around the live) to work just like other cloud-based account programs like SAASU, QuickBooks Online and Xero you get dissappointed in having to install and use software on every computer you use – and I haven’t even tested to see if they have a program for the iPad.

MYOB AccountRight Live Basics - is it really cloud-based accounting software or MYOB and Dropbox 6 - company file needs upgrading
MYOB AccountRight Live Software – Company file still needs upgrading

If you are the kind of person that loves storing a local version of your datafile (and take the risks of protecting your own computer against, viruses, crashes or other corruption) this might seem like a good feature. I bet we see this product evolve until the point where it is finally an all online accounting solution.

How to change User Access Rights using MYOB Account Right Live

Although you can make some rudimentary changes via my.myob.com the best way to add users and make specific choices about what they can see as well as what they can edit and see, you need to launch the software (make sure you’ve downloaded it of course) and then go to Setup, User Access.

We used a current version of AccountRight Live Basics to perform our tests and any new content we create and publish for our MYOB Training Courses are available to existing students – whether you are on a 12 month course access program or LIFETIME course access. Feel free to enquire with us if you have any questions about our online MYOB Training Courses, or enrol today, start by 5pm tomorrow and be comforted by a 30 day money back guarantee.