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Are You Complying With Your Fringe Benefits Tax Liability of up to 47% (especially COVID-19 related ones)?

Do you provide your employees with gym memberships or concert tickets?  Or maybe you work for a company that provides you with a vehicle or accommodation? There are lots of perks that business can provide to their employees outside of salaries and wages – and these are called fringe benefits and they may apply to you if you worked at home due to COVID-19.

FBT is not as simple as handing out freebies.  Employers have to pay tax on these benefits they provide, and the amount can depend on the type of fringe benefit they’re providing. 

We’ve written before about how fringe benefits tax is important to consider when you engage a new worker, but let’s look more in-depth into what fringe benefits are all about, and how to ensure you comply with your liabilities:

Continue reading Are You Complying With Your Fringe Benefits Tax Liability of up to 47% (especially COVID-19 related ones)?
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Intuit (QuickBooks) Buys Mailchimp! – Marketing Will Finally Speak to Accounts.

Intuit (the maker of QuickBooks, an online accounting software for small-businesses) has recently announced a new purchase that could see them breaking into the ERP world of business software. Mailchimp is now owned by Intuit!

Although they’re not huge in Australia, Intuit is trying to compete with the likes of Xero, whose add-on software integrations have extended its functionality and made Xero a powerful business administration system for Aussie small businesses.

Mailchimp is a marketing automation platform for small businesses and ecommerce, mainly focused on email marketing campaigns. I wrote a couple years ago about how digital marketing tasks seem to be creeping into the job descriptions for office support and admin staff.

Let’s have a look at what Intuit’s acquisition of the world’s largest marketing automation platform means:

Continue reading Intuit (QuickBooks) Buys Mailchimp! – Marketing Will Finally Speak to Accounts.
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Could This Free Social Media Promotion Work For Your Bookkeeping or Virtual Assistant Business?

Social media isn’t just for selfies and cat pictures anymore.  A quick scroll through any popular social media platform will bring up posts from brands and companies promoting themselves and their products/services.

In their guide to digital marketing, Xero included a quote from a business owner who said the following about her approach to social media marketing:

“I don’t spend money on advertising. I create content aimed at helping my target customer and share it on Instagram or via podcasts. It attracts enough new clients to keep me busy.”

Olivia Park, Olivia Park Coaching

It begs the question: is shareable content the digital marketing that businesses should be focusing on? And not just content the business shares, but content that social media users will then share amongst themselves?

Continue reading Could This Free Social Media Promotion Work For Your Bookkeeping or Virtual Assistant Business?
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CommBank and Xero Integration to Help Small Businesses Get Paid Faster

It’s not a secret that in order to stay afloat businesses need to be making money.  Access to funds is essential for businesses to not only pay off debts, but also to finance everyday operations and pay their staff and suppliers.

It can become problematic, however, when a business’ cash flow is tied up in unpaid invoices.  If a business sells on credit – as many do – they might be in the unfortunate position of waiting to get paid by their customer and struggling to make ends meet in the meantime.

There are a few solutions: one is to use credit management apps like ChaserHQ or Debtor Daddy to help automate the process.  Things like chasing up unpaid invoices and escalating debts can be made easier by using these apps that integrate with your accounting software.

The other is to get a loan.  Commonwealth Bank’s (CBA) Stream Working Capital is a digital solution for businesses to access the money tied up in their invoices.  Here’s what you need to know about it:

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How Microsoft Word and Excel Training Can Improve Your Work Life

Microsoft-Word-and-Excel

As part of our new initiative, EzyLearn Worklife, we’ve been speaking to EzyLearn graduates about their experiences with their course, and how they use the skills they’ve learnt in their work life.

One such student is Ian, who enrolled into both the Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel Complete Training Course Packages in 2021.  He is also part of our Career Courses Membership, which gives him lifetime access to his course content and student support.

Ian works for Services Australia and we had a chat with him about his work, his course, and all things in between.  And he gave some great insight into just how valuable online training can be…

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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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Our Students Have Been Talking – Here’s What They Have to Say

Online sales training courses for bookkeepers, business owners and customer service

EzyLearn Worklife is a new initiative we’ve started this year, and it’s already proven to be a success!

We set out to hear from past students about their experiences with EzyLearn, and how they’re using the skills they learnt in their training in their work lives – and we’ve been hearing lots of interesting things from them.

From challenges they faced in their jobs, to skills they find help make tasks easier, we’ve been getting some amazing insight into the experiences of our students – and it’s only right we share them with you too!

Here are some of the things we’ve found from our Worklife interviews:

Continue reading Our Students Have Been Talking – Here’s What They Have to Say
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Office Administration or Business Administration: What Jobseekers Need To Know

Office admin courses and business administration training course and qualifications

Jobs in office administration and businesses administration are pretty popular currently – Seek has them projected at 7.3% and 9.9% growth, respectively.

So if you’re scrolling through one of the many job seeking sites, searching for an administrator role, it’s important to know the difference between these categories.

And it can be a bit confusing.  Some job listings seem to use these terms interchangeably, or you might just see the blanket term ‘administrator’ as the title.  Whilst there is some overlap, there is a difference between the jobs descriptions and tasks of office administrators and business administrators.

Here’s how to know which one is right for you:

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Here’s How to Find the Best Training Course for You

So you’re looking at completing a training course.  Maybe your employer wants you to upskill on a new software program, maybe you want help to run your own business more efficiently, or maybe you’re a jobseeker looking to stand out to employers.

Whatever the reason, you find yourself in the position of trawling the internet in search of a course that’s right for you.  But how do you figure that out? It can be difficult comparing courses from one provider, let alone from multiple. 

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the options, don’t stress, because we’ve put together this guide to finding the right training course for you!

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Why is Xero’s Share Price Plummeting?

Xero is one of the leading accounting software for small businesses with more than 700,000 Aussie customers – it’s no wonder our Xero courses remain some of our most popular! 

Xero didn’t fare too badly last year, all things considering, increasing their total subscribers by 20% and their net profit by NZ$16.4 million.

But as we rolled into 2022 Xero’s share prices took a hit, and with worries about higher inflation, what will this mean for Xero?

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Xero My Payroll App Training Now Included in Xero Payroll Administration Course

If you or your employer uses Xero to manage payroll, then EzyLearn has you covered with our Xero Payroll Administration Training Course that now includes Xero My Payroll.

Xero My Payroll is a secure online portal that allows employees to submit timesheets, leave requests, view and download payslips, and manage their personal information. It’s not as powerful as some Workforce Management Apps but that is why Xero purchased Planday!

With Xero becoming such a powerful accounting program for small businesses, it’s no wonder our Xero Certificate courses are so popular.  And with Xero My Payroll now included, there’s even more reason to start your training.

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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
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Will This Xero Integration Replace Your Accounting Job or Just Lessen the Load?

With so many integrations, Xero has become a leading software for small business accounting.  From ecommerce add-ons to payroll and workforce management software, there is a Xero integration for most aspects of business management and administration. It’s little wonder that Xero Courses are becoming so popular.

And credit management is no exception.  Chaser HQ is a credit management app that promotes its ability to automate the whole process: from credit checks to chasing up invoices.  It’s a UK-based company, but its integration with Xero could see it being used more and more by accounting staff globally, including Australia.

Daily Transactions like creating quotes and invoices is the bulk of most junior level bookkeeping and accounts jobs and running Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable Reports then provide work following up with customers so what could this automated process mean for accounting staff that have been doing these tasks manually?

Continue reading Will This Xero Integration Replace Your Accounting Job or Just Lessen the Load?
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Looking For Bookkeeping Work? This is How You Can Stand Out To Employers

Getting qualifications and experience are the foundational steps in looking for jobs, but then what?  It can be a daunting task to join or re-enter the workforce, even with a Certificate in Xero Accounting in hand.

Our courses are in-depth and diverse – you can gain practical experience and the MYOB & Xero certificate to prove it as well as office administration with our Office Academy training course package.

If you’ve completed a course and are now looking for bookkeeping work – whether its with a business or as a contractor in the gig economy – you don’t have to go it alone.

Continue reading Looking For Bookkeeping Work? This is How You Can Stand Out To Employers
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ATO Announces Changes to Single Touch Payroll & EzyLearn has New STP Phase 2 Training Materials

In 2016 the Australian government launched Single Touch Payroll (STP) as part of the Budget Savings (Omnibus) Act 2016.  It’s a mandatory obligation for employers with over 9 employees to report their payroll information for each pay run to the ATO. 

The idea is to reduce the burden on employers having to report information to multiple government agencies.  With STP, employers can report all this information to the ATO through their approved accounting software (like QuickBooks Online, Xero, and MYOB).

But now the rules have changes… AND our Payroll Courses have already been updated!

Continue reading ATO Announces Changes to Single Touch Payroll & EzyLearn has New STP Phase 2 Training Materials
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Get Paid Faster By Using Clear Terms of Trade

The worst-case scenario for many businesses is having to chase up overdue payments from clients.  Not only is it stressful and frustrating for employees, but it can mean cash stays tied up for longer, lengthening the cash conversion cycle.

Considering how many industries – from retail to construction – extend lines of credit to their customers, it’s essential for businesses to know how to collect their accounts recievable with as little time and hassle as possible. 

But what if there was a way to make it easier?

Continue reading Get Paid Faster By Using Clear Terms of Trade