Here we go again...

As you are aware, Wollongong is subject to another COVID shutdown order. This order will apply for the next two weeks, and of course spans a very important day in the life of any accountant - the end of the financial year.

The 2022 financial year begins this Thursday 1^st July, and another tax return season is about to commence. We have a lot of plans in place to assist you with tax time 2021, though obviously the manner in which we deliver these plans now needs to change a little. We are in an excellent position to transition our business online at the drop of a…lockdown. And so effective immediately, we will close our physical office to face to face appointments, and implement either Zoom appointments, or a simple telephone meeting should that suit you best.

 

This shutdown, whilst only for two weeks (at this stage), impacts a lot of business owners. When announcing this lockdown, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, alluded to financial support for those impacted, to be announced ‘within the next few days’.

As was our position last year throughtout the ever evolving government support announcements, we are here to support you in navigating and accessing any financial support forthcoming throughout this current lockdown. We will of course be on top of any and all announcements, and will communicate the details as they become available.

Separate to COVID shutdowns, we still have some important announcements we would like to share including a new face in our office, a unique chance to review your borrowing capacity and some suggestions for some ‘new year resolutions’.

Welcome Flora

We act for a lot of personal tax clients and a lot of business tax clients within our office, and place equal importance on both groups. 

Many of our peers view personal tax returns as a bit of an afterthought, the domain of junior staff or a distraction to ‘more important’ work. Some purposely price themselves out of the reach of most people in a (rather elitist) attempt to discourage personal tax clients. 

We take a very different approach and greatly appreciate the opportunity to assist a large number of people meet their personal tax obligations each year.

As a demonstration of our commitment to personal tax clients, we have recently added a new team member and are very pleased to introduce Flora Cooper as our new Personal Tax Return Specialist.

Flora has a great depth of experience with personal tax returns, a warm and welcoming work style, and is passionate about getting her clients the best outcome possible. Most importantly, Flora will focus on personal tax clients exclusively and is our new resident expert on all personal tax matters.

Flora is very highly qualified and holds a Master of Professional Accounting and a Master of Commerce from the University of Wollongong. Flora is married and has two beautiful young children. She is also fluent in Mandarin.

Many of you will get the opportunity to meet Flora this tax season (either in person or virtually) and we are very confident that you will enjoy working with her.

Finally, we note that we have left our personal tax fees unchanged again this year, details of our fee structure can be found on our website here

As we have communicated many times previously, our office is no longer just an accounting firm. We are now very much an integrated financial services business and provide financial planning, lending & finance, as well as personal and business tax and accounting.

Property values are very topical at present and many people have seen the value of their homes and/or investment properties increase significantly. This scenario has automatically increased the borrowing power for many people, as equity within these properties naturally increases with the rising market.

Taxable income is obviously one of the biggest determinants of borrowing power and the first thing most lenders ask for is a copy of your tax return. Given that another tax season is just about to start, we are very pleased to offer all our clients the opportunity to prepare your 2021 tax return and review your borrowing power at no extra cost.

 
As part of Meditations, a series of personal writings by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, comes the quite famous quote “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
 
Marcus Aurelius was a student of the philosophy of stoicism and his quote above represents the thinking that it is not the obstacle which defines us, rather the manner in which we respond to this obstacle.
 
Obstacles will naturally arise which may impede our actions, though they can’t (or at least shouldn’t) impede our intentions and our attitudes. We all have the ability to confront an obstacle, turn it upside down and use the negative circumstances as an opportunity to produce a positive outcome.
 
I witnessed first-hand during the shutdown period in 2020 many business owners embrace Aurelius’ philosophy and rise to the challenge put in front of them. Many reinvented the way they did business, added new products and services or found creative new ways to connect to their customers. Those who chose to ‘get ahead’ of the obstacle rather than let the obstacle get on top of them, reaped the benefits.
 
Many of us are shutdown, stuck at home with potentially a lot of time on our hands over the next several weeks. Given the time of year, this shutdown period represents a great opportunity to make positive changes. The ways you achieve these changes are many and varied, and relevant to the individual. Here are a number of suggestions though where we can also be involved and assist in the process: