Supported Independent Living (“SIL”) under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (“NDIS”) supports participants to live independently in shared accommodation homes. These homes are designed to enable supports to be easily delivered for daily living and household tasks. While the NDIS will cover support costs, it does not cover everyday living costs which everyone is expected to incur. Examples are food, grocery items, utilities, entertainment, and internet which may be shared with other participants in the home and managed by the SIL operator. 

Participants and SIL operators managing shared costs can find themselves in all sorts of situations which may present a financial risk. It creates risks such as support workers having access to participants’ bank accounts and/or physically handling cash. The SIL operator who employs the support worker is responsible for having proper financial processes and controls in place.  

It also creates headaches and more work to chase payments when they are missed or short paid.

SIL operators using Gobbill technology say it is like set-and-forget when it comes to automatic collection of funds into their bank account. It saves their business time on reconciliation, improves cashflow and increases transparency in the financial management processes.

How Gobbill can assist?

Gobbill is an Australian built solution which helps SIL operators to manage and automate the collection of funds from participants by debiting their bank accounts when payments are due. This is set-up once when the participant signs up with the operator. Participants do not have to give the support worker their credit card, internet bank access or cash to pay for everyday expenses anymore. 

It is a simple 3-step process:

1.           Setup your participants in Gobbill with their bank accounts to direct debit.

2.           Send your invoices into <your_participant>@gobbill.com account.

3.           The amount is debited and deposited into your account by the due date.

With Gobbill taking care of the collections and bill payments, this allows SIL operators to save significant administration time and improve their cashflow while reducing the risk of financial abuse.

Email [email protected] or contact us at Gobbill.

Business Outlook for FY24 – Challenging times ahead for businesses

Many Australian businesses especially SMEs businesses are struggling with cashflow due to higher inflation and interest rates. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has raised the official interest rate known as cash rate to 4.1% in June 2023 to tackle the high inflation level of 7% (March 2023). “In short term, this actually put on more pressure on consumers and SMEs alike.” says Mr Rajic, Founder of Small Business Loans Australia.

CreditorWatch Chief Executive, Patrick Coglan says “The new financial year 2024 is looking tough for businesses with insolvencies at a 10-year high and trading conditions further weakening”. Further from Trading Economics statistics, the bankruptcies in Australia have increase to 387 companies in May 2023 as compared to 308 companies in April 2023. Signs from commercial property index remains weak at -6 for Q1 2023 as reported by NAB – Commercial Property Survey (Q1 2023) specially affecting the retail (-32) and office (-16) properties still in negative zone.

Household consumption growth is expected to remain sluggish through this year as inflation and higher interest rates weigh on real disposable income. “It is unlikely be a cut to the cash rate until both goods and service inflation is on a sustained downward trend and the unemployment rate is roughly at 4.5%” (vs April 2023 at 3.7%), accordingly Ms Anneke Thompson – Chief Economist of CreditorWatch.

Alarm bells should be ringing for business owners to focus on cashflow management as it is crucial for businesses to survive in these economic conditions. The most practical approach for businesses to be in a healthy financial position is to:

1) Optimise its cashflow with steady inflow – collections via:

1. Timely billing of invoices to clients – minimise delay in collection
2. Early payment incentives to clients – encourage prompt settlements
3. Expanding payment options – allow flexibility to encourage prompt settlements

2) Filing of tax returns – ensure any funds owed are returned to the businesses promptly

3) Payment to suppliers on time or to negotiate for favourable payment terms (i.e. longer payment terms or early payment discounts)

The efforts above will be better managed by an automated platform to automate collections from clients when it’s due, streamline the follow-ups process and paying invoices on time to suppliers.

Gobbill is a solution used by many businesses to organise and automate their collections from clients and payments to suppliers.

Accounts Receivable automation: Business owners can easily forward their invoices into Gobbill for the system to debit their clients’ bank account before the due date. A client direct debit authority will need to be in place. It eliminates money handling, money transfers or even having to chase for payments.

Accounts Payable automation: For payments of invoices, the system automatically does the data entry of invoice (no need to type anything it), checks for any fraud/scams, pays just before the due date and allocates it to correct expense account. This reduces significant administration and reconciliation time. The invoices are then stored in one place which removes the hassle of finding all the expenses/ invoices when it comes to tax time. Our clients can synchronise the data into Xero or just export a file for their accountant which also contains all the information required including the associated clients/entity for the bill.

Contact us to find out more about Gobbill – automated collections and bills payment platform or email [email protected]

Sources:
1) Accountants Daily – Businesses told to brace for ‘challenging’ FY2024
https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/business/18651-businesses-told-to-brace-for-challenging-fy-2024

2) Augusta – Margaret River Mail – Australian businesses are struggling with cash flow due to inflation and high interest rates

https://www.margaretrivermail.com.au/story/7924793/study-highlights-inflation-pain-for-australian-businesses/

3) Commercial Real Estate – The commercial property outlook for 2023

https://www.commercialrealestate.com.au/news/the-commercial-property-outlook-for-2023-1188460/

4) Trading Economics – Australia Bankruptcies

https://tradingeconomics.com/australia/bankruptcies

5) Reserve Bank of Australia – Economic Outlook (May 2023)

https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/smp/2023/may/economic-outlook.html

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is on the move to crack down on landlords that incorrectly claim or omit items for investment properties on their tax return. The ATO found nearly 9 out 10 landlords making various mistakes such as submitting incorrect claimed expenses and rental income.

Assistant tax commissioner Tim Loh said the Tax Office was targeting areas where people often made mistakes on their returns such as leaving out rental income and overclaiming expenses. “We encourage rental property owners and their registered tax agents to take extra care this tax time and review their records before lodging their return,” Loh said.

Not having the eligible expenses digitally stored and correctly categorised in one place is a big hassle when it comes to tax time.

Senior Accountant Anthony Fernando from Xantias financial management says that he sees this all the time while he assists many clients with their tax returns. “Clients are time poor and need to collate all their expenses for claims. They also need to be aware of what expenses are claimable as per ATO’s standards. A good tax accountant can guide you through.” 

It takes a lot of time and effort to pay bills relating to investment properties and keep on top of records for expenses. Maintaining proper records is important to calculate and substantiate your deductions.

An Australian technology company called Gobbill has been helping property and business owners over the last 5 years. The system automatically does the data entry of bills, check for any fraud/scams, pays the bill before the due date and allocates the bill to correct property (or entity) after the initial setup. This helps property investors to avoid errors, save them a lot of time throughout the year and remove the hassle of finding eligible claims at tax time.

Gobbill is a solution used by many Australian property investors to organise and automate all their bill payments, then store in one place the relevant expense claims. It removes the hassle of finding all the expenses when it comes to tax time. Our clients just export a file for their accountant which also contains all the information required including the associated property/entity for the bill.

Contact Gobbill to find out more about paying and tracking investment property expenses https://gobbill.com/contact/  or email [email protected]

Contact Xantias to find out more about financial management https://www.xantias.com.au/contact/  or email afernando@xantias.com.au

#taxtime #eofy #accounting #propertyinvestment #tax

Sources:
1) Sydney Morning Herald, April 2023 – Landlords asked to explain $1.3 billion tax shortfall in new ATO blitz: https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/landlords-asked-to-explain-1-3-billion-tax-shortfall-in-new-ato-blitz-20230414-p5d0fp.html  

2) Australian Financial Review, April 2023 – How ATO crackdown is targeting your investment property:   https://www.afr.com/wealth/personal-finance/how-ato-crackdown-is-targeting-your-investment-property-20230419-p5d1nt

3) The Australian Taxation Office: https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Investments-and-assets/Residential-rental-properties/rental-expenses-to-claim/

4) The Australian Taxation Office: https://www.ato.gov.au/general/interest-and-penalties/penalties/statements-and-positions-that-are-not-reasonably-arguable/

5) The Guardian, April 2023 – Australian Taxation Office to force banks to hand over landlord data in investment property crackdown: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/apr/12/australian-tax-office-force-banks-hand-over-landlord-data-investment-property-crackdown

A former business manager of Melbourne High School has been jailed after stealing more than $430,000 from her employer to feed an out-of-control gambling addiction.

Frances Walshe’s first theft in early 2012 went unnoticed by the school because of a poor financial governance model that gave the 65-year-old unchecked access to its bank accounts.

Over the following decade, Walshe made a further 263 illegal transactions, stealing $432,546 from the school’s coffers to feed an out-of-control gambling addiction.

Schools, clubs, not-for-profits and other organisations can’t rely on trusting one person who has banking access. For less than $50 per month, a subscription to Gobbill automates accounts payable saving time and costs. It reduces the need to access Internet Banking for making payments, and eliminates or reduces the risk of internal and external fraud.

Shendon Ewans – Gobbill CEO and a Melbourne High School ‘Old Boy’ says that this type of crime could have been prevented. For such a school where funds are so important and fundraising can be very difficult at times, it is disappointing for the school’s management to not have the proper check and balances.

Find out how Gobbill can protect your organisation – school, club or private business.

Contact Gobbill https://gobbill.com/contact/

Read more from ABC News: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-06/melbourne-high-school-frances-walshe-business-manager-jailed/102057716

Photo of Dr. Paul O’Keefe, Practice Owner of Premier Health Partners

Paul is a small business owner who has overseen the growth of his clinic from humble beginnings to what is now a fully multi-disciplinary medical clinic, combining osteopathy with general practice, physiotherapy, myotherapy, clinical psychology, dietetics and remedial/sports massage.

As his practice grew, Paul was spending more time and energy on managing his accounts payable. Instead of closing up for the day and spending time with his family, he would be sorting out admin. Paul heard about Gobbill from one of his patients. Since signing up and using it for a while, here’s what he has to say:

“Gobbill takes the stress out of bill payments for my business. Once the account is setup everything is totally automated. I just email bills to my Gobbill account and I know they’ll be digitised and paid on time and that Gobbill will check for any duplicate or fraudulent bills. Every few weeks I log in and sync bills to Xero, and that’s my whole accounts payable process done as simple as that.

Gobbill has saved me heaps of time and makes bill payment so easy. It’s a part of my business I don’t even think about anymore, you just set and forget it and know everything is being done right. I would recommend Gobbill to other business owners out there looking for a solution to their accounts payable process.”

By automating the accounts payable aspect of his business using Gobbill, Paul has been able to save time and effort on admin which he has estimated to be around $30,000 per annum. It helps him to manage his cashflow with maximum control and minimal effort.

Many business owners using Gobbill have saved up to 70% of their time spent and around $30,000 per annum on managing their accounts. These include medical health clinics, osteo/physio clinics, dental clinics and more.

Find out more about how Gobbill can help your business, contact Tonisha at [email protected] or visit gobbill.com

In the last three months, the Consumer Action Law Centre has received more than 150 calls from people who are struggling with their energy bills. The average debt accrued among these people is more than $2,000. A recent market report found “large differences between the cheapest and most expensive gas market offers”. Regulatory intervention needs to benefit all in the community, including the most vulnerable already indebted on their power bills. Equity measures need to be central to intervention and fairer pricing.

Source: Guardian 5 Dec 2022, Exploitative gas pricing is causing debt and distress for many Australian households. Gerard Brody

However, waiting for change will continue to cost households and businesses.

It is important to shop around and switch using an independent comparison website.

Victorians: https://compare.energy.vic.gov.au/

(The $250 Power Saving Bonus for Victorian households is now open)

Everyone else: https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/

Business owners deserve a break after struggling through the pandemic and supply chain disruptions. For many, now is the time to recover and get their businesses back on track.

However, costs have increased since pre-pandemic and is expected to rise sharply as new pricing is passed through in the coming financial year.

Bill payment automation specialist Gobbill compared costs from pre-covid to today and found that costs for small businesses have significantly increased. The average:

• electricity bill has increased by 22%,
• phone and internet have increased by 29%, and
• general insurance has spiked by over 113%.

The bills analysed are only starting to include the recent months of higher inflation. More is expected to come when increases are passed on throughout the year.

“We are expecting another jump on top of the covid period increases by possibly another 30% or more this coming financial year.” said Shendon Ewans, CEO of bill payments company Gobbill. “Add to that, businesses are struggling to hire staff from frontline to back-office administration. Business owners have had to step in to do more for their businesses.”

There are two things business owners can do to prepare for the new year.

1. Aim to increase productivity: Work smarter using automation instead of labour where possible. There are solutions which enables businesses to grow sustainably by leveraging innovation to drive productivity. For example, Gobbill is helping businesses to replace labor with automated processes in accounts payable saving businesses an average of $30,000 each year. Another tool is the use of e-signature software such as DocuSign to cut wasted time and postage costs. These are just a few great productivity initiatives that not everyone has adopted.

2. Cost reduction and control: Scan all bills to see what is really needed and whether you can get a better deal. You’d be surprised as to what you are paying for and that you can find better deals by comparing. Try to benchmark and compare what you should be paying.

After 5 years of bill payment processing, Gobbill has accumulated valuable benchmark data and know-how in lowering costs.

Gobbill is assisting business owners to undertake a cost reduction analysis across their bills. We are offering a FREE analysis to a limited number of business clients.

If you’re interested, reach out to us https://gobbill.com/contact/ or email [email protected]

Having trouble hiring staff?  Covid impacting your workforce?

Gobbill Australia was able to save one of its clients 80 hours (one half-time employee) of administration monthly for a $100 per month online subscription. The client is currently saving $35,000 each year.

Imagine what we could do for you.

“Organizations must act to retain their current employees and to attract people” McKinsey & Co Dec 2021

Many business owners are struggling to find staff from customer service to administration roles. If this is you, examine activities that you can automate using Gobbill. Attracting and retaining talent is important but who wants to do the work an automation robot is able to.

Gobbill is a secure online system which removes manual steps and automates checking, bookkeeping and payment activities. 

You can save up to 70% of your time in admin and paying bills with a subscription starting at $48 per month.
For one of our clients, they removed 80 hours per month of administration work using Gobbill. This saved the business $35,000 annually in wages not including overhead costs.

Thousands of Australians trust Gobbill to automate their admin and manage millions in payments each year. Established in 2015, Gobbill is owned, built and operated in Australia for small business owners. There are no offshore development or processing services involved.

Visit gobbill.com to sign up today or learn more.

Contact [email protected] if you need a consultant to review where you can save time.

References:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/oct/24/australias-workforce-shortage-never-a-better-time-to-be-applying-for-a-job-experts-say
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-organization-blog/the-great-attrition-facing-the-labor-shortage-conundrum

Direct debit can be a great way to organise your finances, but what are the risks? Make sure that you understand the pros and cons of direct debit before making a commitment to payments that may have hidden strings attached. 

Don’t set and forget 

Keep yourself informed of the direct debits associated with your bank account. Signing up for a trial can seem like a great way to access a free product, but if a biller only accepts direct debit ensure to cancel your subscription before the trial period has ended. Alternatively, if you are a customer who prefers the convenience of a ‘rolling’ policy (a policy that is automatically extended each year), review these payments regularly to confirm that you still require the services. Customers are often hit with charges for products they no longer use without notification from their provider. 

Giving control to a third party can be risky 

As direct debit payments allocate billing control to the biller and give your bank account details to a third party, it is vital that your service provider is a trustworthy organisation. Customers are not required to provide approval for payment, even if a bill is out of line with prior spending.   

Monitor your bill payments 

Using direct debits as a method of bill payment does not mean that customers can avoid monitoring bill amounts. To remove the potential of being overcharged, it is important to be vigilant about what is taken from your account. Monitor withdrawals from your biller and ensure that bill amounts are in line with your spending habits.  

Cancelling can be a process 

Depending on the biller and direct debit system, cancelling a direct debit can be a difficult process. When your direct debit is set up, ensure that you retain authority to end the debit unilaterally. Many banks are unwilling to stop direct debit at a customers request, meaning that a business may take several or more months of payments before the process is stopped. To cancel, customers will often be required to write a letter to the bank and merchant to stop the debits. Before setting up a direct debit read the Terms and Conditions and educate yourself on how to cancel in case you no longer require the service or product. Or alternatively, set up an alternative way to pay. 

Paying bills with a credit card has benefits 

Direct debit payments do not give users the opportunity to access rewards. For those looking to maximise their bill payment benefits, pay bills on a credit card where possible to gain cash and travel rewards. If your biller charges an inconvenience fee for credit card payments, this is the circumstance to look into a debit card or direct debit option. For billers that do not charge extra for the use of a credit card, do the research on what card will be most useful for which bill – do you want to use a card to increase points? Money flow? Choose what credit card gives you the best benefits for your preferences and go.  

Careful of the extra fees 

Utilising direct debit as a payment service can reduce the possibility of being charged late fees and get you pay-on-time discounts. However, if your bank account does not contain enough funds to cover the bill total, you may get charged a fee by both the financial institution and the biller. To manage this issue, it is important for users to either link direct debits to their primary bank account or set reminders to transfer funds before bill due dates.  

An alternative bill payment service like Gobbill can assist in avoiding the potential shortfalls associated with direct debit payments. The new online service issues payment reminders before a bill due date, gives users increased flexibility to pay bills using a credit or debit card, allows users to maintain control over bill payments and automates the bill payment process.

Contact Gobbill to find out more or Sign UP today for FREE

The Age 24 Dec 2021 reports that Australians have experienced a number of remarkable economic achievements in 2021.

We were much better off generally as a result of the following factors despite the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns, travel restrictions and protests.

Those factors include:

1. Australian household wealth rose by 20% over the past 12 months due to rising stock markets, superannuation portfolios and property boom.
2. Australians are more likely to be in a job today than at any other time in our history. Unemployment fell to 4.3% in November, which is the lowest rate since the mining boom in 2008.
3. Australian farmers had their best year in decades.
4. Entrepreneurship is at record highs. New business registrations increased by 30% above pre-pandemic levels.
5. Wages growth is starting to trend up with RBA forecasting 3% over the next two years.

So what does the new year 2022 look like for us?

The RBA and most major economic indicators are pointing towards strong economic growth which is expected to hit its fastest rate in 25 years with an average growth for the calendar year of 5 per cent.

Whether you are buying more shares, a property and perhaps starting a business.

Have a great prosperous New Year 2022 from all of us at Gobbill!