A year in business

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A year in business
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• Regular business and tax reporting
• When running a business, its important to
  regularly keep track of how your business is
  going. As a business owner, there are a variety
  of financial reports and statements you can use
  to track your business. These reports can help
  you to
• keep track of your business finances
• make business decisions
• set goals for your business
• apply for finance for your business (such as
  approaching an investor or a bank for a loan).

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• To help you get started, learn how to create a
  budget using our free financial templates.
• Tip Most businesses will also need to
  lodge business activity statements (BAS) every
  month or quarter for tax purposes.

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• Did you know?
• If your business is a company, you will be sent
  an annual statement to complete around the
  anniversary of the date you registered your
  company.
• End of Financial Year (EOFY) reporting
• There are a number of reports and tasks you can
  complete at the end of your financial year (30
  June, for most businesses) for reporting and tax
  purposes. These reports and tasks are useful to
  track how your business is going year by year,
  and include

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• summarising your income and expenses in a profit
  and loss statement
• conducting a stocktake
• summarising your record of debtors and creditors
• pulling together any records of asset purchases
  or money you spent on improvements to your
  existing assets over the year, so you can
  calculate depreciation expenses to claim
  for capital gains tax purposes
• completing and lodging your income tax return to
  report your business income and claim deduction

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• Tip to avoid delays in processing your return,
  make sure you use the correct Business industry
  code see the Australian Taxation Office
  (ATO) Business industry code tool
• pay super contributions for your employees and
  send the data electronically read SuperStream fo
  r more information about reporting and paying
  super electronically
• lodging other yearly reports or returns, such
  as PAYG withholding, fringe benefits tax
  (FBT), Goods and Services Tax (GST), and
  the taxable payments reporting system.

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• Did you know?
• If you operate a business as a sole trader, you
  need to lodge a tax return including the
  supplementary section business and professional
  items schedule for individuals regardless of
  your income.
• Find out more
• Find out more about essential tasks at end of
  financial year (EOFY).
• Find out what reports and returns to lodge with
  the ATO.
• Check out our information on income and
  deductions and business activity statements.

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• Growing your business
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• As a business owner, its important to plan for
  your businesss future, including ways to grow
  your business. The coronavirus (COVID-19) has
  impacted the growth opportunities for many
  businesses, so finding ways to grow your business
  will help keep it going, for example

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• creating or offering new products
• using new business processes to make you more
  efficient or save costs
• entering new markets and expanding your customer
  reach.
• Its important to update your business plan as
  your business goals change. This will help you to
  grow in a way that is sustainable for your
  business, taking into account the resources you
  have and what opportunities are best for your
  business.

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• Find out more
• Have a look at the South Australian Department of
  State Growths information on Growing your
  business.
• Check out our Growing a business checklist, which
  takes you through the different methods and
  issues you should consider when growing your
  business.
• Advertising your business

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• Advertising can help you to reach a larger
  audience and attract more customers to your
  business. There are a number of ways to advertise
  your business, including through
• having your own business website  provides a way
  for people to reach your business and details in
  their own time and location. You may even be able
  to set it up so you can sell your goods or
  services directly from your website
• social media  engage with your customers and
  advertise your business by sharing your messages
  with your audience online

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• email newsletters or blogs regularly create
  content related to your business to keep your
  audience engaged. If using an email newsletter,
  its important that you get permission before you
  send emails to people
• newspapers and magazines have a print
  advertisement or list your services within the
  classifieds
• television advertising on television can be
  costly, but can help you reach a large audience

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• radio similar to advertising on television,
  though the cost is usually less and the audience
  reach is more localised
• mail dropping advertisements in mailboxes can
  be a simple cost effective way to reach your
  local area
• phone books and directories have your business
  listed on various business directories so you can
  be found by potential customers when theyre
  looking for a service.

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• When choosing the best way to advertise your
  business, consider the audience you are trying to
  reach, as well as the costs involved. You dont
  have to spend a lot of money to advertise and
  promote your brand, so choose what is likely to
  be the most effective for your business.

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• Find out more
• Check out our advertising page for more
  information on advertising your business.
• Read more about Ways to advertise your
  business on the Business Victoria website.
• Not sure where to start? Here are some tips and
  tools to help you develop a marketing strategy.
• Read about some things to consider before
  you promote your business.
• Read about marketing your business during
  COVID-19 and how to keep your customers loyal
  during the pandemic.

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• MARKETING
• Saving money on energy costs 
• Reviewing the energy usage in your business is a
  great way to help you save on costs. While it
  seems like a necessary expense, you can often
  find ways to save through
• understanding how energy is being used in your
  business and where you can reduce your usage
• reviewing your contract and searching or
  negotiating for better deals
• upgrading to more energy efficient equipment
  while this may be a big cost upfront, it may save
  you money in the long run.

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• Being environmentally conscious in your business
  can also boost your business and brand reputation
  to the public.
• Find out more about environmental management in
  your business.
• If your business is struggling with energy bills
  due to COVID-19, find out what help you can get
  with your energy bills.

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• SAVING ON YOUR ENERGY BILL
• Planning for exiting your business
• Even though you may not want to think about
  selling or closing your business, its important
  to plan properly for when and if you do.
• There can be many reasons why you decide to exit
  your business, including

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• your business is no longer viable to keep running
• you are looking to retire or pursue other
  opportunities in life and no longer want to run
  your business
• you have achieved your business goals and are
  ready to close or pass the business on
• your business is forced to close as it has become
  insolvent.
• Whatever your circumstances are for exiting,
  planning your exit ahead of time will help make
  what can be a difficult and emotional process
  easier.

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• Watch the journey of selling or closing a small
  business video series for help through the
  process of exiting your business.
• Tip If you are selling or closing your business
  you should cancel your ABN.
• Did you know?
• You can call the ATO if you sell or close your
  business, to find out if you need to finalise any
  GST, employee, contractor or other obligations,
  and what records you need to keep.

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• Find out more
• Read about the important things to consider
  when deciding whether to sell or close your
  business.
• Find information on tax issues to consider
  when changing, selling or closing your
  business on the ATO website.
• Check out these suggested steps to guide you
  through the process of closing your
  business or selling your business.

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• Find out more about closing your
  company and cancelling your business name with
  the Australian Securities Investments
  Commission (ASIC).
• https//www.ikeep.com.au/