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Check out the speech by the ATO Second Commissioner Neil Olesen. They are working on what is called 'push' tax
returns for those with simple tax affairs which can reduce the online e-tax screens from 140 to 10, which takes around 20 to 25 minutes to complete. I believe, based on the current trend and developments on e-tax and revamp of the ATO website, those with simple tax affairs do not need to pay an accountant to do their tax. I think accountants need to rethink their current business model. You drive to your accountant, wait in a queue, hand him or her your payment summary, then he asks you a couple of questions. He then lodges your tax return and hands you an invoice for $170 for 15 minutes of his time or her time not including the 15 minutes of travel time. Think about that. I'm updating my instagram photos for Business Activity Statement (BAS) guide. I shifted to using photos rather than text in creating guides. We can remember two images we see for 5 seconds but not a word of a paragraph of boring instructions. It's a bit challenging to get all these photos up with all the cropping and editing to fit the instagram sizes but we'll get there.
A friend shared me a youtube clip about Steve Vai's struggle with depression and how he managed to overcome it. Then this question came to my mind, 'Can we really call ourselves free if we're stuck in a mindset we didn't create? Mindset that we just continue to have never questioning why.' Since then I watched it almost everyday. I watched about four or five videos of inspiration everyday to condition my mind for the day, and Steve Vai's became one of them. Now, what does it have to do with accounting? I'm currently working on a few projects and one of them is a book for small businesses so they can do their own BAS easily without having to pay someone a fortune to do it. I can see that this trend is fast increasing because online accounting enabled any business owner to link transactions and create easily uploadable files to the accounting system. It has never been easy like this before. And I think many business owners still prefer to get someone to do it for them because of this perception that tax and accounting are difficult. That perception or mindset is no longer valid. Thanks to the internet and Google. There are a lot professionals who are passionate to share their thoughts and knowledge online and all you have to do is google them. Government websites, banks and other institutions are also being updated to align with social media. A couple of months ago, I gave up ringing my bank because they didn't ring me back when I first left a message. Then after a day or two I tweeted them. I received a response straight away. It's amazing. I will not be ringing the 1300 number again. Unless you have a complex structure set up for various businesses and investments when you may need a professional, you can go straight to the government agency like the ATO, FairWork, the bank or any other institution without the need of middleman. And a BAS or tax agent is a middleman. Remember they are only agents. Dismiss the idea that they are always the first person we go to when we have questions on BAS or tax. Go straight to the source - ATO, FairWork, or Family Assistance Office, etc. It will save you a fortune too. Here is the video about Steve Vai that I was talking about: I've been seeing a lot of ads lately particularly junk mail about accountants and saying they are
the experts on tax and accounting. Man, when you're an accountant of course you are an expert on accounting and tax. Otherwise you won't get admitted as a CPA or CA. I feel like almost every accountant nowadays is fighting for one more customer. And it's degrading the image of the profession. Unbelievable! I mean you can perhaps come up with a catchy logo saying that you are an accountant, that's fine. You're basically just letting people know about the services you offer. But when you start saying you're the expert in tax or expert in accounting, are you saying that other accountants are less expert than you are? Something to think about. Anyway, back to my book. I need another cup of coffee. There are over 2 million small businesses that are actively trading in Australia as of June 2012,
according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. However, there are only 52,000 tax professionals in Australia including over 14,000 Business Activity Statements (BAS) agents and other professionals according to the Tax Practitioners Board’s 2012 annual report. The ratio of BAS agents to the number of small businesses is negligible (0.007). It basically means that there is not enough number of BAS agents to service small businesses with their BAS compliance. The shortage of BAS agents will cause their fees to increase and many small business owners particularly those who are starting out will try not to incur these fees. As more small business owners try to save costs getting a BAS agent is at the bottom of the list. Or worst not on the list at all. This trend impacts the perception on BAS agents by small business owners and the value they provide. Accounts Unplugged director Renelo Peque is publishing a book on how to do your own BAS using the tools and resources from government agencies that we take for granted. It is going to come out either late 2013 or early 2014. The book also serves as a guide to those who want to manage the whole process involved in preparing and lodging Business Activity Statements (BAS) to save some BAS agent fees. |
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January 2016
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