Company news and small biz tips

Welcome to the latest instalment of the Reckon Review!

We survived EOFY, so it’s time to lodge our tax returns and embrace the new financial year in all its glory. Now is when our hard work and preparation pay off – and the opportunity to make FY2025 even better than the last.

So what kind of prep can go into a new financial year? We’ve got hot tips and webinars to make it easy, as well as some company highlights celebrating sustainability and our dedicated Reckon Partners. 

Our support teams are also on the ground with extra support hours to help you navigate EOFY.

Let’s dive in.

New Year, New Business Plan

Your business plan is a vital document that lays out your mission, product offering, customer base, market analysis, and more. It can unify your employees and provide direction for leadership. 

While much of it may still be relevant after twelve months in business (unless you plan to offer new products or services!), market conditions, regulations, or even your customer base may have changed. That’s why a new financial year is a great time to dust off the old business plan and see if anything’s new.

For example, the standard business plan includes:

• Mission and vision statements
• A short description of your company
• An overview of your company’s structure
• Details about your products or services
• A market analysis

Has anything changed? If yes, put it in. Conduct fresh market research to see what your customers want and what your competitors are doing. Is there a great idea you could learn from? How have your customers' needs changed? What about new regulations relevant to your industry? 

Now is also a great time for you to check in with your business goals and see how you met them last year. Are they still realistic? Did you fall short, or exceed your expectations? Your successes and failures are your greatest teachable moments.

HOT TIP! We have a free business plan template for your convenience. For more information, you can read more about revising your business plan in our latest blog post.

5 Changes from 1 July

The new financial year also brings new compliance and regulatory changes that small business owners need to know. These have been fairly well broadcast, but here’s a quick recap in case you missed them.

1. New national minimum wage. The Fair Work Ombudsman has given us a new national minimum wage, starting from 1 July 2024. The new minimum wage is $24.10 per hour, or $915.90 per week.
2. Tax cuts! The stage 3 tax cuts have gone into effect from 1 July 2024, giving some tax relief to income earners in every bracket. 
3. New super guarantee. If you pay employees superannuation, remember that the employer superannuation guarantee contribution rate has ticked up by another 0.5%, bringing it from 11% to 11.5% from 1 July 2024. 
4. Energy bill relief. Businesses and households will enjoy money off their quarterly power bills for the new financial year; the government will stump up $300 for eligible households and $325 for businesses toward power bills, spread out in quarterly instalments. A little something for everyone!
5. The $20k instant write-off continues. If you’ve updated your business plan and see a strategic opportunity to buy new equipment, good news: for another year, small business owners can instantly write off equipment or work-related expenses up to $20k in value (though you should always check with a tax agent or accountant before making a financial decision for tax purposes).

Which changes will be most beneficial to your small business? Let us know in the comments. 

Celebrating our Reckon Partners with our latest case study

An arts accountant? Tell him he’s dreaming!

Fortunately for us, it’s a very real and beautiful gig! Meet Michael Fox , a Reckon Partner and arts accountant based out of his gallery in Melbourne. Michael volunteered to take part in our latest case study video, generously sharing his business story while giving key insights into the Australian creative community and why Reckon payroll helps him support his clients. Painters need to get paid, after all!

The Reckon team flew to Melbourne to shoot his video with the incredible team at Visual Domain . You can watch the final video now to hear his story.

Thanks, Michael! You were a star.

Open banking comes to Reckon

Reckon was proud to announce its partnership with SISS Data Services last month. This opportunity allows us to use their ACSISS data solution to deliver open banking to Reckon customers. 

Now, small business owners can connect accounts with over 100 financial institutions with Reckon, giving them a comprehensive and real-time overview of their finances. 

“We’re very excited to deliver this significant enhancement for our small business customers,” said Reckon CEO Sam Allert . “By moving to Open Banking, Reckon customers can now enjoy secure, reliable access to all sorts of accounts.”

You can learn more about open banking in our latest blog.

EOFY Webinars with Clayton Oates

Our regular accounting guru, Clayton Oates , offers great on-demand webinars to prepare small business owners, bookkeepers, and accountants for their EOFY payroll. Check them out!

• Payroll EOFY with Clayton Oates: available now on demand
• Payroll EOFY (Reckon Accounts/Hosted): available now on demand

Reckon hits the town at the Accountants Daily Expo

June is a quiet month for Reckon social activity, given that it’s EOFY, but we were still proud event partners at the 2024 Accountants Daily Expo in Sydney. 

This annual event was a great opportunity for professionals from the accounting and bookkeeping worlds to network, share wisdom, and celebrate all they do for the Australian small business community. We set up a Reckon stand, attended networking events and met some incredible people — thanks to all those who said hi!

Special thanks to Rajesh Maharjan , Francis Benitez , Alex Alexandrou , and Andrew Hellier for representing Reckon on the ground. (Check out our webinar leader, Clayton Oates, at the mixer!)

Trending on the Reckon blog in July

This month, on the Reckon Blog…

• Get ready now: EOFY prep you can do for next year.
• Minimum wage: everything employers need to know.
• Open banking: what this means for Reckon users.