The Empire Blog

June 30 is fast approaching and it’s time to start looking at your business finances to ensure that you are prepared for the end of the financial year aka Taxxxx tiiiiimmeeee! By ‘being prepared’ we mean that thing we like to call Tax Planning, which essentially is reviewing your business numbers for the year and […]

The ATO are cracking down on the cash economy in a bid to catch people out who are hiding their true wealth by trading in cash. The new data matching strategy is designed to catch out anyone from cash in hand tradies to organised crime gangs trying to legitimise their money by buying assets. Using […]

Xero recently released some small business insights highlighting the seasonal cashflow problems that small business in Australia can face. In January 2018 only 49.4% of Australian Small Businesses were cashflow positive and there was an average of 38.8 days for invoices with 30-day terms to be paid. These stats are important to explore as they […]

Do you want a simple strategy for growing your small business? We’ve created this short video to show you the Top 3 reason’s why your business needs a budget. Check it out and if you’d like to know more about how a budget can assist your business specifically – Just send us an email here.

Empire Accountants has had the pleasure of working with Karyn from Setting Up Shop, assisting with her compliance and taxation requirements. Karyn specialises in shop fitout project management for small business owners in Brisbane, and with the new financial year approaching, it’s the perfect time to feature this great Brisbane business for people looking to set […]

Update 4 February 2019: “Prime Minister Scott Morrison has pledged to increase the small business instant asset write-off to $25,000 from $20,000.”  Available until 30 June 2020. More information on the increase here. — Here’s our take on how to get the most value out of this incentive for your small business. Who gets this? […]

Why do we set business goals? It feels like we’re always carrying on about setting goals, planning and knowing your numbers as the key drivers in your business… and while this at times might sound like a broken record, there is a method to the madness as to why we loveeee talking about it. It’s […]

It’s time we put it out there. We do actually know that we are generally not on the top 100 list of people you want to get stuck at a party talking too. That’s right… it’s out there… whilst we think we are pretty dang cool & fun, we know that Accountants are up there […]

Is it time for you to get a business budget? Budgeting might sound irrelevant to you if your business is performing reasonably well financially, you are making payments when needed, up to date with BAS and hitting all your obligations. However, we’re here to tell you that getting a business budget for the New Year […]

The end of the working year is a manic time for any business owner, it can be easy to forget the basic to-do’s on your checklist so here’s a couple of end of year tips for what to get in place before the break and get you on holidays in no time. 1. Inform your […]

The QLD Government has established a new round of funding providing small business owners access to professional advice and support. You can receive matched funding up to $5000 (ex GST) to engage us for up to 3 months to help establish or develop your business. Are you eligible? have a business name registered within the […]

So what’s your Profit Margin..? Do you know… Should you know…? The straight answer is YES. You definitely should, most importantly so you know how much you need to sell to hit your goals. Knowing whether you’re making money is important right? We think so! So here’s all you need to know on your profit […]

Empire Accountants are an advocate for having alliances in business. Having alliances is a great way to reach new markets, drum up new business, add value to your services and assist other small businesses in Brisbane in growing their clientbase. While you may know having alliances is a must when you start a business, you […]

When planning your next business promotion or sales tactic, discounting may be an easy campaign to implement. It doesn’t take much thought, offers your client perceived value and may allow you to drum up some new business quickly if you are in a slum. While discounting is commonplace, it actually isn’t really doing your business […]

The advancements in technology coupled with our ever strengthening infrastructure has given us something like never before; the cloud environment. With this comes unprecedented levels of innovation and the business landscape has changed more than it has in the last 5 years than it has in the last 20. Of particular note, our complex society […]

Do you have a will? Do you have insurance in place to cover the unexpected? Do you know where your superannuation is at? At this risk of sounding like an old greasy haired financial planner, these are 3 BIG IMPORTANT items that we want to make sure all our individuals have considered. Whilst Empire cannot […]

A lesson for business owners from the Gold Coast Titans On a recent CPA industry visit of the Gold Coast Titans new performance centre at Parkwood a room full of accountants (what a crowd right!) was treated to a presentation by current club CEO Graham Annesley & Shane Billings CFO on the chequered financial history […]

Empire Accountants are offering Business Budgets & Plan’s FREE for a limited time only Want to learn more? Simply enter your details below and one of the Empire team will contact you. * In the message section simply provide your business name and specify you are enquiring about the Business Budget *

Empire Accountants has had the pleasure of working alongside Steve and Anita from Summer Daze Pools, assisting them with their taxation needs. Summer Daze are based in North Brisbane, specialising in the design and construction of amazing pools! To check out some of their work visit the website here (*warning you will be wishing it was summer again). […]

Paying tax is about as high on a lot of our priority lists as routine dental checks and doing our washing. We know it needs to be done, however, we like to put it off until we’re nearly clothesless and full of cavities… Pairing this with trying to keep up with new rules and regulations […]

A common problem within small business is cash-flow. Whether you’re in the trade industry, professional services industry, manufacturing or transport, it doesn’t matter what you do, there is a good chance your business could run into issues with cash-flow at some stage in its lifetime. A lot of the time you could be doing everything […]

‘It’s nearly end of the financial year again and I’m not where I said I wanted to be’… Does this sound familiar? It’s easy to say we want to reach a certain goal or hit a certain target in our business, it’s another thing to plan it, implement it and stay accountable. Staying where it’s […]

What makes a great accountant? Empire Accountants – Now Servicing the Gold Coast Recently, we’ve had 3 new clients come to us that all share a common problem. They have been fined and penalised by the ATO for late lodgement of BAS returns, due to their previous accountant not completing and lodging their BAS on […]

More and more service based businesses are turning their services into package deals to communicate their core difference and value to their potential customers. By packaging your services clearly and concisely you can effectively achieve 5 key thangs: 1. Increase your income Many business owners are moving away from charging hourly for their services and […]

Spending $1000’s on getting your own Client Relationship Management (CRM) software developed isn’t generally necessary for small business needs and there are so many different platforms available today that finding a CRM suitable for your business should be fairly simple… right? We have found that this isn’t always the case, and maybe it is because […]

Partners, COI’s, alliances, business bud’s, fellow crazy people… Whatever you want to call them, one thing is for sure, having friends in business is crucial for growth and development. 5 Reasons why business alliances are so important 1.Referrals There isn’t a cheaper, better qualified lead than a referral from a trusted friend or partner. A study […]

Christmas is the time of year where cash flow may be tight for small business, whether you have 3 or 30 staff members and you are trying to show them your appreciation for their work over the year but can’t afford an all-night rager how about considering some options below… An in office cheese and […]

For those of you that haven’t met the newest addition to the team yet, we thought we would create a little introduction for you to get to know him better! Leonard became the newest member of The Empire team in July, right before we moved to our new premises. Leonard is an EXCELLENT accountant that probably […]

Empire Accountants has had the pleasure of working alongside Amelia and Chris from HomestylebyAmelia for the last few months assisting them with taxation and marketing. Homestyle are based in Bulimba on Brisbane’s Southside and offer a wealth of experience in home decorating for Brisbane residents. To view some of their projects visit here. We sat down […]

The Life cycle of a Business – By Judy Reynolds The Empire Team would just like to say a big thank you to everyone who attended our first Empire Event – The Life Cycle of a Business with Judy Reynolds. Our core focus at Empire Accountants is working alongside our clients to grow their business. […]

As technology keeps developing and more and more people move to cloud based software in their business, more choices are available for CRM, quoting, accounting and workflow management systems. Meaning we as business owners are left to make the choices of what will work most effectively for our business. Now unfortunately when it comes to these […]

End of financial year is the time we like to talk about growing your business, increasing your cashflow, improving your business systems and not only that, but investing in YOURSELF. Healthy business, healthy mindset, healthy you – all three go hand in hand in getting the most out of your life. It’s usually the start […]

Want to grow your business this new financial year?  

What are the reasons you are in business? Is it to work for yourself, have more freedom (HA!) or because you love what you do and know you’re the best at it? Whatever your reason may be, at the end of the day to continue doing what you love doing or being your own boss […]

Late last year we had the pleasure of meeting Stuart Lyme through a mutual client and he instantly fit the mould to be on Team Empire!  Stuart has been extremely helpful in not only providing advice with some of clients but also helping us out with our own banking! We invited Stuart to tell us […]

As a business owner, you should be familiar with the acronym SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimisation. In a nutshell, SEO means setting up your website with the correct information to be found easily in search engines (i.e. Google) by your ideal customers. While that makes it sound so simple, getting your website to […]

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Client Feature As you know by now each quarter we celebrate Brisbane business and this quarters client feature is one with think our fellow Brisbanites will love! Kehoe’s Kitchen have been with us for 18 months now and in this time we have witnessed their business flourish. We sat down with Brenden and Katrina, directors […]

Each year the ATO has typically more than 640 million transactions reported to them. In this the ATO aims to contact in excess of 450 000 tax payers for data matching concerns, 245 000 pursuits around the cash economy, more than 43 000 GST and other indirect tax refund integrity checks, audits, reviews and more. […]

Marketing a Service Business in Brisbane So, how do you differentiate your business in the market when you have something intangible? Every other guy is saying their service is professional, reliable and personal. It might not be, but are they really going to say “Hey, I’m unreliable and probably won’t return your call for a […]

New Year, new you! Or something like that… January has nearly been and gone so it’s time to put down the donuts, set an earlier bed time and brush the dust off your business plan. We all know the cliché New Year’s resolutions all too well. We set them every year yet someway somehow the […]

Client Feature Our quarterly client feature is one of our favourite segments as we get to celebrate small business in Brisbane and all the great learning’s and achievements our local business owners have made since making the decision to build their own Empire. Evergreen Tree Care was one of Beth’s first clients and we love […]

When we meet with our clients to talk about their business, a lot of the time we spend more time talking about staffing issues rather than accounting issues. Employing, managing and training staff in your small business can be a time consuming and daunting task if you haven’t had much experience with it before. We […]

2015, where did that one go? It’s been a whirlwind of a year over here at Empire HQ but we wouldn’t want it any other way! This time last year, Empire, was simply an idea and it’s pretty exciting what we have managed to accomplish in only 12 months. It’s no secret that a year […]

Well that’s not very entertaining! It’s annual Christmas party time for you, your staff and clients, but before you get stuck into the Vodka Cruisers and Jager Bombs let’s make sure you’re up to speed on the taxman regulations for the festive season. Generally, not one to walk around quoting tax legislation but it seems […]

Before launching a campaign, creating content or building the perfect website it is so important to understand the basic marketing fundamentals of your small business. What is the point in having a beautiful website if you don’t have consistent branding and a well-defined target market? Or doing a mail out campaign if you aren’t tracking […]

Marketing is not solely promoting a product or service, creatively communicating your brand or looking after your customers. It is a mixture of everything your business stands for and how it operates, and a big part of that is your numbers. Knowing your business numbers such as turnover, profit margin and average dollar sale are […]

Now I’m not Nelson Mandela and Beth is certainly not the Aussie Oprah (or is she?!) But we have learned what good leadership looks like in our business. The most important factor in the growth or decline of any small business comes down to the head honchos, the boss man or lady, the top dog, […]

Last week The Empire Team completed the Tough Mudder course in Brisbane. Bruised and battered after running through 20km of mud obstacles, climbing over 2 story walls, diving under icy water and dodging electrified cables, we can say we all made it! Like any tough physical and mental challenge, it wasn’t easy and it’s safe […]

But what do the numbers ACTUALLY mean? An Accountants greatest tool in their toolbox is the numbers. Our profession is based on compiling transactions, by following a set of rules, which gives us a report that tells us a very important story. Our schooling is based on understanding this concept and then applying it to […]

Empire Accountants Client Feature Special We can’t say enough how much we love small business; especially our clients! We sat down for some Q&A with Jasper, director and creative chef at Little Leaf Cafe (Corporate House, Murarrie) to give you a little insight into his cafe, how he came to own a small business and […]

We believe that it is imperative to surround yourself with a great business network. Working together with like-minded business owners can assist you, educate you, empower you and enable you to grow your business. Rothgard Financial Partners definitely ticks those boxes for us here at The Empire. We have known and have had the pleasure […]

As a small business owner you have a million things on your ‘to do’ list without needing to worry about a simple task being done like a quote being forwarded, an invoice being sent or a reminder message going out to a client. It’s these small but significant tasks that can slip off your radar […]

This September The Empire crew and some silly willing friends of the Empire will be running the course of Tough Mudder! For those of you that don’t know, Tough Mudder is an 18-20km obstacle course designed to test physical strength and mental grit. Tough Mudder puts camaraderie over finisher rankings and is not a timed […]