The Empire Blog

How do you define your business success? It could be an obvious measure like growth, hitting a certain profit margin, getting an ideal number of staff, or maybe just having a well-oiled machine that doesn’t rely on you to manage absolutely every aspect. In whatever way you measure your business success, the parts of the […]

Beth and the team at Empire Accountants have had the pleasure of working with Elli, owner at Poppy Rose since 2018. We LOVE Elli’s business, and what’s not to love when it comes to beautiful flowers, plants, and gifts with same day delivery!? Poppy Rose has experienced wonderful growth over the last few years, so […]

Happy New Financial Year! We know, a bit late but can you really blame us? It is tax season after all! Here we are, with a fresh P&L ready to make the 2022 year a focused, positive, and profitable one. 

Team Empire have had the pleasure of working with Tom Brown who is the Owner/Director of The Stoic Dog & Origin K9. After returning from serving in the Australian Army as a Specialist Operations Military Working Dog Handler, Tom started his own business in 2019 offering effective dog training solutions for Brisbane residents. To learn […]

On 1 July 2021, the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) rate will rise from 9.5% to 10% – the first rise since 2014. It will then steadily increase each year until it reaches 12% on 1 July 2025. The 0.5% increase does not mean that everyone gets an automatic pay increase, this will depend on your employment […]

The 2021-22 Federal Budget is a balancing act between a better than anticipated deficit ($106 bn), an impending election, and the need to invest in the long term. Key initiatives include: • Extension of temporary full expensing and loss-carry back providing immediate deductions for business investment in capital assets • Introduction of a ‘patent box’ […]

Team Empire have had the pleasure of working with Emily & Scott from Get Mentally Fit, assisting with their accounting requirements since their establishment in 2019. Get Mentally Fit have been doing some really important work with small businesses in the wellbeing and mental health space. To learn more about their business and get some […]

You can write-off SAY WHAT?! Now Last year the government changed the instant asset write-off about as many times as one changes their underwear so you wouldn’t be remiss for not knowing what the current instant asset write-off rules are. In amongst the changes, they also added some new language and terms in the mix […]

We have entered the time of year that we work with many clients to get a handle on their tax position for the 2022 financial year. Commonly referred to as tax planning, these strategy sessions allow us to estimate your tax position to help you make decisions, that could minimise your tax outcome before June […]

Let’s talk about business growth. Not only is it natural to focus on sales and marketing strategies to grow your business, it’s necessary. Why? Because more sales equals more growth, right? Well, sure. However, if the only thing you measure is your sales increase on your P&L, it won’t give you a holistic understanding of […]

As most small business owners run around frantically finishing off to-do lists, getting products out and completing the last jobs before Christmas, we would like to invite you to stop (just for a second), take a deep breath… and start a slow clap for yourself! 2020, you made it. What an achievement. Thank you for […]

The Brisbane City Council has released a Suburban Shopfront Improvement Grant to assist local businesses. The Council’s grant program has allocated $50,000 per annum over four years to assist eligible businesses in refreshing the façade of their shop, with the goal of improving customer appeal. What are the specifics? > this is a matched grant, […]

It’s beginning to look a lot like the silly season! Our offices are soon to be laden with tinsel, holiday cards and way too many sweets, we hope yours are too. If you’re buying your staff and clients a gift this year or throwing a party, it’s helpful to understand what’s deductible, what’s not and […]

It’s a fine art balancing the incoming and outgoing expenses in your business. Your business performance might seem like it fluctuates depending on what due date is next. Your next BAS lodgement, superannuation payable, project claim, finance repayment, incoming invoice and so on. At times it might look like you’ve got a lot of cash […]

The blame game! We all play it, even if we are not the instigator. Fun if you win, but not if you roll the dice and lose. And this is why statistically, Australia is one of the most litigious environments in the world. When you open your mailbox and you find that lovely statement of […]

Road to Recovery? The 2020-21 Federal Budget is a road to recovery paved with cash. Key initiatives include: – Personal income tax cuts from 1 July 2020 – A $4 billion ‘JobMaker’ Hiring Credit to encourage businesses to take on more employees aged 16-35 years old – $110 billion in infrastructure investment over 10 years […]

When do you take time to work on your business instead of in your business? Most days we are caught up in running our small business and organising life in general. Goals we set get pushed from one week to another and before we know it, another year has passed. This is where Empire can […]

Refocusing on what’s relevant in your business this financial year The reset button has been hit and we are now almost through the second month of the new financial year. This is the time to use some of that new year motivation, revisit your plans and make some goals for the months to come. Understandably, […]

What a contradiction! How can we prepare for the unknown? While you may never be fully prepared for unexpected circumstances in business, there are ways to soften the impact of a crisis should it arrive. Of course we’re not suggesting you should hoard toilet paper and Nespresso and start building a bunker in the basement…  […]

Have you missed paying any of your employees super over the past few years and haven’t got around to paying it back yet? We understand old liabilities can be overlooked and if you’ve been meaning to fix it up, now is the perfect time to do so with the ATO’s Super Guarantee Amnesty. What the […]

If you’re a small business owner we’re sure you’ve heard of the instant asset write-off increase that the Government announced as part of their first stimulus response package to COVID-19. If you haven’t… You may know that before COVID-19 the government had introduced an instant asset write-off incentive where business who turn over less than […]

Update (17.6.20): The Qld Government is extending the Small Business COVID-19 grant program. up to $100 million is being made available to deliver the second round of grants. This round will be equally divided between SEQ and regional Qld and will commence 1 July 2020. Further eligibility requirements for round 2: > Only 1 application […]

Over the past few weeks there have been changes, developments, enhancements and clarity provided by the ATO regarding JobKeeper. Some helpful, some to be desired, but all in all JobKeeper is certainly keeping us Accountants on our toes! Please see below update for those of you who are DIY’ing your JobKeeper applications. Here’s a quick […]

Updated: 15 June 2021 Due to COVID-19, many employees are still able to do their job working from home. The ATO has recognised that employees may incur additional expenses and as such have introduced a new method of claiming deductions at tax time. If you have been working from home at any time during the […]

$1,500 JobKeeper subsidy to keep staff employed What we know so far We have compiled a summary on what we know so far in relation to JobKeeper. Whilst the summary is countless pages long, we promise you, this is the short version! Few important dates to note > From 20 April 2020 – ATO Online […]

The Government is introducing a subsidy program to support employees and businesses. The JobKeeper Payment is designed to help businesses affected by the Coronavirus to cover the costs of their employees’ wages, so that more employees can retain their job and continue to earn an income. The Government will provide $1,500 per fortnight per employee […]

The Government released a second, far reaching $66.1 bn stimulus package that boosts income support payments, introduces targeted changes to the superannuation rules, provides cash flow support of up to $100,000 for small business employers, and relaxes corporate insolvency laws. The total $84 billion dollar stimulus package (including the first announced package) was passed without […]

Valued Client We recognise that COVID-19 is placing new and increasing challenges on our clients, our community and our economy. We understand these current events result in a significant level of uncertainty for our clients. The stimulus package is due to clear through parliament week of 23 March when the next sitting is scheduled. From […]

The Coalition have announced that they will be providing an assistance package worth billions of dollars targeted at stimulating the economy and fending off a recession in relation to the global pandemic, Coronavirus. Here’s what we know! > The instant asset write-off will immediately increase to $150,000 > Small and medium businesses can get up […]

It is common for business owners to do bookkeeping, but this is where most of them make mistakes. These mistakes might seem like no big deal, they can easily cost you a lot of effort, time, money, and even the business. If you have been thinking a lot about handling your books, then you don’t […]

If you’re about to replace your mobile phone this Christmas and have two-step authentication on it for your Xero file, it’s important to know that there are a couple of steps that need to be followed before you change devices. You can’t just download the authenticator app on your new phone and start using Xero […]

We’ve talked about the importance of having a cash-flow forecast for your business a LOT at Empire Accountants, and our reasoning is generally because it predicts the ebb and flow of cash in your business – Which sounds pretty important and straight forward right!? BUT it wasn’t until I was perched on our office beanbag […]

When you think of record keeping you might just think of filing away a fuel receipt in a folder or attaching an invoice to a bill in your online accounting software. And yes, in a nutshell, record keeping is the action of documenting your required records for the ATO and compliance purposes. But if we […]

At Empire Accountants, we take a holistic approach to structuring by analysing your personal circumstances to develop a tailored solution which best achieves your needs.

As a business owner you make hundreds of decisions on a daily basis… What task should you prioritise…? How should you respond to a particular email…? How can you increase your sales…? Is it wrong to take Christmas holidays in July…? The list is endless. Because we are frequently making these decisions, we don’t often […]

Empire Accountants has had the pleasure of working with Katie and Jess from Red Stockholm, assisting with their compliance, taxation and bookkeeping requirements since early 2018. Red Stockholm specialises in marketing services for small businesses in Brisbane, particularly in the hospitality, events and festivals space. Katie and Jess started their business in 2013 & have achieved […]

“Brilliant thinking is rare, but courage is in shorter supply than genius” ~ Peter Thiel. But you know what? You’ve already become one in a million; you’ve already mustered the courage to start your own business because you know that skill, that product or idea will make a difference. A difference to you, to your […]

The Problem with only one entity Now the problem with only having one entity in your business group is that you may be missing out on hitting one or more of the key considerations in my last article (see here if you missed it). Tax Minimisation With sole company in the business structure, yes it […]

What is Single Touch Payroll? Single Touch Payroll is the new way that small businesses report their employees’ tax and super information to the ATO. At present, businesses with less than 20 employees report this information to the ATO once a year. However, from the 1st of July 2019 all businesses will be required to […]

There are various situations for which you might want to share your space; property space I mean not personal ~ who would ever want to do that! And with the rise of the sharing economy, it seems a main theme with advisors is the recommendation that clients rent out a bit of their space to […]

Empire Accountants has had the pleasure of working with James from GRAF-X Design Suite, assisting with his compliance, taxation and bookkeeping requirements since 2018. GRAF-X specialises in branding and design for small business owners in Brisbane. If your business is in need of some branding help and you don’t quite know where to start, reading on […]

Bookkeeping; the strong beating heart of not only your business but the whole accounting industry! As accountants, we are solid advocates for keeping air tight financial records as it allows us to provide accurate and helpful advice that assists small business owners in understanding their numbers and identifying areas of opportunity. That being said, we […]

Download March Update Here

Are you always chasing your tail with the tax man? Behind on your taxation obligations? If lodging your business returns, paying the ATO and Super isn’t made a priority in your business, it’s easy to fall behind. The problem here, put simply, is that your business needs to be compliant with the ATO to continue […]

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Happy New Year! Said everyone three weeks ago… Whoops, I think we missed it. January has already been a whirlwind here at Empire Accountants, however we’ve got a hold of it with both hands now and we’re ready to take on 2019, full steam ahead. The motto of our office this month is ‘how can […]

Our client feature this quarter is the lovely Lori from Friends with Fur. Empire Accountants assisted Lori in the initial stages of her business with her company structure set up and have since been working together over the last few months, assisting with compliance requirements and watching her business grow. We sat down with Lori […]

In order for your small business to thrive, you need reliable staff in the best possible positions. It’s one thing to hire the best fit on paper, but when it comes to building your dream team, it’s important to find team members who not only have the right skill set, but are also the right […]

There are only a couple of weeks left until the Christmas Holidays arrive. The Holiday season brings with it the busiest time of the year. For the small business owner, this means increased professional demand, less time with the family and more time at the office. As small business owners have limited time but certainly […]

The ATO has announced a one-off opportunity for employers to “self-correct” noncompliance of super guarantee payments without penalty. After estimating that $2.85 billion is currently owed in late or missing super guarantee payments, the ATO are running a 12-month amnesty period where employers can voluntarily disclose undeclared super guarantee shortfalls or missing payments. Employers who […]

What is the ASIC Annual Statement? Why do you have to be registered with ASIC? For you to run your business through a company in Australia, that company has to be registered with ASIC by law. ASIC then charges a fee every year, basically to hold this company. Why do we send you something to […]

Generally GST doesn’t apply to the sale or purchase of a property which is used predominately for private accommodation. So in instances where you are selling your main residence or a rental property, you won’t lose 10% of your sales proceeds in tax. Winning! But don’t be caught out, there can be situations where you […]

Now the ATO may be claiming that their online lodgement program myTax is the best thing they’ve discovered since fire. But I’m here to set the record straight! Needless to say, the ATO’s primary function is to collect tax; not to help you save yours. So is it any wonder that they promote their own […]

Did you know, there are more than 426, 000 small businesses operating in Queensland? In fact, we’re the core of every industry, make up 97% of businesses statewide and employ 44% of private sector workers. When you look at the stats it’s easy to see how important small businesses are to Queensland. Yet owning and […]