Tradie Accountants Ballarat, CGH Accounting Shares Business Accounting Tips
And being the Last Month of The Year for 2023, That’s a Wrap from us!
A warm welcome to our final newsletter for the year, from all the team at CGH. 2023 has been an extremely successful and enjoyable year for us and we hope it’s been the same story for all our clients.
Silly Season Is Around The Corner
Our accountants and other staff at our Ballarat and Torquay offices are currently counting the days till the Christmas Party (always counting). Some of our Bean Counters have quite the reputation for getting up to all sorts of mischief at the end of the year, as we loosen those wide, stripey ties and start to relax a little: like writing rude words upside down on their calculators, converting pens to pea-shooters and firing grotty, little wet balls of old receipts at one another, and wearing novelty glasses around the office – the ones with the big, weird blurry eyeballs on them – but sometimes we don’t quite know whether the guys are pranking or not…
Q: Did you hear about the blonde Management Accountant?
A: She went to her yoga instructor to discuss stretch targets.
Q: What did the depressed accountant say?
A: ‘It’s accrual world.”
Summer Has Arrived
But seriously folks, this time of year in Ballarat and Torquay is awesome. In Ballarat, there’s actually warm, beautiful weather – the lake glistens in the sun and all the flora round town is in full bloom – nevertheless, half the people get in their cars to head to Torquay! Or somewhere in that vicinity. Because hello, some of Australia’s most iconic beaches, roads, pubs, and holiday spots. CGH Accounting will be closed until Monday 8th January 2024 but other than that, please get in touch if you need any advice regarding your finances – we are always here for you.
Speaking of the Surf Coast and sound advice, in this month’s newsletter we thought we would share some tips for tradies.
CGH Accounting: Tradie Accountants Bookkeeping Experts
One of our specialities is in bookkeeping for tradies and as tradie accountants, we really love helping you guys; you’re definitely fun clients.
Have any of you made the mistake of trying to fix something around the house when you should have just called in a professional?
“I tried to do it myself, and I think I made it worse!”
“It looked really easy on YouTube…”
“I thought if I could buy it in a regular store, I must be able to do it too.”
These lines sound familiar?
How many times have you, as a Tradie, heard these lines? Hundreds of times? You know your drills, and you also know this drill – undoing a client’s mess is often far more time consuming, expensive, and painful than if they’d just put the job in your hands in the first place, right?
Well, we in the accounting industry as Ballarat and Torquay based tax accountant for tradies, we’ve got our own collection of familiar lines, heard over and again:
“What do you mean I have to do reports every quarter?”
“Oh, I can’t use my business card for personal purchases?”
“My mate said I just had to do this.”
SAY NO TO UNNECESSARY PAIN
The pain that you experience when a client drops a DIY mess onto you is similar to that which we experience when a financial DIY mess crosses our path – and just like yours – it is more time consuming, expensive, and painful than if we’d had everything setup correctly from the start.
Just as we would not (and don’t) go out to client sites to run wiring / lay pipe / build walls / lay carpet etc, we strongly discourage any tradies from going fully DIY with their business record keeping, without advice from a professional. But just as everyone wants the right tradie on their job (after all, we don’t call in a painter to build a wall, or a carpenter to install electricals), you also want the right accountant on your team.
Whether you’re a business owner, a self-employed contractor, an employee, full time, part time, casual, or a bit of a mix, CGH Accounting Services can make sure that your business record keeping, BAS and tax matters are correct and accurate and that you’re doing everything necessary to make your business secure.
DIY Tips For Tradies
There are a few things you can do as you go to make life easier for you and for your trusted accountants though. Here’s our top five tips:
1. Job Numbers are important
Not just for identifying clients and projects but for distinguishing payments, invoicing, communications and much more. Always use job numbers and be fastidious about it.
2. Stay positive about Bookkeeping
You probably hate paperwork; fair enough! But stay Zen about staying on top of the basic stuff – keeping receipts and things like that – then pass it all onto us – no worries!
3. Outsource stuff
As mentioned, why not outsource as much of the paperwork as possible to pros, such as CGH Accounting. Instead of wasting time messing around with this stuff, spend that time building your bizz and client relationships.
4. Don’t mix business with pleasure
Use a bit of the old self-discipline when it comes to keeping your personal monies and your business finances separate. You should have separate bank accounts for these.
5. Stay connected with clients
This is not so much an accounting/financial tip, but just a general excellent rule of thumb for you guys. It is much easier to service a customer who you are already acquainted with, than always searching for new ones. Keep customers’ contact details and nurture relationships where possible, to generate repeat business.
Jack Of All Trades
Tradie bookkeeping is one of the many feathers in the CGH cap. Some of our other specialities include Self-Managed Super Funds, Small Business Accounting, Company Secretarial Services, ATO Dept Payment Plans and Cloud Accounting. And if you haven’t met Our Team behind the desks at CGH Accounting, click here
Happy Holidays
That’s a wrap for 2023! We hope all our amazing clients have an amazing time celebrating, kicking back, travelling – whatever you’re doing over the Festive Season. We look forward to assisting you all with all your accounting needs and more, as well as meeting new clients and building new relationships in 2024.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from us to you!
