Using Technology to Streamline Your Finance Function

Achieving “Financial Independence” has always been considered the main aim for investors. Many investors become impatient, or they try to get there too quickly. As a result, they may lose discipline and have to start from scratch again. For many it is like chasing a rainbow they never reach, which could be due to a range of reasons. For those that do succeed, in most cases, it is due to using some basic investment principles, combined with a large dose of discipline. Below are 10 Finance and Investing tips, in no particular order, which should be considered as part of a long-term strategy towards financial independence. 1. Insure your income Your future income earning potential, especially in your early working life, will have a value greater than most assets you own. It therefore makes sense to insure it via an effective income protection policy. If due to illness or injury you were unable to work and lost your regular income, you would be putting all of your long-term financial strategy at risk. These premiums are also tax deductible. 2. Set aside 10% of your income – invest it If you can get in this habit early, then it just becomes automatic. Each time your income increases, the value of your 10% also increases. Invest it for the long-term and let the power of compounding take over! 3. Spend less than you earn Should not need to explain this one, but getting in this habit early, will make your life so much less stressful! 4. The best time to invest is always yesterday Procrastination is the greatest enemy of those seeking financial independence. What are you waiting for? Passive income cannot start until you start investing. There is an abundance of low-cost methods now to start investing into markets, so you really do not have an excuse. 5. Do not try and time the market In reality, timing the market is too hard. If you are worried the market might fall, then spread your initial investment over a number of dates and purchase prices so you can get a spread of purchase costs. If you are investing in sharemarkets, yes, they will fall in value!!!! They always do, but they go up as well. If markets do fall, see that as an opportunity to buy in at a cheaper price. 6. Count your money – regularly! Every month, quarter or six months, keep a schedule of the value of your investment assets (bank accounts, shares, superannuation, rental property, etc). Also keep a record of your liabilities (home loan, credit card, investment loan, personal loans for vehicles, caravans, etc). Measure your net asset position and record which way this is trending. You will know pretty quickly if you are heading the right way. If your net asset position is heading south, you need to change your approach, urgently. If it is continually heading in the right direction, then keep up the discipline, but reward yourself where possible! 7. Use the power of compounding This is the eighth Wonder of the World (ask Albert Einstein!). The power of long-term regular investment may not be apparent at the outset of your investing life, but I can guarantee later in life you will always be thankful for those little acorns (investments) you planted 20, 30 & 40 years ago. Example – put $10,000 away each year for 40 years, earn a 7% return over this time and now have $2,136,000. This capital base can generate over $100,000pa each year in income now! Do some Googling and find a compounding interest calculator! 8. Understand risk. Not investing is just as risky as investing! There are many who will not invest in the sharemarket “because it is too risky.” The share market can be volatile, which means there is definitely a short-term risk due to changes in value. But you need to understand how volatility works. There are also risks in only investing in bank deposits in the long-term. Your Term Deposit balances will remain capital guaranteed, but after taking into account inflation, the value of your deposit actually “loses” value. There are risks everywhere, which include volatility, inflationary, diversification and liquidity risk. But there are ways to address each risk. 9. Become financially literate and realistic You owe it to yourself to not put your head in the sand about investment and finance. Most of the characteristics of being a great long-term investor are based on common sense and discipline. There are some wonderful, basic books to get you started. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S Clason, Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kyosaki, The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J Stanley. You do not need an International Economics degree to understand these books, but they are great foundations you can use to get you into great investing habits. 10. Tax deductions do not make you wealthy I still see a lot of investments advertised or promoted as providing the investor with huge tax deductions, providing tax savings. My first reaction is a big red flag. Large tax deductions, normally mean tax losses and/or cash outlays. A net tax loss on an investment, does allow you to claim a tax deduction, but you only get back your tax deduction multiplied by your marginal tax rate. You are still likely to be out of pocket. Understand what you are getting yourself into long term. I hope these tips can help you on your investing journey! They have helped me!

Who is it for? MYOB introduced “Solo” earlier this year for small sole traders and have now released MYOB Assist, a new AI-supported mobile app aimed at addressing the administrative burdens facing small and medium-sized businesses. What does it cost? MYOB Assist is included for free with MYOB subscriptions and is compatible with Lite, Pro, AccountRight and Connected Ledger subscriptions. It is available in the Apple - App Store and Android - Google Store. What can it be used for? The app is designed to help MYOB Users (owners, employees etc) by keeping on top of their administrative responsibilities on the go. MYOB claims that making these processes accessible via a mobile device will help business owners feel more in control and prepared. The App offers the following features: · AI-powered receipt capture Take photos of receipts to capture deductible expenses. Auto-matching and AI category suggestions run seamlessly in the background. · Mobile invoicing and payment reminders Create, edit and send invoices from your mobile · Real-time bookkeeping Keep cash flow and accounting up to date with the automatic sync feature from the MYOB Assist app to your browser, so you can work anywhere. For more information visit MYOB Assist or contact one of the GTP Team.

The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House is closing! From 1 July 2026 there will be no more access to the SBSCH. This is due to the Payday Super reforms being introduced from 1 July 2026. Existing users are encouraged to transition to alternative options for Super stream and their use of a super clearing house. This includes reviewing their existing software options and payroll packages or looking at options offered by super funds, commercial dealing houses or other payroll software providers. For more information Employers can refer to ato.gov.au/howtopaysuper. For more information on Payday Super refer to previous blogs on our website on this topic.

What is Medicare levy? The Medicare levy is a small tax most Australians pay to help fund our public health system. It’s 2% of your taxable income and is automatically included in your total tax payable at tax time. Who pays the Medicare levy? Most Australian residents will pay the 2% Medicare Levy, once their income reaches the Medicare threshold as in the chart below. For most taxpayers once they earn $27,222 they will start paying some form of Medicare. However, in certain cases, you might get a reduction or even an exemption from the Medicare levy. For instance, if you meet specific conditions such as being a low-income earner, foreign resident or having a medical exemption, you may qualify for a reduced rate or full exemption.