Back to Podcasts

Nina (00:07.683)
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Makers Business Tribe podcast. Now in today’s episode, I’m going to interview my really good, I would almost say a partner in crime when it comes to all of my accounting needs, personal and business -wise, Richard Dawson. And…

This is probably more of a podcast that I feel like you need to listen to, but maybe you don’t want to. But because you’ve subscribed to my channel and you’re here today, I really believe you will enjoy this episode because as I said, Richard is my accountant for my personal tax as well as for my business tax. And I am working with so many businesses.

starting out that are not having any conversations with their accountant at that stage and when it then comes to tax time or even later realize oh my goodness if i had asked these questions six months prior and had put a few things in place i would not be sweating balls right now and i would actually be able to focus

on keep growing and building my business versus trying to gather things together that my accountant is asking me to do now. If I had known it six months ago, my life would be much easier. So this episode is all about helping you to avoid the five most common mistakes that people make by not talking to their accountant.

But because you are really busy, I got Richard on today and I’m going to ask these five questions in your name today so that Richard can share a little bit of wisdom, a little bit of insight and hopefully give you some clarity and some action steps for you to take to make sure that you are set up for success and come text time and beyond. Everything is set up for smooth sailing. So with that,

Nina (02:32.879)
Please meet Richard. So Richard has a small accounting practice in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast. He works with individuals like you and me, as well as businesses. And he also specializes on self -managed super funds. And yeah, as I said, Richard has been an accountant for me for many, many years and a really

trusted partner and support. And yeah, I can’t wait to have this conversation with you, Richard. Welcome.

Richard Dawson (03:10.21)
Thanks Nina, thanks for having me. Hopefully I can add some value.

Nina (03:12.865)
Yeah.

I am sure you can because you have helped me so much in the past. It’s been unreal. And as you know, I’m on my second business journey and there’s been ups and downs and lots of changes for me. And you’ve always been on my side and always have been giving me some very pragmatic, simple and easy to action advice versus advice that I just feel like I’m a deer in the headlines and have no idea what you’re even talking about.

Yeah, and that’s what I really appreciate about you because I can follow along what you’re sharing with me and you never seem to overshare, but just giving me the right steps that I need to focus on at the right time. And that’s why I’m so excited to introduce you to my people. So here’s the scene, okay? Richard, because I’d like you to imagine who we are talking.

to really, right? Because as I said, I’m going to interview in the name of all these wonderful humans that are busy making and selling their homemade products. So those ladies and gentlemen, they have been in the business for about one or two years. Yeah. And they’re at the stage right now where they are and they’ve kind of perfected their product and they’re selling it at markets.

They might have an Etsy store, they might sell a few things online. And they are very much on that journey trying to turn this side hustle into full -time income and into their business. So, and the first question that I always get asked when I start working with these businesses is, can I just stay a sole trader or do I need to…

Nina (05:11.459)
Do I need to spend the money on becoming a company? When does this become relevant?

Richard Dawson (05:17.25)
Okay, that’s a great question and it’s very important because it has repercussions down the line. But the first hurdle most people hit is money when starting a new business because you’re investing most of your money into your new business. And Soul Trader is always an easy and cheap option to do. It’s less complicated and it is cheaper.

And if you don’t have the money to set up a company at that point, that’s fine. I always suggest to clients, go to the sole trader route initially if you don’t have the money. And then you can always change down the line. There’s a little bit of admin to do that down the line, but it can be done. But if you do have the money to set it up upfront, I would recommend setting up a company. A lot of accountants still…

recommend using a trust, this family trust. But this has really gone out of fashion and out of favor in the last few years. So I would highly recommend that you go with a company. There’s a setup fee. Most accountants would charge between $1 ,500 or $2 ,000 to set one up for you. But it really offers you a few benefits. It’s…

Nina (06:34.723)
Mm -hmm.

Richard Dawson (06:41.186)
it offers you, first thing it offers you is limited liability. So if someone had to eat one of your products that you made and they got poisoned and they wanted to sue you and your business with a company, they could only come after the assets of the company, hence the limited liability. So you would be protected that way. As a sole trader, you wouldn’t be protected. So.

Nina (07:00.963)
Mm -hmm.

Richard Dawson (07:09.986)
all your personal assets could be at risk if something unfortunate like that did happen. Luckily, fortunately, it doesn’t happen much very often, but there always is that risk. So if you can, you’ve got a little bit of extra cash, go the company route. The negatives would be obviously the cost and a little bit more compliance and a little bit more complicated. But it doesn’t have to be, you don’t have to bear the burden of that.

complication your accountant should, you just got to carry on with your business and the accountant should use that company as the vehicle to run your business from an admin point of view and from a tax point of view. There’s also, I haven’t spoken about it yet, but a lot of tax benefits to a company. With a company as a separate legal entity or separate, it’s like a separate person, you can control,

who gets taxed on the income that that business makes, whether it’s the company that pays tax on that or whether it’s you personally, or a bit of both. And you can control that ratio because there are differences in the tax rates between individuals and companies. Companies have a maximum tax rate of 25 % with individuals go right up to 47 % with the Medicare levy. So there’s a big difference.

Nina (08:33.187)
Mm.

Richard Dawson (08:37.314)
And so you can leave a lot of the profits in the company and only get taxed to 25 % maximum, and then just take out the amounts as you need them to keep yourself, your personal income, at a lower tax bracket.

So yeah, I mean, I think those are the salient points on that.

Nina (09:02.339)
I think for me to add here is because of course there might be a lot of people are like, well, I might just stay with the sole trader out a little bit because I’m, I still have a second job and you know, I don’t want, I don’t want to spend the two grand. Now what I’ve noticed with, with especially tribe members who come on, we will go down.

Richard Dawson (09:21.312)
Yeah.

Nina (09:31.317)
building out strategic partnerships with distributors and wholesalers and retailers really quickly. And that will immediately mean larger orders. And with larger orders, more things can go wrong. And a seasoned retailer, distributor, stockers, you name it, if a shipment goes missing or gets damaged or they can’t sell it,

It’s very easy for them to want to push that back onto you. If you then from a cashflow perspective, you can’t service that or you are just not protected properly here, even from a legal standpoint, I would say being a sole trader can create much more risk that these much larger entities could go after your personal assets, meaning that that could be your house.

that could be any money that you own, your diamond ring, it doesn’t matter. But if you’re waiting, let’s say, until you’re very close to signing up your first wholesale deal, because if your product is good, chances are a retailer will find you and say, I want to stock you. If you then reach out to someone like Richard and say, can we set up a company?

That takes time. It takes, it takes, and all the way, I think we just did that with one of our clients and they were waiting, then ended up waiting for the director’s ID that you need in order to then get to your ABN and all of that stuff. That almost took 12 weeks. And then you were sitting in limbo for several months and either strike the deal without being properly protected.

Or you actually have to say, I can’t do the deal because now I actually have to get all of my books in order. And the ATO does not care that you’re under pressure. They take their sweet time. And I think just from a business perspective, you really have to consider that. And I think for me personally, the question is really, OK,

Nina (11:54.275)
Are you getting serious about your business or are you just happy to make a couple sales here and there, but that’s it? If that’s it, then maybe the likelihood of something bad happening is really low. But if you’re like, no, I’m on a trajectory, I actually want to make this my full -time income. And I kind of have this understanding.

that I need to strike bigger deals and bigger deals can bigger risks. Then just from my perspective, setting up a company just from that point of view is important. And I think also…

Richard Dawson (12:37.474)
Yes, I think it also looks a lot more professional if you are dealing with some of the bigger stockists or in a bigger business chains. You look a lot more professional if you show up as a company.

Nina (12:40.705)
Mmm.

Nina (12:52.387)
Exactly, exactly. Because I think they will also not feel like, okay, well, so the only, if something happens, what you’re offering me is like your dog and your old shitty car in front of your house. Like, you know, because people will then also question, do you even have insurance in place? Like, is this a proper business? It kind of shows a little bit more. Awesome.

So sub question here, Richard, what, like, does this still serve me maybe from a tax perspective, because you spoke about the tax differences, 25 % versus up to 48 % if I’m still employed.

Richard Dawson (13:37.378)
Yes, and that’s a great question. And my short answer, obviously, is it depends, like all these things do. And this is where it’s important to have a chat to your accountant about this, because it really depends on where you are in starting your new business and how much employment income you have. At what level are you paying tax?

Because you can, I’ll give you an example. A lot of people, when they start a business in their first year, they might run at a loss because they’ve got various expenses, et cetera, et cetera. They’re investing money and it might take a year or two to show a profit. Now, and I’m going to get a little bit technical here, but I just want to illustrate what effect this can have.

Nina (14:06.659)
Mm -hmm.

Richard Dawson (14:35.106)
So say you did make a loss in that first year as a sole trader. If you, in certain circumstances, you could write that loss off against your employment income when your accountant does your tax return, which means you’re going to get a bigger refund. So some of that tax that was withheld from you on your salary will be refunded to you because your overall income is going to be less when you get your tax assessment.

Now, there’s four tests that you only have to pass one of them. And the easiest one to pass is the first one, which is if your turnover in that little business is more than 20 ,000, then you can write off that loss. So if you’ve got a turnover of 21 ,000 and you have expenses of 41 ,000, so you’ve got a loss of 20 ,000, you can then write that loss off.

Nina (15:21.475)
Mm -hmm.

Richard Dawson (15:33.954)
against your employment income, which is going to give you a good tax refund. Okay? So I’m just saying that’s one little niche example of something that you need to look at. If you’re not going to make a loss from the get -go, hopefully you don’t have to, then that issue is null and void. It doesn’t matter. Then you might want to get the company going up and going straight away because there’s no point.

Nina (15:40.929)
Mm -hmm.

Richard Dawson (16:04.366)
in returning that income in your own name because all you’re going to be doing then with a profit is increasing your taxable income and you’re really going to be in a high tax bracket because of your employment income and it’s just going to go even higher. So yeah, if you’re doing it part -time and you’re working, I would definitely and you’re going to make profits from the get -go, do a company, those profits you can leave in the company.

and only get taxed at 25 % and it’s not going to increase your personal income separate. So, yeah, I hope that answers that.

Nina (16:43.427)
Awesome, yeah. So as soon as I have my product ready and I’m selling it at a market, do I charge GST?

Richard Dawson (16:57.022)
Great question. So the first rule is that you don’t have to register for GST unless your turnover is or you expect your turnover for the year to be more than, sorry, expect your turnover for the year to be less than $75 ,000.

So.

Nina (17:19.203)
more if I expect it to be more I charge GST.

Richard Dawson (17:21.858)
If you expect it to be more, then you have to register. If you expect to turn over to be less than $75 ,000, you don’t have to register. You can voluntarily register regardless. We’ll talk about that in a minute. So again, not being registered for GST really simplifies things. You don’t have to account for the GST separately. You don’t have to charge GST. You don’t have to do quarterly activity statement returns with a tax office.

Nina (17:34.251)
Mm -hmm.

Richard Dawson (17:52.27)
So it really simplifies things and when you’re starting off, you don’t want to make life too complicated in the business. So when you start, you don’t know what your turnover is going to be. So a lot of clients I recommend is get going and then after a few months, maybe six months or eight months, you’ll know where you stand or you’re starting to get close to 75 ,000. Then…

Nina (17:55.617)
Mm -hmm.

Nina (18:19.331)
Mm -hmm.

Richard Dawson (18:20.066)
Yeah, give your accountant a call and it’s very easy and simple for them just to register you there and then and to explain to you what it means. It means now you need to start charging the GST and it gets complicated here. Not complicated, it gets if you’re in a market and you’re selling processed food, so say jams that you put in a jar, then it’s not raw.

Nina (18:31.203)
Mm -hmm.

Richard Dawson (18:48.098)
in a reward state, so you have to charge GST on there if you register. And then that 10 % you need to give to the tax officer every quarter. You can’t claim the GST on your expenses against that to reduce it. So you put in fuel, you know, your fuel costs or your, often your raw materials that you buy. Say you’re making jam and you’re buying strawberries or whatever. Normally they would be GST free because it’s a raw material. So effectively you,

Nina (19:15.203)
Mm -hmm.

Richard Dawson (19:18.402)
If you do the maths, you’re actually worse off because you got no GST to claim against the GST that you have to remit to the tax office. But that’s just the way it is. So my advice would be try and stay unregistered as long as you can, if you can. But if your turnover is going to be high from the get -go, then you have to. And there’s no way around that, unfortunately.

Nina (19:37.409)
Mm -hmm.

Nina (19:45.795)
Yeah. Okay. But that’s good advice because if, um, I can do it fairly last minute when I really see, okay, I’m getting close to the, to that figure and then no negative implications for me. But actually, and I mean, like I can testify this, it takes, it takes a little bit of time each quarter to make sure that you have all your expenses tracked to reduce this as much as possible. And, um,

Richard Dawson (19:56.514)
Yes. Yep.

is.

Richard Dawson (20:12.29)
Mm.

Nina (20:15.691)
you know, yeah, me personally, if you can avoid that step. I don’t know.

Richard Dawson (20:17.89)
Again,

Richard Dawson (20:24.034)
Yes, but sometimes it might work in your favor to register upfront. Let’s give an example. So, you know, we spoke about making a loss initially, or if you’re investing monies, say you had to buy a van or a trailer to transport your goods. So there was some initial big expenditure and your income was going to be growing at a slower rate.

Nina (20:41.921)
Mm -hmm.

Richard Dawson (20:53.634)
So you’re going effectively making a negative cash in the first few months. It might be worthwhile then registering for GST because then you would get a GST refund in those first months because your GST expenses would be higher than your GST income and you get a net refund. So again, everyone’s circumstances are different and that’s why it’s so important having that conversation with your accountant beforehand.

Nina (20:53.899)
Mm -hmm.

Nina (21:10.499)
Mm -hmm.

Nina (21:23.491)
Yeah, awesome. So then because that that then also ultimately means right, if if you are getting a little bit more serious about your business and there is you are either investing into something or you are and or hopefully both also in generating revenue.

just having the conversation with your accountant early to paint the picture and to kind of being described where you’re going to go, what you’re looking to do to get a bit of proactive advice can be beneficial, right? Because in that situation that you just mentioned, Richard, what if let’s say I buy a big van, first of Jan, but then I only reach out to my accountant.

in July yeah and they look at my receipts and they’re like oh you bought this big van is there anything that you could then still do for me when it comes to DST refund?

Richard Dawson (22:27.614)
Yeah, you’ll probably be too late then, that’s six months. You can, if we’re still in that quarter, so for example, what are we now in the middle of February? I just did one yesterday where I backdated a client’s GST registration to one January, because I’m still in this quarter, so it’s still current. But I think six months down the line, you’ll probably be too late.

Nina (22:34.401)
Okay.

Richard Dawson (22:57.218)
and you’re going to miss out on that GSC refund on that band.

Nina (23:01.955)
Okay. Okay. Because it’s, you know, for me, is one of the big arguments, like have the conversation now with someone as early as possible versus because when, because when you are employed, there’s really no reason or not, not many people see reason to just pick up the phone, call their account and be like, Hey, you should just tell you, you know, what I’m, what I’m doing, because

Richard Dawson (23:07.426)
Yes.

Nina (23:26.563)
For most people, it’s pretty easy if you only have one source of income that comes in every month. So this is just new territory. But I’m hoping that just these three questions so far, these are questions that it’s really good to just have with your accountant early. Especially should I be registering for GST, as Richard just pointed out, it’s nuanced.

ask the question and then hopefully your accountant will ask you a sub question similar to what Richard just did to find out whether it’s beneficial for you or not. So my next question is Richard and kind of answered it for me already but maybe just like plain and simple. Once I’m getting just a little bit more serious about my business, I’m making some income and I’m making just a little bit of investment maybe for material and equipment.

Do I need an accountant or could it just like be figuring these things out on my own?

Richard Dawson (24:29.954)
Yeah, I think you do need an accountant. But I think because the money and the time that you spent with your accountant will pay, the return on that will be much higher. You really need to be set up in the right vehicle, on the right trajectory and ticking the right boxes as you go from the get -go.

it really can cost you money if you don’t or save you money if you do. But saying that, I also think it’s worthwhile. I know everyone’s time poor, but sometimes it’s worthwhile just doing your own Google search before you have a chat to your accountant, trying to find the answers to your questions so that you’re a little more armed, have a little bit more ammunition, so that when he answers you, you could probably…

ask more questions and just get, you know, so you get a much better understanding of the answer that it gives you. And then to, and you say, second part of your question was, what should I look for? I think from my experience, because I’ve also had my own businesses before, and I think there’s two options.

Nina (25:45.763)
Hmm.

Richard Dawson (25:56.866)
You can go with one of the bigger accounting firms in your region, wherever you are, or a smaller accounting firm. You tend to find with the bigger ones, there’s a lot more staff. And sometimes when you phone, you don’t always get through to the partner or the principal or the person that set you up initially, because they’ve got different levels of staffing below underneath them and they’re very busy.

Whereas with a smaller fin, you might get to have that direct contact, which to me is worth a lot. You don’t want to be wading through.

different levels of staff just to get an answer to your question. You want to go right to the top first time and get the best answer you can the first time you ask it.

Nina (26:52.547)
Yeah, I think what I’ve learned pretty recently is that your service of me just picking up the phone and calling you and asking a question is very rare. Because I had, I literally had, I think three of my friends that I sent to you recently who said to me, okay, so I am…

been trying to find an accountant. And number one, it was really hard to set up an initial meeting. And that initial meeting was beyond $500 just to say hi and for them to listen to me of what I’m doing. So very much lawyer style. And they were all presented with then a costing sheet of literally if the conversation is more than 10 minutes on the phone, it costs you this much.

15 minutes, 20 minutes, and also what an email response to a question is worth. And that to me, if it would definitely be a criteria, I would try and find someone who doesn’t practice like that. Because for me personally, I sometimes just didn’t know what I didn’t know. And I just had this question.

But if I always have on my mind, oh my goodness, just asking these questions and it might be completely stupid question will cost me $500. But I’m just starting off on my business. Like maybe I don’t even need to ask this question. Um, I feel like can create a lot of anxiety and that’s why people don’t even reach out to their accountant because they’re like, I can’t afford asking the question. And, and, you know,

Richard Dawson (28:32.642)
I’m going to go ahead and close the video.

Richard Dawson (28:38.21)
I agree, yes.

Richard Dawson (28:44.194)
Well, I think a lot of accountants think they’re lawyers these days, but obviously their time is important and it’s precious. But I, and a lot of accountants work on a model where a quick phone call, a quick answer, it doesn’t cost me anything. It’s, you know, three minutes and you answer the question, the client goes away happy. And there’s no reason to charge for that time because it’s really…

been three minutes. And most questions can be answered within three minutes. And if it is a very complicated question, then you can explain to the client, or I would explain to the client, listen, I need to do this, this, and this. It’s going to cost you. But I find that to be really the case. It doesn’t often happen. And I also find phone calls a lot quicker to address than an email. Maybe my typing skills are not good.

Nina (29:41.987)
Hmm.

Richard Dawson (29:44.034)
that good, but I’d much rather answer the phone, deal with the question as opposed to having to type the whole email.

Nina (29:54.243)
Yeah. And this is just like my personal recommendation. I feel like this has been so invaluable because, well, same for me. If my accountant said to me, sorry, my accountant, you Richard, just like put everything in an email and it’s like, okay, now I need to think about how I’m going to describe this to you and give you all the facts and details. Whereas if I could just call you quickly and you’re like, this is what I need to know. And that doesn’t matter. You get to the answer quicker.

And I feel like a sub point to consider here, and maybe this strikes a chord with some of our listeners, is this whole anxiety around money. Because I hear this so often that people very much they’re shying away from having a conversation with their accountant because it’s so closely connected to money. And if we have any type of fears or insecurities around money.

Um, then to me having, having an accountant in my court that, that takes away that fear and replaces it with a little bit more clarity is, is, is, is crazy and valuable because if you really serious about wanting to go into business, you have to ultimately overcome that fear and anxiety around money because.

you’ll be the first person receiving money and spending money in your business and you’re driving the profits. But you can only do that when you feel at ease around your money. And I think that’s a that’s a that’s an even completely different side is the way I feel it’s very important to choose to choose and find an accountant early that you feel like.

I can actually have some personal conversations with this human and they don’t belittle me or tell me I’m stupid or that I haven’t figured out my life because maybe my financials don’t look as good as someone thought they should. It’s just something to consider. I think you Richard, you were like my fourth accountant.

Richard Dawson (32:23.394)
Okay.

Nina (32:23.619)
Because it just always had really bad experiences. And I’ll tell someone recommended me to you. And I was like, oh my gosh, this can be different. So I feel like it’s just to consider. So don’t just accept if you feel like you’re talking to a lawyer accountant who is very sterile and.

feels like you have to get in a queue to get your question answered and you have to pay an arm and a leg for that answer. Because I think there are alternatives out there, such as Richard. Awesome. So my last question, Richard, what else should I consider as like a first year business owner trying to move into full -time business, full -time income business level stage?

and maybe leaving my job behind in, in, in that ER. Is there anything else that’s like, Hey, you want to think about this early?

Richard Dawson (33:29.218)
Yes, I think a lot of people get intimidated around the admin and the numbers, as you mentioned, figures and when they start off and they spend a lot of time worrying about that.

And really they should be spending all their time on getting their business off the ground. They’re the experts.

and that’s what they should be focusing on. So when it comes to the admin and the numbers, I really believe in the KISS principle, keeping it simple, and also obviously minimizing your costs. And I’ll just talk about, you know, there are a of accounting systems out there today, the zeros, the NYBs, QuickBooks, and a lot of people starting off their business think it’s going to be the silver bullet. I’ll buy this package and my numbers will…

fall into place and they’ll come out the other end for my accountants. And that’s not true. You you, whichever package you go with, you need to spend time learning how it works, figuring it out. And if you’re not very IT literate, that can be challenging, also very stressful, and you’re just adding to the stress. So if that’s something that’s not appealing to you, some people like that sort of thing, then I always recommend avoid it.

you’re going to avoid the stress and you’re going to avoid the cost. Zero, I think the normal package now is $600 a year. That’s a lot of money, especially for a startup business. My tip, and you can take this away, is to make sure you’ve got a separate bank account or two bank accounts for your business. Most banking systems these days, I think all of them,

Richard Dawson (35:25.122)
At the end of the month or end of the year, you can download your bank statement onto an Excel spreadsheet or a number spreadsheet. And all your accountant then really needs is for your income amounts are pretty straightforward. You can see how much money is coming into your bank account. And in terms of your expenses, you just need to add another little column there or something and add some extra description on what the expense was for.

And that’s going to be a lot less complicated, a lot easier to do than trying to figure out some accounting package and paying for it as well. So that’s my tip on that. Keep it really simple in the beginning. Just add descriptions on your expense lines so your accountant knows what they’re for. Because it’s going to save him a lot of time, and then it’s going to cost you less. So yeah, I just wanted to mention that around the admin.

Don’t focus on your business. Try not to focus on the admin.

Nina (36:26.147)
Yeah, I love that because I mean, I’ve been in business now for a few years and I had zero just for a little bit and then canceled it. And I’m the spreadsheet type of person, it works for me. And so number one, for all of our listeners, I put a link in the show notes to my income and expense sheet because I think it’s very simple and easy and Richard never complained so far when I send that through to him. But what I think is…

Richard Dawson (36:52.354)
Yeah.

Nina (36:55.683)
all severely powerful. And again, I can tell you firsthand, the the the Makers Business Tribe members, they all struggle with actually knowing how much money have I made this month, and how much did I spend? Because they all have some type of accounting system. And they’re like, I don’t know how to pull this report. I think I need to call my accountant. I actually don’t know. It’s like, what? And I

always tell them look at all you gotta do is is it just just have like two bank accounts one income only account then you just they need to look cool how much money is in there and the other one is an expense account and you got all your expenses that just makes it so dead simple and most banks just give you these types of accounts for free so there’s no reason to just have two and you download two spreadsheets and you don’t even need to separate it and

then you have it all there and you just know. And from a business point of view, if you every 30 days look at, okay, how much money have I made? And is there anything missing? Number one, really good practice. And it forces you if you have that manual system. And number two, it forces you when you download that sheet to look at your expenses. So you can see, is there anything maybe that got charged?

to your credit card that you weren’t supposed to pay. So then you can rectify that. Or you can also see, why am I spending money on this premium, I don’t know, making it up, Spotify or Google account? I’m not using that. Then you can cancel that. But if it’s all kind of hidden in zero, MyoB, or you name it, you wouldn’t even know. Yeah. And then it’s also.

Of course, your accountant might say, oh yeah, that’s easier for me. But then I feel like you’re almost handing over too much because you have actually no idea. And then you’re waiting for your accountant to tell you how much money you’ve made and how much money you spent. I think that’s too much when you’re a small business because you’ve got to learn that you’re not overspending and that you’re also celebrating the money that is coming in. And this like simple method, like, hey, I’m a tech person, but I…

Nina (39:22.179)
It has helped me a lot to be a lot more proactive and sit in the driver’s seat in my business. And I’ve converted a few of my clients to do this process too. They still have their zero, but to have a little bit of consolidation process in place, can do wonders for you to actually question a few things in your business and become a bit more hard -ass so that you don’t like keep poking holes in your.

in your money bucket without even knowing. I love this tip, Richard, and it just makes things easy. Awesome. So these are my five questions. Thank you so much for your time, Richard. I really appreciate it. And I am sure everybody who listens to it will get a lot of value out of it because, man, when do you ever get to check your account like this? You know, I think it’s wonderful.

Richard Dawson (40:14.71)
It’s a pleasure.

Nina (40:18.467)
But how can people connect with you if, because I’m sure for some this really resonated and they’re like, maybe I need to give Richard a call.

Richard Dawson (40:26.882)
Yeah, you can Google me. So the practice is called Patterson and Dawson, Chartered Accountants. It’s Patterson with one T. And yeah, we’re on Google there and my mobile number’s on there and my email. Drop me a line or give me a call and hopefully I can help you.

Nina (40:34.307)
Mm -hmm.

Nina (40:46.883)
Cool, awesome. So I might just put that in the show notes too. Name, email, phone, call that you verified, I can put your phone number there. So now I, awesome. I really appreciate the time Richard that you have taken out of your busy schedule to have this conversation. I’ll put the links to my income expense sheet in the show notes. So I would highly recommend downloading it and see if that can help you.

Richard Dawson (40:55.138)
Yeah, yeah, that’s fine.

Richard Dawson (41:07.362)
Thanks, everyone.

Nina (41:14.915)
Have a conversation with Richard if you don’t have an account and you’re kind of like, I need to ask these questions. And yeah, we’ve just given you a template of what are the key questions you need to ask so that you’re not just saying, hello, I got a business. Now what? You know? Because as Richard said, it’s good. It’s good if you have a little bit of pre -knowledge. Yeah, thank you so much for your time Richard. Have an awesome afternoon.

Richard Dawson (41:42.562)
Pleasure. Thank you.

Nina (41:42.883)
Thank you everybody and until next time.

Podcast Episode:

5x Key Questions to Ask Your Accountant Before Getting into Retail

Published:

29/05/2024

Subscribe & Listen:

Spotify Apple RSS Feed

About this Podcast:

In today's episode I am chatting to one of my most trusted advisors when it comes to growing my business, my Accountant, Richard Dawson from Paterson & Dawson Accounting.

Description:

Richard has not only helped me avoid some pretty costly mistakes but most importantly helped me greatly to set up my business right from the start. So I have minimal admin, always know where my business is at and be rest assured, one tax time comes around the corner, I have it easy to get it all done and am not getting hit with a crazy tax bill. But get money back instead – yey.

To make sure, you get to have the same ‘happy money’ experience and don’t have to sweat over the accounting part of business, I asked Richard 5x key questions that we both felt are absolutely crucial to chat your accountant about, ideally BEFORE you launch your product to the world.

  • Should I start as a sole trader or set up a company
  • What if I am still employed?
  • Should I charge gst & when is the right time?
  • Do I need an accountant and if so what should I look for
  • What else should I consider during my first year of trading so come tax time – everything will be smooth sailing?
    Enjoy! And make sure to take notes 🙂

Connect with Richard:

https://www.patersondawson.com.au/