 Image credit: Karolina Grabowska from Pexels One of the biggest responsibilities that you can have is your finances. Whether you are running a business or you are trying to manage your own finances as an individual with a family, you need to ensure that you are keeping up with your money. You want to know that everything that you are buying is aligning with your incoming and outgoings because if you don't, you’re going to find yourself caught up in problems without being able to manage your cash.
Talking to an accountant can really ease your mind when you need it to. You’re going to reduce your stress and keep your finances in check no matter what when you have an expert who understands money on your side. The right SMSF accounting team will help you to manage your money in a way that you might not be able to do by yourself. Below, we have put together five reasons why you should set up a meeting with an accountant. 1. You may not know how to lodge your taxes. It’s new, it’s complicated and even if it’s not new to you it can still get complex, so having an expert to help you with your taxes will make a big difference to you. Although it’s possible to file taxes on your own, it’s infinitely easier when you do have someone to walk you through it properly. 2. Save for retirement. Are you aware of your own retirement fund? When was the last time you checked how much was in there? Everyone needs a nest egg for those later years and you’re going to have an easier time of putting one together if you have someone else to walk you through it. You can maximize your retirement savings with their help. 3. You’re starting a business. When you start your own business, it can help to have someone working with you to make sure that all of your finances are aligned. Where are you going to spend your business budget? How are you going to manage it? You don't ever manage it on your own - not when you can have an accountant working with you! 4. You find it hard to stick to budget. Are you struggling to get your budget under control? You’re not alone in that! If you can ensure that you are keeping up with payments and with the money coming into the account, you are going to be in a better position to stick to your budget in the end. 5. You’re about to spend a lot of money. If you want to spend a lot of cash, it can help to have someone working with you. Whether it’s a new home, a brand new car or more, you need to think carefully about any big payouts. When you get some advice, you’ll tell whether or not it’s a good idea to buy now or whether you should wait for the right time. This will be something your accountant can do for you.
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 Image credit: Florian Pircher from Pixabay As the world rapidly approaches a climate disaster, it is more important than ever for organizations to step up and do their bit for the planet. After all, it is businesses who are largely responsible for the damage inflicted on the natural world over the past century. Even if you're a small startup with minimal impact, there is still a lot you can do to display corporate social responsibility and reduce your carbon footprint. One highly effective method being adopted by an increasing number of businesses is the practice of going paperless.
Going paperless means taking steps to fully eradicate the use of physical paper from your company’s processes. This practice will look different for every business, but will almost certainly involve digitizing documents, utilizing cloud storage, and relying more heavily on mobile devices. Many traditional business owners are understandably hesitant to adopt such an approach. But there are countless reasons why ditching paper is a smart move for businesses. Here are just four of the most compelling benefits. It’s good for the environment Every year, approximately 15 billion trees are cut down in their prime. Rainforests in the Amazon and other parts of the world are being destroyed and disfigured by deforestation, and this is having a huge impact on natural ecosystems and local communities. Not to mention the enormous quantity of greenhouse gas emissions produced during the manufacture and transportation of paper and other stationery. Going paperless reduces the need for these practices and allows your business to operate in a sustainable way. It Reduces Waste The average office worker uses around 10,000 sheets of paper each year. A lot of this paper ends up in the bin, which creates mountains of unnecessary waste in landfill. And that’s not even considering the amount of plastic packaging, unrecycled printer ink cartridges, and other office paraphernalia that ends up in the oceans and polluting the environment. If you go paperless, you can dramatically reduce the amount of waste your business produces. Not only will this help the planet, but it will also directly benefit you and your team by reducing the amount of unsightly clutter in your workplace. You'll Save Money Office equipment is one of the biggest expenses for any business. It costs a great deal of money to buy paper, stationery, and printer inks, and these costs can add up over time. If you go paperless, you won't have these expenses to worry about. You’ll instantly reduce your overhead costs and have more money leftover to feed into the company. It's More Efficient Having a paperless office can help you to streamline your operations and become more efficient. You'll be able to find documents more easily, and you won't have to waste time dealing with physical files. Everything you need will be stored in the cloud or on internal servers, and instantly accessible at the touch of a button. In conclusion, there are plenty of reasons to consider going paperless in your business. Hopefully, this list has given you some food for thought. Making the switch to a paperless office could save you time, money, and help you to do your bit for the environment. What's not to love?  Image credit: Mikhail Nilov from Pexels Usually, there are two main ways to borrow money. You can take out a loan, getting the exact amount of money you need, or you can use a credit card. In either case, you’re basically using money that you don’t have and paying it back at a later date.
By definition, you’re already in debt. However, there’s a difference between being in a small amount of debt and being in massive debt. If you play your cards right, you can borrow money when necessary but avoid being in huge debt that leaves you on the cusp of bankruptcy. What should you do to ensure you’re not going to end up with debt collectors banging on your door? Don’t borrow too much money We see this all the time with people that end up in thousands of pounds of debt, and it usually comes from credit cards or payday loans. In both scenarios, the person will borrow more money than they either need or can afford. As a result, they struggle to pay back what they owe, leading to extra fees and higher interest rate charges. It can mean that you spend years trying to pay a loan back when it could all have been avoided if you just borrowed a little bit less. Credit card debt is perhaps the best example of this because people use too much credit on their cards, maxing them out. Then, they can’t pay the balance in full, so they start gaining interest on what they owe, while still using too much credit in subsequent months. It’s a slippery slope and a lot of debt would be avoided by using less credit and paying the bill in full. Be wary of interest rates When borrowing money from any source, always be wary of the interest rates. This is what you will pay on top of paying back the money you borrowed. With credit cards, you can often bypass interest rates by paying your balance off in full every month. With loans, the interest rate is basically how the lender makes money - think of it as a fee for borrowing money from them. Check the APR of loans or credit cards to see how much interest you’re likely to pay. The higher the APR, the more worried you should be. Ideally, you want to borrow money with as low an interest rate as possible, making it easier to repay without ending up in too much debt. Improve your credit score Following on from the previous point, interest rates fluctuate from person to person. Your bank can offer the same loan to you and another customer, but both of you have different interest rates. This is because people with better credit scores get better rates as they are deemed more financially trustworthy and responsible. So, improve your credit score to get the lower interest rates, allowing you to be in a more comfortable position to pay what you owe. There will be times in life where you have no option other than to borrow money. As such, it’s important to learn how to keep yourself in as little debt as possible for as short a period as you can. These three tips will help you do just that!  Image credit: Energepic.com from Pexels Stocks, forex and crypto are some of the most effective ways to grow your money. But just which of these investments is right for you? This post explores the pros and cons of each - and what you need to get involved.
Stocks Investing in stocks involves buying shares of companies, waiting for them to increase in value and then selling them. You can make a lot of money by investing in the right companies. You can also lose a lot of money if you invest in the wrong companies. You can reduce risk by diversifying your portfolio. This involves investing in a range of stocks in a range of industries. The most stable stocks to invest in tend to be long-established companies - these stocks tend to gradually increase in value over the years. Newer companies tend to be riskier, however they can offer some of the highest and fastest returns. Anyone can invest in the stock market with as little as $1. There are free trading apps that allow you to buy parts of shares on your phone. Alternatively, you can hire a stockbroker to invest your stocks for you. This involves paying fees, however you could reduce the risk of loss by having an expert invest your cash for you. It’s worth researching into companies before investing in them. By understanding the industry and the company, you can make good predictions as to whether a stock will rise or fall. Forex Forex involves trading foreign currencies. By buying a currency that is rising in value and then converting it back, you can make a profit. Buy the wrong currency and you could lose money. As with stocks, you should always diversify your portfolio by buying a range of different currencies. Some currencies are likely to be more stable than others - the more stable ones are less risky but will offer slower and smaller returns. To invest in foreign currencies you need to use a forex broker. To create an account, you’ll generally need to place down a minimum deposit of $100, although there are some brokers that allow you to invest with less. Fees are charged on every transaction. Currency prices can be affected by political events, travel popularity and rate of trade. By educating yourself in these matters, you can more accurately predict when a currency may rise or fall in value. Crypto Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies. They include the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. The principle is similar to buying a foreign currency - you buy a currency, wait for it to rise in value and sell it. Cryptocurrency however can be more volatile. This can result in much bigger potential returns, but also much bigger potential losses. As with forex and stocks, you should buy a range of cryptocurrencies to spread the risk. Certain cryptocurrencies are likely to increase at a much greater rate than others. You can look into buying ETH with Swyftx or another cryptocurrency exchange platform. Minimum deposits and fees can vary depending on the platform you use. When buying large amounts of crypto, it can often be worth using a digital wallet to keep your currency secure. Cryptocurrencies rise and fall in value based on demand. These rises and falls can be a lot harder to predict than with stocks or crypto however there are still ways of educating yourself and spotting trends. For a great introduction into how to buy bitcoin, SoFi Invest has some learning resources and is the ideal place to begin your Crypto journey. |
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