Stephenson Thorner LTD Newsletter

September 2011

Contents

1. Make Your Business a Lean, Mean, Profit-Making Machine
2. LTC Reminder
3. Gift Duty Abolition
4. Blog Updates
5. Staff News
6. Win a Holiday to Australia
7. Rugby World Cup Festival

Make Your Business a Lean, Mean, Profit-Making Machine

1. Transactional analysis.  The most basic building block for every business is the ability to collect and record all transactions.  That means some sort of accounting system that will allow you to analyse the transactions on a regular basis so that you know where you are.  Cloud systems like Xero are both easy to use and always online which means that record keeping can be done anytime and anywhere.
   
   Good housekeeping not only includes making sure that transactions are recorded, but also that they are accurately recorded.  That means regular reconciliations and review of the balances are essential.

1. Reporting.  The main reason for recording transactions is so that you can produce accurate reports, undertake some analysis of those reports, determine trends and, most importantly, take some action.  The only trouble is that many people do not understand what reports are relevant or what they are saying.  Reports are most relevant when they are compared to something – either previous periods or budgets.

1. Powerful Budgeting.  All businesses should review their big picture strategic plan on a regular basis, and then convert those plans into a financial plan.  And that is all a budget is – a financial plan for (at least) the year ahead, based on what you think will happen.  But remember, budgets are always wrong so they do need to be reviewed and updated on a frequent basis.

1. Financing.  Cash is the lifeblood of every business, and in periods of growth it has a tendency to dry up very quickly.  Key to knowing how effectively you manage your cash is knowing what your cash cycle is.  Your cash cycle is the time it takes between you incurring the cost and collecting the cash from your customer.  And if you need external finance then it is always best to ask for the funding before you want it.  You will generally need to provide your financier up-to-date financial reports and budgets.

1. Dashboards.  Financial reports are lagging indicators - they tell you about what has already happened.  What’s more important to understand is what needs to be done in order to achieve your goals, and that’s where dashboards come into play.  Dashboards are about actions that need to be done in order for the business to be successful.  Dashboards do not have to be flash, but they do have to be completed regularly – one of the most successful dashboards we have maintained is a weekly dashboard, filled in with crayons.

1. Employee Scorecards.  Similar to business dashboards are employee scorecards.  These are an effective tool to get accountability within the business.  All staff are employed to achieve a particular outcome and their job descriptions should have defined responsibilities and accountabilities.  The employee scorecard measures the key staff activities that add value to your business, makes expectations really clear, and highlights problems really quickly.

LTC Reminder

A quick reminder that the due date for making Look Through Company elections is 30 September 2011.  Most of our clients have been contacted, but if you have not made a decision on what vehicle your existing LAQC will transition to, please contact your Account Manager.

Gift Duty Abolition

The Gift Duty Act has now been abolished and it is no longer necessary to file gift statements and pay gift duty on gifts made on or after 1 October 2011.

Blog Updates

Since our last newsletter in June, we've posted the following blogs on our website.

Staff News

It has been all go in our offices.  Anne enjoyed 3 weeks in sunny Spain in June, and returned to the office with very much a “relaxed holiday glow” not to mention some fabulous new Desigual shoes and jackets!  Danelle was married earlier in the year, and is now looking forward to meeting Baby Whaanga in late January 2012 – we don’t mention the words “honeymoon baby” in the office.  Stephen Nitschke has finished his time at Stephenson Thorner, and we wish him all the best in his future role.  And last but certainly not least Rakesh welcomed his second son Manas Rawat on 24 June 2011.  So far Mum and baby are both doing really well, though we may need to install an office bed for Rakesh!

Win a Holiday to Australia

We are currently looking for two experienced superstars to join our team.  Even in times of low unemployment we are still finding good people hard to find.  First and foremost we recruit on attitude – they must have one, and it must be a good one!  Also the right person will need to have experience in a CA or audit environment, or experience preparing Financial Statements.  If you know anyone who you think would be a good fit we would love to hear about them!

If you refer someone to us that we ultimately employ, we’ll give you 2 tickets to Australia plus $500 spending money.   Have a holiday on us! For more details have a look at our website, or better still give Danelle a call on 04 473 1980.

Rugby World Cup Festival

It would be rude not to get into the spirit of the cup so we have a number of things lined up in our office.  We already have approx 40 meters of flags strung up from our mezzanine floor.  Each of the 4 companies on our floor are taking charge of a pool, and we kicked off the cup with a shared lunch on Friday 9th September, with dishes from the 20 nations involved.  During the next 6 weeks, we have prizes for best dressed office / desk, most parochial supporter, and a weekly syndicate with a small wager for each game, just to keep things interesting!  Keep an eye out for the pictures on Facebook!