From The Trenches

Best on Ground

Xero results are in and boy oh boy did the market like what they saw. 

https://www.xero.com/blog/2019/05/full-year-results-2019/

Yet again, Accountants feature on the most trusted profession list but how are lawyers so high?

https://twitter.com/VladoBotsvadze/status/1129016560537001986?s=19

A win for the good guys as accountants deductions remains https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/tax-compliance/13036-cap-on-deductibility-of-accountants-fees-off-the-table-as-liberals-hold-government

ATO STP client list i just what's needed. 

ATO SMSF infographic is filled with data!

Quickbooks connect is next week! Use SPEAKERFRIEND discount code for 40% off  and hear David speak about  “Transitioning technical workers into business leaders”

https://au.quickbooksconnect.com/speakers/

Worst on Ground

Be ware of the very salesy accounting coaches who seem to have a huge add spend on Facebook at the moment. If you get a coach, make sure you know what their background is.
More fear selling 

https://www.odyssey-resources.com/2019/05/workpapers-australian-accountants-dirty-little-secret/

In depth

The election produced one of the great upsets of all time! Paul and David discuss their 3 takeaways. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Emma Tibbals, joins Paul and David for a hearty conversation on freedom and what that means.

Emma is currently studying her Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Accounting at Monash University and a Student Representative for CAANZ.

Hear an emerging accountant's views on gender diversity, what freedom means and the threat posed by STEM jobs.

Best on Ground

• Great practical content for small business Vanessa Bamford: http://www.vbbusiness.com.au/work-smarter-not-harder-calculating-break-even-point/
• Great breakdown comparing the 3 Accounting professional bodies by Amanda Loves to Audit - https://youtu.be/6Qg39Zo6sZk
• Workflow automation explained – top 5 tips from the experts - https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/about-us/ca-catalyst/insights-and-guides/workflow-automation-explained-top-5-tips-from-the-experts
• Accounting Web SWAG review https://twitter.com/AWebTom/status/1124319489611456513  

Worst on Ground

• CAANZ Vote - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/chartered-accountants-australia-new-zealand-member-vote-con-abbott
• Do you need to be qualified: https://twitter.com/brettnealcpa/status/1119602270138585088?s=21
• More Franchising issues: https://www.theage.com.au/business/workplace/bubble-bursts-for-tea-chain-giant-chatime-over-underpayment-20190424-p51gt0.html?btis
• Super ‘’Battle of the Sexes’’ clickbaits https://www.superguide.com.au/comparing-super-funds/gender-gap-super-boards-large-funds-perform-poorly

Indepth: Freedom - with special guest, Emma Tibbals

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul sat down with Ron Lesh from BGL to cut through the noise surrounding the election. 

They cover:

• Bill Shorten's accountants rort comments
• Franking Credits
• Negative gearing
• Capitals Gains
• What should the industry do?

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Best on Ground

• Cocky tax startups - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/think-your-2018-tax-season-tough-check-out-visors-attempt-david-leary
• Vale Henry Bloch (H&R Block founder) - https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/3555032002
• When important messages can’t get heard https://twitter.com/horizonaccount/status/1116306674178879489?s=19
• What the marketers got wrong https://generationcfo.com/2019/04/17/automation-redundancy-is-fake-news-heres-why-part-one/

Worst on Ground

• Someone who wants to be Federal Treasurer caught miscalculating franking credits: https://twitter.com/paulmeissner_/status/1119169867209306112?s=21
• Pilot bookkeeping raises $40m. Why? If it’s a tech play, they are building Receipt Bank again and playing catch up with others. If it’s a services play, then anyone raising for services businesses is an idiot. https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/18/index-ventures-stripe-back-bookkeeping-service-pilot-with-40m/amp/
• Will tech really overtake this firm and what have we seen in the past that might indicate the future: https://futurefirm.co/will-accounting-tech-startups-overtake-your-firm/  
• I’ll never get tired of weird deductions https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/tax-compliance/12889-tax-agent-claims-family-pet-as-guard-dog-gets-booted-by-tpb

Indepth: How to fix conferences (and what’s wrong with them)

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Paul sat down with Robyn Jacobson, Senior Tax Trainer at Tax Banter, FCA, FCPA, CTA, tax agent, blogger and podcast host at Tax Yak. She's also involved in advocacy and sits on a number of committees. The chat about:

• How training has changed with new technologies
• Why face to face training hasn't replaced
• How to apply legislative changes to real life business cases
• Using the structure of policy development to your advantage
• Top 6 tips for micro firms to keep up with the changes in tax

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul sat down with ATO Assistant Commissioner, Andrew Watson, to chat about how the upcoming tech changes are the changing the way tax agents work. 

The last year has been huge, with transitioning Tax Agents from ELS to PLS, as well as the Agent Portals to the new Online Services for Agents. We look at what's changing, some exciting new features and some practical tips for agents. 

Following recording the podcast, all tax and BAS agents have since been provided with access to the ATO’s Online services for agents. More information, including about user support tools, is available atato.gov.au/onlineservicesforagents

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Best on Ground

• Bold News from MYOB on Payments Advisory - https://www.myob.com/au/blog/bold-strategy-payments-accounting-business-expo/ 
• Life as a Xero Community Manager - https://cloudaccountant.today/2019/03/29/life-as-a-xero-community-manager/  
• Great discussions happening between accountants and Judo Capital at the Water Cooler Lunch Series

Worst on Ground

• Are your small business clients ready for STP? 1 in 10 say no: https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/tax-compliance/12841-netflix-but-not-stp-1-in-10-small-biz-stp-ready
• Out of the US, Congress is considering a bipartisan bill that would make it illegal for the IRS to offer free electronic tax filing - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2019-04-16/congress-considers-free-online-tax-filing-ban-video
• Bill Shorten's comments regarding 'accountants tax rort', CAANZ nailed the response: https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/news-and-analysis/media-centre/press-releases/chartered-accountants-set-record-straight-after-opposition-leaders-abc-interview 

Indepth: Three outcomes we want to see from the upcoming election

We lay out our wish list for the upcoming election for the accounting space, whether there is a change in government or not. 

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Best on Ground

• Patti & Scott Scharf - Great catch up. Amazing how small the world of accounting is and how the conversations about advisory, technology, pricing, etc are far different to a lot of the general conversations out there, especially by salespeople.
• Compliance is far from dead in the USA: Sales Tax https://www.avataxrates.com/
• Reading is good for your brain, listening about reading isn’t as much https://twitter.com/damonayoung/status/1114797728502935552?s=19
• Sustainable Growth Vs Scaling = Great to see a big tech company having a realistic conversation https://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/uncategorized/why-its-time-to-stop-thinking-about-scaling/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
• RBXxchange - the explosive bookkeeper v accountant conversation that ended in a very productive chat with ATT Director Cassandra Scott.

Worst on Ground

• Fathom's response to Goal Seek Analysis: https://support.fathomhq.com/using-the-analysis-tools/goalseek-analysis
• Accountants Daily article on the IGT report: https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/business/12875-igt-heralds-accountants-business-model-change
• More awareness of flexible work conditions done badly. https://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/a-full-time-role-in-part-time-hours-the-truth-about-flexible-work-20190405-p51b88.html

Indepth: Being Present - The victim of the work from anywhere culture

Work life balance used to be about the amount of time you spent at work. But with more and more people not really having an ‘’at work’’ mode or place, work is kind of everywhere all the time. This puts pressure on being present.

Now Australia overall doesn't have it that bad, according to the OECD better life index, we rank 30/38 countries for working "very long hours" (50 or more) with just 13.8% of us doing so and the trend is down .2% since 2005.

What impact does this have on: you, your family, staff and clients? This was an issue raised in an earlier FTT episode where we were joined by both Paul and David's FCA fathers - how does this new generation deal with being 'aways on'?

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul sat with Angus Capel, Xero Small Business Advocate and former adviser to Federal Small Business Ministers, Michael McCormack and Craig Laundy, to get an inside look at how the Federal Budget gets put together. 

They talk about:

• what was the thinking behind moving the small business definition from $2m to $10m
• thoughts on the 2019 budget
• the process of how a small business initiative gets in to the budget
• how does the budget play out in terms of an upcoming election
• what does the budget look like if we end up with a minority government

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Budget piece outside the budget news cycle? How dare we! But that is just the point of accountants. We care about the budget even when it doesn't give us clicks. 

With David and Paul sitting on the Xero budget panel and live tweeting the event of the year (we believe that) this show is non stop action.

Best On Ground 

A well balanced piece on how to get ready for the future of work

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffthomson/2018/09/26/automation-organizational-readiness-and-the-need-for-new-skills/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Worst on Ground

Hubdoc and Fathom produced a ''you have to do advisory'' article that missed the mark by so much, they edited it after Paul politely brought it to their attention on Twitter. 

http://go.hubdoc.com/hubfs/Road-to-Advisory/Pre-Advisory-Checklist-Hubdoc-Fathom.pdf 

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.