From The Trenches

Best on Ground

Paul Meissner
This AI-powered robot can make 300 pizzas in an hour. Wanted to start with something lite given the week we are all having. 
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=509562289686979 

Laneway Greens online Pivoted online. Busier and more profitable than ever. Staff costs and complexity and inflated rents have held businesses back. We come out of all this running different businesses.  
https://lanewaygreens.com.au/ 

David Boyar
How the world’s changed by our online spending habits 
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-6652304588353478656-ul_T  

Worst on Ground

Paul Meissner

Federal Government Jobkeeper legislation by press release. I’m sick of it. Legislation released that basically says the Treasurer and the ATO Commissioner have to sort it out. 

Massive section on schemes though. Up to 10 years Jail!!

Big 4 swindle:

KPMG cutting staff pay, but not their hours. Wait, what?
While the firm technically needs permission from staff to alter their employment contracts, head of people and corporate affairs Deborah Yates told them via email on Tuesday that, "unless we hear from you to state otherwise, we will move forward on the basis that you understand what the intended changes mean for you and you agree to those changes".
https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/kpmg-pay-cut-scares-workers-into-silence-20200406-p54hgs 

https://www.ft.com/content/65d8e851-5e33-4a2d-a814-a4c27f949dd3?sharetype=blocked 

David Boyar

Bookkeepers still promoting a rivalry with accountants as the fight over who owns BAS and payroll gets ugly. Get rid of it please, we don’t need your insecurities in the client relationship 
 
Accountants are out here helping each other and these marketers are trying to cash in by paying for COVID Content 
https://clickcampaigns.com.au/complimentary-covid19-stimulus-articles/  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode is a personal reflection on what the Accounting industry is going through at the moment. Accountants are handling a mountain of client queries and every day seems like an avalanche of emotional conversations with clients. It’s stretched many accountants and bookkeepers to the limits both physically and emotionally. 

In this episode, Paul & David share what their last few weeks have been like, celebrate the tremendous efforts the industry has gone to look after each other and what we are focusing on. 

We are all in this together and by looking after each other we’ll carry our clients through this.  

Paul Meissner 

• Hell, hardest in career
• The unknown, misinformation
• Clients assuming they’ll all get a giant novelty cheque
• Legislation by press release (still don’t know a lot about Jobkeeper)
• Support of other accountants has been wonderful.  

David Boyar

• Very hard to turn off and find a balance between reading new info (info overload) talking to peers, talking to friends, planning family response, managing the volunteer boards I chair
• Originally lost weight but turns out it’s because I wasn't eating - hard to find health balance
• New type of tired, I’m on the phone for 6-7 hours a day
• Found the “were in this together” motherhood statements a bit anxiety inducing. It’s easy to put out a tweet, hard to call someone and ask how they are

What are/can we focus on

Paul Meissner 

• Client communication (emails)
• Working the phones
• Weekend switch off. Last friday-Sunday was interesting

David Boyar

• Ordinary rhythm needs to return because our regular tasks still need to get done. 
• BAS lodgments before 28 April 2020 
•  Applications for Loan Funding 
• Bank Assistance 
• FBT 
• Tax Planning for 2020 
• Cash Flow and Strategy Planning for when business starts up again.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BEST ON GROUND

Paul Meissner

• Compliance is king Baby!!!!! - Jobkeeper, jobseeker, 30% revenue fall, monthly? Quarterly? Bank loans, ATO debt management. 
• Accountants. We are doing it tough but we are also helping each other and supporting each other. Well done.
• Taking a moment to celebrate @Ron_Lesh 31 years of service @BGLdot. Thank you for your amazing #leadership, support, example, mentoring and friendship. You are a super star plus a great warrior for the Accounting Industry. 

David Boyar

• Positive stories of businesses pivoting quickly to support COVID19 - https://www.reddit.com/r/marketing/comments/fswwc5/best_company_pivots_to_covid19/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
• Centrelink forms are the peak of your career https://www.facebook.com/groups/977122739056681/permalink/2429722997129974/  

• End to End client group webinars for accountants, no tech integrations, keep your library, get paid - https://memberstream.com.au/ 

WORST ON GROUND

Paul Meissner 

• “Corona is an opportunity” says the so called ‘Guru Influencer’. Carries on about Amazon hiring. These people have lost their sales and are scrambling for importance - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/therobbrown_accountancy-accounting-accountant-activity-6649640123229143040-pBcD/
• Software Pricing strategies. Some good some bad. - https://www.bglcorp.com/2020/03/30/it-is-disappointing-to-see-some-software-providers-price-gouging/

• Another Marketing and sales trainer for Accountants copying others. The GAP are copying Change GPS

David Boyar

• Good intention from the TPB but were all covered for CPD this year! - https://twitter.com/messages/3024658393-961565477330812928

• I thought the big 4 weren't going to employ accountants any more? - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/01/australias-legal-accounting-and-financial-firms-brace-for-coronavirus-jobs-fallout

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This interview with Mackay Goodwin founder Dom Calabretta gives you expert insight into retail, restaurants and key things accountants need to know before tipping a company into liquidation or voluntary administration. 

Dom and his team are offering From the Trenches listeners a free 20 minute consultation to discuss your client client’s situation. 

To claim your free consultation with Mackay Goodwin head to https://www.mackaygoodwin.com.au/

Mackay Goodwin are proud sponsors of From the Trenches

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thanks for waiting as Paul and David co-ordinated their COVID-19 responses to clients over the week. This episode was recorded Week ended 6 March, don't worry we'll get up to date next week! 

BEST ON GROUND

Paul Meissner

• Finally some practical rather than fear based information. Great Jacinda Ardern video, these infographics and a blog from Gusto’s Will Lopez. 

• https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/03/watch-health-experts-join-jacinda-ardern-to-dispel-some-coronavirus-covid-19-myths.html 

• https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/covid-19-coronavirus-infographic-datapack/

• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/wlopezjr_an-employers-guide-to-navigating-coronavirus-activity-6643188048160964608-Eg1X  

David Boyar

• Follow Anthony Pratt on Twitter - NOW!

• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/anthonyjpratt_activity-6642814189863874560-ckBb/ 

• Tips for working from home (with or without corona virus)

• https://www.instagram.com/p/B9hFplfAu7P/?igshid=17n629udacfu2 

• How do you recruit a BD role for your firm? Surely the Firms BDM needs to be an accountant. 

• https://www.seek.com.au/job/41134304

WORST ON GROUND

Paul Meissner 

• IWB Marketing, is IWD becoming the new Valentines Day type of Hallmark holiday? Marketed awards and cupcakes? What about real discussions and real change where required.   

• In The Guardian Alexandra Topping observed IWD “is in danger of becoming little more than a corporate Valentine’s Day, with companies jumping on the bandwagon to whitewash their brands rather than promote women’s equality”.

• https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/the-last-thing-women-need-is-iwd-a-corporate-version-of-mothers-day/ 

• Justin Kan’s hybrid legal software and law firm startup Atrium is shutting down today after failing to figure out how to deliver better efficiency than a traditional law firm, the CEO tells TechCrunch exclusively. The startup has now laid off all its employees, which totaled just over 100. It will return some of its $75.5 million in funding to investors, including Series B lead Andreessen Horowitz. The separate Atrium law firm will continue to operate.

• https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/03/atrium-shuts-down/?

• KPMG retakes independence exam amid cheating scandal. 

• All 600-odd KPMG Australia partners and more than 5900 client-facing staff will be forced to resit the consulting firm's internal independence exam amid an investigation into cheating on the annual assessment.

• The firm has taken the unprecedented step after a whistleblower complaint that model answers to the 20-question multiple choice exam at the end of the course were being improperly shared.

• https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/kpmg-retakes-independence-exam-amid-cheating-scandal-20200308-p547xn 

David Boyar

• We’re having the wrong conversation about Scott Cam’s 300k pay packet.

• https://twitter.com/DavidBoyar/status/1237308986975760384?s=20 

• Can we ban banks saying they are open for business?

• https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/josh-frydenberg-meets-bank-bosses-over-coronavirus-hit-20200311-p548xj.html

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Boyar

1. https://dynamicbusiness.com.au/topics/news/senators-urged-to-pass-equity-bill-that-could-see-smes-flourish.html 

2. Don’t reinvent the wheel with political point projects Fund national infrastructure priorities https://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-02/current_priority_list_%20february_2020.pdf

   https://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-03/2020_infrastructure_priority_list_low_resolution_-_updated.pdf 

3. Government backed investment in start ups 

4. Extend australian business growth fund (proposed at 500m)

Paul Meissner

1. Expand the capital allowance regime to include stock in limited circumstances. Timing difference so budget neutral but could really help some businesses recover and survive.  

2. Increase the availability of lending, bank guarantee type stuff. Get the cash flowing

3. Certainly not politically motivated cash handouts. Cost too much for limited gain.

4. Smart tax cuts. Tax cuts only work if you have made money. Loss carry back rules would specifically target businesses with a profit history that have faced a downturn. 

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BEST ON GROUND

David Boyar

• An actual solution to app overwhelm  

• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/clarity-street_claritystreet-accountingbusinessexpo-guidedtour-activity-6640510264502476800-FZga 

• The only Coronavirus question worth asking - Can my SMSF buy toilet paper?

• https://twitter.com/samrotberg/status/1234951004853948416?s=20

• Is corporate compliance the saviour of bookkeepers?

• https://twitter.com/DTramma/status/1235086009336885248?s=20

• Welcome back to the fat corporate credit cards and account execs as 500 Audits jobs hit the market.

• https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/the-audit-quality-inquiry-interim-recommendations-at-a-glance-20200303-p546ez

Paul Meissner

• BGL is Xero’s app partner of the month

• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ronlesh_bgl-making-compliance-easy-in-the-cloud-activity-6640031630868217856-EayO/

• Breaking free of datacenter legacy thinking

  Data storage on glass

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0ntAnqJ_7c&feature=youtu.be

• Three social media terms that I wish would die:

  • 1. Storytelling

  • 2. Authenticity 

  • 3. Thought leadership

  I hate them because at best they are meaningless, and at worst they are misleading.

  The Thought Leadership part is hilarious. 

• https://twitter.com/mkobach/status/1234300379107676160

• UK finally allows digital signing of Trust deeds. 

• https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/electronically-signed-deeds-are-legal-lord-chancellor-confirms/5103306.article#.Xl5xGi0XAFs.twitter

   

WORST ON GROUND

David Boyar

• Yikes, Deloitte gets slammed, and rightly so. 

• https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/business/14092-full-federal-court-rips-into-deloitte-appeal

• A deeper understanding of accounting explains why movie food is such a rip off. 

• https://twitter.com/investing_city/status/1234908202577231872?s=20

• https://twitter.com/plalor/status/1235020236878794752?s=20 

Paul Meissner

• Corona Vivus and the mass hysteria. Media to blame. Quickbook Connect cancelled (only major Accounting cancellation (for now). F1 GP is still on. Toilet paper gate. 

• https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tech/tech-pulse/quickbooks-connect-cancelled-due-to-coronavirus-fears

• A chartered accountant, Mr Nisbet was a senior manager at KPMG for over a decade before his most recent role as a director at BDO’s Adelaide office.

  Mr Nisbet said he aims to demonstrate his worth as an active tax adviser, rather than a reactive one, in his new role.

  “A reactive tax adviser lodges tax returns, gets defensive and careful under audit, and is able to get the job done. However, they are not necessarily the first person a client calls outside of compliance season,” Mr Nisbet said.

  “Aside from delivering technically accurate advice and quality thought leadership to clients, an active tax adviser knows that tax decisions are not made in a vacuum.

  “Tax advisers must gain their clients’ trust to offer honest appraisals, provide a ‘whole of firm’ approach to solving problems and identify opportunities outside the box.”

• https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/appointments/14096-new-mid-tier-principal-calls-for-more-active-advisers

• Pre-insolvency industry has far too many skeletons. Sad that it happens but glad they get caught and dealt with. 

• https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/business/14085-money-laundering-pre-insolvency-adviser-gets-5-years-jail

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special episode David interviews Malcolm Stewart from MJS Business & Financial Services. Malcolm met David at the Perth Xero Roadshow and asked to be on the podcast. Turns out we’re in the business of making dreams come true. 

In this episode you will learn:

• The best, safest investment strategy
• Managing through the wealth industry revenue model changes
• Managing a practice through the mining boom, and after it!
• Malcolm’s favorite tech change (My Prosperity integrating with X Plan)
• Why older accountants struggle with the physicality of the FASEA exams 

Old school targeted marketing. A paper solution to a digital problem. 

www.sendhandwritten.com.au

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BEST ON GROUND

David Boyar

• Accounting Business Expo has made major changes to the lineup  

• https://www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/accounting-business-expo/The-Plenary.stm

• You are competing on user experience only

• https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6635430455967612928/

• The importance of compliance professionals 

• https://www.eurekareport.com.au/investment-news/the-importance-of-compliance-professionals/146747?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTXpJM09EQXpOR0V3T0dNMSIsInQiOiI0QVpSUzNcL1F5SDk2MTZ4QnUzbmFtdUdVcjI1ZHVyVzI0bmc5azlSQUtqbUJENVFhaGJUcWVKZ1wvOHJuWERiMjVNaFpwNml2M1QyVVRJWjNZYzZHWlYzVkowNUxzVk5YeWRzdEJ6UDBhN0k3OXNuSnUrZmNoRGkzMkxCeEtXa0hrIn0%3D

• How to pick a visualisation chart 

• Which Chart Should I Use

Paul Meissner

• Xero Boss Report 2020. Very interesting growth figures per business size. Small and micro growing, bigger contracting.  

• Xero Boss Insights 2020 report 

• Xero release automatic activity statements

• https://central.xero.com/s/article/Automatic-activity-statements#XeroTax

• Overpayment of wages are common

• Overpayment as common as 'wage theft' 

• S&P/ASX All Technology Index - commencing in Q1, 2020. The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (XTX) is designed to be a broader, more inclusive index than the existing S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index.  This reflects the broad range of ASX-listed companies in the technology sector. Further details about the Index methodology will be released upon Index launch.

• But is Xero the most overvalued stock on the ASX.

• https://www.livewiremarkets.com/wires/will-we-crash-and-what-to-sell?utm_source=Livewire&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Will%20we%20crash 

WORST ON GROUND

David Boyar

• The FBT guide for employers is 277 pages. If compliance is dead, business owners are stuffed 

• ttps://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=SAV/FBTGEMP/00001&PiT=20200129000001

• Killing pre-advisory before it gets off the ground

Paul Meissner

• Celeste Barber was warned about choice of firefighter fund 

• Buy now, pay later companies are completely unregulated and it's leaving Australians vulnerable, Splitit CEO Brad Paterson argues 

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BEST ON GROUND

David Boyar

• The IPA reckon play is a flashback to the glory days of quickbooks re entering the market, but with a genuine CPD benefit 

• https://email.publicaccountants.org.au/v/54796/32838338/email.html?k=qVWxTtVmHbh-BjRjW1DRerTjS2nWTWtv0cF5ROg5K38 

• How good and easy to read is this excel summary. 

• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lotfi-garzoun_the-definitive-100-most-useful-excel-tips-activity-6635135119499816960-_7Wh/ 

Paul Meissner

• Definition of advisory?
  a great article by Elaine Clark, where she restates her love of compliance and says: “I guess the only fault about compliance accountants is that, generally, they do not shout about how good they are at what they do and the services that they provide. They just do it!”

• Yet the so-called ‘twittersphere’ and ‘blogosphere’ are full of all sorts telling us that compliance is dead and we can only exist as an advisory practice. This statement alone shows exactly how little they know about what we do and how we do it. It shows their ignorance of the work of thousands of accountants across the UK who work tirelessly and with great professionalism and ability. They are already advisory practices, but just happen to be advisory practices that don’t use the software or systems that they are trying to sell us.

• Accountancy practices already are Advisory practices 

• AI Data bias

• https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/men-women-books?

WORST ON GROUND

David Boyar

• When someone says you should read more they’re ignoring everything that makes you you 

• https://twitter.com/PropellerAdv/status/1227757368563208192  

• Accountants don’t understand their own influence, even if it’s just on twitter. 

• https://twitter.com/investing_city/status/1228137010776305665

Paul Meissner

• Brutal Valentines day breakup message. :-)

• https://twitter.com/ato_gov_au/status/1228132839889096704?s=20 

• Trent Mclaren’s re posted bubble in a bubble

• Xero Roadshow data shows people find community 

1. Facebook Groups

2. Xero live events

3. Linked In 

• https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/weve-created-accounting-bubble-now-were-all-trapped-inside-mclaren

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.