Today is 30 June 2020, the end of financial year and one that many business owners may want to forget. But rather than simply closing the books on what most likely has been a financial year from hell, the South Australian Business Chamber encourages business owners to use this time to look to the future.
Our expert consultants are on hand to help you. For members of the South Australian Business Chamber, a wealth of knowledge is either online and just a phone call away with our team available to provide advice on everything from industrial relations, workplace health and safety and more recently, COVID Safe compliance.
With a range of stimulus measures rolled out over the past few months to help keep businesses afloat during COVID-19, the South Australian Business Chamber is also helping business owners get up to speed with what these mean for the EOFY.
Our the South Australian Business Chamber-William Buck Survey of Expectations for the March quarter told us 50 per cent of South Australian businesses are using the Federal Government’s Job Keeper scheme. JobKeeper is by no means a free ride, and the scheme comes with strict monthly reporting and End of Financial Year (EOFY) responsibilities.
A key function of our the South Australian Business Chamber service is to ensure that your business is compliant within the law. We can help you navigate JobKeeper and other COVID support schemes to ensure you’re doing the right thing. We know the pressures that many businesses have been under and the last thing business owners need right now are fines or other headaches caused by non-compliance.
The Annual Wage Review decision is also something businesses owners will have to factor into their forward planning and EOFY process. Earlier this month, the Fair Work Commission handed down their decision to increase the National Minimum Wage by 1.75 per cent.
However, the rise will be implemented in a staggered rollout, with businesses categorised into three tiers depending on how impacted they are by COVID-19. Do you know what tier you fall into? Or, when you will have to apply the wage increase to your staff? This is another area where our expert consultants are on standby to help answer your questions and more.
COVID-19 has also seen many businesses delay the completion of their 2020/21 Financial Year budgets. The State and Federal Governments are doing the same thing. As well as factoring in the Annual Wage Decision, now could be the time to take a holistic view to ensure your 2020/21 Financial Year budget is robust and ready for anything.
For many business owners, taking the time to decide where you will invest your time, energy and working capital has never been more important. While the new financial year is sure to present some continuing challenges, now is the time to be very focused on your sales, margins and operating costs. This will take some real discipline. “If it doesn’t pay it can’t stay” could be your mantra for the new financial year.
While we all hope that the 2019/20 financial year will never be repeated, if COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is to expect the unexpected. Stay strong.
