Phase III is able to offer a
range of accounting services, including:
Our consultants can work with
your staff to not only address various accounting issues, but where required,
train your staff to be able to perform the task themselves in
future.
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Software
Selection and Set-up |
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If you operate a business, then
you need to maintain appropriate books and records to:
- measure and review the
performance of your business;
- complete your income tax
return;
- meet relevant legislation
(i.e. - Corporations Law);
- satisfy lenders' requirements
(i.e. banks).
Using an established accounting
software package can make bookkeeping and reporting simple - providing the
software is configured to suit your business and its reporting needs.
Coding information at the
time it is paid/processed is much easier than trying to find it at
year-end when you invariably need it in a hurry.
Understanding your reporting needs and setting up your software
package to suit is the first step in reducing your workload and
ultimately the cost to your business.
Phase III can help you choose a
suitable software package and advise on how your Chart of Accounts
should be established to record the information you need.
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Management
Accounting |
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Management accounting is focused
on producing accounting and other information that is relevant to
making day to day decisions on issues such as product profitability,
sales & marketing campaigns, cost control and breakeven point.
As a minimum, most businesses
should prepare at least a detailed profit & loss statement and
balance sheet on a regular basis. Ideally, other management
reports should be produced that highlight trends in the business's
key drivers. Waiting for the business's annual tax return or
accounts is too
late to be of any effective help in managing the business
throughout the year.
Monthly, and in some cases daily, reporting is required to ensure
effective control is being kept over key revenues or expenditures.
Phase III has skilled consultants
that can help you identify you key business drivers and develop
standardised reports so that you can manage your business more
effectively. In some cases your existing accounting software
package can already provide detailed management accounting information
while, for other reporting formats, it is easier to export the raw
information into a spreadsheet package such as Microsoft
Excel® and perform the analysis or graphing there. Phase III can
help you develop spreadsheet based models for reporting, budgeting
or other special needs.
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Financial
Accounting |
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The preparation of your
business's annual accounts is an important event, particularly if
your business is operated through a company or you are required
to submit annual accounts to a bank or other stakeholder. While the
type of structure you operate through and the purpose for which
the accounts are required both have implications for the
presentation of financial accounts, generally financial accounts
are expected to meet certain accounting standards and possibly the
disclosure requirements of the Corporations Law.
Financial accounts are normally
provided with a series of notes to the accounts that aim to
provide readers of the reports with an insight into a number of
summarised balances appearing in the financial accounts. Accurate
calculation of prepayments and accrued expenses is important, as
is reconciliation of fixed assets and calculation of depreciation.
Many small-medium businesses
manage throughout the year but require assistance with their
year-end financial accounts. Phase III can provide assistance with
all these requirements and provide helpful instructions to assist
your staff streamline the reporting processes for future periods.
This should lead to a transfer of knowledge and a cost reduction
in external accounting fees.
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Bookkeeping |
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Keeping up with the 'bookkeeping'
is one of those chores which, if left too long, can become quite
onerous. If you need help with your bookkeeping, whether
permanently or just to cover a short-term staff shortage, Phase
III can help. We can either perform the work off-site for you
(subject to software compatibility) or, if you prefer, arrange for
a bookkeeper to work at your premises.
Additionally, we can review your
bookkeeping practices and procedures to identify areas for
improvement or changes to improve the efficiency of the various
regular tasks.
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General
Ledger Reconciliations |
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Prior to preparing any accounts
or tax returns, one of the first things an accountant will do is
attempt to ensure all balance sheet carrying amounts are accurate
and supportable. In our experience, this is where a significant
proportion of an accountant/tax agent's time is spent - attempting
to clarify what year-end balances contain. With businesses that
provide reconciled accounts, the task is immensely easier.
At Phase III we recommend that
all balance sheet accounts be reconciled monthly, along with
selected profit & loss accounts. While some general ledger
accounts may see little movement during the month and therefore
require little, if any reconciliation, others, such as bank
accounts often have considerable transactions posted through them
and require monthly reconciliations to keep the task manageable.
Our consultants can not only help
you perform you general ledger reconciliations, but also setup the
reconciliations so that your staff can continue the
reconciliations each month with little or no further help.
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Capital
Expenditure Evaluation |
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If your business is involved in
significant capital expenditure, then having proper evaluation
techniques and procedures in place is critical.
Major capital acquisitions often
require two key decisions:
- is the investment worth it ?;
and
- how will the investment be
funded.
The two are quite separate and
should not be confused.
Major acquisitions usually
require the preparation of cash-flow projections for the potential
investment over 2-10 years, including estimating any residual
value the investment may have at the end of the analysis period.
Net cash-flows need to be 'discounted' at an appropriate weighted
average cost of capital to calculate whether the investment
returns a positive net present value.
Specific considerations include
the impact of taxation, payback period and risk associated with
making the investment and the risks associated with NOT doing the
investment. Additionally, the use of sensitivity analysis or, for
larger projects, scenario analysis call for some advanced
spreadsheet modelling skills.
So, whether your looking to put
in place capital investment guidelines, undertake a capital
investment evaluation or seek funding for a particular capital
project, Phase III can help.
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Training |
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Do you or your staff require some
basic training ? Phase III can provide training on:
- accounting for GST, FBT and
PAYG;
- basic bookkeeping;
- advanced accounting
principles, including accounts preparation;
- basic spread sheeting.
Training can be arranged either
one-on-one or for groups of up to 12. Where formal 'classroom'
training is conducted written notes are provided to all attendees.
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