Business Update – 21 December, 21
Welcome back to our Business Update!
Merry Christmas from the Bookwiz Team!
The Bookwiz Office will be closing to take a well deserved break with family and friends for the festive season from COB Wednesday 22nd December, and re-opening for normal business activities on 5th January 2022.
If you are a payroll client of Bookwiz, we will still have team members around to ensure your employees will be paid. We will appreciate your prompt attention to time sheet approvals and the forwarding of all relevant payroll paperwork so that our Team can get back to enjoying some down time as quickly as possible!
Bookwiz Academy Update
As many of you know, we opened with a soft launch of Bookwiz Academy in November and took in a few founding members. We have been testing, tweaking and dropping in some amazing content for our members and are looking forward to opening up for our second Membership Intake in January 2022. We are also looking forward to opening up our Mentoring Program very soon!
If you are a Bookkeeper, Accountant or CFO, we have the tools, templates, checklists, systems, advice and support for you, regardless of what stage you are at in your business journey.
For accounting firms looking to grow a successful Bookkeeping Division, this membership will be ideal for your Bookkeeping Team.
If you are interested in finding out more, check out our website HERE or email academy@bookwiz.biz
STP Phase 2
Australian employers now have an extra 2 months to transition to the second phase of STP reporting with a blanket deferral set at 1 March 2022. But where possible, the ATO recommends to start reporting from 1 January 2022 if you are ready to go. If you are unsure if your software is ready, below are a few links for you to review.
- Intuit/QBO: Intuit – Single Touch Payroll (STP) Phase 2 FAQ
- MYOB: MYOB Business – Getting ready for STP Phase 2
- Reckon: Reckon –STP Phase 2: Update for Reckon users
- Xero: Xero Blog – Single Touch Payroll Phase 2 Xero users
For more information about STP Phase 2 click HERE
International Border Reopening for Skilled Workers and Students Delayed
Plans to reopen international borders to skilled workers and students have been halted due to concerns over the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
The 1 December opening will be delayed by at least two weeks, including the plan to open the border to visitors from Japan and South Korea.
PM Urges State Leaders to Stick to Reopening Plans
Despite increasing concerns about the Omicron variant, Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged state and territory leaders to stick to their reopening plans. Meanwhile, health authorities will continue to gather more information about the new strain of the coronavirus.
Q3 Economic Decline Not as Bad as Feared
As the Delta variant put half the population under lockdown, latest data showed Q3 GDP declined by 1.9%. However, this figure was still better than forecasts of a 2.7% decline, and relatively moderate compared to the 6.8% quarterly fall last year when the pandemic first struck.
From 9.6% in Q2, the annual pace of growth slowed to 3.9%. Yet, this again beat forecasts of 3.0%.
Manufacturing Industry Rebounded in November
After several months of flat results due to the Delta variant, the manufacturing industry recovered in November. The Australian Industry Group performance of manufacturing index rose by 4.4 points to 54.8.
However, there are still some concerns about the reliability of supply inputs and the worsening labour shortages.
Upcoming Key Dates
- 21st December – November monthly BAS due (don’t forget to pay before the Xmas Break to avoid interest!)
- 1 January – STP Phase 2 Commences (blanket deferral now to 1 March 22)
- 21st January – December monthly BAS due
- 28th January – Employee Super Contributions must be in their funds accounts (we recommend paying by 18th January to ensure funds in accounts by due date to avoid penalty)
Get in touch
Contact us if you have any questions or want to discuss the next steps for your business.