Johnston Associates Chartered Accountants

Masterminding Brighter Tomorrows

Xero

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4 New Year’s accounting resolutions you should adopt now!

Happy 2016 from your Nelson and Marlborough based Chartered Accountants! It’s the time of year where you could and should be assessing the way you want your business to grow in the coming calendar year.

2016-NYR-JAS

To help you achieve your potential, we thought we’d pop together a list of our top 4 New Year’s accounting resolutions you should adopt now!

  1. Get on the cloud – If you haven’t already switched over to a cloud based accounting system, then now is the time to make the move, your business could make big gains from taking this step. Read this article from our archives to discover what they are.
  2. Update your budgets and forecasts – This should be part of your business’ ongoing strategic plan. Remember our business advisory team can help you with this and so much more.
  3. Fix up your filing – Keeping good records is imperative for business success. If you’re just starting out in business speak to us about the form your business records should take. It’s important to think about not only the filing of documents, payment of wages, banking and other records – but also the extent to which you should maintain records that will assist your Chartered Accountant in preparing your financial statements.
  4. Meet your deadlines – If you don’t settle accounts payable on time you could incur late payment fees. If you don’t file your financials before the IRD deadline, you’re basically throwing money down the drain. This expense is so simply avoided by planning to meet payments and deadlines on time.
    #jastoptip – You should also be invoicing regularly at the end of a set period, this will increase your cash flow, allowing you to meet payments.

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Mobile apps you probably can’t live without…

MobileAt Johnston Associates South, we’re grateful that the days are gone when Chartered Accountants were tied to their desks Monday to Friday from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Embracing the cloud and mobile technology means that our entire team is completely mobile and can assist you from anywhere.

But we know we’re not the only ones working like this… We’ve also seen a change in the way our clients do business over recent years, with more and more organisations, no matter what the size, being run as mobile operations. This benefits business owners, managers and employees, giving more flexibility and the ability to work remotely.

Smart phones and tablets have become more than just communication devices, they are a lifeline to running a business.

We’ve put together a list of some of our favourite mobile apps that we believe can help you run your business on the go.

But first let’s keep it generic and start with the basics… Keeping on top of the numbers…

  • Your bank’s mobile app – ANZ, BNZ, Westpac… All major New Zealand banks have a mobile app. Installing this on your phone is an absolute necessity for keeping on top of the numbers.
  • Your accounting software mobile app – Xero, MYOB, Quickbooks. Make sure you have installed the app that lets you reconcile, send and view invoices, add receipts and create expense claims.

File Storage

  • Dropbox – Dropbox keeps your files safe, synced, and easy to share. Save files on your computer, then access them on your phone from the road. Everything you keep in Dropbox is synced automatically to all your devices. Find out more HERE.

Project Management

  • Basecamp – Helps you and your team ensure projects are completed on time and on budget. Find out more HERE.

Organisational Tools

  • Evernote – An elephant never forgets… Evernote captures your thoughts so you don’t either. Write notes, snap photos, then share them with your team. Find out more HERE.
  • OneNote – Allows you to capture your ideas and to-do lists in one place wherever you are. Find out more HERE.

Communication

  • Skype – Let’s not forget that you don’t always have to pay for calls. Skype lets you stay in touch anywhere with free internet calls, instant messaging and video chat. Find out more HERE.

Social Media & Marketing

  • Facebook Pages Manager – Facebook Pages Manager is standalone app from Facebook. This app allows you to control your Facebook page without being directly connected to you personal Facebook account.
  • Twitter – Tweet for your business while you’re on the go.
  • LinkedIn – Stay engaged with who you know, discover industry insights, and share your expertise. It’s professional empowerment in your pocket.
  • Instagram – The fastest growing social network of 2014. Instagram recently announced it is going to allow brands to place ads in the app that can link out of the social network.
  • Email Marketing – MailChimp, Infusionsoft, Aweber… Most major email marketing programmes will have a mobile app that will allow you to add subscribers to your database whilst you’re on the go.

Need to be back in the office?

  • Splashtop – Sometimes you just need access to your desktop… Splashtop does exactly this, it allows you to remotely access and control your compter. Find out more HERE.

 

 

 

 

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Why people are more important than systems…

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A few of us from Johnston Associates South Chartered Accountants have just returned from XeroCon, the biggest accounting technology conference in New Zealand. It was slick, impressive and a great experience and we think the Xero accounting system is great, but one of the biggest takeaways from this conference, for me, was listening to former rugby league coach, Graham Lowe. As a speaker he was entertaining and offered real gems of wisdom. He also endorsed something that we believe at Johnston Associates South, and that is;

Although systems are important within your business, the thing that really makes your business successful is the people working within it.

We’re proud to have a team of people with a “can do” attitude at Johnston Associates South, and a range of skills that cover many bases. We work for you to make your business smarter and more productive; if you’re successful, we’re successful. We’re also adaptable and will work with whatever you’ve got as far as accounting systems are concerned. So whether you’re using Xero, MYOB, Reckon One or one of the other systems on the market we can work with you. This is what one of our client’s, Johnson’s Barge Service, said about us…

We use an accounting software package called Quantum and instead of trying to make us change our system, like others did, Johnston Associates South bought their own Quantum software so all we need to give them at year end is a backup. 

If you need advice on switching to a cloud based accounting system, and don’t know which one to turn to, come and have a chat, we won’t try to sell you anything, because we’re not affiliated to any particular provider. Instead, we’ll listen to what your needs are, and base our recommendations on that.

Thanks for reading, Ben

 

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What were the Rolling Stones thinking about? We want you on the cloud!

As your Nelson and Marlborough based Chartered Accountants we deal with all kinds of businesses, from start ups to established firms and from sole traders or small business operations right through to large companies with a growing workforce.

There are many elements that make up a successful business, but there is one stand out component that we see as a common denominator for streamlined success throughout all the businesses we work with… And that’s good accounting systems!

These days we’ve pretty much got our head in the clouds permanently, no we’re not talking day dreaming, we utilise cloud servers and the latest technology to ensure that our entire team is completely mobile and can assist our clients from anywhere.

That’s why despite what the Rolling Stones sang we’re encouraging all our clients to get on the cloud too. Now before you say, I don’t know anything about “cloud” based products, the chances are you’re probably using one already, Gmail, Hotmail, iCloud, these are all cloud based systems, it simply means that you access your data over the internet rather than via your hard drive.

If you’re not already switched over to a cloud based accounting system, (like Xero), then now is the time to make the move, your business could make big gains from taking this step.

  • Better security – We often find that security is a client’s greatest worry when they make the switch to cloud accounting. In fact if you’re still using an on-site accounting system, you are more susceptible to a security breach. A cloud-based system resides in a managed data center. If your laptop is stolen, no one can access your data unless they have a login to your online account, nothing is stored on your hard drive.
  • Cost savings – No more paying for expensive IT support. Version upgrades, maintenance, system administration costs and server failures are no longer issues. Instead, they are managed by the cloud service provider, and our covered in your monthly subscription fee.
  • Increased cash flow – Check out the Xero blog HERE to discover how and why.
  • Greater productivity – Multi-user access makes it easy to work together online with your staff and accountants.

If you’d like more advice about setting up a cloud based system talk to one of our team. In the mean time don’t listen to what the Rolling Stones are saying, just enjoy the music…

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Xero Touch now available for Android users.

Johnson Associates South (chartered accountants for Nelson and Marlborough) love paper free working practices, and we’re huge fans of Xero, so we were pleased to find out this week that the online accounting software provider have released the Xero Touch app for Android device users, (having previously been available for iPhone users only).

The Xero Touch app contains unique features that give users instant insight into where their business stands. With a 4-digit pin access, users can check account and credit card balances, as well as detailed descriptions of transactions, create and send invoices, and even submit an expense claim with a photo of the receipt snapped right from your phone.

You can download Xero Touch for your Android device from Google Play.

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Rabobank direct feeds now available with Xero

There’s good news for Xero users whose business banking is provided by Rabobank, as they have recently been announced as Xero’s latest feed partner.

For New Zealand based customers to start the application to receive direct feeds from Rabobank.

  • Create a bank account within Xero with “Rabobank (NZ)” as the bank name
  • Download and complete an authority form to have daily feeds from your Rabobank accounts shared with Xero
  • Pass your completed form on to a member of the team at Johnston Associates South

Xero expects Rabobank feeds to come online sometime during September.

Read the Xero blog post with full details here.